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Aspects that had come to light, and she couldn’t look at him the same.
He couldn’t look at her the same, either, ashamed of who he was.
He sighed, looking up from where he sat on the front porch step. She would be here any minute, one last time of faking before his mom drove his extended family to the airport. Dragan went back to his phone, scrolling through the messages. The worst part was knowing how this was ruined, and how it was all his fault. He didn’t notice as she came up, quietly sitting beside him.
“Hey, you.”
“Hey, you.”
When he did look at her, he noticed the dark circles under her eyes. Her hair was thrown up in a messy bun, and she was wearing yoga pants and an oversized knit sweater. His brow furrowed.
“Are you okay?”
“Are you?” Her laugh was sharp, cold. He didn’t think he’d ever interacted with this June before.
“I mean, no. I’m not. But thank you for coming.”
“I told you a million times, I’ll always be there if you need me.”
He sensed abut.When she didn’t continue, he cleared his throat. “So… How are things? How was your week?”
“Really?” She scowled at him. “Dragan, you can’t shut me out for days on end and expect to pick up where we left off. It doesn’t work like that. I don’t work like that.” She looked at her feet and Dragan resisted the urge to hug her. He didn’t want to lead her on or make things messier than they were.
They would finish out their agreement, and see where they landed.
“What time is your family leaving?”
“In about a half hour, I told them you were coming to say good-bye.”
“Great, then let’s get it over with.” She stood and stomped up to the door, stopping with her hand on the knob. She sighed and turned around, green eyes filling with tears.
“I don’t know what’s going on with you, but this is really unfair. I deserve better. I’m glad your bruise is healing okay.” With that, she jiggled the stupid know and entered the house.
Dragan let her go, mulling over her words. Itwasunfair. She did deserve better. They’d been friends for so long, and maybe he pushed things a little too far asking her to fill a role he so desperately wanted her in. He sighed and entered the house.
June was sitting on the couch, squished between Kasia and Alice. It sounded like they were exchanging social handles, while his aunt and uncle talked with his mom about their next visit. Hopefully sooner rather than later, they all agreed. He listened to the various conversation, risking glances at June. But anytime she met his eyes, she turned away and pretended she hadn’t.
When it was finally time to say good-bye, everyone gave June tight hugs. Dragan watched from the sidelines, envious at their closeness and worried about their expectations. Based on overhearing his grandmother telling his mom how she couldn’t wait for the wedding, he knew he was in deep shit.
He stood beside June, finding comfort in her vanilla scent, as they waved the car off. Alice and Lucas had decided to join, Leon storming off inside as soon as the car pulled away. Cas hung back for awhile before giving Dragan a nod and going inside.
It was just him and June left, alone on the sidewalk.
June stood with her arms crossed, the wind blowing a loose strand of hair across her cheek. Without hesitation, he tucked it behind her ear, immediately regretting it.
She deserved better. Better was not him.
She gave him a small smile, but shook her head.
“You can’t just do that, D. You can’t freeze me out and then act like nothing happened.”
“I know.”
“Okay, so what’s it going to be?”
“I want things how they were.”
“How they were?” She rolled her eyes. “You mean how they were before we started ‘dating’ or after you put your hand up my shirt?”
