“You’re scared of the garage?”

  “Don’t judge me, Roman.”

  I laughed and kissed her cheek. “I’m not. I swear. It’s adorable.”

  She huffed but the way the corners of her mouth quivered, it looked like she was trying not to laugh.

  I flicked on the light in the garage. “Oh, shit. No wonder Mrs. Shields didn’t park the car in here.”

  “I know, right?”

  The space was full. A workbench took up one whole side of the garage and held more tools than I could identify. Cabinets loaded with even more tools lined the back wall. Lawn equipment was lined up in front of the workbench. I studied the big green riding mower. “Now, that’ll be nice in the spring. I won’t have to push a mower.”

  I found a wide walk-behind snowblower under a tarp. “Jackpot. I hope it runs.” There were several shovels to choose from in case I couldn’t get the snowblower started. So many options. I wasn’t sure where to start.

  “Oh my goodness.” Juliet pointed at my face. “Your eyes are lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.”

  I glanced around the garage and grinned. While it was a lot of stuff, Mr. Shields had kept everything neat and organized. “It’s a lot of machines and tools to play with, for sure.”

  “Well, I’ll leave you to it.” She squeezed my hand.

  School ended up being cancelled for Juliet. Good thing. It took forever to get the snowblower running and clear the driveway. But it felt good to be useful and do stuff with my hands. Put something together instead of tearing it apart.

  Cold, but happy, I stomped my way into the garage and stripped off my boots, overalls and coat. The warmth of the house blasted my cheeks when I entered the hallway. The oven hummed in the kitchen. Music drifted from the radio. If Juliet was cooking again, I’d be in heaven.

  She had her back to me when I entered the kitchen. Leaning over the counter, working on something. “Hey, I’m all done.”

  “Oh!” She jumped and turned with her hand pressed against her chest.

  I hurried over to her. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “It’s okay.”

  I glanced over her shoulder.

  My jaw dropped as I tried to process what she’d been working on. “Is that…are you making me a cake?”

  “Well, it was your birthday, right?” She curled her fingers in my shirt and pulled me closer. “That’s why you finally came home to me.”

  “Yeah,” I rasped, still staring at the cake. Round and covered with thick, white frosting, she’d been spelling Happy Birthday across the top with little chocolate chips when I interrupted. “I don’t think anyone’s made me a cake since I was five.”

  “It’s chocolate, with vanilla frosting.” She let out a frustrated huff. “Because that’s what I had here. But you can pick out something else when we go to the store—”

  “Nope. That sounds perfect.” I glanced at the oven. “What’s in there?”

  She shook her head. “Cookies. Just leave me a couple to take to school tomorrow.”

  “I’ll do my best. But I can’t make any promises.” I eyed the cake again. “Can we have some?”

  “It should go in the fridge for a bit. It’s still warm-ish.”

  I wasn’t above a little begging. “Please?”

  “As if I could say no to you.” She whirled around and opened the utensil drawer.

  “Wait.” I caught her around the waist and dragged her close again. “Kiss me, first.”

  “Roman,” she pressed her palms against my chest and stared up at me with more love than I deserved, “I’ll kiss you first, last, and forever. Just say when.”

  “Good.” My voice cracked. Her words soothed my ragged soul. “Because you’re my first, last, and forever.”

  “Mine too.” She stroked my cheek. “Always.”

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Roman

  After my return, Juliet and I created the domestic bliss we’d talked about before I was sent away.

  We made a good team. I helped her get ready in the morning. While she was at school, I explored the tools in the garage and taught myself how to fix up the equipment that hadn’t been maintained. I made a little cash by helping the neighbors clear their driveways whenever it snowed. Eventually, I needed to find a real job and figure out what I was doing with my life. I couldn’t sponge off Juliet forever.

  No matter how hard I tried to bury it, the bitterness from my time inside lingered. I finally understood all those stories Ulfric and Dex had shared. Why they rejected society’s rules and lived by their own. Not that I was ready to patch in to one of their clubs. Juliet was the only family I needed. She was the person I trusted with my life, and the only one in the world I’d die to protect.

  I kept an eye out for Juliet’s aunt and uncle. Swore one time I caught her uncle’s pickup truck do a slow drive-by of the house. By the time I made it outside, he was gone.

  One afternoon, close to winter break, Pip came home with Juliet.

  “What’re you doing here, kid?” I opened my arms but waited for him to come to me.

  He threw his arms around me and hugged me harder than I thought the kid was capable of, considering how much he hated people touching him.

  “Why didn’t you come back to school?” he mumbled against my shirt.

  I patted his back and gently returned the embrace.

  Over his shoulder, I caught Juliet’s glossy eyes.

  “No point. Got my GED while I was at the detention center.”

  He pulled away. “Squire and Janet got sent away not long after you. They admitted that they set you up. Why didn’t you come back?”

  “Wasn’t given the option.” I clasped his shoulder and ducked to meet his troubled eyes. “Who’s your roommate now?”

  “He’s younger than me.” He lifted his bony shoulders. “He’s all right. Still sucks his thumb. I tell the other kids to mind their business when they give him crap about it.”

  Pride that was almost painful spread through my chest. “Good job, kid.”

  “I promised Pip some of those brownies I made last night.” Juliet squinted at me, a playful smile teasing at the corners of her mouth. “You didn’t eat them all, did you?”

  “You hid them on me,” I accused.

  Her lips twitched. “Maybe.”

  She tilted her head, inviting Pip to follow her into the kitchen. He stepped lightly, almost tiptoeing, like he was afraid to leave a trace of his visit.

  I sat at the kitchen table with them. While he may have been glad to see me, Pip focused most of his attention on Juliet, peppering her with questions. She helped him with an assignment for history class while he snacked on brownies.

  It was a nice afternoon.

  “Thank you.” I curled my arm around Juliet’s shoulders once Pip had gone home.

  “He asks about you all the time.” She angled her head to look up at me. “I hope it was okay—”

  “It’s your house. You can invite whoever you want over.”

  Anger lit up her eyes. “It’s not my house. It’s our house.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  We rarely fought but when we did, it was about me finding a job. Juliet wanted me to enroll in classes at the local community college. I knew whatever Mrs. Shields had left Juliet was for her education, not mine. I’d find a job, eventually.

  Turned out, not a lot of places were eager to hire a juvenile delinquent with a GED and limited skills.

  We set that aside for the winter break. Too many crappy holidays as children, and the desire to feel like adults, led us to do the minimum. It wasn’t until the day before Christmas Eve that we got around to putting up a tree.

  She stood back, admiring the undecorated evergreen taking up a quarter of the living room. “Now that it’s here, I kind of like it.”

  “It smells nice.” I shrugged and handed her a string of lights. Besides all the tools, I’d unearthed a large collection of holiday decorations in the garage.

  Juliet studied the green wiry strand she was holding. “It’s weird, I don’t remember them decorating a lot during the holidays. I think Mrs. Shields would hang a Santa on the door and some bells and that was it.”

  “Maybe after their daughter moved out, they didn’t bother decorating.” I glanced at the boxes we’d dragged into the living room. “It’s a lot of work.”

  “I feel bad. If I’d known they had all this stuff, I would’ve helped her.” She scowled in the direction of the front door. “My aunt and uncle certainly never bothered to do anything.”

  “Hey.” I curled my fingers around hers, loosening her grip on the lights. “We’ll make our own traditions now. If you want to light up every inch of the house, we’ll do it. If you’d rather string up purple lights instead of red, white, and green, we can do that too.”

  One corner of her mouth curled up. “Purple? Where are we going to find purple lights?”

  “You want purple? I’ll find you purple.”

  “Nah.” She stretched the lights between us and started lacing them through the tree branches. “Turquoise. That’s my color.”

  Even though Juliet liked to cook, I was determined to learn a few skills of my own. For Christmas Eve, I made lasagna and didn’t burn down the house. We were finishing up when someone knocked on the front door.

  We both stared at it like a serial killer was waiting on the other side.

  “I’ll get it.” I pushed away from the table. “Stay here.”

  I peered through the small window and blew out a relieved breath. “It’s Dex,” I said over my shoulder.

  I opened the door and his eyes widened. He stepped back and leveled a stern stare at me. I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked my head.

  “Uncle Dex! You’re back.” Juliet rushed past me to hug him.

  I stepped aside for him to come in the house. He shoulder-checked me as he walked by.

  And here I thought we were old pals.

  “We were just finishing dinner. Roman made the most amazing lasagna. There’s still some left if you’re hungry. I made cheesecake too.” Juliet chattered at him a mile a minute, either not noticing or ignoring his frosty attitude toward me.

  “Sure,” Dex answered slowly. “I can’t stay long, though. I have to work tonight.”

  “On Christmas Eve?” Juliet protested.

  “One of the busiest nights in the entertainment industry.”

  I snorted. Entertainment. Please.

  Other than that slight lapse, I was quiet while he and Juliet caught up. I sipped my coffee and bided my time.

  Juliet stood and rested her hand on my shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

  Dex watched her leave, then zeroed in on me. “Are you living with her now?”

  “What’s your issue?”

  “My issue is you taking advantage of her.”

  Damn if he didn’t know right where to poke. My confident attitude slipped. “I’m not taking advantage.”

  “No? Let me guess, you got out of jail—”

  “Juvenile detention. For something I didn’t even do,” I corrected.

  “Right,” he scoffed. “You got out of kiddie prison and aged out of care, right?”

  I set my jaw in a firm line and crossed my arms over my chest. He didn’t need me to answer since he knew everything.

  “It was a stroke of luck, that woman leaving this to Juliet.” He raised a hand, indicating the house. “So, you’re thinking, what? You’ll move in and live off her like a tick?”

  “No,” I growled. It was a testament to how much I loved Juliet that I didn’t clean his fucking clock.

  “Uncle Dex.” Juliet’s harsh voice pierced our glaring contest. “Don’t you dare talk to Roman like that.” She hurried to my side of the table and stood next to me, her leg brushing against my side. “You have no right.”

  “I’m worried about you, Julez.”

  “I haven’t seen you in months. You’ve been off riding the wind,” she sneered.

  Dex winced.

  But Juliet wasn’t finished. “Then, you show up unannounced and immediately start hassling the one person who actually cares about me?”

  “I care about you.”

  “Yes,” she said with a heavy dose of sarcasm. “The post cards you sent from the road were lovely. They didn’t do me a lot of good when I was scared here all by myself, worried Uncle Jared would come looking for me.”

  I tilted my head and stared at her. She always seemed so brave. It hurt knowing she’d been so scared and alone while I was away. I nudged her hand with my knuckle and she curled her fingers around mine.

  “He hurt you?” Dex snarled.

  “That’s not the point.”

  “The hell it isn’t.”

  She ground her teeth. “I love you, Uncle Dex. And I’m happy to see you. But you don’t get to show up whenever it’s convenient for you and play paternal protector.”

  Oof. Those last words landed on Dex hard. I almost felt bad for the guy. His shoulders slumped and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Juliet, I’m not trying to play anything. I’ve known guys—”

  “What’s changed?” Juliet snapped. “You liked Roman well enough before to help him find a job.”

  It was an odd experience sitting in the middle of their argument—about me—and not speaking up. But this seemed to be about more than my presence. Anything I said would’ve made things worse. Plus, I enjoyed this feisty side of Juliet.

  “I felt bad for him being railroaded through the system. But—”

  “He still got railroaded!” Juliet exploded. “Not that it’s even your business, but did you bother to ask if he even did what they accused him of?”

  Dex focused on me and raised an eyebrow.

  “Seriously?” I asked. “You’re concerned with my guilt or innocence?” He remembered that I watched him beat a man half to death once, right?

  His mouth twitched, as if he understood the irony, but he continued waiting for my answer.

  “No. A guy and girl in my group home set me up.” I squeezed Juliet’s hand. “I never would’ve done anything to get taken away from her.” My throat burned. “I didn’t want to leave. For once, I liked the school I was at. Liked my job. You think I felt like getting my GED in kiddie jail instead of graduating with my class? I didn’t. And I sure as fuck didn’t enjoy getting the shit beaten out of me as entertainment for the guards.”

  Juliet gasped. In my fury, I’d gone one too far. Revealed too much.

  Dex sat back and sighed. “I’m sorry, kid.” Red tinted his cheeks. “I know how the system grinds people up and spits ’em out. I also know every inmate claims he’s innocent.”

  “It’s really not up to you, either way,” Juliet said.

  “I suppose you’re right.” He sat back and drummed his fingers over the table. “You’re not even eighteen, Juliet.”

  “You and Aunt Debbie met in high school,” she said gently.

  “And look where that got us,” he muttered.

  Having Juliet in my corner was great and all, but it was time for me to speak up. “Dex, I’m trying. Trust me. I know I don’t have shit to offer her. But I’ll do anything and everything to keep her safe and make her happy.”

  “You already do,” Juliet said.

  “Ah, fuck. I said I’m sorry.” Dex pinned me with a sincere stare. “You want me to sing it in a song too?”

  “Could ya?” I asked.

  “Well.” Juliet clapped her hands. “Since I’m not kicking you out, would you like some coffee with the cheesecake?”

  Dex chuckled. “Yeah, thank you.”

  She kept her eye on us while she gathered things in the kitchen.

  “Have you been able to find a job?” Dex asked.

  “Uncle Dex,” Juliet warned.

  “I’m just making conversation!”

  “Not yet,” I answered.

  “He’s taking care of all the things I can’t do around here by myself,” Juliet said. “Suddenly caring for a home at seventeen has been a little overwhelming.”

  “Got your driver’s license yet?” Dex asked me.

  “We’re practicing,” Juliet answered for me.

  “Jesus Christ, you his fuckin’ lawyer now, Julez?” Dex sliced his arm through the air in exasperation. “Let the kid speak.”

  “She’s a good driving instructor.” I smirked at him. “And yes, I’m looking for a job too.”

  “You can get your job with Ulfric back in the spring,” Dex said. “He’s asked about you. Swears you’re the best worker he’s ever had.”

  “Yeah? That’s nice to hear.” Hadn’t done me much good. Not like Ulfric bothered to vouch for me when I got sent to the Castle. Although, that might be unfair. I doubt it would’ve mattered. “I don’t want to wait until spring, though.”

  “If I hear of something, I’ll let you know.”

  “Thanks.”

  Juliet set the cheesecake in the middle of the table.

  “Now that we’re finished grilling Roman about his employment prospects,” Juliet side-eyed her uncle, “I need his assistance in the kitchen.”

  I followed her to the kitchen counter. She set out three mugs, creamer, and sugar. “Will you take that to the table, please.”

  I leaned down and kissed her cheek, then whispered in her ear, “Thank you.”

  We brought out the coffee and plates for the cheesecake.

  Whatever had crawled up Dex’s ass seemed to have gone away. He told us about the trip he’d taken and didn’t harp on my lack of employment again, but an uneasiness still hung in the air.

  Finally, he glanced at his phone. “I gotta get to work. Thank you, Julez.”

  She walked him to the door while I cleaned the table.

  A few minutes later, she returned with a small green envelope and set it on the table. “Christmas present.”

  A sadness in her voice stopped me mid-dish-rinse. “You okay?”

  “Are you? Dex was awfully rude.”

  “Yeah.” My lips curved up and I moved closer to her, slipping my hands around her waist. “You were pretty badass defending your man.”

  “Damn right. I have your back, Roman.” She bit her lip. “I feel bad, though. The dig about him being out on the road…every year he goes on a long road trip around the time Debbie died. I think it helps him forget. I shouldn’t have said that. But he ticked me off.”