“You still looking for another bike?” Harlen questions from my side, bringing me out of my thoughts as I pour myself a cup of coffee.
“Yeah, I just haven’t had a chance to look. Not sure I want new,” I mutter, watching him nod and cross his arms over his chest.
“I might have something for you. A bike came in yesterday, and the guy mentioned selling. I’ll feel him out when he comes in today.”
“Let me know,” I mumble then look at the clock and see I need to pick up Sage at the office in ten. “Later.” I lift my chin to Z and head out to my truck. Climbing in the beast, I put my coffee in the cup holder, back out of the parking space, and head toward town where the office is located.
“What the fuck is the deal with you and June?” Sage asks, hopping into my truck, setting his cup of coffee in the cup holder between us, and buckling up. I wasn’t going to answer his question. One, it isn’t anyone’s fucking business. Two, he and Jax have no fucking clue that me and June had a history, and they weren’t going to learn that shit from me. June didn’t tell anyone about us when we got together, not even her sisters, who she told everything to. I didn’t understand her reason for keeping us a secret. I didn’t fucking like it, but it was what it was.
When we got married, she still didn’t share about us. I was okay with that. She said she had a plan and was going to tell her parents while I was away. That way, they had time to settle into the idea that their daughter was a married woman, and then when I got home, she would introduce me to them. My headspace at the time was completely jacked, and like I said, I didn’t think much about it. The only thing I knew was I had a good woman, a woman who loved me, a woman I loved, so I was letting her lead where her family was concerned.
Obviously, shit went down when I was away, and I ended our relationship, permanently. So there was no longer a reason for her to tell anyone she had been married, which she didn’t, and I wasn’t going to enlighten them to the fact we had history.
“She fucking called Jax this morning, telling him to keep you away from her,” he continues, and I feel my muscles tighten.
Yesterday was a fuck-up on my part. I should have kept out of the way, but I couldn’t stand the idea of that little fucker asking her out and her saying yes, so I stepped in.
“Are you even fucking listening to me?” Sage demands, and I turn my head and raise a brow. “I know you were married,” he whispers, and my muscles that were tight wind even tighter. “Know it wasn’t long, but do know she was your wife. I don’t know what the fuck happened, but I have to tell you. I like you, man, but you fuck with my cousin’s head, do something to hurt her again, and you’ll answer to me.”
“Do not,” I breathe, “fucking threaten me.”
“It’s not a threat, brother. It’s a promise. I know she was fucked up for a while. Everyone knew she was fucked up, but she wouldn’t talk about it, about what happened. Now I know her fucked up came because you guys ended.”
“She moved on,” I say, reminding myself of something that fucking kills me every time I think about it.
Snorting, he shakes his head. “If you really think that shit, then you’re fucking stupid.”
“Whatever,” I mutter instead of punching him in the face then put my truck in reverse and head out toward town to meet up with a potential client.
“I see he’s back,” I hear JJ say just as June opens the front door to her house. Seeing her, my hands form fists. Her dark hair is down around her bare shoulders. The black, cotton strapless dress she has on makes her skin look even more golden, and her face is completely free of makeup. I know if I were close, I would see the light scatter of freckles across the bridge of her nose and the golden flecks in her eyes.
“I’m working hard at pretending he’s not,” June tells JJ, who holds up a bottle of tequila, the same bottle she walked out of her house with. She shoves it toward her, laughing as she says, “This will help you forget.”
Taking a step back with the bottle close to her chest, she lets JJ inside, and I hear her quietly reply, “Not sure about that,” her eyes move through her yard to me. My heart stops the same way it did the first time we met, only this time, instead of her lips parting and her eyes shining in wonder, her eyes narrow, her lips tighten, and she closes the door, giving me everything and absolutely fucking nothing.