“What the fuck is the deal with you and June?” Sage asks, hopping into my truck, setting his cup of coffee in the cup holder between us, and buckling up. I wasn’t going to answer his question. One, it isn’t anyone’s fucking business. Two, he and Jax have no fucking clue that me and June had a history, and they weren’t going to learn that shit from me. June didn’t tell anyone about us when we got together, not even her sisters, who she told everything to. I didn’t understand her reason for keeping us a secret. I didn’t fucking like it, but it was what it was.

When we got married, she still didn’t share about us. I was okay with that. She said she had a plan and was going to tell her parents while I was away. That way, they had time to settle into the idea that their daughter was a married woman, and then when I got home, she would introduce me to them. My headspace at the time was completely jacked, and like I said, I didn’t think much about it. The only thing I knew was I had a good woman, a woman who loved me, a woman I loved, so I was letting her lead where her family was concerned.

Obviously, shit went down when I was away, and I ended our relationship, permanently. So there was no longer a reason for her to tell anyone she had been married, which she didn’t, and I wasn’t going to enlighten them to the fact we had history.

“She fucking called Jax this morning, telling him to keep you away from her,” he continues, and I feel my muscles tighten.

Yesterday was a fuck-up on my part. I should have kept out of the way, but I couldn’t stand the idea of that little fucker asking her out and her saying yes, so I stepped in.

“Are you even fucking listening to me?” Sage demands, and I turn my head and raise a brow. “I know you were married,” he whispers, and my muscles that were tight wind even tighter. “Know it wasn’t long, but do know she was your wife. I don’t know what the fuck happened, but I have to tell you. I like you, man, but you fuck with my cousin’s head, do something to hurt her again, and you’ll answer to me.”

“Do not,” I breathe, “fucking threaten me.”

“It’s not a threat, brother. It’s a promise. I know she was fucked up for a while. Everyone knew she was fucked up, but she wouldn’t talk about it, about what happened. Now I know her fucked up came because you guys ended.”

“She moved on,” I say, reminding myself of something that fucking kills me every time I think about it.

Snorting, he shakes his head. “If you really think that shit, then you’re fucking stupid.”

“Whatever,” I mutter instead of punching him in the face then put my truck in reverse and head out toward town to meet up with a potential client.

“I see he’s back,” I hear JJ say just as June opens the front door to her house. Seeing her, my hands form fists. Her dark hair is down around her bare shoulders. The black, cotton strapless dress she has on makes her skin look even more golden, and her face is completely free of makeup. I know if I were close, I would see the light scatter of freckles across the bridge of her nose and the golden flecks in her eyes.

“I’m working hard at pretending he’s not,” June tells JJ, who holds up a bottle of tequila, the same bottle she walked out of her house with. She shoves it toward her, laughing as she says, “This will help you forget.”

Taking a step back with the bottle close to her chest, she lets JJ inside, and I hear her quietly reply, “Not sure about that,” her eyes move through her yard to me. My heart stops the same way it did the first time we met, only this time, instead of her lips parting and her eyes shining in wonder, her eyes narrow, her lips tighten, and she closes the door, giving me everything and absolutely fucking nothing.

“Fuck,” I rumble, tilting my head back. The first time I saw June, I had been walking out of the auto supply store where I worked when she had been walking in. I was off for the day, but when she tilted her head back toward me with her lips parted, whispering, “Thank you,” as I held open the door for her, I knew I needed to talk to her, so I followed her back inside.

She didn’t talk much. She told me what she was looking for, and I showed her where she could find it. Her cheeks were an adorable shade of pink by the time she checked out, and then got even darker when I asked her for her number as I walked her to her car. I knew the second I met her there was something different about her, something I couldn’t put my finger on, but I knew she was going to become important to me.

She wasn’t important—she was fucking vital, the best thing that ever happened to me. But then I had to let her go so my fucked up didn’t ruin her.

Getting in my truck, I start it up and stare at her house, knowing there is no way anyone will fuck with her, not while I’m out here or JJ is inside. No one would be stupid enough to court the kind of repercussions they would receive from Brew if they fucked with his old lady. And I would kill someone without blinking if they got too close to June.

She was fucked up. Sage’s words have played in my head over and over today. When I was with June, we talked about our future a lot and made a million fucking plans. She knew I owed at least four years to the marines. I signed up for the service before we met. I didn’t have the money for school and the marines gave me the opportunity to get an education and make some money while doing it.

June was on my orders, and after boot camp, we were scheduled to go to Germany. She wanted to see the world, and I was happy to have the ability to give her that. She knew we would be there for two years but also understood two years wasn’t long and that when the time was up, we could move back stateside or find somewhere else to explore. She was excited to be with me, to start a life, and to see the world.