but it’s as if she’s trying to tell me that something is different now. That something is changing her. Or someone. That she feels more comfortable to face her past.
I inch my fingers across the floor until they intertwine with hers. She blinks at our laced hands and looks up at me. “You look cute covered in Nick Lachey’s face.”
She shakes her head, but her smile grows. “You found the note I kept, didn’t you?”
“Oh yeah. Several days ago.”
And then, like magic, June leans her head on my shoulder. Honestly, I’m afraid to move. She’s an exotic bird that has just landed on me, and if I shift even an inch, she’ll fly away.
I slowly lean my head back against the door and breathe her in. Her hair smells like oranges again today, and my hand aches to run down her smooth legs. But I don’t move.
“Ryan?” I don’t like her tone. It feels like she’s about to take flight. “When do you leave for Chicago?”
“When I do.”
“Seriously. You’re going to leave soon. We need to talk about that.” I can see what she’s doing—trying to sabotage us before we even get going. But I’m not going to let her.
Batten down the hatches.
“No, we don’t. We’ll figure everything out as we go. No need to have all the answers now.”
“I don’t like that.”
“I know.” I can’t resist any longer, so I kiss her head. “Trust me.”
“I don’t like doing that either.”
“I know that, too.”
She takes a deep breath, and I feel her shoulders rise and fall against my side. We sit here, in this oddly peaceful state, for several minutes until her phone buzzes. It’s sitting on the floor beside her, so I’m able to see the name HUNTER FROM PARTY flash across her screen. My first instinct is to take a hammer and pound her phone into dust. But since that would make me look the tiniest bit domineering, I decide to swing heavily the opposite way instead.
“Go ahead.” I nod toward the phone. It’s clear by the way June is chewing the corner of her mouth that she does not want to open that text around me, so I do what I do best and taunt her. “Gone soft on me, June Bug? Surely you’re not worrying about my feelings?”
She flashes a glare at me from under her lashes. “I know what you’re doing.”
“Is it working?”
She snatches her phone from the floor and swipes it open. “Yes.”
Our eyes both scan the words, and I try very hard not to find that hammer.
HUNTER FROM PARTY: Hey June! Sorry I’m just now getting around to texting you. The past few weeks have been insane from work, but I haven’t stopped thinking about you and wanting that date. Any chance you’re free tomorrow night and want to go to an art crawl with me?
“Who is he?” I ask, making sure to keep my voice neutral and calm.
She shrugs. “Just a guy I met at Logan's birthday party a few weeks ago.”
June isn’t smiling, and for some reason, that gives me hope. So much of me wants her to text this Hunter guy back and tell him to go jump off a bridge, but then I remember what Bonnie told me. Inch her in.
“You should go. Sounds fun,” I say, but I don’t move my hand away from hers. Whether she likes it or not, this hand belongs to me now.
“Are you kidding?” She looks up to me and searches my face.
I force myself to look nonchalant. No big deal. I’m the poster child for repressed emotions right now. “Not kidding. I think you’d have a lot of fun at an art crawl.”
“Well, yeah…but...” She lets go of my hand and turns to face me. Crossing her legs, she settles a scrutinizing gaze on my face. She’s hooked me up to a lie detector before she begins her questions. “Have you or have you not been trying to date me this past week?”
Okay, I see. It’s not a lie detector. We’re in the courtroom now, and I’m on the stand. “I have. And I will date you, just not yet.”
Her eyes narrow. I picture her wearing a sexy black pencil dress with a briefcase at her side, and it makes this whole thing more fun. “But you’re okay with me dating other guys in the meantime?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
She doesn’t acknowledge my sexy joke. “Why? This is another game, isn’t it? You have an ulterior motive in wanting me to go out with