“I know.” June held her gaze.
Melissa was quiet for a long moment. The oven timer had stopped beeping at some point—June couldn’t remember when—and the kitchen was silent except for their breathing.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Melissa said finally. “I’ve never—” She stopped, shook her head. “I don’t know what this means. What I want it to mean.”
“You don’t have to know. Not tonight.” She paused, licking her lips. “Just… just as long as I’m not just some… experiment you hide away.”
“You’re many things, June Hollis,” Melissa said softly. “But not an experiment.” She pushed a stray strand of hair out of June’s face. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Then don’t.”
Melissa laughed—a real laugh, surprised and almost helpless. “You sound like a twenty-year-old.”
”Twenty-three.”
“You’re so young,” Melissa said on an exhale.
June grinned. “I’ve been told I’m wise for my years.”
That drew a smile from Melissa.
“We can figure it out.” June cupped Melissa’s face in her hand, a gesture that was almost more intimate than the kissing. “Together. If you want.”
“I want.” The words came out rough, unsteady. “God help me, I want.”
June kissed her again. Softer this time, slower, a promise more than a question. Melissa melted into it, her hands sliding around June’s waist, and for a long moment they just held each other in the quiet kitchen, the smell of overdone brownies filling the air.
“The brownies,” June murmured against Melissa’s lips.
“I told you to let them burn.”
“They’re Lila’s favorite.”
Melissa sighed, but she was smiling when she pulled back. “Fine. Save the brownies.”
June reluctantly extracted herself and went to rescue the pan from the oven. They were dark around the edges but salvageable—chewy, the way Lila liked them. She set them on the coolingrack and turned back to find Melissa watching her with an expression she couldn’t quite read.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just—” Melissa shook her head. “You’re remarkable. You know that?”
“I’m really not.”
“You are.” Melissa stood, crossing to where June stood by the counter. She didn’t touch her, but she was close enough that June could feel the warmth of her. “You’re kind, and patient, and you see things other people miss. You’ve changed my daughter’s life already this summer. You’ve changed mine.”
“Melissa—”
“I don’t know what this is,” Melissa said quietly. “I don’t know where it’s going. But I know I don’t want to go back to before. To pretending I don’t feel what I feel when I look at you.”
June’s heart was pounding again. “What do you feel?”
Melissa raised a hand, traced the line of June’s jaw with her fingertips. “Like I’ve been asleep for a very long time. And you woke me up.”
It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to her. June felt tears prick at her eyes—ridiculous, she was not going to cry—and she blinked them back.
“We should go to bed,” Melissa said. “It’s late. And tomorrow—”
“I know.”
