Page 98 of Meet Me at Midnight

Fuck.

I thought I locked it.

But I thought wrong.

“What in the holy hell is going on here?” Avery questions, her eyes wide as they dart back and forth between us.

“Avery, I can explain,” June says immediately, stepping around me and all but pushing me out of the way.

“No need, June. I’ve got eyes,” Avery snaps. “And my eyes just saw your tongue down my brother’s throat! Why was your tongue down my brother’s throat, June?” Her voice rises in irritation.

“Avery—” I start to interrupt, but she’s on a warpath now.

“My God, are you two a thing?” Avery shouts. “Are you two, like,together?”

“We were going to tell you,” June says, her voice shaky. “I just—”

“How long?” Avery cuts her off to ask. “How the hell long has this been going on?”

June’s face is red with distress as she glances back at me. “A few months,” I respond, knowing she needs me to say the words for her.

“Months?Months?”Avery screams. “You’re telling me you’ve been lying to me for months?” she says directly to June, her voice trembling with hurt.

“I’m so sorry, Avery,” June apologizes. “So, so sorry.”

“Oh my god! All that shit with Bethany?” Avery questions, anger and pain lacing the edges of her voice. “She was right, wasn’t she? It wasn’t bullshit. All this time and you’ve had a thing for my brother?”

June stares down at her hands for a brief moment, her fingers fidgeting nervously, before she finds the strength to meet Avery’s eyes. “Yes. I…I’ve always had a thing for Beau.”

“And what was I?” Avery tosses both of her hands out in front of her. “Just a way to get to him?!”

“No!” June yells, upset, and tears now stream down her cheeks. “Of course not! I love you like a sister, you know that!”

“I don’t know anything, Juniper. Not one single thing. Because ten minutes ago, I knew my best friend in the world would never,everlie to my face or do something this big behind my back on purpose. I knew that with my heart and soul. And yet…look where I am now.”

“Avery,” I chide, my voice rough.

“No.” She points an angry finger at me. “Don’t even fucking bother, Beau.” She snaps a glare at June. “Don’t either of you bother.”

Avery takes off at a run, and June chases after her.

And I, almost comically, run after both of them. It’s a full-onMy Best Friend’s Weddingmoment, and I’m playing the scumbag role of Julia Roberts.

I’ve hurt the two women I care about most in this world. The two women who are the reason I’m able to make this stupid movie reference at all, and I have to find a way to make it right.

Fuuuuuuck.

I ran after Avery, out of her parents’ house, down the street, and I didn’t stop chasing after her until she miraculously hailed a cab. I tried to reach her before she sped off, but I was too late and had to call a freaking Uber because Miami isn’t New York and cabs aren’t exactly easy to come by.

The instant my driver pulled up to the front of our condo building, I saw Avery heading into the entrance doors on quick feet. Of course, she didn’t hold the elevator for me, standing there, glaring at me as the doors closed in front of my face before I could get inside.

Two minutes felt like an eternity as I waited for another elevator to come back down to the lobby level.

The cart dings its arrival on our floor, and I trip on my way out as I run toward our condo door. My lungs are one wheeze short of seizing up, still out of breath from running what feels like all over the city after Avery.

I try the doorknob to no avail, and then I take out my keys to unlock it myself. The door gives five inches as I push it open but jerks to a stop, thanks to the door chain, after that.

“Avery!” I yell inside through the crack, shoving my face into the opening. “Please open the door so we can at least talk.”

---