Page 209 of Call the Shots
“Take a deep breath with me,” she stopped me. “We’re both twenty-one, we’re not having kids.”
“Oh, I—alright.”
She searched my face for a moment and I could barely look at her. I wanted her to know how much she meant to me. I couldn’t figure out another way to say that.
June touched my cheek. “I think I know what’s going on. Bear, we don’t need to add something big like a baby to make this serious, okay?”
“Okay,” I echoed.
“This is serious to me,” she whispered. “Loving you and being loved by you is more than enough.”
“Oh,” I said, my voice thick.
I didn’t know feeling exposed could feel so good.
June read me like a textbook, highlighting, underlining, and sticky noting things about me that I was too embarrassed to show. Things I wasn’t sure were there in the first place. Gently, she pulled me down for a hug and I wrapped my arms around her, ignoring how much my body recoiled from the touch, still sore.
Fuck the pain. It was the best hug I could remember.
CHAPTER 77
JUNE
MAKE ME FEEL BETTER
To me,being in love always meant appearances. The right moments captured in pictures, like gathering evidence to prove Iwasin a happy and healthy relationship, fighting for that frozen memory to show—this is fine! I promise, it’s perfect!
Being in love with Bear was so different.
It was so cozy. Warm and human with no timer above our heads, nothing to do but enjoy being so close. It felt like I was listening to one of those classic love songs when we stepped into our dorm, the flicker of a familiar rhythm in our step, in the way we touched.
I led him to the bathroom. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
Bear was quiet while I helped him take off his clothes, ever so slowly because of his pain. I’d honestly gotten used to the bruises from hockey, but these ones were so fresh.
I stroked the few inches of unblemished skin. “Do you need more painkillers?”
“I’m okay.” He slipped a finger through my belt loop. “Are you taking a shower with me?”
“Mm…probably not a good idea. I’ll shower after.”
Bear took a step closer, tilting my chin. His warm brown eyes drank me in until a blush colored my cheeks. It was hypnotism.It had to be because I didn’t object when he unbuttoned my jeans.
The water washed away the last of the blood and Bear gently rubbed the bite marks on my hip. Watching him touch me, I had the weirdest sense of déjà vu. It wasn’t for the past and I wasn’t nostalgic. It was this odd feeling that we’d have a thousand showers like this.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you too.”
“I wanted to hear you say it,” he admitted. “It sounds perfect when you say it.”
Water dripped between us, and I instinctively leaned up when he angled me to meet him. A muscle memory, knowing he wanted a kiss. His lips crashed to mine, and he choked out a curse, flinching hard.
Oh my god, the broken nose.
I pulled back. “No, no?—”
“That didn’t count,” he insisted, his voice hoarse. “I didn’t do it right?—”
