Callum, p.11
Callum, page 11
Juniper and I watch her trot down my porch steps and out to the street to the waiting Uber.
“That was nice,” Juni murmurs, watching as the car pulls away. “Thank you for arranging that.”
“I’m glad you had a good time.” I turn to the door, waiting for Juniper to precede me inside. She sways only slightly but catches herself before I can reach out to steady her. A small giggle escapes as she steps into the living room.
I grin as I follow her in, locking the door behind me and setting the alarm.
Juniper walks to the kitchen and I meander after her, watching as she tidies up by tossing empty pizza boxes and sliding leftovers into Ziploc bags. I pick up a rag, wet it and work on wiping the counters. Surprisingly, I don’t get chastised for daring to help, which would diminish the role she’s claimed for herself as domestic goddess to show her appreciation for what I’ve done.
“Joshua systematically cut me off from all my friends after we got married.”
The admission jars me and my head whips her way. “What?”
“You remember my girls, right?” I nod, because Juniper had an amazing group of friends from high school that remained tight even though they went to other colleges. “Eliza, Carrie, Heather, Tina… one by one, I lost them all.”
“How?” That doesn’t make sense or seem possible.
Juniper shrugs as she leans against the counter. “I’d like to blame it fully on Joshua, but I guess it’s my fault too.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “It started benignly enough. Every time they wanted to go do something, he’d want me to decline because he’d want to take me somewhere special instead. Then he’d complain if I did hang out with them. I’d have to defend my friends and it led to big arguments, so it became easier to just not hang out with them as much. Next thing I know, I’m not seeing them at all. They just sort of faded away and I can’t blame them. I didn’t give them anything of myself so why would they want to stay friends.”
My anger flares hot. “Or they could have wondered why you were pulling away and tried to check on you.”
“I think they tried,” she assures me. “But I wasn’t about to admit that I’d made a horrible mistake marrying Joshua. That he hit me. I was so embarrassed, and… just admitting that to you is horrifying.”
It’s a struggle not to move to her, take her in my arms… reassure her she’s got nothing to be ashamed of. But with her arms crossed, I can tell it would not be well received. She’s closed off tight.
I rely on words. “You need to let that go, Juniper. You did the best you could with the shitty situation you were in. Joshua manipulated your entire life and—”
“I let him do it,” she quips.
“He had you between a rock and a hard place with your dad. The way I look at it, you suffered and sacrificed so your dad could have the best care. Maybe reframe how this all went down and stop seeing yourself as a victim. You’re a survivor.”
My tone is soft but I know my words are a little harsh. Yet I also know Juniper very well and she doesn’t like things to be sugarcoated—she doesn’t like being pandered to and she appreciates honest talk.
It must work because her arms fall away and her demeanor softens. She offers me a dim smile. “You’re right. I know that.”
My smile back to her is a bit brighter and I add a wink. “And now… you’ve got four new girlfriends and to be honest, I know they’ll pull in the rest of the Titan Queens at some point.”
“Titan Queens?” she asks.
“They even have T-shirts. You’ll love them.”
Juniper frowns in confusion. “A T-shirt?”
“Yup,” I reply, throwing my thumb toward the formal front room I turned into my home office. “I’m going to get a little more work done.”
Juniper yawns, stretching her arms over her head. “I think I’m going to grab a shower and hope it sobers me the rest of the way up. It’s way too early to go to sleep.”
I try not to notice the way her T-shirt rides up to expose a little of her stomach or the way the material pulls taut over her breasts. I most definitely try not to think what she’d look like naked in the shower. I mean, I know what she looks like. Been naked in the shower with her lots of times.
My groin tightens and I turn away from Juniper. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“See ya,” she replies and heads toward the staircase.
With every step I take toward my office, I can’t get the image of a naked, soapy Juniper out of my head, her hands spreading bubbles over her breasts, down her stomach, in between her—
“Fuck,” I groan, my dick now going full-on hard like a schoolboy who got his first peek at a girl’s panties. I hear the upstairs shower come on and the imagery intensifies.
I breeze past my office and traverse the short hall to the first-floor master suite. I dressed casually for the office today, wearing a button-down and nice jeans. I kick off my shoes, remove my shirt and whip the white tee underneath over my head. I head into the bathroom with every intention of taking a shower where I’ll fuck my fist to the thoughts of Juniper upstairs.
And now… I don’t feel like a creep at all doing it. I’ve thought about her on more than one occasion over the years when getting myself off.
Just as I’m reaching in to turn on the water, a bloodcurdling scream reverberates throughout the house and fear sizzles through me.
I’ve never heard Juniper scream and I bolt from my bathroom, leap over the end corner of my bed to cut distance and careen out the door, which catches my shoulder. I mumble a curse as I slip across the hardwoods in my socks but gain traction on the carpeted staircase. I take the steps three at a time and I’m betting no more than ten seconds elapsed from that scream until I’m bursting through her bedroom door, which was closed but not locked.
The upstairs master is much smaller than the downstairs, but it sits at the rear of the house with a beautiful view of the woods beyond the backyard. There’s a small bathroom with a tub and shower and I waste no time running in.
My heart thunders so hard it takes me a second to process that Juniper is completely naked, her hands clutched over her heart as she stares into the shower.
“What is it?” I gasp.
Juniper shrieks, glancing over her shoulder at me briefly before grabbing at the shower curtain. She pulls it away from the tub and across the front of her body. “What are you doing in here?” she shrills.
“You screamed,” I growl back, my relief at not finding her battling a serial killer so intense, I’m a little pissed. “What happened?”
She points a shaking finger to the tub. “There’s a spider.”
My eyes don’t leave hers. “A spider?” I demand. “You screamed bloody murder because of a spider?”
“It must have been on the faucet,” she exclaims in defense. “And it skittered across my hand. It’s huge. You would have screamed too.”
“Doubt it,” I grumble.
“And why are you naked?” she sneers.
“I’m not naked. My shirt is off.”
“You were going to work,” she accuses, and I know she’s putting me on the defense because she’s embarrassed to find me in her bathroom while she’s nude.
“Yeah, well, I changed my mind. Decided to… um… get a second workout in today.”
Juniper’s eyes roam over my chest and she waves her hand. “But why? You’re already cut.”
I glance down at my chest and abs. They involuntarily contract knowing that Juni’s eyes are on me, and a six-pack pops out. I work hard for it too. At least my hard-on was quelled when she screamed or else this would’ve been embarrassing on a whole new level.
“I mean,” Juniper says softly, and my gaze snaps back up to find her not just looking but ogling. She snorts, then giggles but never takes her eyes off my torso. “Like… you’re just as cut as you were when you were a young man.”
I frown, not sure if that’s a compliment. “Are you calling me old?”
Her eyes meet mine and she smirks, but she uses her free hand to draw an X over the shower curtain that rests across her chest. “Promise I’m not calling you old.”
She giggles again.
“You’re drunk,” I say dismissively and then turn to the tub to take care of the original source of her angst.
And well… damn… it’s a pretty big fucking spider but they’ve never bothered me. I can see why she’d scream though if it caught her unaware.
I nab a tissue off the back of the toilet and scoop up the spider. I turn toward the bowl, intent on flushing it, but Juniper yells, “No… don’t kill it.”
Rolling my eyes, I offer her the tissue and spider. “Do you want it?”
She cringes, trying to melt backward into the wall while still clutching the shower curtain in front of her. Pointing with her free hand, she says, “Let it go outside.”
“Jesus, Juni. Still a regular fucking Snow White with the critters.”
I act affronted as I leave the bathroom but truthfully, that was the real Juniper Ryan. The woman who wanted to save even the creepiest of little creatures and found joy in the songs of birds. It’s nice to see it.
So there’s a smile on my face as I trot down the staircase to let the spider go per her request.
With that done, I head back to my bedroom. The desire to jack off is gone, but I’m still feeling good about Juniper’s afternoon. I want to see her happy and today was a good day for her. I change into a pair of sweatpants and another T-shirt. In the kitchen, I grab a bottle of water and then settle into my home office to watch game video of the players I’m going to attempt to acquire the day after tomorrow when the free agency period opens. I’ve been over the video already, but I want to watch it again. Later I’ll go over the stats sheets as well as the financial matrix that the accounting department put together. I can plug in and remove players and the cap will automatically adjust.
I’m deep into watching a compilation of hits that Rafferty Abrams put on his opponents last season when there’s a knock on the door. It’s not closed, but it’s Juniper’s way of making sure not to intrude.
I hit pause and smile at her. She’s wearing leggings and a tank top, her hair is partially dried and her face is free of makeup. She looks fucking sexy as hell. “What’s up?”
Juniper walks in, holding her phone. She settles into one of two wingback chairs I have by the window and curls her bare feet under her. “Julia called when I was in the shower. I need to call her back but thought maybe… um…”
Her words trail off and her gaze drops to the phone cradled in her lap.
“Thought what, Juni?” I ask, intentionally using her nickname. It’s informal and I hope it makes her feel closer to me as a friend.
Her head lifts and she tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’d like you to be involved in the conversation. I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing and I’m afraid that maybe I’m not able to be objective. When I last talked to Julia, she wanted to know so much information and I’ve got all these emotions swirling around that… that… I’m afraid I’ll say or do something wrong.”
“I’d be glad to,” I assure her, then nod to her phone. “Want to give her a call right now?”
Juniper nods with a smile and dials the attorney. I rise from my desk and move over to the other chair angled by the window. Juniper puts the phone on speaker and sets it on the small table between us.
The lawyer answers with formality. “Julia Bend.”
“Hi… it’s Juniper Ryan.”
“Hey, Juniper.” Julia’s tone softens, exuding a warmth reserved for clients you can tell the woman truly likes. “How are you?”
“Settling in nicely. I’m sorry I missed your call. I’ve got Callum listening in.”
“I finally heard from Joshua today,” Julia says, and I can’t help but notice that Juniper’s fingers, which are laced together, turn white at the knuckles as she tightens her grip.
The asshole has been completely nonresponsive to Julia’s repeated requests to open discussions. Juniper doesn’t need his permission to file for divorce and all she has to show is they’re incompatible and the court will grant it, but there’s a lot of money to divide up.
“And what did he say?” Juniper asks, fingers twining nervously.
I can’t fucking help myself. I reach over and take her hands in mine, stilling the movement and grazing my thumbs over her skin soothingly.
Her eyes come to mine and we stare at each other as Julia fills us in. “He said he’s not going to cooperate. Says he doesn’t owe you anything.”
“And that’s it?” Juniper inquires.
“No, he said a lot more. A lot of assholish things I won’t bore you with. But none of it matters. This is a community property state and you’re entitled to half of what he has.”
“I don’t really want it,” Juniper says, her gaze dropping from me to the phone. “Just enough to take care of my dad.”
“While that’s admirable of you to say,” Julia says dryly, “for what this man put you through, you deserve so much more. And I’m going to get it for you.”
Julia has her fighting gloves on and I know we chose well in an attorney. My question is more direct. “What exactly will you have to do to finalize the divorce and get Juniper what she deserves?”
“I’ll file some papers with the court to start the action but if he fights us every step of the way, it will take months. I’d like Juniper’s permission to play a little hardball with him right now.”
“What would you do?” Juniper asks.
“I want to give him a deadline by which to provide me all the financial information I requested so I can evaluate the assets. If he doesn’t, I’ll make it clear that we’ll be making claims for spousal support based on physical abuse—”
“No,” Juniper exclaims, launching right out of the chair and tearing her hands free of mine. “I don’t want my business being splashed around.”
“Juniper,” Julia says, her tone conciliatory. “It’s merely a tactic to get him to comply. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”
“This is becoming too complicated,” she says. I hear the panic in her voice, so I stand and move straight into her. I pull her into my arms just like I did in the hotel room and hug her. She turns her head to the side so that she can still talk to Julia via the speakerphone. “Why does he have to make it so complicated?”
“Because he’s a narcissistic jackass,” I answer the question. Pulling back slightly, I tip Juniper’s chin up. “You need to hold him accountable, Juniper. You can’t let him get away with everything he’s done to you. With what he’s taken away from you.”
That last bit is a pointed reminder that Joshua took away her baby and it strikes hard. I see agony well up in Juniper’s eyes but she blinks only once, and fury is in its place.
She nods at me and then says to Julia, “Okay… you have my permission to play hardball with him. Make him give you what you need or take him down any way you deem feasible.”
“I’ll still consult you before I make any moves, but this gives me enough to get a letter off to him. I think I’ll have it served personally today. I’m going to give him a two-week deadline.”
“That’s a long time,” I muse as Juniper and I break apart. “Why so generous?”
“So he can’t go bitching to the court that I didn’t give him enough time. This way he can’t complain later.”
“Makes sense,” Juniper murmurs, then leans over to nab her phone. Holding it up, her voice sounds stronger. “Do what you need to and keep me updated.”
“I will,” Julia promises.
“And thank you for taking my case. I know this isn’t going to be easy.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
After Julia hangs up, Juniper turns to me. “Thank you again for hiring her. Once I get my divorce settlement, you know I’ll pay you ba—”
Her voice is cut off by my hand over her mouth. “I don’t want to hear any talk of paying me back.”
Juniper’s mossy eyes flash with irritation, a look I’ve missed over the years. Hell, I’ve missed her quick-to-action temper over minor slights. Cute as fuck and often would lead to arguments that weren’t all that heated but still prolonged because we knew the makeup sex would be great.
Taking my wrist, Juniper shoves my hand away. “I’m paying you back every dime.”
“Fine,” I reply, tapping her on the nose, a signature move I used to do to let her know I thought she was adorable. “But please stop thanking me and promising to pay me back. I get it. I’ll get my money back and I’ll gladly accept it if it makes you feel better. But you don’t have to keep saying it, okay?”
“Okay,” she grumbles. “Just as long as you’re clear I’m grateful.”
“I’m clear.”
“Okay.”
“Fine.”
After a few seconds of silence, we grin at each other.
It prompts me to an act of spontaneity. “I’m going to take time off tomorrow. Want to go do some sightseeing?”
“Surely you want to spend your time off do—”
My hand goes back over her mouth and she quickly slaps it away with a glare.
I laugh. “I would love to show you the city, okay? Stop thinking you’re such a bother.”
“Fine,” she retorts, turning for my office door. “Stop being so bossy though. And stop putting your hand on my mouth. Next time I’ll bite it.”
“Next time I’ll just gag you,” I reply.
“In your dreams,” she tosses back over her shoulder as she sashays out the door.
And yes… my eyes are pinned on her ass the entire time.
CHAPTER 16
Juniper
“This is amazing.” I twist on the bench to look out the window of the funicular as it climbs Mount Washington. Callum sits beside me, taking in the city of Pittsburgh as it’s unveiled with the gentle clanking of gears and whatever mechanisms make this marvel slide up the mountain.
It’s a beautiful summer day without a cloud in the sky. The car creaks slightly and I’m admittedly a little unnerved given that this thing is rising four hundred feet in the air. While assuredly very safe, it’s also old. Regardless, I am lost to the sparkle of the river waters bridged by yellow-painted steel and the rise of city buildings beyond.
