Page 130 of Call the Shots
“They’re living together,” another woman added.
“They used to be mortal enemies!”
I slipped out my phone and the line of ladies groaned.
“Bear, don’t do it.”
“You told yourself fifteen minutes! We have a timer!”
I couldn’t help myself. I checked my story again. Goddamn,nothing. I put my head in my hands. “Why is this happening to me? It feels like I’m going to vomit up my kidneys.”
“Young love.” The cigar smoker patted my back. “It’s fucking miserable.”
“Can you tie a cherry stem with your tongue?” Rhonda wondered, dragging over a chair. “Swore I’d never talk to my ex again, she sent me that, we’ve been together six years in July.”
“What if I call her and pretend I didn’t mean to?”
Half of them shut down my idea, the other half agreed, which was just as confusing. The bartender slid me over another orange juice and patted my hand, which was happening a lot. I felt like the stray dog they let into the bar.
“Bear!” Fridge called over the karaoke mic. “Forty minutes to midnight! If you want to see June, you have to call now!”
Damn, I thought he’d be too drunk to notice. That meant only ten minutes to see June, assuming she was still in downtown Austin. My phone went to my ear, and I paced like I wanted to wear holes into the ground. Every ring was slower than the last.
Please, June. Answer.
At long last, the call went through. I raked a hand through my hair, all too aware of the audience I’d accumulated. “Hey, June. It’s Bear—”Duh, she has caller ID. “Bear from the Gladiators—”She knows who you are.“I was calling because I—uh—I was wondering if—I?—”
“Bear?”
The soft, balled-up way she whispered my name made me pause. “June? Are you drunk?”
“Mm-hmm.”
As insane as it was, a small smile crossed my face. “Having a good time?”
“Um…no?”
“Why not?”
“Bear…I’m sad.”
I rested my elbows on the half-wall separating the restaurant from the bar itself. “Why are you sad?”
“Um…King and I are ending the fake relationship thing, which isgoodbut I’m, like, thinking…I shouldn’t have started it again—and I want him to be happy so…if it’s done then what am I doing here?”
I hesitated. “You were excited to hang out with your friends?”
“We live at RV together. I could’ve been hanging out with my friends. They’ve texted me all summer, but I wanted to be the Before June…” Her voice trembled. “I—I feel like I’m the wrong version of me. Like I could disappear and nothing would change.”
My chest tightened. “Do you want me to pick you up?”
“You’re in Houston.”
“No, I’m in Round Rock. Do you want me to take you home?”
June sniffled. “Yeah.”
I’d never talked that softly to an adult, ever. It was the voice I used for my baby cousins, the one that saidit’s okay, you’re safe with me. I wanted to be softer for her, I wanted to be gentler for her.
