“And what do I deserve, June?”
“Someone who loves you unconditionally.”
“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, too,” he repeats with the same snark as before.
“Ford.”I don’t know why I say it.Why I’m pushing my luck, or why I followed him into his room in the first place.I can’t help it, though.He deserves more than being backhanded by his dad, all because he was a little snarky.Hell, even if he was being a total asshole, which, considering who Ford is, is a very real possibility.It still wouldn’t justify the bruising along his cheekbone he’s sporting.
“Why are you here, June?”he demands.It isn’t angry.It’s defeated.
“Jagger invited me?—”
“I mean in my room,” he clarifies.
My mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water as I try to justify my presence.But it’s weird.Because…honestly, it’s a good question.Why am I here?Why did I feel the pull to follow him into his room?To check on him and to make sure he’s okay?We aren’t that close.I mean, yes, he took care of me while I was sick, but does that mean he deserves the same treatment from me when the roles are reversed?You know what?Yes.Yes, it makes sense, and shame on him for making me second-guess it.
“Because you deserve someone who…who cares and who looks out for you,” I argue.
“Is that what you’re doing, June Bug?”His gaze meets mine again before dropping to my mouth.My stomach tightens with…I don’t even know what it is.I’ve never felt it before.Not with anyone except him.“You should go back downstairs,” he murmurs.“Your boyfriend’s missing you.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Acts like it.”
“Well, he isn’t,” I repeat.
His chin lowers ever so slightly, and so does his gaze just like before.“So, you’re saying he wouldn’t mind?”he murmurs.
“That I’m talking to you?”I swallow.“No.”
Slowly, he lifts his hand and touches the edge of my jaw.“What about this, June Bug?Do you think he’d mind that I’m touching you?”
My skin burns from the gentle pressure of his fingers.It should feel relatively innocent.It’s a simple touch.Nothing overtly sexual or inappropriate or intimate, even.I fight the urge to shiver.To lean closer.To…
I swallow thickly.Again.“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“That’s not an answer,” he notes.
What does he want me to say?That if Fireman Bryan walked into this room and saw me sitting on Ford’s bed with his hand on my face, he’d be okay with it?We might not be dating, but if the roles were reversed, I’d sure as heck be put off.
Or would I?
I imagine walking into a room and seeing Bryan with his hands on a random girl, the air crackling around them with chemistry, and all I feel is…relieved.
“Want to know a secret, June Bug?”Ford rasps.The space between us shrinks with every passing second.Or maybe it doesn’t.Maybe it’s only my imagination, and there’s still a solid gap between us.Maybe it’s the way he’s looking at me.The way he’s somehow managed to cast a spell on me, causing everything else to fade around us until there’s nothing left.I’m not sure.All I know is that if he keeps looking at me like this, like he wants to kiss me, I might very well let him.“If the roles were reversed.If I was your boyfriend.If I was downstairs, and you were up here, I’d be losing my mind.”
Boyfriend?Did he just say boyfriend?
“You don’t do titles,” I remind him.
“Don’t I?”
I shake my head.“You sleep around?—”
“I fuck.”
“You fuck,” I repeat, tossing his own word back at him.It sounds so crass, yet my core clenches nonetheless.What is wrong with me?“But you don’t do boyfriend,” I clarify.
“Haven’t found a person who makes me want to.”
