Chapter Nineteen
April Seventh
Juniper
Whitney turned from the stove as June closed the front door, “Where have you been?”
“I have been seeing a therapist after work.”
She closed the door and joined her in the kitchen.
“I saw one for a little bit after I got here, it helped. Who are you seeing?”
June set her bag on the table, “Dr. Weaver.”
“I had her, she’s really good.”
She turned the stove off as the ground beef had browned. “Where’s Brittanya?”
“She was going to her Mom’s after work, so I walked.”
Whitney pressed a knife into a tomato, “I guess her office isn’t too far from here, so just us two for dinner?”
“I think so, Wolfgang is coming over later to hang out. Do you need help with anything?”
“No, I am almost done.”
“Okay, I’m going to go wash up.”
She picked up her bag and headed for her room. Setting her purse on the dresser, she grabbed her phone from it.
Juniper ‘You’re coming over later still?’
Wolfgang ‘Yes, I am finishing up at the gym. I’m going to go home and shower and grab a bite but I’m kind of feeling a bonfire at the beach instead.’
Juniper ‘Oh that sounds fun, us two?’
Wolfgang ‘We could invite others. Ask Whitney and Brittanya if they would like to go?”
Juniper ‘Okay, just us five?’
Wolfgang ‘What do you think about me inviting Max and Shianne?’
Juniper ‘I don’t care, I’m over what’s happened between us.’
Wolfgang ‘Alright, I’ll invite them.’
Juniper ‘Should I bring anything? Blanket? Treat? Drinks?’
Wolfgang ‘No, I’ll bring it, just bring that pretty face of yours and an appropriate outfit.’
Juniper ‘Whitney still won’t drop that, expect her to bring it up. Also, I don’t have any inappropriate outfits.’
Wolfgang ‘Not anymore, see you at seven thirty?’
Juniper ‘That sounds good.’
Wolfgang
He watched June and Brittanya walked through the sand. June was in those small jean shorts and a tee shirt. She was carrying a light blanket and her water. Her eyes glimmered to Wolfie as he took a drink from his bottle from the brewery.
“Hey.”
He grabbed June around the torso, kissing her quickly, “Where’s the other two?”
“Whitney had Fade pick her up, they’ll be here.”
Brittanya set down her items in the sand.
“Max and Shianne will be late, he’s waiting for her to get off work and he said she wanted to come.”
June rubbed her lips together anxiously. “Okay.”
She set her stuff next to Brittanya's things and walked back to Wolfie.
“Would you like to try some?”
He offered June his bottle.
“Sure," she said. June took a swallow of the bottle as an earthy, warm flavor entered her mouth. “What is this?”
she asked with her face scrunching.
He simpered, “It's similar to malt liquor, we brew it here.”
Wolfgang gravitated towards her naturally, watching the fire grow and the pale wood darken under the flames. He noticed Fade and Whitney joining them and waved while walking towards them. “Let me see your phone.”
He said facing Whitney. She scowled at him, and handed it over turned on, a few clicks and he placed it back in her hand.
Whitney’s mouth dropped, “A thousand credits?”
She exclaimed, “are you crazy? The dress wasn't worth that much.”
He sighed, “I know, I just want things to be good between you and Juniper.”
“I wouldn’t take it out on her, I’m just sad about it.”
Fade looked at him confused and Whitney interrupted. “I'll tell you later.”
It had appeared that Whitney had not informed him about what had happened between Wolfie, June and the dress. He was relieved knowing that, and slightly embarrassed with the thought of her telling him later. From what he remembered on their double date, Fade wasn't gonna be too happy about what had happened. In Wolfgang’s eyes, he was doing Fade a favor as well. But you never know, some guys like to show off their girls, bragging, he just wasn't one of them.
Everyday, he found new reasons to fall in love with June even more. She was funny, smart and gorgeous. The last thing he wanted was to show her off to the whole island, not like that. He didn't want somebody getting the wrong impression, Wolfgang felt she was his to protect. He didn't want anybody hurting her ever again and she could wear what she wanted; it was the men he worried about. As safe as this place came off, shit like that still happened.
Wolfgang stared down the small opening of her top as she bent down and took off her shoes to feel the sand in between her toes. He continued observing her as she uprighted, enjoying the conversation with her roommates, who were now friends. The way the corner of her eyes tightened when she laughed, the small part in her lips as she listened and the way her chest heaved when she looked at him. Juniper was beautiful.
She was worth the wait and if he knew that she existed out there, he would have left the island years ago to go find Her. He would have found her before Ben did. No, he would have waited until she found Ben. He would have loved to meet Ben. It became more and more frequent that as much as he fantasized about Juniper, he fantasized about what he would do to Ben.
He had been doing some research himself, seeing how much someone's personality can change after an abusive relationship and questioned what June was like before Ben, if she was this fucking perfect now, he couldn’t imagine her any better.
She seemed startled when she looked at Wolfie, his eyes burrowed under her skin and he dropped her gaze and looked past her. June follows his movement seeing Max and Shianne heading their way.
Juniper
The sun had set, leaving a warm glow from the crumbling fire on everyone's face. Shianne didn't seem to mind Juniper as she chatted with Brittanya and Whitney while Fade and Wolfie conversed with Max. The fire in his eyes was more than a reflection, they created an additional heat between them.
Shianne approached her, "June?" Her tone was soft.
"Hi Shianne." She cupped her water bottle.
"I wanted to say I'm sorry for what I said, and what happened. We can't avoid each other forever, so I would like to try and get along." Shianne's hands intertwined together.
"That sounds like a good idea, and I'm sorry as well." Her lips forced a smile.
"Let's start over."
Junes' hands dropped to her sides, "Okay." Max approached wrapping his arm around Shianne.
She spotted Wolfgang leaving the tree line, adjusting the zipper on his pants and coming towards her. “Hey,”
he smiled at Shianne.
“How are you?”
she asked.
“I am doing great, I hope things between you two are doing good as well.”
Max pulled her in with a kiss. “We're doing great, we should do stuff like this more often, maybe even at the apartment.”
“Yeah, that sounds like fun.”
Wolfgang looked at June’s face looking for expression of disagreement.
“Hey Wolfie, we're gonna go.”
Brittanya pointed to her Whitney and Fade.
“Alright, thanks for coming out guys.”
He waved as they turned their backs to head towards the parking lot.
“Bye,”
Juniper shouted in their direction and then centered the attention on the remaining four.
Max pulled Shianne even closer with his hand on her stomach. “If I can be honest, we are actually engaged. We haven't put it out there yet and some will call us crazy because we've only been dating for a few months. But when you know, you know, right?”
Shianne looked up to Max with pure love in her eyes.
“Wow, that's awesome, congratulations to both of you.”
Wolfgang cheered.
June’s voice trailed behind his, “Yeah, congratulations.”
“Thank you," they said simultaneously.
“When were you thinking of getting married?”
June asked.
“I would love to have a summer wedding. I know it's also so soon but we've had all the deep conversations and those hard discussions. Everything just feels right.”
“Wow, that is fast.”
Wolfgang’s eyes blinked, baffled.
June looked into Shianne’s eyes, “I'm happy for you, really.”
“Thank you, I need to go to the bathroom.”
She looked up at max.
“Alright, well, we should get going too then. Thanks for the invite and like I said, we should do this more often.”
Max shook Wolfgang's hand in agreement.
Shianne hugged June, “I'm sorry,”
she whispered in her ear.
June was taken aback, “It’s okay.”
and reciprocated the hug. They turned with smiles and walked into the dark.
“That went better than expected.”
Wolfie pulled June in by the hips.
“Shianne apologized to me.”
“That's great June,”
he kissed her gently and the fire cracked to the side of them.
Wolfgang grabbed June's blanket she brought and splayed it out. He led her by the hand to the ground. Laying on his back, June curled up under his arm, they looked up at the stars. "Thank you for coming out here tonight." He caressed her arm.
“Thank you for inviting me, I had fun.”
“I did too.”
June listened to his breathing before opening her lips, “Where do you see us going?”
she asked spontaneously.
Wolf looked at her. “I don't see us going anywhere, especially you. You're stuck with me. I have yet to see you ruin my life.”
“What would be some deal breakers? What would cause you to not want to be with me?”
“I don't know,”
he shrugged, “the usual cheating, being mean, I don't know.”
She glanced up at him, “Well, what's been wrong with everybody else? Like Brittanya? She seems so cute for you.”
“Well, for starters, I met her when she was 6 and I was 16. We were neighbors growing up, and we've been through some tough stuff together. And two, why are you trying to get rid of me so bad?”
“I'm not sure,”
She laughed, “I'm just curious why nobody else has been good enough for you?”
He adjusted his shirt under her hand. “I just never felt it with anybody else and then you walked onto this island and everything changed. I've never felt so sure about anyone, you're not going anywhere. I waited this long for you, I'm not gonna wait another twenty nine years for somebody half as good as you.”
Wolfie paused with a sigh, “You're my stardust and if this planet explodes, I will find you on the next. I look for you wherever I go. I drive past your street, I look to see if you're outside. Whenever you're at work, I'll look as I walk by, to see if you're there. Because of the small chance that I could get to see you, would make my day even if you didn't know it. You're my drive during the day and you're my lullaby at night.”
He reached down to kiss her lips, “Every spot I have been to on this island, now has you there, you're never leaving me. You’re going nowhere.”
June moved into him more. “I like you too.”
The crash of the waves came in one by one, the night bugs chirped in the distance as the glow of the embers died down. “We should go.”
He brushed against her face.
June nodded and sat up with him to head back to the car.