Alive at Night (Wildflower, #1)

by Amelie Rhys

drives me nuts that I can’t read your mind sometimes,” he eventually muttered. “It’s not that interesting,” I promised. “I doubt that, Lily.” His low chuckle was dry and raspy. “Come on.”

“Julian,” I hissed. “What the hell are you—” With one final tug, he launched me into his arms. They circled my waist, holding me close as we found a spot between dancing couples. “I’m dancing with my girlfriend,”

“Now, loosen up, will you? This is why we practiced.”

“Juniper, I’m trying to make sure you feel safe with me,”

with you?” “Yeah, well…You didn’t want to dance. You were quiet at dinner. You ran away into the bathroom.” “Julian…” Her mouth opened and closed while she tried to find words. “That’s not it at all. You’ve always kept me safe, and tonight isn’t any different.”

“I’m feeling guilty and overwhelmed,” she confessed. I understood overwhelmed, but… “Guilty?” “That you’re here.” “That I’m—Juni.”

“You can let go if you want,” she whispered. “We can sit down.” “I don’t want to let go.” She blinked up at me. Once. Twice. I saw stars in her eyes. “Okay.”

“I’ve spent years fighting my attraction to this woman,” I admitted. Grayson didn’t react except for a tiny twitch of his upper lip. “I know.” Fuck him. “I’ve watched you fight it on more than one occasion,” he

thought I was supposed to fight it, to give her the cold shoulder. It became ingrained in me, even though she made it impossible at every turn. When we were young, I resented that she acted like she was a part of our family because I never saw her as a sibling like my sisters did. I saw her as—fuck. But now…” “But now…?”

“And now, nothing,” I sighed. “She still knows exactly how to drive me up a wall—” “Maybe you should drive her up a wall,” Gray muttered.

“Actually, she’s friends with all my sisters. My parents think of her as their sixth daughter, for fuck’s sake.”

“Maybe because they knew one day she would be,” he said with a smile. “Shut up, man.”

history is complicated, and our present is even more intertwined. We’re colleagues, and I’ve put so much into getting this job. You don’t get it.” “You’re right.” He shrugged. “I don’t. Because to me, it seems like you’re currently ...

“You’re running laps on a practice field to prove you’re worth something so she’ll give you playing time in the game.” “I was drunk when I said that,” I pointed out flatly....

“I’m squishing you—” “You’re not. Don’t insult me.” “I would never dream of insulting you.” “Well, that’s a lie.” “Juniper!”

Juniper shot off my lap so fast that my body, once again, nearly went into shock. But I used another one of Nessa’s shots to help myself recover.

“Oh, hell no.” My vision went hazy, and I was on my feet and across the room.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t break all your fucking fingers.”

Julian’s low snarl made goose bumps rise on my skin and my jaw drop. Did I—did I hear that correctly? “I’m waiting,”

“Stay away from my girlfriend if you don’t want to go to physical therapy. Got it?”

“Are you okay?” I nodded, even though a slight tremor coursed through my bones. Honestly, it had a lot less to do with the guy who’d invaded my space and more with how Julian handled it. It wasn’t a surprise in the sense that Julian Briggs had always had an overprotective streak. But not with me. And not while calling me his girlfriend in the same breath.

“Did Gemma say anything to you about this weekend?” I wondered. “Just told me to behave.” “Behave?”

“Have you ever actually broken someone’s fingers?”

“You have, haven’t you?” He shrugged. “He deserved it.” “Who was it?”

“Greg Kennedy. Luckily, we were at football practice in high school, so it was easy to pass it off as an accident.” “What?” I gasped. “But…why?”

“Don’t like the guy.” “Not liking someone isn’t a good enough reason to break their fingers, Julian.”

I mean, you don’t like me, but—” “He cheated on you.”

“And I do like you, Daisy,” he breathed, dipping his head to press it against mine. “Stop telling me how I feel.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” I breathed. “But I like you, too.” Julian made a noise in the back of his throat, and I felt it everywhere. It reverberated into my body, making my skin tingle. I could become addicted to that sound, to that feeling. I slid back down until my feet were flat again, and Julian crushed us closer together. He extinguished the space between us in such a desperate, raw way that my breath vanished, and I suffocated on my sudden need for him.

“We should take a break,” Julian gasped, taking an abrupt step back. “I don’t want to.”

His eyes widened with alarm, more than I would have expected. “Juni, no. It’s just—” He sighed raggedly, looking away while running a hand through his hair. “I just wanted you to have the option.” “Why?”

“Juniper…” The unspoken words that should have followed told me all I needed to know. He thought that whatever had just happened on the dance floor was dangerous. But I’d already told him; he always kept me safe. Tonight would be no different. “I want to stay with you,” I whispered, “if you’re not sick of me.”

not,” he said firmly. I wasn’t sure if I believed him, but I wasn’t sure how much I cared. He was too hard to figure out tonight. And I was still too focused on his eyes. How were they so blue even when the lighting was so low? “Juni,” he prompted when I continued to stare silently at him. “You have pretty eyes,” I said beneath my breath—like it was a secret. It sort of was.

“Jesus Christ,” Julian cursed as I swayed a little in my chair, trying to put my drained cup on the table. He put a hand out to steady me. “Come on,” he muttered. “You, bed. Now.”

“Sit,” Julian commanded, pointing to the bed. I sat. And then I watched as Julian shrugged off his tux jacket and tossed it on top of the dresser. Without it, his muscles tensed through his white dress shirt as he knelt before me.

my phone out and took a picture. “What are you doing?” Julian muttered without taking his attention away from my foot. His fingers seemed to move higher this time, up the back of my calf and down again. “Photographic evidence,” I said, trying not to focus too much on how heat consumed me with each of Julian’s touches. “Photographic evidence?” he repeated.

“Don’t take a picture of the next part, Daisy.” Something about how he said it, about how his voice washed over me, made my breath hitch. “Why not?” “Because my sister doesn’t need to see a picture of me taking your clothes off,” he grunted.

turn around so I can unzip that dress and get you into those ridiculous matching striped pajamas of yours.” “My pajamas are adorable, thank you very much,”

“You’re right,” Julian said, voice husky.

back and then another, his back hitting the wall with a thump. He rolled up his shirtsleeves, eyes surveying me from top to bottom while he did. It hit me that this was probably the last time I would experience Julian looking at me like that. Taking off my shoes and unzipping my dress would be his last little acts of kindness before returning to the real world where we didn’t exist like this. “I’m not ready.” It took me a second to realize I had said it aloud. Julian’s brows furrowed. “Ready?”

I’m not ready for it to be over.” He swallowed, his throat working as his eyes danced all over my face. But he didn’t speak. “Can we stay like this until morning?”

“Sure, baby,” he rasped. His gaze dropped to my mouth and then back to my eyes, burning me up inside. “We can stay like this as long as you want. Whatever you want.” Thank God.

IT ONLY TOOK ONE brush of Juniper’s lips against mine to know that this kiss would haunt me forever. Considering how close I’d been to kissing her on the dance floor, I should have predicted this. I had predicted it in a way. It was why I’d asked Grayson if Juniper could stay with Nessa; my self-restraint was so fucking weak that I barely trusted myself around her. But what I hadn’t predicted?

she was going to offer up her mouth for me, I was going to fucking take it. I gripped her chin between my fingers, holding her there to ensure I could kiss her back and kiss her good. Juniper’s breath hitched when my mouth moved over hers. I traced the seam of her lips with the tip of my tongue, back and forth, until she opened for me. And when she did, that was all it took for me to lose it.

With a moan, I crushed my lips to hers, needing to kiss her deeply and soundly. She deserved a kiss like that. She deserved all the kisses, but this was the only one I could give, so I was going to do it well. Juni kissed me back just as aggressively, throwing one arm around my neck while the other stayed tucked between us to hold up her dress. She tangled her fingers in my hair while her tongue played with mine, flicking into my mouth and driving me wild. Of all the times I’d imagined what it would be like to kiss Juniper St. James, I never conjured up this. “God, Juni,” I groaned before diving back in.

She tugged harder on my hair like she wanted more. I wanted more. I wanted her. I wanted to taste every inch of this woman. The need, the want, the desire that I had pushed away and denied for so long—this kiss was unleashing it. Holy shit, I wanted her. So. Goddamn. Much.

Fuck, I could feel her smile in the way that she kissed. Of course she smiled when she kissed. How very Juni-like of her.

need you to take kissing me as seriously as I take kissing you,” I mumbled, my lips curving up to mimic hers. “I do,” she gasped. “It’s just that you’re good at this.”

“I’m good at a lot of things, Rosie.” She laughed, lightly and beautifully, and then I stole that laugh with my mouth, not releasing it again until we were both breathless. “Julian,” she whimpered between barely parted lips. “Show me. Show me what you’re good at.”...

“Juni, you’re drunk,” I gasped, pushing the words out of my mouth as a reminder to mys...