Page 8 of Another June with You

Shannon nodded as Keely let her go. “Two o’clock. And I have the directions.”

“Perfect. Do you need a ride home?”

Shannon shook her head. “Oh, it’s okay. I can find someone to drive me.”

“Micah!”

Shannon startled at Keely’s loud cry. “Keely, it’s fine.”

But there was no stopping her as she waved Micah over. “Shannon needs a ride home,” Keely announced as Micah strode toward them.

His eyes lit up. “No problem. I’ll take you wherever you need to go,” he told her.

Nerves took over. She probably could’ve called Jamie, but now that Micah was standing there with that sweet look on his face, offering her a ride, she would be crazy to pass up the chance to spend more time with him. She had questions she was dying to ask, but would twenty minutes in the car be enough time to get the answers she wanted?

Chapter 3

The entire car smelled like vanilla. Was it her shampoo? Her body lotion? Some kind of perfume? Or did she naturally smell that good? All Micah was sure of was that from the moment his eyes connected with hers next to her broken down car, his heart had been beating at a slightly faster rate than normal. Ten years wasn’t enough to erase the way he had always felt when she was near. The longing for her was still there, but so was the pain.

“Do you still play baseball?” she asked as he drove toward her apartment.

He nodded. “I play on a league at work. It’s still the best game there ever was.”

“Sure it is.” She laughed, and it filled his heart with joy.

How had he survived so long without hearing that sound?

“Sorry, you know how I feel about baseball.”

He chuckled. Shannon wasn’t a fan of the sport. She found it tedious. But despite that, she had gone to every game his senior year and cheered him on—well, almost every game. The one game she’d missed, he had performed miserably, which had him believing she was his good luck charm. But once he got to college, he realized that had been a silly teenage fantasy. Liberty had one of the best baseball teams in the Big South Conference, and he hadn’t needed Shannon there to do well. Even so, he’d missed having her in the stands, rooting for the team, hugging him after the game, whispering how proud she was of him.

“Do you miss it?”

He looked over at her questioningly, his mind stuck on her congratulatory hugs.

“Playing college ball?” she asked.

Of course he did. It had been his life for four years at Liberty. He had made some of his best friends on that team—Chase included—and sometimes he longed to go back there and relive those glory days all over again.

“I do. It was a happy time in my life.”

“And you’re not happy now?”

“I’m happy.” Sort of.

“Good.” Her smooth, lovely lips curved up on both sides revealing perfectly straight teeth on top and bottom. He was taken aback. “Did you get braces?”

“Mhmm. Years ago.” She smiled purposely to show off the results.

Her smile was even more gorgeous than before, but part of him had always liked the way her bottom teeth angled a little to one side and weren’t perfectly straight across the front. “Looks good.”

“I hated my crooked smile.”

“I thought it was adorable. But most of the time I was looking at your lips, not your teeth.” The words slipped out before he could stop them. Did I just say that out loud?

Her cheeks were suddenly the softest shade of pink, and he knew if he reached out and touched them, he would find warmth there. But he didn’t move. He didn’t touch. He kept his hands to himself. He had to, whether he wanted to or not.

The car grew quiet for a few minutes. He was sure his comment had made her uncomfortable.

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