Chapter 3
Anthony
D amn, it’s cold.
I fold my arms across my chest to warm myself as I walk down the sidewalk on my way to the club.
I hopped off the ‘L’ one stop early thinking I could burn off some of this nervous energy in the bright sunshine, but I’m already regretting it.
I grew up here, so you’d think I’d remember how cold it gets in late October.
It’s not like the walk is doing me much good either; my heart’s still pounding a mile a minute.
Just be cool, I tell myself .
Ever since Charlotte called last night to ask if I could cover for her on short notice while she tended to some family matters, I’ve been itching to get to the club to spend some extra time with June today.
I don’t normally get worked up like this. I like to take things easy and stay flexible. But ever since that night June and I hooked up, my usual isn’t my usual anymore.
It’s no secret I’ve always had a thing for her, and not just because she’s fucking hot. June is feisty and fun and incredibly capable. She’s not afraid to speak her mind, and she challenges me in ways no one else does.
I’m the kind of guy who gets a lot of attention from the ladies, but June’s never been weird around me like that. She doesn’t kowtow or try to flatter anyone. She’s always real with me, and I respect that.
No, June’s a force to be reckoned with. There’s a passion in her. An intensity. She draws me in and makes me want to warm myself over that fire inside her. That night that we finally slept together was the best goddamned night of my life.
I still think about the morning after, when she was sound asleep.
I looked down at her sweet-as-hell little body all tangled up in her sheets, and the tour bus was leaving in an hour.
I remember having this sudden, almost uncontrollable urge to bundle her up and take her with me.
I’d never had such intense feelings for anyone, and it threw me.
Up until that point I’d been dedicating 100 percent of my energy to my music; that’s the way I was brought up.
My parents stressed the importance of pursuing creative endeavors to the fullest. They raised me to believe that anything was possible, and my mom led by example.
My dad would point to her illustrious acting career and remind me that the secret of a successful life is single-minded determination.
That obsessive focus paid off too. The record label picked us up, and we started touring all over. For a little while I thought I was on top of the world.
But that night with June changed everything.
All of a sudden there was this new, nagging question in my mind.
It was eating away at my soul.
What if everything I’d been pursuing with my music wasn’t the be-all, end-all? What if there was something more? Something that wasn’t even on my radar before?
After I left town, I didn’t know what to do with all the feelings I was having. I missed the sound of her voice, and I tried calling a few times, but she never picked up. When she wouldn’t even answer my texts, I got worried.
What if she was angry with me? What if I did something I shouldn’t have?
But I kept on running it over in my mind. We had so much fun that night, joking around like we’d always done, and she seemed…content. The things she shared made her vulnerable, like she was opening up to me for the first time.
I thought maybe that’s what scared her—how intense everything felt. I was leaving the next day, going back on tour.
June’s not naive. She sees the bands that come through the club, and she knows what this world’s like. How most guys in my position are. She probably figured she couldn’t trust me. I wanted some way to show her she was still on my mind.
OK, maybe the postcards were a bad idea. But it felt right somehow. At least, at the time.
But she never responded to the cards either.
For all I know, I’m just some jackass from her past who can’t take a hint. But I know our friendship was real, and I know in my heart June still cares about me.
I’ve been counting the days on this tour, just itching to get back here. I need to know what happened. I need to be able to look her in the eye and see if there’s still something here worth fighting for.
My nerves rev up again as I round the corner and spot the club’s marquis looming. By the time I reach the entrance, I’m so anxious I feel like a middle schooler with a bad crush.
I take a couple of deep breaths, pausing for a minute before I reach down to pull the door open.
I’m half expecting to see her standing right there, but it’s dark in the entryway, and there’s no one in sight as I make my way to the main area of the club.
This great, old country ballad is cranking through the club speakers, though.
It’ s a sweet little number from the 1940s that somehow time forgot.
I look off to my right to the bar where June and I first met. It’s still got that same smooth, polished surface, the bottles lined up behind it just so.
The two of us spent so many nights working together behind that bar, trading barbs and having a fabulous time. She was a top-notch bartender—keeping everything running smoothly—and I would feed off her energy.
It was right there, behind that bar, that I kissed her. Something was different that night, after our last show here. I could see it in her eyes how badly she wanted me, and right then I knew we were going to sleep together.
I walk toward the bar to wait for June, but as I’m moving in to take a seat on one of the stools, someone pops up from behind the counter.
She’s got her back toward me, and her hair is dyed this pale shade of pink, but I’d recognize that tight little body anywhere.
Fuck.
How is she even hotter than I remember? She’s got on black leather pants that are hugging her ass like a glove, and she’s pulling bottles from the back bar, one by one, and wiping them down with a towel.
Her movements are smooth, the practiced ease that only comes from doing something a thousand times.
I take a deep breath to steady myself, and I’m about to say hello when I hear June singing along—joining in on the chorus of the country tune but adding her own harmony. Her voice is incredible. All breathy and otherworldly, and she makes it sound effortless.
I didn’t even know she could sing.
Her curves jiggle in all the right places as she sways with the music, and her hypnotic voice washes over me. When the final chorus comes in, she’s belting it out, her chin held high as her beautiful voice fills the entire club.
When she hits that last sweet note, she whirls around, and her voice breaks.
Those dark eyes fix right on mine, and the bottle she’s holding falls to the floor with a crash .