Swinging into the grocery store parking lot, I find a single space in a row with cars ten deep on each side and pull in, making it so that if Evan wants to park, he has to do it somewhere not close to my car. Putting the Beetle in park, I grab the small envelope of coupons I keep in my glove box, open my door, and get out. Spotting Evan pulling in to a space across the lot, I quicken my steps into the store and grab a cart. Knowing I need everything, I start in the produce section so I can work my way down each aisle of the store. When I finally reach the cash register, my cart is overflowing. I not only picked up the basics, I picked every single food item that caught my eye. This means I have a cartful of mostly junk food, because I’m shopping on an empty stomach. Lucky for me, I have a boatload of coupons and know my junk food binge isn’t going to send me spiraling into debt.
“June?”
Hearing my name, I turn and feel my shoulders stiffen slightly when I come face-to-face with a guy I dated in high school, a guy who—even at seventeen—played me for a fool. He was the first, Evan was the second, and the third was Lane. He would be the last, though. I was now going to bat for the other team, or at least pretend to.
“Matt, how are you?” I ask, even though I couldn’t care less. I’m not a bitch, or at least, not normally, but he did a number on my teenage heart. I may not be a bitch, but I can definitely hold a mean grudge.
“Good, just moved home. I’m working for my dad.” He smiles.
“Sweet.” I semi-smile back then turn my body partially away from him when the cashier asks for my coupons.
“Are you home?” he asks, and I direct my attention from the cashier to him and start to reply, when I feel heat hit my side. I know he’s there. I can tell from his smell and the heat coming off his body, but when his arm slips around my shoulders in the familiar way he used to hold me, my body stiffens and my eyes fly up. All I see, though, is the set of his jaw.
“Evan.” He sticks his hand out toward Matt, and my breathing becomes choppy as Matt’s eyes scan between my ex-husband and me.
“Um…Matt,” he says, returning the handshake before looking at me. “I…I’ll see you around,” he mutters then disappears out of sight so fast I don’t even see him go.
“Honey,” the cashier calls, and I turn to face her, dislodging Evan’s arm from around me while taking a step to the side to put farther distance between us. “You okay? You look like you just saw a ghost,” the woman says softly, and I take in her worried look then inhale a deep breath.
“Yeah…um, what’s my total?” I whisper, and her eyes soften then look past me, and I feel the warmth of Evan leave my side.
“You sure you’re okay?” she asks quietly.
“Sure.” I smile, and she nods like she doesn’t believe me, but that’s okay, because right now, I don’t believe myself.
“One hundred and seven, sixty-two. You saved over fifty dollars.” She grins, and I attempt to smile again as I hand her the money, but my face feels like it may crack when I do it.
“Thank you,” I mumble, taking my change from her, then I thank the young girl who just bagged my groceries, wrap my hands around the handle of the cart, and push it out of the store, ignoring the fact I can feel Evan trailing close behind me.
“June.”
“Don’t.” I shake my head, not even looking in his direction. I can’t deal with him, not now. Loading all the bags in the trunk, I jump into my car, buckle up, reverse, and head for home, avoiding looking in my rearview or thinking about what just happened, though I can feel it clawing at my insides even as I park in my driveway.
“Did you just move in?” a woman’s voice yells as soon as I swing the door to my car open. Looking around for where the voice came from, I get out and slam the door shut. “Over here, honey!” the voice calls again, and I find a petite woman with black hair standing on the porch of the house next to mine with her hands on the railing and her body hanging half over.
“Hi!” I call back, and she smiles.
“So, are you moving in?” she asks, and my guess is she missed the moving truck in the driveway this morning.
“I am, or I did this morning,” I reply, moving toward my trunk so I can get my groceries out.
“Hold on. I’m coming to introduce myself,” she yells once more, and I start to giggle, surprised she didn’t just shout her name to me and have me holler mine back. Leaving my groceries in the trunk, I meet her halfway on the lawn between our houses, wondering how the hell she is capable of walking through grass in her heels. I would be on my face if I were her, but she looks like she does this every day.
“I’m JJ.” She smiles once she’s close, and I notice that her hair isn’t just black; it’s black with large chunks of purple running through it that make the grey of her eyes pop. “Just two of the letter J, not the actual name Jay spelled out twice.” She grins, and I grin back, sticking out my hand.
“June, like the month June.”
“So you moved in this morning?” she asks, looking at the house behind me.
“I did.”
“I was at work,” she mutters then jabs her thumb toward her house. “My old man was asleep ’til I got home, so he missed you movin’ in too.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you now.” I smile again, and her eyes scan over me then go kind of squinty.
“You ain’t got no problem with bikers do you?”