Page 52 of Dumbstruck
“Bye, Dad!” Hanging up, I take a second to breathe while I have a moment to myself. Only, when I turn my head, I find Richie standing just a few feet away, his expression hard to read in the darkness. I frown. “How much did you hear?”
With his hands in his pockets, he shrugs and steps closer. “Something about skinny-dipping and June breaking your heart. I’m assuming those two things are unrelated.”
Even though I’m mortified that Richie heard my half of the conversation with my dad, I chuckle and slip my phone into my pocket. “What do you think of this whole thing?”
He wasn’t with us today, but he’s been there for the rest of it. He can probably see in my face just how far I’ve fallen for the woman asleep on my couch, and I’m curious what he’ll say.
He doesn’t answer for a long time, like he’s trying to find the right thing to say. “You were the wildest kid when we met, J,” he says slowly.
I raise an eyebrow. “I was twenty-four.”
“Kid,” he repeats with a smirk. “And I knew working for you was always going to be an adventure.”
“Is that good or bad?” And why is my chest aching while I wait for him to answer that question?
Smiling, Richie puts his hand on my shoulder. “It’s one of the reasons I took up the position. That, and your ambition was clear as day. You had places to go and things to do, and I’ve admired that about you.”
“I get the feeling that’s changing,” I mutter, bracing myself.
“It’s okay to slow down, John. It’s okay to let someone in.”
Two people calling me by my real name in a matter of minutes? I honestly can’t decide if I love it or hate it. I’ve been Jonah James for so long, on a mission to prove myself and my talents. I love what I do, but maybe there’s more to life than a successful career. Richie and my dad are two of the people I trust the most, and if they’re both telling me to take a step back and reevaluate my plans…
Patting Richie’s arm, I nod at him and silently make my way to the trailer door as he heads to his own.
There are still so many things about my life that are going to make a relationship difficult, but I feel a lot less stressed about it than I did twenty minutes ago. It’ll suck when—if—I have to say goodbye to June, but why would I let that stop me from trying? It’s not in me to give up so easily, and I can only imagine how fun a life with June could be.
How much fuller it could be with all the good, bad, and everything in between.
When I step inside my trailer, I get a split-second view of June awake and sitting upright on the couch before she throws her hands out and shouts, “Trap!”
I jump back in alarm, my head colliding with something hard. And the world goes dark.
Chapter Fifteen
June
“HaveIapologizedyetfor maybe giving you a concussion?” I bite my lip, holding my breath as I wait for Jonah to kick me out of his trailer and maybe his life.
But he chuckles, his eyes soft as he looks up at me from my lap, where he’s been for the last ten minutes. “About a million times,” he says, wincing when I adjust the ice I’m holding to the back of his head. “And I’m not concussed.”
I’m not convinced. Ever since I accidentally scared him in my excitement and he knocked his head on a cabinet, he’s been looking at me differently. Like he’s not seeing me the way he did before.
I grab my phone from the pocket of my leggings, even though I have to adjust Jonah’s head in the process. I’d rather not make him move, but it’s not like I can use his phone instead. “I’m going to look up the symptoms of a con—”
“Would you relax?” Jonah sits up and puts his palm over my phone screen. “I only blacked out for half a second. I’m fine.”
“I still think you should talk to the film nurses.”
“Boyd and Gayle? They would say I have psychosis or something.”
I blink. “The nurses are named Boyd and Gayle? Like boy and girl but…”
Nodding, Jonah reclines and stretches his legs out so he can rest his head on the back of the surprisingly comfortable couch. “Wait until you hear the name of the chemistry coach.”
“What in the world is a chemistry coach?”
Jonah grimaces and takes the ice out of my hand, pressing it to the back of his head. “Never mind. I’m more curious about why you felt the need to shout ‘It’s a trap!’ when I came inside.”
