“June?” Suddenly every muscle in my body was stiff. “No. I mean, she's a friend. I’ve known her forever.”
“Yeah.” Austin set his glass down and balanced his elbows on his knees, scrutinizing me. “And? You've had a crush on her for a bit.”
“I have not,” I snarled. “What thefuckare you even going on about?”
“Oh, I don't know. The way you look at her when you think our sister isn't paying attention. The way things have been weird since earlier this year but you haven’t mentioned why at all.”
How in the fuck did he pick up on that but completely missed our sister falling in love last year? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Whatever. I know I’m right. There’s something up with the two of you.”
I glowered at him, but didn’t disagree with him. Because he was right, things had changed since that night.
June and I had been standing on the porch outside Evie’s house at our annual New Year’s Eve party. Everyone else had been inside but us. The air was still and cold, frost clinging to the ground and cacti that scattered the yard.
“What’d you get for Christmas?” I asked.
June snorted and took a sip of her soda. “Avery and Evie bought me some new gloves for work, and we all booked ourselves a massage.”
“Mmm.” Every time I was around her, I felt nervous. I stole a glance at her from the corner of my eye. “Wasn’t it your birthday recently?”
“My god, Dallas. Like two months ago, yeah.” June shook her head at me with a snort.
Fuck, I was an idiot. I’d known her my whole life, so there really wasn’t an excuse for not knowing the exact day. I’d fix that. “What’d you get for your birthday?”
She cut me a sharp look. “Evie and Avery got me something.”
“What about your brother or?—”
“Don’t even bring up my mother right now. I’m trying to enjoy my night.”
Silence settled over us. I’d dug myself a grave and wasn’t really sure how to get out of it. “Sorry,” I murmured.
“No, don’t be. I’m on edge. Holidays are always tough.”
Cheers burst from inside the house and our heads lifted as our friends' voices blended together, starting the count down. I glanced at my watch. “It’s almost midnight.” My eyes slid over to hear, drinking in the warmth in her cheeks and the bright color of her hair. Always a flower, even in the middle of winter.
She sucked in a breath, her sweet brown eyes meeting mine. “I wish I had someone to kiss right now.”
“Earth to Dallas? Hello?”
Austin snapped me out of it. I swallowed hard, trying not to linger on that night. It was hard not to, though. I thought about it daily. “Don’t tell me you’re going to treat me how you treated Avery when it comes to my love life.”
“You know I’ve learned my lesson. You’re an adult. You can take care of yourself, but I still worry about you.”
I couldn't look my brother in the eye now. I was annoyed. I didn't come over here to get grilled about June, of all fucking people. Why did it suddenly feel like she was plaguing me?
“I’m here to talk about Madi.” I cleared my throat. “Not June.”
Austin rolled his eyes. “All right. Fine. Well, I like Madi. Met her yesterday. She seems like a cool person.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Yeah . . . Did they kiss?”
“Who?”
I felt like a goddamn idiot. “June and Madi. Madi said something earlier . . . I just . . .” I trailed off. “I’m not asking this in a perverted way.”
“Sure. Definitely not a perverted way, because otherwise I’d be obligated to punch you.”
