“Is that why Mrs. Miller gave you that weird look?”
The reason Mrs. Miller gave me that weird look when we went to the cafe was that I’ve been buying her out of donuts to make sure June could get the one she wanted, but I don’t plan to tell herthat.
“Yeah. It was probably strange, seeing a stranger in the place for hours at a time, then not at all.”Lie, lie, lie, my mind yells, and for the first time since I started this scheme to give June everything she wants, panic moves through me.
Because now I have her, and I won’t be letting her go.
But now, there are lies between us. White lies, on white lies, and probably a few that she would argue are on the edge of the gray area, but lies all the same.
When I offered her a job, I never anticipated we’d be back here again.
When I got the donuts, moved the four-leaf clovers, and bought her art, I never thought we’d be in bed together, that in just a few weeks, she would become my whole world. I thought I’d fall for her from afar, and it would stay that way until I left town, which is another thing I don’t want to think about too closely.
As I sit there, panic rushing through me, June’s phone blares out with a new message.
Then another.
And another and another.
“Fuck,” she groans, her head settling on my chest as the tone of another new message fills the room.
“Is everything okay?” I ask because if I were getting back-to-back messages like that on Sunday morning, something terrible would be happening. She lets out a loud sigh, then shakes her head before rolling away from me, leaving me cold as she reaches for her phone. I plugged it in last night after we showered, had a round two, and June promptly passed out.
“Yeah, my DND turns off at nine am on Sundays, and my friends know it. It’s just Claire and Lainey.” She bites her lip and looks up at me. I lift an eyebrow. “They’re asking for details.”
I stare at her expectantly, not understanding her reluctant look.
“Is that okay?” she asks nervously after a moment. My brow furrows, unsure of what she means.
“Is there a reason it wouldn’t be?”
“Well, you know. You’re…my boss. And Claire is Sutton’s sister, and they don’t know how to keep a secret to save their lives, so…”
I see where she’s going with this and want to quash whatever worries are brewing in her pretty little mind before they get out of hand. I reach out once more, grab her, and pull her back into me.
“They’re your friends, June. You can tell them whatever you want.”
“It won’t be a problem? I mean, Sutton told me that there are no non-fraternization rules or anything, but….”
“Will you get in trouble?” she asks, and I shake my head.
“There’s no rule about people having relationships at Daydream, but if there’s a power dynamic, everyone needs to be informed. I’ll tell Rowan on Monday.”
“Oh, you’re right, of course. Are you…Are you okay with that? I mean, if you want —”
“Do you want this to be a secret?” I ask, cutting her off before she can finish her sentence. If that’s what she wanted, I’d give it to her, but God, I hope it’s not what she wants.
“Is that whatyouwant?” she asks, and I see that same masked nervousness on her face, and I relax just a bit. What a pair we are.
“That’s not what I asked, June. I asked ifyouwant things to be a secret.” She bites her lip and looks at her phone, whereit seems messages keep coming through. “The truth, June. Not what you think I would want to hear.”
“I would enjoy this not being a secret. I want to show you off. But I also understand?—”
Before she can finish the sentence, I’m rolling her onto me. She lets out a tiny squeal, then a giggle, as I sit up and settle her into my lap, shifting so my back is to the headboard. I’m grateful I slid on a pair of boxer briefs before I went to bed and that June slid on my tee, not because I don’t want to feel her naked body against mine, but because it would be so terribly distracting. I’d never be able to finish this important conversation.
“You could have absolutely anything you ask of me, June. I’m weak to the tornado that is you. I would like things between us to be out and open, so no, I don’t want a secret. I just wanted to make sure we were doing whatyouwanted.”
“You’d say yes to anything?” she asks, lifting an eyebrow, and it’s the main clue I need to know she has absolutelynoidea what I’ve been doing behind the scenes for her. If she did, she’d realize just how humorous that question is.
