AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She will.” I stroke her hair back from her face. “If you ever want to talk about any of this—”
“I know, Dad,” Alex says.
I draw her into a hug and squeeze my daughter to my chest. I’ll do anything to protect her. I can’t deny the effect June’s had on our family, on the house, on Alex. My daughter is more confident, she’s happier, and she’s resilient.
And June.
I thought I was a strong man before her, now I’m realizing how much stronger I can be for her and Alex. She’s teaching me that strength doesn’t have to mean being alone.
It means accepting that she might leave and being willing to take the pain.
I kiss my daughter on the head and tell her to get ready for bed then leave her room, determined. I’ll do whatever it takes.
Thirty-Nine
JUNE
SeeingOlivia after all these years is a shock to my system. I stand in the guest room in Cash’s house, staring down at the side of my mother’s place, and the part of the street that I can just make out. Warm night air drifts through the open window, accompanied by the chirp of crickets, and it feels like I’m here and in the past at the same time.
I don’t know what I was thinking, but I feel guilty for having been with Cash, even though I know that Olivia isn’t right for him. That she isn’t right at all for the things she’s done. But at the same time, I feel like a shitty, judgmental person for even thinking that.
I have college applications to prep, and standing around thinking about what could have been or what I should have done is not getting me anywhere.
I open the door of the guestroom and stop dead.
Cash stands on the threshold, one hand up as if he’s about to knock. “I was going to write you a letter,” he says, “but I figured we’ve never been that good at telling the truth on paper.”
My body flushes hot at the proximity. No matter how much I plan on moving past him, on working on my personal goals, I’m stymied by his presence.
“June,” he says, sweeping his hand down my arm. “You all right?”
I suck in a breath. “Well, you could say I’ve been better. Is Alex all right?”
“She’s fine,” he says. “Sleeping. We talked about what happened, and she’s, yeah, she’s going to be fine.”
“You made the hard choice by telling her everything,” I say, a little of my admiration for him coming out in my tone. “Hard and honest.”
His fingers work up my arm to my throat, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to concentrate.
Cash rests his hand against my skin, grasping my chin gently, and tilting my head so he can take me in. I’ve never enjoyed a man’s touch this much. Maybe I’ve been reading too many romance novels, but the way he touches me and moves me, makes my knees weak. He’s in full control, as he walks me backward into the room and taps the door shut with his foot.
“June. I’m going to do unspeakable things to you.” Cash moves another hand upward and he cups my cheeks in both hands, as if he’s holding water and he’s afraid it will seep through the cracks between his fingers. “You,” he says, “June. You’ve always been the reason. You’ve always been the one I want. I was fucked when Olivia told me that you weren’t interested in me. I was done. And I was a dumb kid for believing it,” he says. “But I’m an adult now and I’m not going to let anything stand in the way of what I want again, not when it comes to you.”
I swallow, my mind racing alongside my heart. These are words I wanted to hear when I was young. When things were simpler.
“Every part of me wants you to stay. Every single part of me wants to keep you here so that I can have you as mine,” Cash says, and my skin prickles with goosebumps at the emotion in his voice, “but I know that you’ve been through enough. The summer’s coming to an end and you’re going to leave to be who you were meant to be. I have always believed in you, just like you believed in me.”
“Cash.” My bottom lip trembles. No one has ever spoken to me like this before. Not my mother, not Braydon, no one.
“You deserve the world on your own terms. And I want you to know that whatever you want to do, I will support you. I will pay your tuition. I will buy you a car if you need it. I will buy you a fucking house, June. I will do whatever you want and need.”
“You can’t do that,” I say,
“You’re everything I’ve ever wanted from a friend, a woman, a lover. And whatever comes, if you want me by your side, June, I will be there to support you every fucking step of the way.”
I’m trembling all over. He leans in and kisses my tears away, murmuring under his breath, the warm words lost on me but penetrating my soul. This man is something special.
There isn’t a chance in hell I could doubt him. I’ve known him since we were kids, loved him since I was old enough to start thinking about him as more than a boy, and dreamed of being with him. Cash is a rock. A grumpy, solid, sweet rock. He might not show the world how he feels, but he’s shown me, and that’s enough.
