for June

Bonus: Chapter 18 - new version

"Oh my God, I was hammered, wasn't I?" She laughed a breathy laugh as she fetched another bowl.

He busied himself with the cereal box while she grabbed the milk from the fridge. She didn't seem to recollect the events involving him, her lace underwear, the shower, and the nakedness...good.

"Chad?"

"Yeah?"

She observed him. "Did I do something stupid?"

I hope you don't mean the kiss. He looked up to see June, wide-eyed and wild, studying him. He shook his head a bit too late. "No. Of course, not. You threw up, and I helped you. That's it. That's all that happened. I saw nothing."

'Bloody hell, Chad. Could you be any more subtle?' Jo's voice barged in loud.

June's hand flew to cover her mouth. Her eyes grew wider. Worst of all, she stepped away from the counter as if repulsed. The milk bottle in hand, flew in slow-motion, towards the ground.

Chad watched the bottle splatter and spew a fountain of milk, dousing her in it.

That's all he could watch. Not her face. Not her horrified, repulsed face. But the bottle.

"Oh, my God!" she finally muttered after ages.

Chad slid off the stool. "I swear nothing happened." He could see her struggling to breathe, trying to calm down.

"You passed out on the toilet," he blurted, despite every pore screaming at him to stop before he did any more damage. She had needed help, and he had been the only one around. Every pore screamed, and he didn't need Terry or Jo's help to know he should stop talking. He couldn't help himself.

"You'd thrown up all over your dress. I helped get you to the bathroom to get you cleaned up," he attempted as she paced. "I put you in the shower, I swear. That's all. I didn't look."

"Please stop!" She flushed red, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry." He stood rubbing the back of his neck.

Nice one, Chad. Nice one. This time, to his surprise, the voice belonged to Zachary Eve, or at least it's what he imagined Zach would sound like if he was real.

#

"What else did I do?" June squeaked. She remembered a kiss, in fact, she remembered several kisses. Once in bed, wrapped in something wet—possibly the towel she woke up in. Then another time in a dark room. Was it all Chad?

Or was it Ben? Oh god, please tell me it wasn't Ben I kiss? She remembered he asked sometime in the evening if he could get her alone. Bile rose in her mouth and she wanted to throw up. Had she kissed the wrong guy? Fuck!

"What else happened?" She glared up at Chad. Embarrassed, and wanting to hide in shame wasn't even the tip of how she was feeling. "Please tell me I didn't kiss Ben."

Chad laughed.

Why are you laughing? "Oh, god. I kissed Ben, didn't I? And that too in your study?"

She watched, horrified as Chad walked around the counter towards her, slipping on the pool of milk on the floor. He picked up the near-empty bottle and placed it on the counter before he finally met her eyes. "You kissed me."

"I kissed you?" she breathed. Oh, thank god.

Chad smiled, his smile crooked as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her face, his hand gently brushing her cheek as he did so.

June's stomach, no doubt empty, still squirmed—in excitement. She had imagined him doing this the night before.

"In fact, we kissed several times." His voice dropped an octave or two, deepening. Something that caused a warmth to bloom between her legs.

"Several times?" She watched his lips as he licked them.

He nodded, brushing her lips with the pad of his thumb lightly. He moved closer still, and June felt her back hit the counter behind her. Cornered, and delightfully so. "In fact, I want to kiss you right now, but I'm afraid to scare you... that I'm moving too fast."

His gaze lingered on her lips a moment before his eyes bore into hers.

Kiss me! She wanted to say, if only she weren't speechless. She had no words. None. All she could feel was his thumb on her lips, his body, beginning to press lightly against hers; the heat between her legs, her own breath staggering out of her lips, and her thundering heart.

Chad lowered his lips towards her and it was all she could do not to buckle. But he stopped hairsbreadth away from her lips, brushing them as he asked, "Can I kiss you?"

"Yes!" She heard her own voice as if it weren't hers and her hands danced through his hair, pulling him that millimetre closer so their lips could crash against each other like two galaxies colliding in space.