Page 85 of Shine For Me

He sighs. “I’m having some problems with the sauvignon. They just don’t seem robust enough.”

She pats his arm, that same teasing smile still lighting her face. “Have you tried singing to them?”

“Hilarious.” He eyes me over her head again. “You haven’t introduced your friend.”

“Oh my God,” she gasps, looking at me over her shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I haven’t seen this idiot in almost a year.” She gestures at her brother. “This is Jude.” She swallows, and I can see the exact moment she decides to say the next part. “Jude, this is my boyfriend, Fox Ransome.”

“Boyfriend huh?” he asks. “How come I haven’t heard about this?”

“Maybe because you spend the vast majority of your life talking to grapes.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I say, reaching out a hand to shake his. The dude squeezes back so tightly my fingers go numb. Whatever June says, he’s not so bad at the whole intimidating older brother thing.

“Mom said his sister is thinking about having a wedding here?”

“My cousin. They haven’t set a date yet, but when I told June they were going to tour venues in wine country, she invited us up.”

He nods. “And you guys were at wineries today?”

She lists off the wineries we visited.

Jude gives a little scoff. “Sunset Farms is bullshit. Pretentious, boring flavor profile, weak-ass wine. Why the hell did you go there?”

“Because they have the best venue for weddings,” June says. “Believe it or not, the flavor profile of the cabernet isn’t the most important factor for someone throwing a party for three hundred people.”

“Three hundred? Jesus.” He makes a face at her. “I hope you didn’t say they could have it here. I don’t need three hundred people trampling my vines.”

June rolls her eyes at me. “I’m so happy you have this opportunity to see how polite and welcoming my older brother is.”

“He’s more polite than Grey,” I point out, and Jude barks out a laugh.

“Low bar, man, but I appreciate it anyhow.” He gestures back to the house. “You guys coming in? Mom was about to uncork a bottle of the cab. I wanted to get your opinion on it.”

“Fox is sleeping at the villa,” June says. “And I sincerely doubt he wants to hear two hours of you going on and on about tannins.”

Okay, ow. I mean, she’s probably right about me not being thrilled for two hours of wine talk, but still. It’s pretty clear she would rather hang out with her brother—her favorite person in the world, she’d said—without me.

So I paste on a smile and tell Jude I hope we’ll get a chance to get to know each other before the end of the trip. Then I give June a chaste kiss on the cheek before turning to start the walk back to the villa on my own.

At least she described you as her boyfriend,I tell myself. After her awkward introduction to her mom, that definitely feels like a victory.

It almost makes up for the fact that she didn’t invite me in.