“It’s difficult, grieving the relationship and the change in your life, while at the same time being happy for your sister and Sidney. For what it’s worth, I’m very proud of you.”

“Thank you.”

“How are things going with you and Lou?”

“Good. I understand why the Tribunal is concerned and everything, but I feel like Lou is the one really good thing to come out of this. And I’m not just saying that because—” I stumbled a little. The other nice thing about corpse pose is that you were supposed to close your eyes, so Juliet couldn’t look at my face. I didn’t mind talking about sex, but our situation was a little awkward and it was easier to talk about it if I didn’t have to look at her. I was also struggling with how to say it. I have never liked the phrase “being intimate” and “making love” always sounded weird. “Fucking” seemed dismissive, as did “banging.”

Words were hard.

Juliet solved the dilemma for me. “Going at it like rabbits?”

I had a sudden image of Lou this morning, hair tousled from sleep, her eyes closed as she rode me slowly. My alarm had gone off early so I could get down to the kitchen space to prep for the food truck. The predawn had etched her face lovingly as her hips ground slowly on mine. The rocking motion had sent her breasts swaying until I leaned up enough to taste them.

I couldn’t get enough of Lou’s skin. She was made to be savored, and this morning I’d done my best to do so. I’d almost been late to work.

And the sounds she made when I—wait, what were we talking about?

Right. Rabbits.

I filed away the memories of this morning for later. Nothing worse than popping wood in therapy and corpse pose would make it really evident. “I see you’ve spoken to your sister.”

“At length, yes.”

I heard her move, so I turned my head and opened my eyes.

Juliet’s blue eyes were gleeful. “You can’t hide things from the ferrets, Declan. They see all. They hear all. They know all.” She grinned. “I’m just glad I didn’t see all.” She pointed a finger at me. “Lock your door. No one wants to walk in on that business.” Her expression smoothed out. “Though there’s nothing wrong with any of it. Sex is a very natural thing, and as long as you two are keeping communication open and you’re doing well, then I’m happy.” She scrunched her nose. “I just don’t want to walk in on it. That’s not something I want to discuss with my therapist.”

“You see a counselor?”

“A lot of counselors do.” Juliet made a snorting noise and sat up. “And besides, you’ve met my father, right?”

“Repeatedly.”

“I’m sorry,” Juliet said, getting up and grabbing her water bottle.

I grabbed my own bottle, taking a long swig. “You studied my dad in school. It’s not like I’m going to judge you.”