Chapter 21
WEST
“Are you sure you don’t mind all my computer stuff in here?”
Her lips were curved downward as she scanned the now-cluttered corner of my bedroom.
We had worked for the last half hour getting all her computers and monitors set up on the small desk we brought from her place.
Every inch of the compact surface was covered with some type of electronic, the nearby outlet nearly maxed out.
“I’m positive.” Unable to stop myself, I wrapped an arm around her waist, sealing her to my side.
“Seeing all this here, in my room no less, not only means you’re here safe but that all this is real and not some cruel dream I’ll wake up from.
Plus, being sidelined because of the hand means I have a lot of downtime, and with Langston working a lot, I’m looking forward to the company.
” I inclined my head toward the bed. “Maybe I’ll lie around all day and watch you work. ”
She turned to wrap her arms around my waist. “If you do that, then I won’t get anything done.”
A soft vibration brought my focus to her phone humming along the top of the dresser. Juno tensed but didn’t say a word or make a move to answer the incoming call.
“I think we should set up my gaming system next.” She angled her head toward the living room only to tense again at another round of continuous vibrations against the solid wood. “That is definitely high priority. I’m legit having withdrawals, and I need to keep my hands in prime gaming shape.”
Eyeing her phone, then her, I pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. “Juno.” She hummed a response. “Why are you avoiding your phone?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she defended while attempting to wiggle out of my grasp.
I only tightened my arms, holding her even closer.
“West, come on, let’s get the rest of this set up so we can chill when Langston gets back.
” Her gaze dropped to the floor, and she worried at her lip.
“Did you see the group he took out today?”
“Yeah,” I hedged, not sure where she was going with that question or if it was just a way to distract me from whoever kept calling her over and over.
“The women were really pretty and seemed to know what they were doing with all the fishing gear.”
“Okay, not sure what you’re getting at, Juno. Now, who keeps calling you—”
“Do you think he’ll like them more than me?” she blurted, eyes going wide like she did not intend to say that out loud.
“What? Who?” Her words made absolutely no sense.
“Langston,” she muttered. “They were so pretty, and did you see all their cool gear? I bet they fish all the time and are fantastic at it. Not like me yesterday, who got the line caught in a tree branch twice, which Langston had to untangle and—”
I couldn’t help it. The moment I understood what she was worried about, a chuckle escaped that turned into a full-on laughing fit.
“It’s not that funny,” she grumbled and again tried to break out of my hold.
I wiped at the tears leaking from the corners of both eyes. “It is, because it’s so impossible that the idea of it is hilarious.”
She glared up at me. “Well, I didn’t think it was possible that the man who asked me to marry him would cheat on me either.”
That sobered me right the fuck up.
“Juno.” I hugged her tight. “I’m sorry. I didn’t…
fuck, I didn’t think about it that way. The thought of Langston betraying anyone is so far-fetched that it didn’t even cross my mind as an option, but doing it to you…
.” I pulled her back enough to angle her face up to mine.
“He’d rather cut off his own balls than do something like that to you.
That man is loyal down to his core for his family and friends, and you’re in that group now, sweet cheeks. ”
“As family or friend?” she questioned, arching a brow.
The corners of my lips curled upward as I gazed down at her. “As someone who is quickly rising to the very top of all his relationship lists.”
Once again, the phone shimmied along the dresser. “Now, either tell me who keeps calling you or I’ll go check myself.”
Head tossed back, Juno let out a loud, dramatic groan that had me chuckling. Feet dragging like she was walking to certain death, she trudged to the other side of the room, snatched the phone off the dark wood surface, and dramatically tossed herself onto my bed.
“Who do you think I would avoid like the worst computer virus known to technology? My sister and the asshat wanted to hang out today before they leave tomorrow, and I’m avoiding them instead of telling them I’d rather pluck out my eyelashes than see them.”
Loose fist hovering over my lips, hiding my smile, a humor-filled chuckle rumbled in my chest. “Right.” The bed dipped beneath my weight when I perched on the edge of the mattress beside her. Interlacing our fingers, I gave them a gentle squeeze.
“And they want my answer about attending the wedding.” Rolling to the side, she curled up, facing me with a hand tucked under her cheek. “I don’t know what I want to do.”
“Do you want to hear my opinion?” After tossing my glasses onto the bedside table, I lay down next to her, mirroring her position.
“Sure.”
“If you’re up for it, I think we should go to the wedding.
” Both eyebrows flew up her forehead, clearly surprised by my answer.
“We being the three of us. It would be good to get away from here for a few days, plus I want to show you off. Rub it in everyone’s faces that we won the damn lottery because you chose us. ”
Stroking a single finger along the back of my hand, she stared at where we touched.
“People aren’t as open-minded as they are here.
Me bringing two men will have them all talking, and someone might say something.
There are a lot of judgmental, small-town jerks there who won’t be afraid to confront us about their version of right and wrong. ”
I studied each stroke of her fingers. “It wouldn’t be anything I haven’t heard before, believe me. I’d never fit in, been accepted for who I am, until I moved here.”
Warmth bloomed along the side of my face from her studying stare.
Ever so slowly, I dragged my gaze up to meet hers, knowing what she was about to ask before her lips even moved.
“Where were you before coming to Uplift? I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention where you grew up.
Langston told me yesterday about his childhood in Vegas with Mattie, so now it’s your turn. ”
Her wide smile at the innocent question had a lead weight dropping in my stomach.
Blowing out a controlled breath between pursed lips, I flipped to my back to level my blank stare at the ceiling. “That’s a dark story with even darker parts spread out through the years. And while I’d love for you to get to know me better, I’m not sure I’m ready to taint your view of me just yet.”
“How would how you grew up taint how I see you? You haven’t seen me differently or thought less of me after I told you about my messed-up family and drama-filled life.”
“This is different, Juno.”
The mattress moved as she pressed herself against my side, draping an arm over my chest. It was her touch, that comforting hold, that gave me the strength to let some of my sad story slip.
“I don’t have anyone but Langston and the few friends here. I have no family who misses me, no mom or dad who are either proud or disappointed in who I became. I don’t have a family, Juno, good or bad; it’s just me, and that’s how it’s always been.”
A grunt whooshed past my lips, the air forced from my lungs when she plopped down on my chest, knees on either side of my ribs.
She studied me with a combination of frustration and worry, a deep line between her furrowed brows.
With her loose hair hanging down like curtains around her face, the compassion radiating off her, and the fierce, tight line of her lips, another part of me melted for her.
The way I craved her attention and time made me wonder how I had survived without her all these years.
“That’s okay, West. You’re enough for me, for anyone.
Just you. Family or no family, that doesn’t matter to me.
How you treat me, your friends, strangers on the street—that’s what matters.
Not your past, but I do wish you’d share a little with me to help me understand you better.
I want to know you, West. All of you—the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I’ve shown you mine; now I’d love it if you could show me a peek of yours. ”
It was the pleading in her tone, the hopeful expression that did it. Squeezing my lids shut, I rubbed at my eyes, wishing it would erase the visuals flashing behind them of those worst moments as a kid.
“All I can remember are children’s homes and foster homes, never a place of my own.
I was a scrawny kid, so I got picked on a lot, and was shy on top of all that.
” I reached up and grabbed her hips, needing the comfort of holding her to keep going.
“Knowing what I know now, after a lot of research on the subject, my being isolated and shy made me a perfect target for predators to groom. The first time, I was so excited. I thought the old man running the foster home really thought I was special, that his extra attention meant I was important to someone.” A humorless laugh escaped.
“And I was… only not the way I wanted to be.”
“West.” The heartbreak in her voice had me slowly opening my eyes. Tears rimmed her lower eyelids, threatening to spill over.