Page 72 of Shine For Me
“Because it’s the Littles. They’re crafty.”
“Sneaky little gremlins.”
“So what’s going on?”
A few minutes later I’m hanging up the phone, excitement growing in my chest. “So, I have a proposition for you,” I say to June.
“Why do I feel like you’re about to say something completely inappropriate?” she asks, and I tweak the side of her waist.
“What would you say about taking a practice run at that vacation idea?”
She turns in my arms to look up at me. “A practice run?”
“Everly has it in her head that she wants the wedding at a vineyard.” I hold up a hand. “Keep in mind this is the fifth time she’s been absolutely positive she knows just what she wants and she always changes her mind. But I guess Bodhi likes the idea too, so they’re going to go and tour some places in wine country.”
June gets a weird look on her face. “Wine country?”
“Napa. They’re planning a trip for next week. River talked my parents into watching his kids, so him and Jas are going with them. Alex and Wyatt, too, and maybe Will and Eva if they can get someone to watch the baby. You want to go?”
She’s still wearing that strange expression so I add, “it would only be for a long weekend. We would need to fly, the drive would be like five hours—”
“More like six and a half,” she says, her voice strangely tight. “I’ve, uh, spent quite a bit of time up there. My mom lives in Napa.”
I gape at her. “She does?” I guess I always assumed her mom lived in LA, since she used to be an actress. But June talks so little about her I wouldn’t know for sure.
“She owns a vineyard, actually. Her and my brother, Jude.”
“Hang on.” I slide back in the sand and grasp her shoulders, turning her so I can see her face. “You have a brother named Jude?”
She blinks up at me. “Yes? I assumed you knew that.”
“Why the hell would I know that?”
She has an older brother named Jack, another actor who I’ve met but who June doesn’t see very often. Then there’s her twin, James—or Grey, as she calls him. And a much younger half-sister from her dad’s second marriage. But I’ve never, not once, heard her mention a Jude.
She shrugs, looking defensive, and doesn’t quite meet my eye. “People have written stories about him. After the, uh, divorce. It was kind of a big deal in the industry.” Even in the dim light from the fire I can see her cheeks are red. “I guess I figured everyone just knew.”
I shake my head, not really knowing how to respond to that. Even if I had read up on her parents’ divorce—which I didn’t, because that would just be weird—it still feels like something she should have mentioned. This isn’t some distant relative. It’s herbrother.
“Do the two of you not get along?”
She looks surprised by the question. “Me and Jude? We get along great. He’s probably my favorite person in the world.”
I feel an irrational stab of anger. Or maybe it’s entirely rational. She’s never thought to mention her favorite person in the world?
It suddenly dawns on me that June and I might have very different ideas about what’s going on between us. Because I’m pretty sure that I’m falling for this girl—and now there’s a part of me that wonders if I actually know her at all.
