Chapter 26
June
I stared at my mom attentively during dinner; I wanted to analyze her every answer. Or maybe I should say her every lie.
“And tell me, Mom, how was your work trip?”
“Good. Are you saying the pasta’s overcooked?”
I pierced two pieces of penne with my fork and stared furtively at them.
“Yeah, but can you tell me more? When I go on a trip, you make me tell you all the good, the bad, and the ugly!” I tried to make eye contact from the opposite side of the table.
“What do you want to know? It was a boring work trip, June. How about school? Did you have any exams?”
Of course, let’s talk about school. Classic.
“Hunter?” I pressed, leading to her giving an indecipherable smirk.
“What’s Jordan got to do with it now?”
“I don’t know, you tell me,” I replied. “I know he traveled too. Is that a coincidence, Mom?”
She cleaned the corner of her mouth with her napkin then took a sip of water.
“He went camping with Jasper. But I’ll pretend I don’t know how you found that information out, young lady.”
I rolled my eyes. She always managed to turn the tables on me. I kept quiet for the rest of dinner until I saw her get up from the table.
“Where are you going?” I couldn’t help but ask.
She organized the plates and put them in the dishwasher, then went to the bathroom and left all made up wearing a scandalous amount of makeup.
“Are you going out?” I demanded, as I checked the time on my phone.
It was nine thirty, where did she think she was going?
“No, I mean, yeah. Melissa and I have work to do.”
The ridiculous thing was that she didn’t even try to find a better excuse. Who’d she think she was talking to?
“Can’t you do it tomorrow?”
She added more excuses, put on a light jacket, grabbed her purse, and left.
So she wanted to keep lying to me? Fine, but I had to find out.
I put on my gym shoes and rode my bike out.
Obviously I couldn’t follow her—her car gave me the slip almost immediately—but I managed to see what block it turned onto. And it was exactly where I suspected.
I decided to follow my gut feeling my and headed to James’s house.
It was inevitable. I was horrified at the sight of my mom’s old Toyota parked outside.
“I can’t believe it.”
I’d known it, but up until that point, I’d hoped I was wrong.
I left my bike behind a dumpster, hoping nobody stole it, then pulled up the hood of my hoodie and hid by the front door.
I couldn’t see anything from downstairs. There were too many curtains.
I felt like a burglar, a stalker, but I had to do it. It was for the greater good. Most of all, it was for my mental health. I didn’t want my mom going out with that guy. Nor was I okay with her lying to me.
Stupid curtains.
I craned my neck as much as possible and saw two silhouettes through the living room window.
She and Jordan were there. I thought I saw them head to the stairs. I hoped it wasn’t what I thought it was.
On the one hand I didn’t want to know where they were going, but on the other hand, I had to know. I quickly examined the house’s outside wall. How was I going to get to the second floor?
Without thinking about it too much, I climbed onto one of the portico pillars.
I’d climbed trees a lot as a kid; it wasn’t anything complicated.
But when I got to the roof, I almost skinned the palms of my hands.
I crouched down, too scared to stand up.
I was nine, maybe twelve feet from the ground. You’re dead if you fall, June.
That liar would have me on her conscience. I minimized the danger in my head.
I realized there weren’t any curtains in the window facing me, and I could glimpse an empty room full of paintings.
So that beefcake Jordan really was an art buff. I had no idea where my mom and Jordan were now, or how I was going to get down. I edged over to the side wall and gradually stood up.
My back was to the wall. I took small side steps and avoided looking down.
Now how was I going to get down from here?
I tried to glance quickly down, but I almost passed out.
I didn’t get vertigo, but the thought of jumping down made me predict the worst. Okay, I shouldn’t get distracted.
I saw another window behind me. It was ajar.
Good, I’ll go through there. There was no point in hoping it was Jasper’s room because when I approached the window, a tall, muscular figure stood there.
It was James. In his underwear.
“What the fuck.”
“It’s not what you think!” I rushed to say, my cheeks burning from embarrassment. He burst out laughing.
“Are you spying on me?”
“Shh! No! Quiet down.”
“Oh for god’s sake, White.”
I heard Tiffany’s voice, too, then her figure popped up in the window.
“Come on in!” she invited, while James turned away from me.
“What do you mean come in! Kick her out!”
Now James was never going to let me live that down.
Guys were always trying to climb on roofs and knock on girls’ bedroom windows on Netflix.
Who knew what Tiffany was thinking. I wondered when I saw her perfectly comfortable in an elegant minidress.
She looked like she was about to go out.
But before she could give me a hand, James moved her aside and positioned himself in front of me.
I almost lost my balance when he opened the window and flashed me a crooked grin.
“Hunter, let me in, please!”
I watched him cross his arms and flex his toned biceps.
“No way.”
“Come on, before your dad sees me. I’m hanging on the gutter!”
“Then stay there.” He burst out laughing.
I tried to pull myself up again to continue on the cornice, although the roof shingles were getting dangerously narrow at that point.
My right foot slipped, and for a moment I felt the void below me until someone grabbed my arm.
“Fuck, you’re clumsy,” spat James.
James helped me climb over the window, and I ended up right in his arms. Could a human really smell that good?
“You’re an idiot,” he teased, lifting me like I was a feather.
“And you’re just a—”
We gazed at each other up close. His blue eyes looked lighter than usual.
“And you’re—”
He absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair, looking at me like a lost puppy. “Irresistible?” He put words in my mouth, going right back to being arrogant.
“No! Half naked as usual.”
I turned around suddenly to avoid getting lost in admiring his toned body.
“You’re a lost cause, White.” I heard him laugh. And then a feminine voice.
“June!”
Oh yeah, Tiffany.
“What the hell were you doing out there?”
“Hiding from my mom,” I admitted, a little sheepishly.
“What a dork.” James put on a pair of dark pants.
“Maybe you don’t know this, but she’s here. With your dad. We have to find out if they went on a trip together. If she lied to me for the umpteenth time, why—”
“Do you see how much of a pain she is?” James pointed at me while looking at Tiffany as if I wasn’t in the room. “If they want to fuck, let them.” James wasn’t being subtle, and Tiffany burst out laughing.
“Let me get this straight, you don’t care that they’re in a relationship?”
“How come you don’t get it? Do you think they have a relationship? My dad doesn’t commit to anyone. He got burned once in his life. He definitely isn’t gonna get involved with a half-crazy person like your mom.”
James’s words startled me.
I was so busy glowering at him that I almost didn’t realize Tiffany was calling my name.
“June, why don’t you stay with us?”
“No. We have to go.” James’s tone was final. He put on a perfectly pressed button-down shirt.
The softness with which the white fabric wrapped around his shoulders captivated me, maybe because it made him look like an angel. His features were delicate despite the little dent near his left eyebrow, a result from a past encounter.
“June, you can come with us if you want.” Tiffany wasn’t giving up.
“I don’t want her in the way.”
And then there was that sneer that was anything but angelic, which always made him look like a demon with a human appearance.
“Yeah, June’s coming too.”
I didn’t wonder why Tiffany was being so persistent.
“And tell me, Tiff, will she come dancing looking like that?”
James barely lifted his chin, his gaze drifting from my hoodie to my jean shorts.
“I have stuff she can wear.”
“Wait, go where?” I looked first at Tiffany, then at James, but it was useless because neither of them considered me in the least.
“I said no.”
“And I said yes. I’d be happy for her to come.”
I waved my hands in front of their faces hoping they’d deign to give me one look.
“Would it be possible to know where, or—”
“Are you scared? Are we really that questionable?” Tiffany chuckled and handed me a dress out of her backpack.
“Even if I decided to come out with you, I’m not changing here,” I declared with conviction and crossed arms.
“Why?”
Tiffany shifted her dark-brown eyes innocently, until she met James’s intense gaze.
“You have nothing to worry about, June. James will make us a sandwich now. That way he gets out of the way.”
“It’s my fucking room, and I’m not leaving just because this fucking princess is afraid I could see her ass.”
“Like you haven’t already done that so many times.” I egged him on with a smirk.
“Shut up!”
“You can’t stand me because I tell you the truth.”
I glared at him, and he returned the glare.
“James! Get out.” Tiffany literally pushed him out of the room. He grumbled, before shooting her a less-than-reassuring look.
“Why? Do you two ladies want to make out in my room? Can you not resist?”
“Out!” she exclaimed loudly, making me laugh.
James left, slamming the door, while I watched Tiffany, looking slightly embarrassed.
But she didn’t seem to have a shy bone in her body. In addition to the dress, in fact, she offered me a heavily padded pushup bra.
“But it’s—”
“Don’t look at it like that, it’s just padded, not a bomb,” she explained, noticing my reluctant expression.
“But I’ve already got one.”
“Yeah, but this dress needs a strapless bra. Try it, we’re the same size.”