Page 52 of The Enemy: Extended Edition

“I know.” I can’t resist any longer, so I kiss her head. “Trust me.”

“I don’t like doing that, either.”

“I know that too.”

She takes a deep breath, and I feel her shoulders rise and fall against my side. We sit here, in this oddly peaceful state, for several minutes until her phone buzzes. It’s sitting on the floor beside her, so I’m able to see the name HUNTER FROM PARTY flash across her screen. My first instinct is to take a hammer and pound her phone into dust. But since that would make me look the tiniest bit domineering, I decide to swing heavily the opposite way instead.

“Go ahead.” I nod toward the phone. It’s clear by the way June is chewing the corner of her mouth that she does not want to open that text around me, so I do what I do best and taunt her. “Gone soft on me, June Bug? Surely you’re not worrying about my feelings?”

She flashes a glare at me from under her lashes. “I know what you’re doing.”

“Is it working?”

She snatches her phone from the floor and swipes it open. “Yes.”

Our eyes both scan the words, and I try very hard not to find that hammer.

HUNTER FROM PARTY: Hey June! Sorry I’m just now getting around to texting you. The past few weeks have been insane from work, but I haven’t stopped thinking about you and wanting that date. Any chance you’re free tomorrow night and want to go on an art crawl with me?

“Who is he?” I ask, making sure to keep my voice neutral and calm.

She shrugs. “Just a guy I met at Logan’s birthday party a few weeks ago.”

June isn’t smiling, and for some reason, that gives me hope. So much of me wants her to text this Hunter guy back and tell him to go jump off a bridge, but then I remember what Bonnie told me.

“You should go. Sounds fun,” I say, but I don’t move my hand away from hers. Whether she likes it or not, this hand belongs to me now.

“Are you kidding?” She looks up to me and searches my face.

I force myself to look nonchalant. No big deal. I’m the poster child for repressed emotions right now. “Not kidding. I think you’d have a lot of fun at an art crawl.”

“Well, yeah . . . but . . .” She lets go of my hand and turns to face me. Crossing her legs, she settles a scrutinizing gaze on my face. She’s hooked me up to a lie detector before she begins her questions. “Have you or have you not been trying to date me this past week?”

Okay, I see. It’s not a lie detector. We’re in the courtroom now, and I’m on the stand. “I have. And I will date you, just not yet.”

Her eyes narrow. I picture her wearing a sexy black pencil dress with a briefcase at her side, and it makes this whole thing more fun. “But you’re okay with me dating other guys in the meantime?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

She doesn’t acknowledge my sexy joke. “Why? This is another game, isn’t it? You have an ulterior motive in wanting me to go out with him.”

I smile and lift a brow. “Now why would I want you to go out with other guys if I’m into you?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

I lean forward slowly and rest my lips against the shell of her ear. “Let me know when you figure it out.” While I’m there, I decide not to waste an opportunity and kiss her neck before standing up.

June stays seated, eyeing me cautiously, but a faint smile hovers over her lips because she loves this. She loves the strategy. The dance. The calculation. It used to be fun in high school, but now that we know what the other person’s lips feel like, the game is twice as exciting.

I stick my hand out, and she accepts it, letting me pull her up to her feet. With her standing inches from my chest, I say, “Go ahead. Accept him.”

“I will if I want,” she says, angling her head to the side a little and eyeing me one last time. I’m not sure if she found the answer she was looking for in my face or not, but finally, she types out a quick response accepting Hunter’s invitation and hits send.

CHAPTER 21

June

Do you know what it feels like to be given a five-star prime rib from the best restaurant in town and then have it ripped away from you only to be replaced with a greasy fast-food burger off the dollar menu? I do. That’s what happened when Ryan told me I should go on the date with Hunter.

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