018

After taking a quick shower, June opened the backpack she'd left in Jon's walk-in closet the night before and pulled out a long, sleeveless, plain dark grey, cotton dress and put it on. A moment later she was tiptoeing out of the bedroom when she stopped to admire the wonderful sight of the man lying asleep on the bed. If she hadn't known better, June could have sworn that what lay on the bed was a Greek statue that had come to life and ran out of a museum. He lay on his back, right arm along his side, left arm bent over his stomach, head crooked slightly to his left. The left leg was bent in such an angle that the left foot rested on the bed next to his right calf. A crumpled portion of the white, soft cotton sheets lazily covered his bare hips. The calm expression on his face and his deep, low-paced breathing were slightly hypnotizing, and June debated with herself whether or not to just get naked again and back into bed with him, but decided against it. If she did, she'd probably end up waking him up, and that felt almost like a crime. He looked so peaceful and so...perfect. June sighed softly and took a mental picture: she'd probably remember that vision for a long, long time. 

With her sandals hooked in her crooked right index finger and her backpack hanging from one shoulder, she continued her way out towards the kitchen, taking special care that all her movements were as silent as feathers delicately falling to the floor. Once in the kitchen, she started the coffee machine, and while she waited, she retrieved the bag that hung outside the front door, containing that day's The New York Times in it. It was Sunday, which meant the service staff wouldn't be home today. June smirked and bit her lower lip: it wasn't a common phenomenon, and she was looking forward to her and Jon having the apartment all by themselves that day. Before she reached the kitchen door, she noticed how goosebumps formed on the skin of her arms, while a quick shiver simultaneously ran through her body. She approached the living room window and took a look outside: it was raining. With the same stealth as before, she padded back to the bedroom and pulled out one of Jon's football sweaters. 

"Don't sneak out today", a deep, thick voice made her jump. It sounded stern and playful at the same time. June chuckled softly and approached the bed to place a soft kiss on Jon's warm lips.

"Wasn't planning to", she said with a soft voice.

Jon groaned and rumbled softly before falling back deep in his sleep.

After adding the sugar and the cream to her coffee, she took the cup and newspaper and sat on the comfortable leather sofa of the living room. The digital clock next to the telephone showed it was almost 11 am. 

About an hour and a half later, she was sitting on the edge of the sofa, bent over the splayed newspaper on the coffee table, a concentrated frown on her brow, when her stomach rumbled. From the kitchen fridge she extracted some strawberries, apples, oranges and a kiwi, washed them and peeled them. She was starting to cut them in cubes when she heard movements coming from the bedroom, hinting that Jon was up. In a minute she had set the coffee machine to brew some more coffee.

Since he'd opened his eyes, Jon was glad to notice that sleep had washed away the gloomy thoughts that had lurked into his mind the night before. He felt renewed and willing to make the best of the day, he felt at peace, come what may. "Taking each day and night at a time". Ha, easier said than done, he thought to himself, but also thought that he might as well put his own advice into practice. However, finding June in the kitchen, peacefully cutting fruit on the kitchen island, slowly humming a song that - this time -  sounded familiar, stirred his blood and his thoughts once again, momentarily destroying his serenity. The feeling of gratitude for having her in his life, that morning, like this, was immediately followed by a flash of her future: the fact that the place he was holding right now would eventually be filled by another man wasn't something Jon was ready to handle yet. Of course they'd continue to be friends, but that wasn't the place in June's life that Jon's heart was willing to accept. He wanted her, to be only his. For as long as she would take him.

"Hey", June paused her task and looked up for a second, her blood thickening in response to the sight. Jon stood at the kitchen door, freshly showered, wearing nothing but a pair of long cargo shorts.

Her soft, sweet voice brought Jon back from his rumblings. He shook his head with a deep sigh and silently walked towards her, then stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his nose in her neck, profiting of her hair being conveniently pulled to a side over her left shoulder. 

"Good mornin'", he purred against her skin, producing a charge of energy that June felt like a tickle in the base of her stomach. She took a cube of kiwi she'd just finished cutting and put it near his mouth, turning her head slightly around to look at his face. Jon bit it and stamped a hard kiss on her lips. "Next time I'll tie you to the bed so you don't run away...you leave me no choice“ he said before turning towards the coffee machine.

"Well, I'm here ain't I?", June replied warmly, returning to her task.

"Celia's not coming today, remember?". 

"Yeah, yeah. But I'm going back home in a while, though".

"Why don't-" Jon started speaking but June's giggle interrupted him. Her stomach rumbled loudly and she placed a hand on her abdomen. "I guess I didn't pay much to John's food last night", she winked, then sat down on one of the stools and placed the bowl on her lap. With a fork, she poked cubes of different fruits.

Jon chuckled. "Me neither...there were other things I was craving", he said in a rather sleezy tone as he turned around and approached her, leaving his coffee cup on the counter. She offered him the fruit and he took it into his mouth, while at the same time he grabbed the bowl from her lap and, by pressing with his hips against her knees, forced her to part her thighs and let him come closer. Locking turquoise eyes with sparkling green ones, Jon placed the bowl on the kitchen island behind June and, realizing that the skirt was limiting June's movement, Jon used both his hands to lift the hem of the the skirt above her knees, allowing her thighs to part wider. June chuckled softly at Jon's mischievous smirk and automatically extended her arms in front of her, letting her forearms rest on each of Jon's bare shoulders.They joined for a warm kiss as Jon slid his hands up her thighs under her dress, leaning even closer to her as he felt his groin tighten in anticipation. "You like doing that, don't you?', she spoke seductively against his lips. His warm breath on her flesh made her quiver. 

"Uh-huh", Jon rubbed his nose against hers, verbalizing his thoughts with a husky rasp. "Skirts are awesome...skin just a touch away...". Once again he dropped his lips on hers and pushed his hips forward, while June responded by bucking hers forward, failing to stifle a soft moan when Jon's bulge finally pressed against her mound.   

All of a sudden he stopped and pulled apart, making June wince in complaint. Squeezing her thigh and then patting softly on it, he spoke. "I got an idea".

June rolled her eyes in mock frustration "You tease...What"

"Why don't you take me with you?". His lips curved into a hopeful pout.

June was confused for a second, given the actual circumstances maybe she was imagining him saying exactly the things she wanted for him to say. "What? Where?".

"I miss your bed" he purred and softly sucked her earlobe. How that man could turn her on with the littlest of gestures was something that would never cease to surprise her. 

“Oh...I see", she recovered from her confusion."My keys are on the back pocket of the backpack, then, you know the way”, she teased.

“I miss your bed with you in it. Jesus, why do you always make me work so hard to get you naked?”

“It took you almost ten years to get me naked for the first time, I thought you were a patient man”, she purred against his ear.

"Now...if you put it that way it sounds really embarrassing ya know". Jon challenged her with her eyes as his hands traveled further up her waist and then small of her back, crawling under the band of her underwear to cup her butt, then captured her mouth with his. June tilted her head to a side to allow his tongue to eagerly stroke hers. 

They were deeply inside the kiss when the doorbell rang.

Their lips parted with a crisp slap. “What the…” Jon frowned and pursed his lips, leaning his forehead against June's as they both waited in silence for a moment. "Are you expecting someone?" June asked almost in a whisper and Jon replied by silently shaking his head. The doorbell rang again. He gave her a little peck on the cheek, removed his hands from under her dress and with a deep sigh of complaint, he walked out of the kitchen.

 "Oh shit" he mumbled to himself when he passed by the answering machine and noticed the red numbers that indicated 7 messages were waiting. 

June hesitated before getting out of the kitchen, but then decided that the living room was the "safest" place for her to be found in, whomever it was that had arrived. Hearing the familiar voices produced a quick gasp to escape her throat, only giving her a second to react by taking off Jon's sweater, tossing it on the armchair and seating on the sofa, discretely reading the newspaper. In the blink of an eye, Jon’s parents stormed into the living room.

“Carol! John!” June greeted vocally first from her spot on the sofa and then incorporated to approach the couple and give each a short hug. It was only when she stepped off from the carpet that she realized she was still bear foot. She grimaced and cursed secretly. 

“June, dear, what a coincidence!", exclaimed Carol, and behind the blonde woman June could see Jon standing with a sheepish look on his face and a slight shrug on his shoulders.

“Yeah, ma, June came to visit, we were just about going out for lunch”.

“We left a few messages...", said Carol. 

 "And called your cell phone but you didn't answer", quickly added John Sr.

Jon raked a hand through his hair, making the strands stand up. "Yeah, I forgot it in the car", that wasn't a lie, in the end. What he didn't say was that the car was June's, but not telling is not lying, right? "I'll never get used to carrying that brick around...and just got up so I haven't checked the machine yet. What's up?". 

"We were in the neighborhood so we thought we might as well drop by and see if you were home, maybe have lunch together?". Carol spoke calmly and let out a polite laughter. "We didn't know you had other plans".

"Well, we were headed for Ciro's anyway...why don't you two join us?", he asked his parents but immediately looked at June conspirationally, lifting his eyebrow questioningly in search for her agreement with the change of plans. 

June nodded with a genuine smile and a shrug. 

"Of course, we'd love to", John Sr. dropped a hand on his wife's shoulder and squeezed it. "But you guys might wanna consider putin' on some shoes and grab a sweater first, the rain made the temperature drop a few degrees".

"Actually I haven't had my coffee yet. If you're hungry we can go now, or you can sit down and have a cup of coffee with us".

The Bongiovi's agreed in unison. "Of course, I'll help you", finished Carol.

"Alright...", Jon only managed to add before his mother started her brisk walk towards the kitchen.

...

"Let's get goin' then, I'll get you a jacket". Jon spoke barely 20 minutes later and slapped on both sides of June's shoulders, then proceeded to grab the sweater June had tossed on the sofa and put it on on his way to the bedroom, allowing practically no time for the three people in the living room to exchange more than a couple of sentences about the weather conditions before reemerging moments later with a pair of trekking boots on. June had just finished putting her sandals on.

Jon indicated for his parents to move towards the door and before walking out himself, he unconsciously took June's hand and tugged her behind him. The elevator had already arrived and the Bongiovi's were already waiting inside the elevator when Jon closed the door. Once they walked in, June squeezed Jon's hand to make him register the possibly implicating gesture. In response, Jon looked askance at her and tightened a smile, then squeezed her hand before gently letting it go. 

"You drive, babe?", Jon asked as the elevator made its way downstairs.

"Yeah, no prob, I'll drop you off afterwards", June answered carelessly, confident that the veil of friendship made their exchanges much less evident.

...

"You piece of shit", Jon spoke to his cellphone, holding it in front of his mouth once he sat on the passenger's seat. 

"You should wear a handbag and keep it there, then"

"Or put a chain on it and tie it to my ankle for cryin' out loud, this is some sorta modern era ball and chain". Their mild laughter inside the car was filled with the almost deafening sound of a curtain of heavy drops of rain collapsing against the car's top. 

Almost simultaneously, Jon's cell phone rang in his hand. 

"Hello...yeah...everything alright?", by the forced friendly tone in Jon's voice June could immediately tell that it was his - at least legally and still officially - wife. Jon's rather amused expression turned into a grimace of pain as he listened. "What are you saying?...Where are you?...OK, we're on our way, we'll meet you there". He hung up and addressed June. "Jesse's been admitted into the hospital...she thought it was just a fever but now he's gotten worse...I dunno...", he sounded like he was trying to convince himself that it wasn't serious, but it wasn't difficult to pick up his uneasiness as he pressed his mother's cell phone number. He squeezed June's hand over the steering wheel while he waited for the person on the other end to pick up. "Ma...slight change of plans", Jon briefed her on the situation, and by the time he'd hung up, his tension had noticeably increased. "My baby..." he whispered, his face depicting a grimace of pain. "He was perfectly fine on Friday".

June rubbed his thigh reassuringly. "If there's anything I can do to help...".

Jon shook his head. "Just...stay with me". Jon took her hand in his and kissed it. He needed her, and under the light of the circumstances, there was no room for keeping to himself what he desperately wanted to say. He gave June a pleading look: he needed her and he needed her to know it. "Please."

The warmth of the love she felt for Jon at that moment made June's heart melt. "I'm here".