15. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
Leo
B y the time night falls and almost everyone is asleep, I’m exhausted.
Admittedly, I haven’t done this much physical labor in years aside from working out at the gym. But that’s nothing compared to climbing up and down ladders, chopping wood, and all the other things I did around the estate today.
It felt pretty good, though. With business, it can take months to years to see real progress. When it comes to working with my hands, I see results a lot faster, and I like that satisfaction.
I forgot how much I liked it.
“I found something. ”
Juliet looks over her shoulder from sitting on the couch. When she sees the bottle of cinnamon flavored whiskey in my hand, she smiles and shakes her head at me. “Do you remember when we broke into your parents’ liquor cabinet on prom night?”
“And I got so sick that I had to lie and say I had the stomach flu the next day. Oh, yeah. I remember,” I reply before sitting down next to her, the crackling fire casting shadows onto the living room.
“Seeing that bottle is giving me flashbacks.”
I twist off the cap and take a tentative sip, the familiar spiced flavor hitting me like a punch. “Tastes exactly like you remember.”
Juliet takes the bottle as I hand it over, a slightly wary look forming on her face. “It tasted much better going down than coming up.”
I crack an amused grin as she tilts the bottle back, her face quickly screwing up at the bold taste.
“Wow,” she says as she passes the bottle back. “I can’t believe we risked so much just to drink that. ”
“Teenagers do stupid things,” I remind her, resting the bottle on my thigh. “When we become adults, we learn from our past mistakes. Sometimes.”
A laugh of disbelief bursts from her. “Sometimes? Try hardly ever.”
She’s probably not wrong. We all make the same mistakes over and over again and wonder why we feel stuck in place.
“At least we don’t steal things from our parents’ liquor cabinets anymore.”
Juliet nods to the bottle. “Did you ask Frank if you could drink that?”
I scoff as a coy look crosses her face. “This place is about to be mine anyway. I don’t have to ask permission to drink from my liquor cabinet.”
Juliet shrugs. “If I asked Frank, I’m sure he’d have a different answer.”
I eye her. “Go ahead and wake him up. You know how pissy he gets when he’s woken up.”
“Oh, I know,” Juliet assures me. “He’s also grumpy when he has to take his medicine or needs to be bathed. ”
The thought of Juliet having to bathe my own father because he can’t do it himself makes me restless. This couch is one of the most comfortable ones I’ve ever sat on, and even it doesn’t feel comfortable right now.
So much has changed. I don’t know how to wrap my head around it all.
“He’s very tolerant, though,” Juliet assures me. “I’ve had bad patients before who have spit at me or threw things at me. I need to think about those times on days like these.”
She steals the bottle back from me for another sip. A decently longer one.
“Tough day?”
She worked hard all day long. I was only inside for a few brief periods of time, but she was constantly on the move to check on Dad, tend to Piper, and do things around the house when I did see her. She’s like a machine.
“Long. Stressful. I hate when Piper gets sick,” she sighs. “I feel like every scared family member of the patients I’ve treated. Helpless. Uncertain. Anxious. Like the worst is going to happen. ”
My face softens. “You said she probably just had a little cold. She’ll be fine. Kids are resilient.”
She nods. “And I know that. I know that the cold is typically nothing to worry about, but the mom side of me refuses to believe that. It just wants to worry.”
“I think that’s just part of being a parent,” I reply, reaching out to briefly pat her knee. I then draw my hand back, surprised she didn’t jerk away or give me a strange look. “Some people lean into that instinct more than others. It just means you love her.”
Juliet pushes the bottle into my hand. “Your dad does care about you, Leo. He just has his own way of showing it.”
I smirk and lift the bottle toward my lips, the smell of cinnamon hitting my nose. “If you want to put it that way.”
“We all show love differently,” she says, watching me drink. “Like…I do things for the people I love. They call it acts of service. You’re more of the quality time and physical touch kind of person.”
“Are you calling me handsy? ”
She laughs, putting her hand over her mouth to quiet herself down. “I mean, you could be. In a good way.”
“In a good way. Well, that’s good to hear,” I say, joining in on her contagious laughter. “I remember you being pretty touchy too.”
“I think all teenage couples are touchy. They can’t help themselves. And their hormones.”
A sense of boldness keeps ramping up within me, spurred on by her laughter and radiant smile. It’s such a damn good smile that lights up the room.
“You’re blaming your uncontrollable attraction to me on hormones?” I ask her, leaning a little closer until our shoulders touch.
Juliet playfully rolls her eyes at me. “I’d be lying if I said that.”
“Glad we’re being honest with each other,” I say, my gaze threatening to roam over her beautiful face.
We’re so close. Probably too close.
But the warmth radiating from her is more inviting than the heat of the fire, and I don’t want to be anywhere else right now .
“We were always honest with each other but not with anyone else,” she says.
I lift an eyebrow at her. I think we’re getting a little deep now. “What do you mean?”
“We hid our relationship for two years,” Juliet replies as I set the whiskey bottle down. “We really snuck around for that long.”
I settle back against the couch cushions, sitting close enough to her for our shoulders and thighs to press together. “It was fun at times.”
Juliet turns her head toward me, our eyes locking. “Exhilarating. We were trouble.”
Air puffs out of my nose. “We almost got caught a few times. Remember when we were in my bed and you were supposed to be practicing your zoology presentation on the whole other side of the house?”
Her cheeks pinken. “And at that moment, your dad wanted to speak with you about a family reunion. That’s a mood killer.”
Our quiet laughter mingles. “You ran into my closet faster than I could even put my shirt on. ”
Juliet buries her face in her hands for a few seconds before looking back up at me. “I was terrified. I was almost naked in your closet, and your dad was only a few feet away! What if he needed something?”
“Like one of my shirts or something? I wasn’t worried about that,” I assure her, resisting the urge to brush her hair away from her blushing face. “I was more annoyed that he interrupted us. We were just about to get to the good part.”
Her teeth catch her bottom lip briefly, making heat stir low in my stomach. “Oh, really? I must’ve forgotten where we stopped.”
That lingering boldness intensifies, my hand moving to rest on her knee on its own accord.
“Almost all our clothes were off at that point,” I tell her, my voice dropping in tone and volume.
Everyone else is asleep, but we’re still not the only ones in this house.
Juliet hums under her breath and nods. “Well, we certainly weren’t patient when it came to taking each other’s clothes off. ”
“I can’t really blame myself. I thought you were the most gorgeous girl on the planet,” I reply, my gaze sweeping up her figure.
Even in a loose sweater and leggings, she drives me wild.
Juliet’s eyes drop to her legs, and I see a glimpse of that shy girl from the past.
“I still think you are,” I say, the words spilling from me before I can even think about whether or not to say them.
They’re true, but they’re not simple words. They hold weight.
“You don’t have to say that,” she replies, her fingers trailing through her hair as she tries to hide her face behind it.
“The truth? I think I do,” I tell her as I take her hand with one of mine. The other gently lifts her chin, coaxing her eyes up. “I’ve done enough hiding and lying.”
Juliet swallows hard as she gazes at me, conflict written all over her face. Exactly how I feel. “What else do you remember from then?”
Desire courses through every inch of my body as the memory plays in my mind. Her hand remains in my grip .
“You were on top of me,” I say. “Straddling me. Grinding.”
Her breath hitches. “And? What else?”
She remembers. I can see the anticipation in her eyes. The way she licks her lips like she’s starving for more.
She knows what’s coming next.
“My hand was buried in your hair. My lips on your neck. You were moaning my name in my ear,” I tell her, remembering the sound of her voice. The melody of her moans.
“I loved saying your name,” she says, leaning a degree closer to my ear. “I knew it turned you on.”
I let out a light laugh. “You could blink, and it would turn me on. I was crazy about you. I wanted you all the time.”
“If we didn’t have to sneak around so much, you would’ve had me a lot more,” Juliet replies, the fingers of her free hand grazing my bicep. “But having to do all of that and be patient made it feel that much better.”
I swallow, feeling my cock threaten to harden. When it comes to working me up, no one can do that better than her. Even now all these years later .
“It doesn’t matter how much time has passed. I still can’t forget those moments,” I admit, watching her fingers trail up my arm toward my chest. “I don’t think I ever will.”
“Do you have dreams about me?” she asks, sounding genuinely curious.
I nod. I can’t remember every single detail, but I know I’ve had quite a few where she’s right there with me..
“Good dreams?”
The side of my mouth tilts up. “Very good ones.”
“Me too,” she says before leaning closer, her lips nearly brushing my ear.. “I had one not too long ago.”
Fuck.
I’ve done everything in my power to resist her and control myself, but nothing is working.
Or maybe I’m not trying that hard at all.
I could get up from this couch and go to my bedroom. I could end this interaction right now.
But my body doesn’t want to move from this spot. Feeling her body pressed against mine is intoxicating, reminding me of all the moments that I can’t seem to forget. The moments that I can’t help but compare my experiences with other women to.
None of those past flings ever amounted to any of the moments I was with Juliet. Not even close.
That’s one of the few reasons why I never let them stay around. Why I don’t sleep with them again. Why they never step foot in my penthouse.
I always feel disappointed afterward. Like I have a hunger that can’t be satisfied.
At least not by them.
“Leo.”
Hearing my name on her lips throws me over the ledge that I’ve been flirting with this entire night.
I cup the back of her neck and pull her forward, our lips colliding before she can get another word out.