Well, I’ll be damned.Seems a near-death experience is all it took to wake up my uncle from being under my father’s thumb.Then again, Jagger’s been trying to convince us of my uncle’s change of heart for a while now.But if I ever wanted proof, it seems I finally have it.My chin dips.“I hear you.”
“Good.”He slaps me on the back.“Come on.Let’s hurry this up so we can really talk.”
Hurry this up.Right.It’s what I should do.It’s where my damn mind should be.Instead, I’m caught up on a certain woman standing beside a certain asshat on my property.
As we walk back to the group, my attention lingers on June.Why is she still talking to him?Why is he still looking at her like that?Like he has any shot with her after I literally shot my load in her pussy earlier.Okay, technically, we used a condom, but the sentiment stands.She broke up with him.She hooked up with me.So why won’t he leave her alone?
“Judge, I’ll catch up,” I tell him before jogging toward June and the man of the hour.
As if she can feel my presence, she looks over at me, rubbing her hands up and down her bare arms.Fuck, she must be freezing.I glare at Bryan and shrug off my coat.“Here, Bug.”
She pulls it tighter around her.“Thank you.”
“Glad at least some of us still have manners.”
Bryan’s chuckle is fake at best.“To be fair, I offered her mine, but she said she wasn’t that cold.”
My chest puffs up with pride, no matter how trivial his words are.
“You doing okay?”she asks me.
“Yeah, man,” Bryan interjects.“How you holding up?”
My molars grind, but I keep my expression in check.“Never better.Getting a call that your house is on fire is a great aphrodisiac, don’t you think, June?”
The girl looks like she’s about to shrivel up and die from embarrassment.Jaw unhinged, she stares back at me like I just betrayed her in the most intimate way possible.And maybe I did.Wait, did I?Did I betray her?I was trying to…fuck, I don’t even know what I was trying to do.Stake my claim?Remind Bryan where he stands?What am I?A damn caveman?
Bryan’s eyes bulge as his focus tracks from me to June and back again.“Oh.I didn’t…I take it you two are more than friends of a friend now?”
Crickets.If they hadn’t all died from the smoke or been sprayed by our gardener, I’m sure we’d be able to hear them.Instead, all that’s left is a silence so thick, so solid, I feel like I can’t breathe.
“Honestly, I don’t know what we are,” June finally murmurs.“But, uh, I should probably get home.You know.Check on Quasimodough and everything.”She rocks back on her heels, her arms locked tight around her torso as if she’s holding herself together.
Bryan moves closer to her.Reaching out, he places his hand on her lower back.“Come on.We’ll give you a ride.”
“Are you allowed to offer rides to civilians when on the job?”I interject.
“Pretty sure my boss will make an exception for a pretty girl like June,” he returns with the same sick, boy-next-door smile that’s really starting to piss me off.
“I’ll take her,” I decide.
“You have things to do,” she reminds me.
I shake my head.“Other things can wait.”
June’s stare is like a beacon, drawing me in, though almost lifeless at the same time, as it stays pinned to the side of my face.I turn to her and wait.Yeah, okay, I was being an ass.I didn’t mean to, though.Honest.Okay, that’s bullshit, too.I did mean to be an ass, but only to Bryan.Not to her.Then my mouth got the best of me, and here we are.Guess Daddy Dearest was right once again.I screwed things up before they even had a chance to begin.
“June?”Bryan questions.
“Stay with me.”I’m not sure if it’s a demand or a request, and to be honest, I don’t really care, either.I want her to stay.Plain.Simple.Easy as one, two, three, even if it isn’t.Not really.I don’t even know if I’m allowed to stay at this point.Trouble is, I don’t care.And the idea of June riding off into the sunset with Fireman Bryan makes me want to hit something.
Peeking up at me, June whispers, “And where would I stay?”
Fuck, she’s right.I don’t have a home.Not one she can stay at tonight, anyway.But the idea of letting her leave with Fireman Bryan feels about as comfortable as having a glass shard stuck up my dick and hit with a hammer, so where the hell does that leave me?
“June?”Bryan prods.“You sure you don’t want a ride?”
“Ford!”Jagger yells.“Get over here!”
