Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 94119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
A light round of applause made me look over my shoulder. June had returned from the stables and had been watching me. “Have you been standing over there checking out my ass, Junebug?” I said, and chuckled when her face blazed red.
She walked toward me, pointing at my grin. “You’re nothing but trouble, Jesse, I tell ya.”
When she finally reached me, I laid my tired arms on her shoulders, still gripping my football in my left hand. June rolled her eyes at me still holding the ball. “Gotta keep tight hold of my two favorite things, Junebug,” I said, and kissed her forehead.
June was getting better at letting me show her affection. She’d grown less shy and reserved, and more comfortable and bolder around me.
“Now, now, son. Enough of all that,” Mr. Scott said from behind me.
It was my turn to go red as Mr. Scott approached. I immediately dropped my arms and took a step back from June. He threw me a mocking wink. We’d grown closer from watching football together, and it was…nice. My dad up and left when I was only twelve. From then, I’d only had my coaches guide me in being a man. Mr. Scott was a good father. But as nice as he was, at times, it reminded me what I’d missed out on—and I couldn’t deny that it crushed me.
“Sorry, sir,” I said, and he nodded in acceptance. I quickly searched the cookout and found my mom just breaking from having a discussion with Emma’s aunt, who had also come to visit. “Mom!” I shouted, and she turned toward me.
As soon as her eyes landed on June, her face lit up. Mom grabbed hold of Lucy and Emily, halting them from stuffing their faces, and brought them toward us.
June stepped back a touch. By the sudden flush to her skin, she was clearly nervous as all hell. I put my arm over her shoulders to keep her by my side. “Mom,” I said, “this is Junebug.”
June held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“You too, June,” Mom said, and my chest squeezed tightly. Seeing June meeting my mama seemed to soothe something a little broken inside me.
“Wow. You’re so pretty,” Lucy said to June, staring up at my girl, blurting out whatever she was thinking as always.
June laughed and crouched down to Lucy’s height. “Thank you, sweetie.” She flicked her amused gaze up to me. “Your brother pretty much said that the first time he saw me too. I can tell y’all are related.”
“I like your headscarf,” Emily said next, touching the end of June’s green scarf.
June was dressed in black leggings, a white T-shirt, and a green sweater tied around her waist. She dressed casually, but it made her look just as beautiful as a ball gown would have. “Thank you,” she said.
I put my hand on Emily’s head, then Lucy’s. “These two monsters are my little sisters.” I addressed my sisters as I said, “Girls, this is June and her mama and daddy, Mr. and Mrs. Scott.”
“Are you Jesse’s girlfriend?” Lucy asked June, brazen once more.
June’s blush was back, and she opened her mouth, then shut it again, clearly not knowing what to say. We hadn’t exactly defined what we were. June’s wide, brown eyes landed on me.
Without breaking June’s gaze, I said, “She is.”
June stilled, as though she couldn’t believe I’d admitted it, then she smiled a soft smile just for me.
“She’s my girl.” She was insecure—I knew that now, but I’d made it my mission to always tell her just how beautiful she was until she believed it too.
“Wow,” Lucy said dreamily, making us all laugh. I quickly introduced my mom to June’s parents, and they went to the food and drink set up to grab something. This day was good for my mom too. She didn’t have many people to talk to about what she was going through. June’s parents were good people, and I liked that she could talk to them a little, for her sake.
June sat down on a nearby bench, and I took the seat beside her. She seemed a little tired, but her eyes shone with happiness. Our friends were mingling, eating with their families. It was nice. It felt peaceful after the hellish initial stage of treatment.
“Girlfriend, huh?” June said, cutting through the soundtrack of people talking, humor in her voice, though there was a little doubt there too. But I could see contentment in her expression. My chest squeezed tightly. This girl had my heart in a vise at this point. She’d been a hurricane that had just blown into my life without warning.
She stared at me, waiting.
I sat back against the bench. “Well, I’ve been telling everyone I’m your boyfriend, so it’d be weird if you said you weren’t my girl.”