Page 32 of Write Me For You
I put my hand on Emily’s head, then Lucy’s. “These two monsters are my little sisters.” I addressed my sisters as I said, “Girls, this is June and her mama and daddy, Mr. and Mrs. Scott.”
“Are you Jesse’s girlfriend?” Lucy asked June, brazen once more.
June’s blush was back, and she opened her mouth, then shut it again, clearly not knowing what to say. We hadn’t exactly defined what we were. June’s wide, brown eyes landed on me.
Without breaking June’s gaze, I said, “She is.”
June stilled, as though she couldn’t believe I’d admitted it, then she smiled a soft smile just for me.
“She’s my girl.” She was insecure—I knew that now, but I’d made it my mission to always tell her just how beautiful she was until she believed it too.
“Wow,” Lucy said dreamily, making us all laugh. I quickly introduced my mom to June’s parents, and they went to the food and drink set up to grab something. This day was good for my mom too. She didn’t have many people to talk to about what she was going through. June’s parents were good people, and I liked that she could talk to them a little, for her sake.
June sat down on a nearby bench, and I took the seat beside her. She seemed a little tired, but her eyes shone with happiness. Our friends were mingling, eating with their families. It was nice. It felt peaceful after the hellish initial stage of treatment.
“Girlfriend, huh?” June said, cutting through the soundtrack of people talking, humor in her voice, though there was a little doubt there too. But I could see contentment in her expression. My chest squeezed tightly. This girl had my heart in a vise at this point. She’d been a hurricane that had just blown into my life without warning.
She stared at me, waiting.
I sat back against the bench. “Well, I’ve been telling everyone I’m your boyfriend, so it’d be weird if you said you weren’t my girl.”
“You have?” she said, humor dropped and her nerves showing stronger if the shuffling of her legs were any indication.
“No,” I said, smirking, “but I’d like to.”
June playfully bumped her arm against mine. She stared down at her hand. I noticed she did that sometimes. She stared at her reflection for long periods of time too. It appeared to me like she was sometimes seeing a stranger staring back at her. I hadn’t asked her about it yet. I didn’t want to upset her.
We both had issues we hadn’t spoken about.
June curled her hand into a fist and slowly relaxed it, then looked back to me and said, “Then I…I suppose we could call each other that.”
I placed my hand on my chest. “I felt the love then, Junebug. I’m bowled over by your blatant and enthusiastic affection for me.”
June laughed loudly, then, meeting my gaze, said, “You know how I feel about you.”
And it was true—I did. But I wanted her to tell me. I had no problem telling June, but she was a lot more reserved than me, and sometimes she left me wondering what she really did think of me—of us.
“And how’s that?” I asked, throat raspy.
June inched closer, then whispered, “You’re my favorite part of every single day, Jesse.”
“Junebug,” I murmured, and turned to put my back to the rest of the courtyard, facing her and blocking her from peoples’ view. “I think I’m gonna have to kiss you now. Okay? You can’t just say things like that and expect me to not react.”
“Okay,” she said, fighting a smile, and held her breath as I moved in. She always held her breath, like every kiss was a great, life-changing event.
It was to me, so I understood the feeling.
“Not again!” a voice said behind us. “Emma, you’re gonna have to start kissing me too so we have something in common with the Chemo Club lovebirds.” Chris—it was always friggin’ Chris. I dropped my forehead to June’s in exasperation.
“I love you, Chris. But I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last man on earth,” Emma said, and June giggled. I loved hearing that sound.
I turned back to the bench, and Chris and Emma handed us both a drink. We took the offered waters, and they sat beside us.
“This is nice,” Emma said wistfully, enjoying the view of our families talking and spending time together.
“They’ll be more days like this,” I said, and June leaned into my side, clearly thinking the same thing.
“What you said,” Chris echoed, raising his water in the air. “Exactly what you just said.”
