Yeah, because he’s a stone-cold hottie.
I doubt I’d fare as well solo. Then again, if it weren’t for Miles, she probably wouldn’t have looked my way twice. I blend into the background, especially among large crowds.
We walk in silence for a while, listening to the guide and exploring each room of the cavern. Some are the size of my old bedroom, while others are the size of an auditorium. It’s wild to think this cave system has existed for four hundred million years, slowly forming over time.
To date, it’s the most impressive sight we’ve seen on this trip.
Even Miles seems wowed, which is a first.
I take a ton of pictures for my social accounts, capturing stunning images of stalactites and stalagmites, many of them lit by colorful ground lights.
When Miles catches me rubbing my hands together for warmth, he offers me his fleece.
“Are you sure?”
After all, it’s not his fault I didn’t dress properly for the tour.
“Yes.” He pulls the fleece over his head, and his T-shirt rides up, once again revealing that sliver of hard, tan flesh that makes my heart lurch into overdrive. “I dressed in layers, because unlike some people, I read the FAQs and know the caverns are always a steady fifty-eight degrees, regardless of the temperature outside.”
“Fifty-eight, huh?” I accept the soft fleece and pull it over my head, inhaling the comforting scent of citrus and cedarwood I associate with Miles. It’s still warm, and for a second, I imagine him wrapping me in his arms, heating my skin and burning off the chill of the cavern with the warmth that always seems to emanate from his body. “That’s oddly specific.”
“What can I say? I have an excellent memory.” He straightens my collar, pulling the fleece up around my chin as he zips it to the top.
“Thank you.” I force myself to meet his eyes, which seem to shine even brighter in the dim caverns, reflecting hints of green and gold light that add a new depth to his already piercing gaze.
“What are friends for if not to share their s’mores and give you the shirt off their back?”
I bite my bottom lip, trying to keep the answering question from slipping past. It’s a futile effort. “Are we friends, Miles?”
“Yes.”
There’s no hesitation. No uncertainty. He’s 100 percent all in.
As a friend.
If only it were enough.
“Yes, well.” I clear my throat and thrust my hands into the pockets of the fleece. It’s the only way I can be sure I won’t reach for him. “You seem to be developing a habit of losing your shirts.”
He chuckles, and the sound echoes in the silent cavern, humming over my skin like a lover’s caress.
I look around, realizing for the first time that the group has left the Mirror Room and moved on without us.
“We should probably catch up,” I say, nodding toward the winding path that leads to the next cavern.
“Or we could take six hundred and two pictures.”
Laughter bubbles up from deep in my belly, a welcome relief after the stress of the morning. The sound reverberates off the stone walls long after I regain control.
“Wait.” I press a hand to his chest. “Do I really sound like that?”
“Like what?” he asks, looking around as if he’ll find the answer somewhere in the dark.
“Like a cackling velociraptor?”
He throws his hands up in self-defense. “I plead the fifth.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
