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Archer sighed. “Look, it’s none of my business. And if you weren’t exclusive with June, and I mean actively, you had a conversation with her about being exclusive, then I need you to take a big damn breath and chill the fuck out. Okay?”
His heart raced, his breathing hitched. “I’ll try.”
“Nope, not good enough.”
“Okay.” Dragan took a deep breath, trying to remember what he and June agreed upon. They hadn’t had the exclusivity conversation, but… She met his family. They’d slept together.
To him, that meant they were exclusive.
“Okay,” Archer began. “I heard through the grapevine — and please remember this is a game of telephone, I’m sure the info is all over the place — but I heard that she went on a couple dates with him. And that they may have made out, but that’s all I know. I just didn’t want you to be blindsided and hear it from someone else. I couldn’t imagine you being happy knowing she’d gone out with anyone, let alone him.”
Dragan’s blood boiled.
June went on dates with him? She made out with him? He couldn’t get the picture of her wrapped up in Rhys out of his head. He knew how June tasted, the way she felt in his hands, the sound of her moans and gasps in his ear.
Imagining her sharing that with someone else…
“D, I need you to calm down.” Archer’s voice was firm, and he looked ready to jump on Dragan if the need arose. “You need to talk to her, calmly, but only if you were actually exclusive. Otherwise, quite frankly, it’s none of your business.”
Dragan barely heard Archer over the rush in his head. Colton threw his hands up.
“Hey, I’m sure it’s nothing. Why don’t we finish getting the security system running and go play pool? Or come over to my place and play video games?”
“I’m done with the system,” Archer stood, stretching. “Let’s get pizza and go to yours. C’mon, it’ll be good for you.” He nudged Dragan, who blindly followed in a haze of red.
49
June wandered into the kitchen, her grandfather working the store while she slept in and got more work done on her book. She was close to finishing it, finally, and needed to start looking into cover designers. Not to mention all the work she needed to do for the Spring Cleaning event.
Her grandma was at the dining table, the mid-afternoon sun backlighting her while she looked at the mail in front of her.
“Grandma, why are you smiling?” June poured another cup of coffee, risking the caffeination so late in the day for the flavor. She went behind her grandma, peering over her shoulder.
There was a stack of papers in her hand, with the logo of the mortgage bank. June froze.
“Grandma, what is that?”
Missy sighed and faced her. “This, Juney, is freedom.”
She held the papers out, and June set her mug on the table to take them. She skimmed, faster the longer she read, not quite understanding what was happening.
“What… Wait. What?” She looked at her grandma in disbelief. Missy smiled and nodded.
“I know. I know. It’s done, the store is free and clear.”
June went through the papers again, the payoff letter for The Little Prince bookstore and the apartment they lived in, knowing the numbers by heart but still trying to piece it together.
“But… how?”
Her grandma looked at her, as if thinking on what to say.
“An anonymous donation came through, for more than the pay-off total. So we have some more cushion.”
Another anonymous payday?
“Grandma, do you know who’s doing this?” June put her hand on her hip. Someone knew something and wasn’t talking. “Who’s paying for expensive vacations and clearing the store of two mortgages?”
Her grandma pursed her lips and looked up at her. “I think… I think if you don’t know for sure, there’s one person you should ask. I think he might be able to help you more than I can.”
