Forbidden Love

44

Luna

Corey's going to murder me. Corey's going to murder me. Corey's going to murder me. The words play in my mind repeatedly. I'm seriously going to die.

"Are you sure about this?" Jaxon asks the second we make it to my back door.

"Shut up!" I hiss and push my finger to his mouth. He blinks and I immediately take my finger off. I have to focus on one thing. Getting inside. "Stay here, I'll be back."

I sneak around the front and open the door with my key. "I'm home!" I call out.

"Hey." Joseph peeks his head out from my parents' room.

"Hi."

"You look exhausted." He tilts his head and leans against the door.

"I've had a long day." I admit.

He scratches his arm. "I'm gonna stay with Mom for a bit if you don't mind."

"You will?"

"Well, you look tired and she's sleeping anyway. I just..." He trails off but I've heard enough. He wants to spend some time with her before she's gone. Maybe I'm being selfish. Maybe I should send Jaxon home and stay with my mom, but Joseph really wants to stay, so I smile.

"Thanks."

He nods and walks into the room, closing the door behind him. I wait a few minutes before heading to the back. Jaxon is picking at a plant when I open the door. "Are you gonna sit here and garden all day or are you coming?"

He makes a face and follows me in the house, up the stairs, to my room. I shut the door and lock it behind us as quickly as possible. I let out a breath when it locks.

Jaxon sighs. "Oh, I was hoping to head over to Corey's room. I'm sure he'd love to see me."

I roll my eyes. "He'd kill you. Plus, he took an extra shift at work today."

He quirks an eyebrow up. "And your dad?"

"Working."

"Juliana? Joseph? Your mom?"

I like how he added my mom in even though he knows she's not even capable of knowing who in the world he is. "Juliana's not home and Joseph's with my mom who's currently sleeping."

"So, we're technically alone." He takes a step closer to me.

"Technically," I shrug as he closes the small distance between us and trails a hand down my arm. Suddenly I feel nervous. Too nervous. I quickly step back but I hit the wall. "Jaxon—" I don't finish my sentence. He just grins knowingly and turns to pick up the book on the floor that I threw across the room the other day. I hadn't gotten around to cleaning it up yet. Oops. "I was mad at the ending and..."

His grin hasn't left his face. "At me?"

I nod my head and take the book from him, letting myself relax a little. I put it on my shelf with the rest of my books. I hear him let out a small laugh.

"What?"

"Nothing," He shakes his head. "It's just you read a lot."

He's right. I have a ton of books. I've read all of them more than once. They're piled in various stacks in my room.

"I do."

He sits on my bed and frowns. "No wonder you have sucky sleep. You read too much, and this bed is uncomfortable."

I smack his arm. "It's not that uncomfortable."

"Whatever you say." He shrugs and sits up against the pillows. "What's your favorite book?"