The evening with Juliette, her brother, and mom doesn’t go exactly as Juliette had hoped. We push through an uncomfortable two-hour visit after Hunter returns from his walk. He didn’t disappear long, only enough to calm down, which everyone needed at that point. Not a lot of conversation fills the dinner table. Every once in a while her mom asks a question, lucky to pry more than a sentence out of either Juliette or Hunter. They’re both stubborn, that’s for sure. We leave shortly after eight, and it feels as though we’ve been there the entire day.

“You’re exhausted, aren’t you?” Juliette curls up on my couch next to me and nestles her head against my chest. I trace the outline of her hair from her forehead and push it behind her ear. “That was a tough night for you.”

“Thank you for coming with me.”

“Anytime.” I understand why she needed me to come with her. I can only imagine how it would have been had I not been there. She and Hunter exchanged pretty harsh words. A lot more may have been said in my absence.

“You must think my family is crazy.” She moves her hand to my knee, cupping her fingers around the cap. I shift in my seat, trying to convince my body to calm down. Now is not the time to show my excitement. Sometimes it’s hard to tell my body to stand down, especially when Juliette’s hands are on me.

“Nah. Of course I don’t. Every family is crazy.” Mine included. We may seem normal to her but normality is relative. She may think my sister is your normal run-of-the-mill sibling, however, that’s just Courtney. She hasn’t met my crazy Uncle Henry or my super uptight Aunt Carol or my cousin Bryan who lives in a hut on the beach. She will, some day. Today is not that day.

“No. Yours isn’t. Your sister is awesome. Your niece is the most amazing girl I’ve ever met. I need to meet your other niece, too.”

I’m glad she wants to meet Audrey and that she thinks so highly of my sister. “You’ve never met my sister, remember?” I need to rectify that.

“I know. I want to. The way you talk about her, well, my brother would never talk about me like that.”

“In his defense, you aren’t exactly singing his praises, either.”

“Hey!” She sits up and pinches my arm.

“Whoa! Slow down, Juliette. I’m only kidding.”

She crawls on top of me, and I can’t hide the erection in my pants now. “Wow. You’re happy I’m here,” she says as she kisses my neck. Oooh.

“Of course I am.” I run my hands under the back of her shirt. Her skin is so soft, like the most delicate petals of a flower. “I hope it’s not too soon to say this.”

“Say what?”

I can’t tell her I love her. It is too soon for that. “I’ve never felt closer to anyone in my life.” That’s the truth. When I’m with Jules, I want to tell her everything, and anything I do tell her, I know she won’t judge me, and she’ll be there for me. In such a short time, I’ve found a new best friend, and I hope, eventually, a partner for life.

“Do you mean that?”

“Yes. I don’t say anything unless I mean it.” My connection with her is stronger than with anyone I’ve ever known. “And I’m sorry tonight was so hard on you.”

“Yeah, well, I know something else that’s really hard.”

She reaches down into my pants and wraps her warm hand around me. She strokes once, twice, and I want to flip her over on the couch and take her right then and there. I dream about all the things we can do to each other.

“Juliette,” I say as I stop myself from seducing her. “We should talk about what happened tonight.” Ugh, I want her so bad and she wants it, too, but this is important.

“No.” She unbuttons my pants. “We shouldn’t. Let’s do this instead.” The zipper comes down, and I pop out of my boxers.

She’s too vulnerable right now. She needs to process this evening, talk through the situation with her brother. As much as I don’t want it to, sex can wait until she’s in a better place.

“We’ll always have time for this.” I push myself back in and zip my pants up. “Let’s talk.” I fumble with the button, scratching myself before I finally close it.

“You want to talk?” She shifts her body weight back so she’s resting more on my knees now. “Right now? You want to talk rather than have sex with me?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to do it, but we should talk about how you’re feeling.”

“Why? What’s the point? Nothing will change. Am I upset? Yes. Am I sad? Kind of, I guess. Let’s move on.” She leans down to kiss me but I turn my head, her lips landing on my cheek instead. “Are you being serious right now?”

“Yes, I am. You can’t ignore tonight happened. You need to talk about it.”

She moves off me and sits next to me, crossing her arms as she sighs. This is our first argument, and I don’t like it. Regardless, we can’t avoid this.

“Well, I don’t want to talk about it. Can’t you respect that?”

She’s making a huge mistake. I want her to confide in me, tell me how she’s feeling, trust me enough to talk about this. If we reversed the situation, I’d pour my heart out right now. I know I would. There’s no bigger regret than bottling your emotions up so they explode at the wrong moment. Her exchange with her brother wasn’t good, and if she doesn’t talk about this and vent, I’m sure next time it will be worse.

“I can, though I really think we should talk about it.”

“I said no, okay?” She slams her hands on the couch like a young child throwing a tantrum.

“Fine.” I put my hands up and get off the couch. “You’re acting like a juvenile.”

“I’m what?”

“Stomping your hands on the cushion, crossing your arms and puffing your chest out? Those are all ways a teenager would react, Jules. I understand you’re upset, and you don’t want to have a conversation about this. I wish you trusted me.”

“It’s not that.”

“It certainly seems that way. You have a funny way of showing it.”

She blows out a breath. “I’m sorry for how I reacted. You’re right. I just don’t want to discuss it, okay? At least not right now.” She comes over to me and slides her hands around my waist to my back. “Can we please enjoy ourselves? I promise to make it worth your time.”

Her case is tempting, so much so that she only needs to run her fingernails up and down my back one time before she wins the case.