LOGINThank you so much for reading this story!
June“Hey, we have got you.”Caleb keeps both of his hands visible as he slowly approaches the girl. His voice softens in a way I have not heard before, careful and calm.“Will you tell us what happened?”I barely hear the rest of his words.Because my patience level is already gone.I do not care what happened first.I do not want explanations.I do not want the story.All I want is a name.Just one name. Or several.Whoever did this will regret the moment they decided to lay their hands on these girls.The girl looks at Caleb with petrified eyes. Her breathing turns quick and shallow, like she cannot decide if he is a threat or help.Then her gaze shifts to me.Something in her expression softens a little.I step forward and kneel beside her.“Girl, we are here to help you.” I hold her tear filled gaze so she can see the truth in my face. “But we can only do that when you help us.”Her lips tremble.“So first you have to stop crying,” I say gently. “I promise no one will be able to
June“Step only where I step. The ground here is rocky and slippery. The last thing we want is you falling and getting hurt.”Caleb’s voice reaches me as he begins moving down the cliff. The narrow trail curves sharply along the rock, patches of loose gravel scattered across the surface. The wind sweeps up from the valley, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth.He extends his hand behind him without looking back.Waiting for me to take it.For a second I just stare at it.The memory of last night flashes across my mind before I can stop it. The warmth of his mouth against mine. The way everything between us shifted in a single moment.My chest tightens.So instead of reaching forward, I keep my hands to myself.Caleb takes two careful steps before he realizes I am not holding on. He stops and turns around.One eyebrow arches slowly.The look on his face says everything.Before I can say anything, he reaches forward and grabs my hand himself.His fingers wrap firmly around mine.“Y
JuneCaleb believing me is one thing.But what surprises me even more is that Jake and Lucas do not question me either.Not once.They do not ask for proof.They do not laugh at the strange explanation I barely managed to give.They simply accept that if I say something feels wrong, then it might actually be wrong.It leaves me staring at them for a moment longer than I should.What kind of people are they?Most people would have brushed me off without a second thought. They would have asked questions until my uncertainty exposed how little I truly know.But none of them do that.Jake only nods once as if he already expects something unusual to happen.Lucas watches me with a thoughtful look, calm but alert.Caleb stands directly in front of me, his eyes fixed on mine.“Where should we go and check first?” he asks.His voice is calm, direct.Like he already believes there is something to find.Behind him, Jake and Lucas move toward the gate guards, quietly speaking with them while che
JuneAfter that kiss, after the things he said and the things he did not explain, there is no way I can just ignore it and move on like nothing happened.Because it is not nothing.The memory of it keeps returning to me in small flashes when I least expect it. The warmth of his mouth. The way his arms wrapped around me and pulled me against him like I belonged there. The strange pull that rose inside my chest the moment our lips touched.If it had truly been wrong, Caleb would have been dead by now for laying his hands on me.That is simply who I am.I have never tolerated anyone crossing my boundaries. Not once. My instincts are sharp, my temper sharper, and my animal reacts even faster than I do.Anyone else would have paid for that kind of boldness.But Caleb did not.And that alone should tell me something.Weirdly, his touch… that kiss… it never felt wrong.It did not feel forced.It did not feel like an attack.If anything, it felt like something else entirely.Like a connection
June“Motherfucker!”The curse slips through my teeth as a sharp pain shoots through my hand.My finger gets crushed between the metal plates while I am changing the weights on the bar. The plates slam together harder than I expect, trapping my finger between them for a second before I yank my hand back.Pain explodes through my hand.I clutch my finger against my chest immediately, bending forward slightly as the shock of it runs through me.Tears spring into my eyes from the intensity of it. Not the kind that make someone cry loudly. Just that involuntary reaction when pain hits so suddenly that your body cannot stop it.My teeth clamp together as I try to breathe through it.It hurts like hell.I slowly look down at my finger.Blood begins to gather along the skin, slipping down toward my knuckle.“All this because of that son of a bitch,” I mutter under my breath.Caleb.Even saying his name in my head irritates me.I do not understand why I cannot just push him out of my thoughts
June I expect Caleb to say something else. Maybe another question. Maybe tell me what he thinks he knows. Instead he just stands there. Watching me. There is something thoughtful in his expression now. The teasing edge that was there earlier has faded. His eyes move across my face again, slowly, like he is trying to read something written there that I have not said out loud. The quiet stretches between us. At first I try to ignore it, but the longer he keeps looking at me like that, the more aware I become of it. The hallway suddenly feels too silent. Even the distant sounds from the rest of the building seem far away. His gaze stays fixed on me. It is not hostile. Not accusing either. Just searching. The silence stretches long enough that I begin to feel slightly uncomfortable under his gaze. “What?” I finally ask. My voice echoes faintly in the empty hallway. He does not answer right away. Instead his expression shifts, just slightly. It is a small change. Most peopl







