Page 130 of New York Love Stories: Vol. 1

“I thought so.”

“You think I can’t have fun? I do all the time,” I insist.

“One doth protest too much.”

“Only stating facts, babe.”

Babe?

“Babe?” she repeats as if she can read my mind.

Shaking my head, I mumble, “Yeah, I got nothing.”

There’s a melody to her laugh, a sweet song that sometimes slips out for others who are lucky enough to hear. I’m one of them.

I look her over again, realizing I kind of missed her. “It’s been a few days since we ran into each other.” Not a question. Just a comment.

“You mean literally, right?” Humor punctuates her words. “Hopefully, your shirt is safe tonight.”

I chuckle. When the laughter dies down, I count the feet that divide us. Three. But I’m close enough for Rascal to jump up on my leg. He’s a great distraction. Squatting down, I pet his head and scrub down his back. When I glance up at Juni, I ask, “What’s with the name?”

“You don’t think he looks like a Rascal?”

Chuckling, I stand back up. “Your name.”

She smirks, and it’s quite appealing on her. “You don’t think I look like a Juni?”

Angling my head to the left, I twist my mouth to the side as if that will help me figure out the answer. “Oddly enough, you do look like a Juni. Both of you.”

“You see two of me?” An alarm rings through her tone.

I burst out laughing again. “No. I’m just messing with you. As for the name, I’ve just never heard it before.”

“Most people know it fromSpy Kids. Juni Cortez.” She moves closer to the building when a group of people walks by.

Spy Kids?That’s a flashback.“I haven’t seen that movie in ages. Decades, in fact. Juni was the brother, right?”

“Yes. He was sort of annoying.”

I close some distance and rub my jaw. “I had the biggest crush on Carmen.”

“She was awesome. The actress does Hallmark movies now.”

“The Christmas ones?”

“They’re not all Christmas,” she says, shrugging, “but that channel, yes.”

“I haven’t seen any. My mom does, though.”

“Right,” she says between tight lips. “Yourmom.”

“I didn’t mean to insinuate?—”

One of her hands comes up in front of her, and her expression softens again. “I know what you meant. It’s okay.”

Shit. I’m blowing this . . . whateverthisis. “I like Juni on you much better.”

Restoring the joy that fits her features so well, she looks down shyly. “Thank you, Andrew.”

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