It's Different This Time

by Joss Richard

“Hey,” he says, still focusing on his dough with precision. Once he folds over a final piece, he gives me a second glance. “Is this new?” He points his chin toward my outfit.

“I like it” is all he says, and then he turns around to stir whatever is in his pot. I like it is something someone’s grandparent would say to them, but somehow, it sounds sexually explicit coming from him.

Adam takes a step toward me and leans his head over my shoulder. It’s the closest we’ve been all week and I get that whiff of cedar again.

That feeling of being home is back, but I don’t allow myself to forget that this is all temporary. In three weeks, I’m never seeing Adam or this house again.

“Would you care if I was out here making out with a random guy?” “Yes.” He says it almost too quickly, and I wonder if he heard me correctly.

He gently pulls back, sucking the remaining sugar until I’m clean.

Are you freaking kidding me!

“Perry is home,” Adam says intently, and it knocks the wind out of me. “And I’ve always been most comfortable with you. Maybe I thought you’d feel the same way.”

“Such a gentleman,” I breathe out, watching his every move. “Oh, I don’t know about that,” he huffs,

“June’s really something,” Robby says, trying to talk over the noise. “You’re really not together?” “No,” Adam says, shaking his head. “So…does that mean I can ask her out?” Adam’s beer bottle pauses against his parted lips. “No.” He takes a sip.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, June.” I’m focused on the fan circling above and when I move my head, I see that Adam is asleep. As my eyes close, I have a frightening thought—I have no interest in lying next to someone who isn’t him.

“Tell me when you wanted me,” I say. “The moment I first saw you,” he says, and I moan.

“Didn’t know strippers were your thing.” I scoop a bit of icing onto my finger and lick it. “They’re not.” He walks to the cabinet and pulls out two plates and a knife. “You as a stripper…well, that’s another story.”

“See, that’s your problem, June,” Chloe says. “You deserve to have people care about you.”

“You really don’t get it, do you? I want you,” he says. “The years I spent with you were the happiest I’ve ever been. I chased that feeling and I couldn’t find it.

care about being with someone who makes me happy. In whatever way they want to be with me.”

“Don’t you know by now that it’s you? It will always be you.”