Finding June (25 page)

Reece answered the door wearing jeans and a long-sleeved, button-up dark blue shirt. He looked amazing and I could already feel my palms start to sweat.

“Come in. Actually, come to the back I have a surprise.” Reece grabbed my hand and we went through the house to his backyard. He opened the door for me, and I walked out in front of him.

The scene in front of me was stunning. The big tree in his smallish backyard was lit with hundreds of golden lights. The last of the fall leaves on the tree gave them hints of red and orange. It was magical and storybook perfect, like a tree you would find in a mystical forest. Underneath it was a picnic table with a red and white-checkered tablecloth. A giant white candle sat in a hurricane glass and there were two plates of food. There was an iHome sitting on the end of the table and “Honey and the Moon” by Joseph Arthur was playing softly in the background.

I turned around to look at Reece with wide eyes and my mouth hanging open. I couldn’t believe he had made this beautiful scene for me …
for
us
. No one had ever made such a romantic gesture toward me. Upon closer inspection of the plates of food, I came to discover three sushi rolls graced our plates. I loved sushi, but I never remembered telling Reece. After I sat down, I couldn’t eat because I was still in awe, my mind was trying to filter all the emotions I was feeling. I gazed across the table at Reece and tried to say something, but I couldn’t find the words.

“I wish I could take credit for all of this, especially with that look on your face, June, but I really got lucky,” he said, gesturing to the golden-lit tree and the meal in front of us. After pouring us each a glass of wine, he continued, “The lights were already here. I think my aunt put them up. When I was raking leaves, I found the cord on the ground and plugged in. I found the tablecloth in the basement and the sushi is take-out. I was going to make you an amazing home cooked meal, but we got a late rush at work and I was stuck there later than usual. Jo said sushi was one of your favorites, so I went with it. But, the wine is a bottle I grabbed when we visited the winery a few weeks ago.”

I took a sip of wine and tried to take it all in. It didn’t matter if he made the lights himself; it was still amazing and thoughtful of him. He might have gotten lucky, but it still took effort to be so kind and I wasn’t going to let him downplay it.

“Thank you.” I reached for his strong hands, capturing them in my own. “This is amazing. No one has ever done anything like this for me before. I’ll never forget it.” And I wouldn’t. Even if Reece and I ended up parting ways at some point, I would never forget the fall evening bathed in the light under the grand tree, the meal and the wine. I doubt I could forget the man sitting across from me either.

“I must ask. Why? I mean, I love it, but this is more than a friend thing. It’s a very romantic gesture.”

Reece smiled and took a sip of his wine. “Yesterday, when you asked if I wanted to be the only one to buy you drinks my answer was yes, but I didn’t feel right asking you outside of a bar after working all day. I wanted you to know I feel something for you I haven’t felt in a long time. Hell, I don’t know if I have ever felt anything like this. You speak your mind and don’t hold anything back, and I can’t help but be attracted to that. You’re real, June, and that is pretty special in this screwed up world. Even if you think life sucks right now, with everything that went down, you’re still true to yourself. In turn, you make me a better person. I want you to be a part of my story.”

My mind was reeling with Reece’s words. The fact he thought it was me that made him a better person was enough to be blown away. Reece had no idea how he calmed me when I freaked out or how his words soothed my soul, which was drowning in chaos. It wasn’t until this moment I realized it, fully and completely. With Reece, things made sense and I was tired of fighting it.

“I want you to be a part of my story, too. Because you make my mine better, brighter.”

“Yeah?” he said with his crooked half-smile.

“Yeah.” I got up from the table and walked around to the other side. Sitting next to him with my legs on either side of the seat, I grabbed his face in my hands and kissed him.

I kissed him with everything I had and everything I wanted. He responded by pulling me closer with his hands on my hips. My fears were temporarily put on hold as I felt the safety within his arms. In that safety, I also felt courage for the future. Reece pulled away from our kiss as the song changed. Grabbing my hands, he lifted me off of the seat.

“Dance with me?” he asked. I smiled up at his green eyes as he placed one hand on the small of my back and intertwined our fingers with the other hand. He placed our joined hands to his chest and we swayed softly under the lit tree as “The Dress Looks Nice on You” by Sufjan Stevens drifted into the air.

I sighed as I took in this perfect moment. With Reece, I kept having these special times, and even if nothing else in my life made sense, at least I had them. I cherished the moment because I knew life wasn’t perfect; it was full of joy and sadness, of confused feelings, of being lost and being found. Life handed you circumstances that defined who you were, that played into how you lived your life. I knew life was a mess of craziness, but every once in a while these moments clarified your journey, putting you back on track. This perfect moment helped me clear my mind and refocus. I lifted my head off of Reece’s shoulder and kissed him gently on the cheek. His eyes lit up as he leaned down and gave me a whisper of a kiss on my forehead, softly blowing on it to make sure it didn’t go away.

“I want to buy your drinks, June, and I want to make sure you never forget my kisses. I want to be the one that puts that beautiful spark in your golden brown eyes. I want to be there for you, June … my Just June.”

As the song ended, I kissed Reece and led him back into his house, the food forgotten. Reece took the lead and went into a room I only assumed was his. He sat down on his bed and dragged me on top of him. As I straddled his lap, I kissed him; a slow, passionate kiss, one that took its time to express the emotion behind it. This time it was me showing him how much he meant to me. In a short time he blew into my life, challenged how I saw things, and brought me the ray of hope I didn’t know I was missing. His touch exploded feelings inside I didn’t know I had. Our lips moved from slow passion to a heated race of mouths; we couldn’t get enough of each other. I broke from him, taking off my sweater, leaving me in a lacy black bra. He lightly traced his fingers over the top of my breasts, his soft touch making me shiver.

“You are perfect,” he breathed as he replaced his hands with the lightest touch of his mouth. His hands glided up my back and unhooked my bra with ease. I pulled it off and threw it behind me as he took my breast into his mouth. My breathing was becoming erratic as I felt his mouth on my skin and his hands exploring my body. His touch ignited each nerve his hand passed over. At that moment, I realized he was still wearing too many clothes. I blindly unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders. Finally, I quickly pulled off his white undershirt and ran my hands up his toned chest, feeling like I could never get enough of Reece Day and his amazing body or his beautiful soul. His hands found the buttons of my jeans, easing them off. Somehow his pants were gone, too, but I was so consumed with his mouth on mine I must’ve missed that part.

He stood up, with me still clinging on to him, and turned us around so my back was to the bed. I sunk in as he laid his body on top of mine and his mouth started to work its way down, each kiss a flash of heat on my skin. He trailed kisses down to my breast and moved lower as he kissed my stomach. I was aching for him to make me see stars as he pulled my legs apart and kissed the inside of my thighs. One small kiss on one thigh, and one tiny kiss on the other. I would never get sick of his tiny kisses. His hand inched up to the top of my panties as he slowly started to pull them down, and I moaned as I felt his lips on me. I felt one more tiny kiss right above my pantie line and I heard a thump thump in the other room. I was so consumed in Reece I figured I was having an out of body experience and hearing the beating of my heart. Then I noticed that while Reece’s hands were still on my hips, his mouth was not.

My mind started to clear and I heard the thump more pronounced from the other room.

“Do you hear that?” Reece asked.

Fuck yeah I heard that, but Reece needed to ignore it and get back to using his mouth on me.

“I think someone is at the door,” Reece said.

“Ignore it,” I pleaded.

The knocking continued and it was getting louder.

“Who the hell is knocking at this time of night? It’s probably a crazy psycho who has the wrong door. Ignore it,” I tried again. But it was too late. Reece was already grabbing his jeans he found hanging on the doorknob. I might have pouted as he zipped up his jeans.

“Whoever it is, they’re not going away. Stay here and I will be right back. I promise.” And he was out of the door. I flopped back on the bed wearing only my black panties. I was so close.
Sigh.

It had to have been less than a minute when I was heard a voice unfamiliar to me. I put on my clothes quickly. I didn’t know what was going on, but I was worried about why a stranger was yelling at Reece. I came into the room to see the back of Reece, his arms crossed, and a man standing at the door with his hands in his hair and a look of frustration on his face. The man was only slightly shorter than Reece and a little bit stockier. He had sandy blond hair and was quiet for only a moment when he saw me, but quickly continued, in a loud voice, saying, “You won’t talk to me, Reece. I ran into your sister and she said you were back in town, but you can’t fucking call me? I was your best friend, but I haven’t heard a fucking word from you in seven years. Seven fucking years, Reece! You have to talk to me.”

“I know, Caleb,” Reece said softly.

Caleb.

Reece’s best friend who was in love with Rachel.

“You know? You sure don’t show it. You just keep on running. You ran away from Rachel, from me, and from your family. You think time will wash everything away? Fuck that, man.”

“I don’t know what you want me to do.” The deflation in Reece’s voice broke my heart.

“Why did you come back?”

“My aunt died and I inherited her house. Then I guess I found a reason to stay,” Reece said as his hands fell to his sides. I walked up to him and laced my fingers through his. He glanced to the side with a frown and his eyes drawn together, guilt blatant on his face.

“This chick?” Caleb said as he pointed to me. “You decided to stay because you found someone you loved?” No one had said anything about love, but Caleb was one loose screw away from a breakdown so we didn’t say anything.

“Well, isn’t that fucking nice for you, Reece. You always get what you want. You know, I loved someone once. But she was taken away from me.”

“She took herself away from it all.” Reece’s hand tightened around mine.

“Excuse me?” You could see his anger rising with what Reece had said. “You can go fuck yourself, Reece. You weren’t there, were you? I was. I was the one who fucking found Rachel laying in the bathtub full of bloody water. You were away for a college visit, leaving her again, and I was the one who found her. Not you. I was always the one there for her, you never were. It was always me, but she was too fucking lost in your charm and your head was somewhere else. It wasn’t you, Reece, but me who has had the picture of her dead in my head for the last seven years. Not. You. You might have fucked her, but I loved her.”

His words stung and I wasn’t even the one they were directed toward. The venom in Caleb’s voice was seven years of pent up frustration and he was firing it all at Reece.

“I know, Caleb. I know.” He didn’t argue or yell back at him. I could only see the guilt on his face as Caleb’s words sunk in. A few silent moments passed between the three of us, no one knowing what to say.

“If you
know,
you have a shitty way of dealing with it. You left and I stayed here as the ghost of the girl I loved followed me around this whole goddamn town. You were such a fucking coward you ran away, what kind of man does that?” The anger from Caleb’s voice turned into quiet calm, but the words still held the punch his earlier louder words had delivered.

“I never said what I did was right.”

“That’s because you didn’t do anything! I did it all. Did you know it was me who picked out her outfit for her casket because her parent’s couldn’t, and you sure as hell couldn’t since you weren’t talking to anyone. You wouldn’t let me in and we were both hurting so much. What happened to my best friend? I lost one that day and I hated how I lost the other.”

“I was wrong in so many ways.” Reece’s words filled every corner of the room. As they settled, the silence filled the void. No one knew what to say.

Reece shifted as he sighed and said, “I wish I could have helped her. I wish I could go back and change so many things. But I can’t. You’re right, I did run away, but I’m here now. I want to fix things. I want to fix things as best as I can. I know nothing will be the same, but I was wrong to not talk to you for this long.” Reece let go of my hand and walked up to Caleb, putting his hand out. Caleb looked down to Reece’s hand, but instead grabbed him and hugged him. I watched as the men in front of me hugged over something that had torn their worlds apart when they were still kids on the brink of the adult world. It was a heavy burden for anyone to deal with, but for two young teenage boys, it had to tear apart the world they knew.

I understood why Reece left. I had done the same thing when Owen had broken up with me, escaping into the mountains. When you left you could be anyone you wanted. People didn’t know your past, they hadn’t figured out how had life shaped you. They thought of only the here and now, and the present was appealing. I got it and my heart felt so heavy for Reece as seven years of pent of sadness and frustrations were coming to a head from his friends and family.