Page 217 of Call the Shots
“No, no, no—” Denali grabbed me by the shirt and hauled me back. “It’s a hockey party, not a Bear and June party!”
June sucked in breaths, laughing. “I’m glad you like it.”
“We’re going out with a bang!” Nick held up the hockey puck I spraypainted gold. “Beer pong competition, winner gets the golden puck!”
“Not drinking but I’ll ref,” June promised, still breathless.
It was just a jersey to her, but it meant everything to me. I got her another drink and found her being pulled from group to group, taking pictures with everybody, inmyjersey.
I was overwhelmed. June was…dazzling. It really was like knowing a celebrity at a party. When she was ready to ref for the beer pong tournament, I sat on the couch’s arm and pulled her to my lap, resting my cheek against her neck.
“You’re so quiet, Forty,” she whispered. “You okay?”
I nodded, eyes closed. “Uh-huh.”
“Need a minute?”
“Yeah. I wasn’t expecting…” I kissed her neck. “I love you.”
“Love you too. The party’s flawless.” She stroked my hair before snapping her fingers at Laki when he went out of bounds for beer pong. “Take your walk of shame!”
“Whatever!” Laki threw his hands up. “I still look good as fuck, I don’t care!”
The guys pushed me to play beer pong but I didn’t want to. June was in my lap, right where she was supposed to be. I slipped my fingers under her jeans, rubbing the outline of a bite mark on her hip, holding her close.
We had to talk about something serious tonight. I listened to her laugh, thinking about how to broach the topic. We needed a quiet place, and I needed to take my time to say what I needed to. I wouldn’t mess this up.
“Elijah, you’reout of here!” June giggled and I glanced up in surprise to see him leaving the beer pong tournament.
Huh.
Elijah won most of the ping pong games in RV’s lobby, or at least he hit the playoffs. I never saw him lose a game so early. I almost asked him what was up, but Sully’s voice broke in, directed at June. “What about part-time with the hockey team? Saturday mornings?”
“We’re not pressuring her,” I reminded him,
“I’ll be there for home games,” she promised.
The tournament ended with Denali winning and Elijah called everyone for another drinking game. I knew June wouldn’t join in, I couldn’t ask for a better exit.
I was careful to keep my voice low. “Do you want to go somewhere quieter?”
“I haven’t given you the private tour,” she said, instantly catching on.
CHAPTER 80
BEAR
GLASS AND BLOOD
The bedroom wasabout as non-June as it could get. A bed, a dresser, a black block for a nightstand, everything monochromatic and simple. It was pretty obvious they scrubbed out everything June when they renovated the place.
I laid back on the bed, quiet. I knew what I wanted to say but I still hadn’t picked out the perfect words. I was pretty sure June could feel my hesitation because she stretched out next to me. “I have something funny to tell you.”
“Yeah?”
“I was talking to Dr. Corman?—”
“How’s your therapist doing?”
