Page 59 of His Juliet

“Great, that should be here pretty soon.” There was barely enough space for both of us on the loveseat, and I took pleasure in stretching out so my thigh was pressed against hers and my arm lay against the back of the couch, inches from her shoulder. “What have you been up to today?” My fingers twirled the ends of her pink hair.

“Just this, I guess.” There was something vulnerable in her voice, in the way her shoulders hunched.

“Do you not celebrate Christmas? Or do you celebrate another day?”

Juliet’s fingers twisted in the sleeves of her sweatshirt. “I don’t have anyone to celebrate with.”

“What do you mean, baby?”

She cleared her throat and gave me a strained smile. “I didn’t mean for that to sound quite so pathetic. The closest person I have to family is Arturo. But he lives in New Jersey now and is spending Christmas with his grandchildren.” She took a deep breath. “But it’s not a big deal. It’s just a normal day for me.” There was a false brightness to her voice that I fucking hated.

For the first time, I resented my life. I hated that thisthingwith Juliet would always be temporary. Hated that I couldn’t just invite her over to spend Christmas with my friends because it would put her life at risk. Even with the Butcher gone, my Mafia life would never be safe for her. I’d been operating on instinct when I came over today, but it would have been better for her if I had continued staying away. The thought made my chest feel so tight it was hard to breathe.

“What have you been doing?” she asked.

“It’s been pretty quiet,” I hedged, guilt filling me. “Had some food with friends.”

“That’s really nice.”

“I missed you.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, but the way Juliet’s cheeks turned pink with pleasure made it worth it.

I was saved from saying anything else by a knock on the door.

“Is that our food? That was fast,” she said, pushing up from the couch. I did, too, moving in front of her so I would be the one to open the door. The urge to shield her from everything and everyone was strong.

I looked through the peephole and then swung the door open.

“Well, that’s not food,” she said.

* * *

“I really don’t needa TV or fancy gaming system.” Juliet fretted as the installation guys finished up.

I slung my arm around her shoulder. “That’s where you’re wrong. This is absolutely essential.”

There was a knock on the door. “That will be the food,” I said.

I grabbed the bags of Chinese from the delivery person, handing them a couple hundred dollars in cash as a tip. I did the same for the TV installation guys as they shuffled out.

“Romeo.” Juliet was looking around her place like she barely recognized it. I needed to get her a new couch and a bed. Pillows. Shelves for her books.

“Let’s choose a game to play while we eat. If you haven’t played before, Mario Kart is a good one to start with.”

When she didn’t move, I made her a plate overflowing with food, nudged her to the loveseat, and placed it on her lap.

33

JULIET

“Holddown this button to pick up items by running into them. If you get shells, you can keep them for protection or throw them at someone. I think that’s it. You’ll figure it out as we go.”

Yoshi bopped in his car on my screen while Baby Peach shouted things on Romeo’s.

Yes.Baby Peach.

“Here we go!”

The countdown started on my screen, and I fumbled with the controller. I’d never had access to video games growing up—one of my foster families had had a PlayStation, but I’d never been allowed to use it.

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