"So, are you guys like dating?"

"No, not really."

"Do you think she needs a new best friend? Her friends burned her pretty bad earlier today."

"No."

"Is she going to move to New York with you if you get the job?"

"No."

"Wait, Wells, does she even know you had an interview with the New York Times?"

I sigh. "No."

Nora's eyes widen. "Wells! Oh my god," she exclaims, lightly pushing my shoulder. And pauses briefly as she ponders. "Do you think maybe she'd want to go to trivia with me Tuesday night?"

"No."

"Wells," she groans, "are you going to say 'no' to everything?"

I glance up at the ceiling, taking a brief moment to consider. "No."

She grunts again. "Can you give me any details? Anything?"

I stand there, running a hand through my hair, hesitant to give her any details because, truthfully, I don't have any. I'm not sure where we really stand now that Juniper's friends found out— it was one of the things she didn't want to happen.

Reddit user shadowdragon19 suggested I should give her space, allow her some time to decompress. So, I planned on texting her later tonight, to give her some breathing room. But to be entirely honest, I kind of was hoping she'd texted me by now.

"She's not going to let it go, man," Liam says, patting a hand on my shoulder before strolling his way into the kitchen.

"He's right. I'm not," Nora says, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at me. "So you better tell me everything."

I take a deep breath, holding it for a moment before exhaling. "No. I think I need a drink." I pivot and head down the hall.

"Fine, I'll let it go for now," she relents as she follows me into the kitchen. "But I'm going to ask you later about it."

Liam's already here, rummaging through the pantry. He pulls out a bag of Doritos as I open the fridge and grab three beers, tossing one to Liam and holding another out to Nora.

She eyes the beer in my hand. "Mom's got to have something stronger than that." Striding over to the cabinet in the corner by the sink, she starts rummaging around.

"Ah ha!" she exclaims, triumphantly holding up a bottle of Baileys.

"I'm pretty sure my beer is stronger than that," Liam remarks, gesturing to it with the neck of his bottle.

Nora opens the bottle and takes a sniff, her face scrunching up in disgust.

"That's got to be expired," I say, popping the cap off my beer on the counter. "I've never seen Mom drink Baileys with anything."

"Maybe it's just—"

There's a knock at the door and I pause mid-drink, exchanging puzzled looks with Liam and Nora. Our game nights typically don't involve guests other than us.

"Who is that?" Liam wonders aloud. Another knock prompts us to turn our attention to the front door.

"You didn't invite Roxanna, did you?" I tilt my head at Nora, placing my beer on the counter.

She shakes her head, saying, "No! I promise. She started dating some cowboy from Wyoming anyway."

I head to the door and swing it open to reveal the back of Juniper's chestnut brown hair. She whirls around at the sound of the door. She's unchanged from when I last saw her earlier that afternoon. She's still dressed in those short jean shorts, a light greenish cropped ruffled shirt with delicate straps on her shoulders, and a pair of white sneakers.

A warm smile curves her lips, and more than ever, I want to press mine to hers. Taste how sweet I know her mouth would be. I've been itching to do so since the coffee shop. I wanted to track her down the moment Nora mentioned seeing her leave. I stepped into the storage room for a few minutes, and by the time I returned, she had already slipped out with her friends.

"Juniper," I say, attempting to hide the smile that's tugging at my lips.

"Hi," she responds softly, her smile widening.

"What are you doing here?"

She clears her throat and shifts her gaze to the floor. "I thought that now that my friends know about us," she meets my eyes, slightly squinting from the sun, "maybe we could spend time together outside of work hours, if that's something you'd be interested in."

"Oh?" I nod, unable to contain the smile now.

"Yes and I brought a bottle of wine," she says, holding the bottle up to show me.

"Wells!" Nora's voice echoes from the kitchen. "If it expired 6 months ago, is that too old?"

"Oh," Juniper whispers, her expression faltering as she pauses, shaking slightly. "You have company over."

"Um," I respond, glancing back toward the hallway leading to the kitchen. "Well, yeah, but—"

She takes a small step backward. "I'm sorry. I should have called," she says, shaking her head while her free hand finds its way to her temple. Nervously chuckling, she continues, "I shouldn't have just shown up. You probably have a whole life outside of work. What was I thinking, just coming here unannounced?"

She takes another step backward and nearly loses her footing, almost tripping off the edge of the stairs. Instinctively, I reach out to steady her, but she catches herself.

"Juniper," I start.

"Oops," she exclaims, readjusting herself. "I'm sorry. I'll leave." With a swift motion, she turns away.

"Juniper," I repeat, stepping out and gently gripping her elbow, guiding her back around. "Will you just wait," I say with a chuckle.

I draw her closer, turning her to face me, feeling all my senses engulfed by Juniper. She's everything I've missed. She smells like sugar and peaches, like sunshine and honey. "I'm sorry. I should have called," she says as I reach up to gently tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

Shaking my head, I ask, "Will you come inside?" She looks surprised by my question.

"You want me to come inside?"

"Yeah, I do. It's game night, and we could use another player," I reply, reaching down to take her hand, intertwining our fingers. I sense her body immediately soften as our hands come together.

"I don't want to interrupt."

"You're not interrupting. It's just my sister and her boyfriend."

"Oh, um." her brown eyes lock with mine, and I find myself pulling her a little closer. Leaning down, I gently press my lips against hers. A soft sigh escapes her as she leans her body into mine, causing a smile to form on my lips. "Okay," she whispers against me.

"Okay," I say, drawing back to take in her pretty face, those honey-brown eyes illuminated by the setting sun in the distance. "Come on."

I tug her hand gently, leading her up the steps onto the porch and into the house, guiding her to the kitchen where my sister is attempting to convince Liam to taste the expired Baileys. They both glance up as we walk in, freezing in place when they catch sight of Juniper standing beside me.

"Nora, you remember Juniper," I mention, turning to glance at Juniper, her hand still in mine. "Juniper, this is Liam, Nora's boyfriend, and my best friend from high school."

"Hi, Nora, and nice to meet you, Liam," Juniper says, offering a small wave. She clears her throat nervously as they both simply just stare. "Um, I brought wine," she adds, lifting the bottle to show them both.

Nora's eyes flick from Juniper to the bottle of wine she's holding out. "Oh, thank god," Nora exclaims, tossing the cup of Baileys down the drain. "I was about to get food poisoning from expired Baileys."

I like Nora. She's fun and funny. I like watching her banter with Wells – how they give each other a hard time. But I especially like how she's been helping me outsmart Wells in poker. I leaned over to her as Liam started dealing the cards and whispered, "I don't think I actually know how to play poker."

She looked at me with wide eyes and said, "Oh, this is going to be fun." And ever since, she's been helping me cheat and I've managed to beat Wells in the last three hands.

"Alright, I'll call," Wells declares, tossing his chips into the center of the table. I glance at Nora, and she subtly nods, indicating that he likely has a weak hand.

"I'm going all in," I announce, causing Wells to snap his head up from his cards, his brows knitting together in confusion.

I push my chips to the middle as he comments, "That's a big bet." I offer a casual shrug in response.

"Are you going to match me, or are you scared that I might beat you again?" There's a competitive glint in his eyes that tells me he's seeing it as a challenge.

"I'm all in," Wells states, sliding his chips confidently into the center. "Let's see what you've got."

Simultaneously, we lay our cards down, and Liam quickly examines them. "Wells has a straight, from five to nine. Juniper has a flush in hearts!" Liam announces. "Juniper wins again!" He laughs, adding, "Dude, she wiped the floor with you."

He looks a little upset, but in a cute way, snatching the cards from the table. "How did you know I had a bad hand last round?" he asks, his tone curious.

I playfully shrug, gathering the chips. "It's pretty easy to tell when you're bluffing Wells," I tease. "I've got all your tells figured out now."

"You do not," he retorts, narrowing his eyes at me. "What cards are in a Royal Flush?" he quizzes.

I pause, stacking the chips, stealing a glance at Nora. She mouths the answer, but I can't quite grasp it. Wells catches her and she halts abruptly, and he turns his attention back to me.

"Uh, it's when you have..." I glance back to Nora, she's attempting to mouth the answer again. But before she can, Wells catches her. Simultaneously, I blurt out, "All five kings?"

He stands up, catching the expressions on our faces, and glances from Nora to me before pointing his cards at Nora. "You're helping her cheat, aren't you?!"

"I was just giving her a few hints!" Nora shrugs, holding her hands up in defense. "She's never played poker before."

"You've never played before?" he exclaims, looking down at me. "You've got to be kidding me."

Nora and I burst into laughter, and I shake my head, still chuckling. "You!" he continues, leaning even closer. "I didn't even think you knew how to lie."

He leans in the rest of the way, pressing his lips to mine. He kisses me like it's just another Saturday, like we've kissed in front of people countless times before. Like it's not a big deal. And it all feels oddly normal, and for a brief instant, I'm almost tempted to lean in further.

He pulls away from my mouth, and I reach up to pat my lips with the back of my hand before clearing my throat. The table falls silent, prompting me to glance first at Liam, who has his beer bottle paused at his lips, then over to Nora, who's grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, I'm tired," Nora announces, breaking the silence. "Liam, let's go."

Notes

Someone tell me if I got the poker part right, because I've never played before!

Thank you everyone for reading, commenting, and voting. It truly means alot! ❤️