Pack Secrets || WLW

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

 I'm expecting June to become angry with me or maybe sad but she doesn't do either of those. Instead, she smiles and proceeds to laugh.

"I'm sorry, Sawyer." She chuckles again and leans her head back against her head rest. "Ruiz gets under my skin. Always has. We've been going head to head in just about everything for as long as I can remember and..." She trails off, her jaw clenching again. She shakes her head. "I'll get you back to your room." She turns the key in the ignition and the truck's engine roars to life. "Don't want you to be late for work."

June fields the rest of my questions with ease as she drives to the hotel, telling me the dent in her truck has been there for years and that Ruiz didn't say anything special to send June over the edge but that she's always had that effect on her.

I don't buy it. When I tell June she's full of shit, she just smiles and says, "I like you, Sawyer" which makes me want to crawl out of the car faster than watching June lose her cool on Ruiz earlier.

"I should go," I say. "I'm already on thin ice with Susan. Can't be late." I push the door open and drop out of the truck into the cold parking lot. Goosebumps run down my arms. I was hoping it wouldn't snow while I'm in town but it's getting colder by the day.

June's hand is still resting on the steering wheel as she leans over so we can look at each other and there's something so undeniably hot about her that I find myself biting my lip thinking about the things I'd let her do to me if she wasn't so caught up in her feelings.

"Ask Susan if you can come to my game," she says through a smile. "I'll bet you," she pauses to think, "one hundred bucks she'll let you go early."

I roll my eyes. "Bye, June."

She's still smiling when I close the truck door. Back to normal goofy June in the time it took to drive from CSUG to the hotel which was under ten minutes. Still, I can't stop thinking about the way she snapped on Ruiz. I've never seen her like that before and I can't stop wondering what Ruiz could have said to make her fly off the handle.

I go in my room to freshen up but since I wasn't expecting the interruption in the parking lot, I'm running behind. The faint smell of pepper spray lingers in the air as I throw on a black shirt that hugs my chest and a pair of black jeans that make my ass look good before I get into the tiny sedan I've had since high school. June's truck makes my car feel like a death trap but it's only a few minutes to the bar and I'm behind the counter in no time.

Luckily, Ricky isn't here tonight but my heart catches in my chest every time the door swings open. It's busy in the beginning of my shift. A handful of Cape May students stop in to grab a drink but once the game starts, the bar goes quiet. A tumbleweed could blow across the dance floor and it would feel normal. Besides, the guy at the end who's nursing a Bud Light, it's only me and Susan.

Susan stays in the back mostly while I lean against the bar and watch the game she clicked on earlier. I hadn't realized CSUG women's soccer is popular enough to be televised but June's on the screen giving what appears to be a very serious talk to the rest of the team. The camera actually spends a lot of time on June and although I have no idea what's going on, I don't mind watching June get sweaty and destroy the other team. I knew she was good but she's unstoppable.

The door in the front opens and swings closed. It takes a moment for me to recognize who it is with the light from the front windows behind her but once I do, my muscles go tense.

"Ruiz, right?" I ask.

The barstool looks miniature under her stature as she sits in front of me. She chuckles. "You can call me Avery."

I flash my best customer service smile even though it feels wrong to be kind to someone June hates so much. "What can I get for you, Avery?"

She crosses her arms on the bar top, making her biceps look bigger than they are. "I'll take whatever you drink."