"Do you know that Cade and I used to date in high school?" Melanie asked Crunch, slurring her words. She wobbled on her feet, and I caught her by the arm. She stumbled forward a little, put her hand on my chest.
"Oh, did you?" Crunch asked, smiling at me. I glared back at him and shook my head "no". The last thing in the world I wanted right now was drunk Melanie hanging all over me.
"Did you just say no, Cade Austin?" she asked, slapping me playfully on the chest. "Being all coy doesn't suit you. We dated right before he went off and joined the Marines."
Dated was a loose term for what we had, I thought. We screwed a few times, senior year, after June had left. I was a horny high school football player, and she was the head cheerleader.
"And he always came back and saw me, when he was home on leave, didn't you, Cade?"
I guess I fucked her a few times after that, too.
"Haven't heard from you in a while, though, Cade. People say that you're a biker now." She leaned in close, her breath hot on my ear. I only felt revulsion. I wanted to push her away from me, but causing a scene was exactly the opposite of laying low. And if there was one thing Melanie had always been good at, it was causing a fucking scene.
"Crunch and I were on our way to talk to some of dad's friends, Melanie."
"Crunch," she said. "Is that your biker name? You know I love a bad boy, Cade." She leaned in close, ran her tongue along the edge of my earlobe.
I jerked away. "You're drunk, Melanie. And I'm not interested." I pushed her back, away from me.
And looked up to see June, ten or so feet away, stopped in her tracks, just staring at us. Looking fucking amazing in a white sundress, her hair swept up in a ponytail.
Damn it.
I watched her turn on her heel, duck behind a cluster of people, and then I was just pissed off. "I said, I'm not interested, Melanie. Get the fuck out of here."
"You're such an asshole, Cade Austin," she said, stumbling back on her heels. "You always were."
"Shit," I said. "This wasn't a good idea, coming here. I told you that."
"We can go back to the house," Crunch said.
"Fuck that. I need a drink." I started toward the bar, then stopped. "Well? Are you coming or not?"
Crunch trailed behind me. "Why don't we just go home, man?"
Now I was already spun up. I needed something to take the edge off. "Whatever you have in the keg." I tossed some cash on the makeshift bar, and the bartender handed me a cup. I swallowed a few gulps, exhaling at the soothing feeling as the alcohol slid down my throat.
"Fuck it," I said. "I'm not going home."
"Let's just go," he said. He looked across the room, then back at me, and I turned, following his gaze. There was June, talking to Jed.
"Axe," Crunch warned, his voice low.
The blood rushed to my head and I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. I watched her smile at him, and I could feel myself start to lose it. No way was that douchebag cop going to look at June like that.
"Axe, don't do anything stupid."
I swallowed the other half of my beer and watched June laugh, her ponytail swinging as she moved.
Fuck that.
"Axe." I heard Crunch call me, but I didn't give a shit. I pushed through the people on the dance floor.
"Excuse you," a woman said as I moved her to the side.
"How are you, Cade?" Jed asked, his voice overly pleasant. Even standing there in his jeans and a polo shirt, he still looked like a cop. He had always been an arrogant little prick, even in high school. And he'd always had a thing for June.
I ignored him. If I talked to him, I was going to hit him, and that wasn't exactly good for laying low. "June," I said.
"I'm busy, Cade," she said. "And you smell like beer."
"Come with me," I said, my eyes trained on hers.
"I'm said I was busy." But she turned around, toward me. Away from Jed.
From behind her, Jed said, "You heard what June said, Cade. She's busy. Now, you need to leave here before you do something that gets you arrested for harassment."
I could hear him talking, but his voice faded into the background, mixed together with the cacophony of sounds, the music and the voices underneath the tent. June was in front of me, looking up at me. I couldn't think of anything else except her.
"Just a minute, Jed," June said. Jed glared at me, and walked away, a few feet to the side, but I could see him staring at us out of the corner of my eye. June crossed her hands over her chest. "What do you want, Cade?"
"You." I don't know if it was seeing Jed talking to her like that, knowing that he wanted her, but I was suddenly filled with total clarity about what I wanted.
"Say what you have to say."
"No," I said. "I want you." It was the really first honest thing I'd said in a long time. I wanted her. I didn't care what it took or what I had to give up to have her. I only knew I wanted her, and not just for right now.
"Well, I don't know if I want you."