AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Except…
Except he isn’t my boyfriend.
Heartfelt speech or not.
He declared things were over.
He left.
Which reminds me.
I need to leave.
Right. Now.
Creeping away undetected is the plan; however, since gravity has a grudge, it hasn’t quite settled after twenty-six years, that doesn’t occur. In trying to avoid crashing into a waiter, I bump into one of the white beach balls intended to be just décor and accidentally send it face first into another member of the wait staff who loses their footing backwards into the pool.
The giant commotion causes me to cover my face and cringe.
Forfuckssake, could less awful things happen to me?!
Other employees rush over to assist in the rescue yet my delay in continuing to move allows Tucker to spot my getaway.
“June,” he immediately calls out inspiring me to get my ass in gear again.
Yup.
I gotta get out of here.
I gotta get as far away from The Frost family as possible before I end up heartbroken and jobless.
My half-thought-out escape plan goes about the level I expect. I manage to maze my way out of the outdoor festivities yet repeatedly end up doing circles inside the guesthouse until the man anxious to speak to me manages to trap me near the stairs.
His hands spread wide with one bracing itself on the railing and the other the wall. “Can we please talk for a minute?” Peering around him to see how far I am from any sort of exit is swiftly blocked by him worming his frame around to stop me. “Can I at least tell you that I am a fucking coward?”
The word choice successfully ceases my movements.
“You were right, June. About everything.”
Okay.
There’s a first.
“I was running.” He allows a small shrug to appear in the conversation. “I guess I haven’t really stopped running since Dad and Rachel.” Swallowing his own sadness appears to be so painful I’m tempted to lift my hand up to his throat to soothe it. “But I don’t wanna run anymore. For the first time in my life, I wanna walk. And the person I wanna walk with is you.”
I can’t suppress the swoon his words conjure.
“I’m sorry about everything I said and did to you. You do know me. And you knew exactly what was happening even if I didn’t have the balls to admit it. But if you let me…if you give me a second chance to make shit up to you, June Bug, I swear to you I’ll never pull a stunt like this again.”
“I wanna believe that…I wanna believe you…but-”
“No, but,” he quietly implores. “Stay away from that but. Only love my butt.”
Small snickers seep free against my own volition.
“I don’t wanna live without that laugh, June Bug. Or buying brightly colored Band-Aids. Or listening to you quote anime in your sleep during a nap.”
“I don’t do that.”
“You so do that.”
“Nohuh.”
“Yup.” Tucker beams ten times brighter. “And I love it. And I love you. And I will do whatever it takes to prove that, even if means never leaving Highland again.”
There’s no stopping the denial that slips out. “You can’t stay here forever.”
“Wrong.” His face cranes forward until we’re too close for comfort. “I can’t live without you forever.” He desperately begs, “Please don’t make me.”
The combination of his words and their heat and our proximity is too much to resist. I pounce, pressing my lips firmly on his, cradling his face with both hands and forcefully part our mouths to let my tongue do the scolding I know in a million years I’ll never eloquently do. Rage filled rolls are followed by infuriated lashes. I whimper and squeak. Moan and huff. Clamp down harder on the skin under my fingers and kiss him harsher, sadness spewing into every spin I deliver.
When I finally manage to pull back, I allow my forehead to rest against his. “You really, really hurt me, Tuck.”
“I know, baby.” He slowly twists his head back and forth so that our noses brushes. “And I’m ready to put in all the work to restore this piece of art.”
His reference to his earlier speech receives a small smile along with a chaste kiss.
“I love you, June.”
“I love you, too, Tucker.”
Our mouths prepare to link as his arms wind around me when we are unfortunately interrupted by my boss's giggles. “Oh! Oh! There you are, June!” Her hasty movements indicate she’s on a one-way train headed to Drunkville but needs to make some sort of pitstop first. “I wanted to find you before I forgot. When you come in on Monday at six, bring enough bagels for all the assistants.”
Relief that I still have a job should be the immediate response conjured yet isn’t.
In fact, it’s just the opposite.
Resentment and vexation rip through my veins forcing me to realize that I’ve been doing exactly what Tucker has except instead of running, I hide.
