Don't Mess with the Girl with Candy novel Chapter 1346

At the sound, all three of them instinctively whipped their heads around.

Shanley stood frozen in place, his eyes darting frantically between Luella and Jimmie. Shock was painted across his devastatingly handsome face.

Times had changed, and two men falling in love wasn't exactly earth-shattering news. He was just genuinely baffled as to how these two specific personalities managed to—

Never mind.

He supposed he'd have to start calling Luella "Brother-in-law" soon. He needed to keep his composure.

He wasn't panicking. He totally wasn't panicking.

"It's fine." Shanley rapidly schooled his features, forcing out a smile that looked worse than a grimace. "Slipped right out of my hand. Lost my grip."

With that, he quietly grabbed some paper towels, picked up the shards of glass, and tossed them into the trash.

"I'm going to go make Juniper some fresh juice! You guys keep talking, pretend I'm not here!"

Shanley bolted into the kitchen and immediately gripped the edge of the counter, staring out the window and gasping for air.

*Damn it.*

Catching them in the act was a lot to process.

***

Back in the living room.

Juniper pulled her gaze back from the kitchen, lifting her chin to stare intently at Jimmie. "I didn't quite catch that. What did you just say?"

Luella kicked Jimmie under the table. The plan was just to admit they were dating. Why did he have to spill absolutely everything?!

Jimmie laced his fingers through Luella's, looking at her with an overwhelmingly tender gaze. Luella pressed her lips together, her frustration instantly melting away.

Whatever. She didn't care anymore. If Juniper got mad, she'd just blame it all on Jimmie. Which was fair, honestly. He was the one who used his sex appeal to seduce her. Lock him up!

"What do you mean, 'sleeping together'?" Juniper blinked, projecting an expression of absolute innocence.

There were plenty of ways to interpret sleeping together. For example, in the past, she and Shanley had literally just shared a bed to sleep. Of course, things had escalated since then, *ahem*.

So which version were Jimmie and Luella talking about?!

"Juice." Shanley walked back into the room right on cue, sitting down beside Juniper. He tried his absolute hardest to look calm. "I added some lemon. Drink up. It'll help you cool off."

"Wait, you guys aren't—"

Juniper didn't have the patience for juice. She jumped to her feet, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to figure out who to yell at first.

"Juniper!" Assuming she was struggling to accept the same-sex relationship, Shanley immediately grabbed her shoulders, forcing a supportive tone. "It's completely normal. Love hits you when you least expect it. You can't control it. As for the sleeping together part..."

Shanley shot a highly conflicted look at Jimmie, the corner of his mouth twitching as he forced a tolerant smile. "So you slept together. It's the 21st century. It's completely normal."

"Jimmie, Luella..." Shanley looked between the two of them, trying to offer his blessing, but his voice suddenly caught. "I wish you both..."

He hesitated for a long time, completely unable to force out the rest of the sentence.

Forget it. If he couldn't even process this, how could Juniper? Her brother figure and his buddy hooking up.

Yeah...

"Just give me a minute to process this before I finish congratulating you," Shanley muttered, looking away with a heavy sigh.