Chapter 39 #2
Her dark hair was tossed in a ponytail, and she had on very minimal makeup – even less than Juliet typically wore when going out of the house for a casual outing, she only realized in this moment. Like she’d left her home in a rush – and she was wearing a white linen top with tailored, beige pants.
Yes, she looked “casual” as far as Juliet’s outfits went. But there was a quiet, clearly deliberate elegance in her simplicity. And she still looked absolutely gorgeous. A showstopper. Even after having laid with Darcy for a few hours, looking a little rumpled.
“You are the definition of the real deal,” she echoed Juliet’s words back to her.
Juliet’s smile was so bright in the dimmed lighting provided only by the lamp on her bedside table.
Darcy simply stared back at her for a few beats. “And I don’t…” She had to break off, nerves streaking through her, before she admitted, “I don’t want to be in Pineford.”
God, that felt like a weight off of her shoulders to say aloud.
It really hadn’t been a possibility in her mind, before. We, The Romantics were a group, a team. And she knew Blythe and Emerson didn’t want to have a home base outside of Pineford, so it had stood to reason that neither would she.
Juliet seemed to perk up. “Really? You don’t?”
“Really. I don’t hate it here. But I don’t feel the same love for it that Blythe and Emerson do.
” She brought her hands down to take one of Juliet’s in her own.
Instead of twirling one of her own rings around her finger, she did it to Juliet’s, as she confessed, “The most at-home I’ve felt in the last year is when I’m with you. ”
And that was the root of everything. Even Juliet’s house felt so… right. Large but not like Shelby’s insanely sized mansion. Warm and homey. She had a little nature oasis in her backyard, and her music studio.
“Tell me again.” Juliet’s tone sounded like the same one she used when she was demanding something, but laced through her words was a softness. A request, rather than a demand. As though she couldn’t quite bring herself to get as firm and unyielding as she usually could.
“Tell you…?” She trailed off, confused.
“That…” Juliet swallowed, visibly thickly. “That you love me.”
“Was a part of the reason you showed up on my doorstep to make me tell you I love you again?” The corners of her lips ticked into a needling smile.
God, that was so Juliet, and it – irrationally, insanely – made her love her even more.
“No. One of the reasons I showed up on your doorstep is because I have to tell you that I love you, too. But I need to hear you say it again.”
Yeah, there was her Juliet, with that sharp tone.
Only. Wait –
Darcy froze, Juliet’s words registering.
“I love you,” she breathed back, feeling totally electrified. She was braced, so utterly ready to hear Juliet say it, again. Say it for real.
“I love you, Darcy. In a way that should be really terrifying.”
“Should be?”
Juliet hummed in response, leaning up to press her mouth to Darcy’s. Her kiss was soft and searching, affirming, and warmth flooded Darcy’s entire body.
When Juliet leaned back, Darcy moved to follow her. Needing to kiss her again, just one more taste.
“Come to L.A.,” Juliet whispered against her lips. “Come back with me.”
Darcy froze where she was, her mouth still brushing against Juliet’s, as her words slammed into her. She leaned back, blinking widely at her. “Are you… asking me to move in with you? In L.A.?”
Juliet’s face flushed, and her mouth opened, then closed. Before she huffed out a breath, angling her jaw up. “Maybe I am. Maybe I’m just offering you a place to be while you figure things out.”
Darcy didn’t really care what they called it, she was already nodding. “I accept the offer either way.”
If she did want to get an apartment or something, she could. Sure. But the idea of being wrapped up with Juliet without either of them being on tour for a while sounded like a dream.
Juliet bit at her bottom lip. “Your sister and Emerson really do have awful timing. I’m annoyed at them in my own right.”
Curiosity flitted through her, her hands pausing where she was still toying with Juliet’s fingers. “Oh?”
“Mhmm.” Juliet hummed. “I had some big news to share with you, and this really overshadowed it.”
“Baby, you’re killing me here.”
Juliet’s smile was devastatingly sexy, the way her eyes gleamed with it. Like she knew exactly how much she was killing Darcy by keeping her waiting.
“I broke up with Robbie. Ended our arrangement, that is.”
It took a second for that to sink in. Darcy thought, at first, she misheard. But Juliet’s expression slipped into something serious, so earnest, as she waited for Darcy’s response.
Surprise, happiness, confusion – it all blended together.
Juliet adjusted the way their hands were entangled so she could squeeze Darcy’s, arching her a look. “Well? Thoughts?”
“I – I really hope you know I wasn’t giving you some sort of ultimatum. Because I wasn’t,” she promised, squeezing Juliet’s hand in return. “I just… I wanted to be a part of the conversation.”
“I know. Ending my arrangement with Robbie wasn’t about you.
” Juliet rolled her eyes. “Okay, well it is, but not because I feel as though you forced my hand. The truth is that I did, at first, think maybe you could come around to Robbie. Because, to me, he really is like a security blanket. To me, having him at an event wouldn’t have to change the night you and I could have together. ”
Darcy hmmed flatly in response. Because she knew that was how Juliet saw it. But she still felt that knee-jerk upset inside.
“However,” Juliet locked onto her eyes, passion burning in her expression.
“If the world thought you were in a relationship with someone else… if you perpetuated that belief, if you talked about a future with someone, if–” She cut herself off, her voice getting darker as her eyes narrowed. “It would drive me fucking insane.”
Juliet’s words were barely more than a growl, and Darcy shivered at the timbre.
“I don’t want to make you feel that way. And while we can’t have this publicly,” she stared, intently, at Darcy, “I want to have you in every other way. We can omit the whole truth without lying about the rest.”
“Half-truths,” Darcy murmured, rolling her lips. Working against the excitement that wanted to rush through her, though she wanted to give right into it. She just had to be sure, “This is what you want, though?”
“It is. I…” Juliet’s next exhale was a little shaky, but her voice was firm, “I feel more secure with you than with anyone else. I don’t need Robbie to be part of my image, anymore.”
“How is it going to work? If we’re both living in the same house… I mean, what if people notice?”
Juliet steadily met her stare. Her breathing hitched, but she didn’t waver.
“Then, they notice. I’m not going to break my contract or risk being sued, right on the precipice of finishing all of my obligations.
And you’re someone I’m close to, who is moving to L.A.
It’s not the craziest thing that you’d stay with me. ”
“And Harrison?” She asked, nerves fluttering through her. Not because she gave a damn about whatever he thought he could do. But she didn’t want anything to bounce back on Juliet.
“Harrison…” Juliet clenched her jaw. “Can go fuck himself.”
Darcy’s lips fell open on a wide smile, surprise and pride exploding to life inside of her. Fuck, that was attractive.
“He won’t be happy. But the better my career goes, the more money he makes. So I’m not concerned about repercussions for myself. And…” She searched Darcy’s face, the first hint of uncertainty flitting over her expression. “If you–”
“He can go fuck himself,” she repeated, nodding quickly, vehemently. “Don’t try to take back anything you’ve brought up today on my account. This is exactly what I want.”
Unable to contain herself any longer, she surged forward, pushing up onto her knees as she kissed Juliet, pouring all of this – this love into it. In her fervor, she knocked Juliet down onto her back, landing on top of her.
Juliet laughed against her, scratching her hands up Darcy’s back.
So… maybe things were going to be okay. Better than okay, even.