“That’s why you picked a fight with Theo over the tattoo.” Gil wipes a tear away from his eye.
Miles squeaks, “I didn’t mean to.”
“Why didn’t you notice ours?”
Chase says, “Because he’s only been staring at Cal’s hip all this ti—”
He gets cut off when Calvin abruptly ends the call.Damn it.Miles is so embarrassed. He knocks his forehead against the table.
“You could have asked,” Calvin says.
Miles ignores him and instead changes the subject. With one last sigh, Miles sits up straight and turns to Calvin. “Break, huh? Where are you planning to go?”
“A gorgeous lake town, maybe.”
Oh.Heart radiates through Miles’s chest. “Maybe I’ll join you.”
Calvin looks skeptical. “What aboutyour job?”
“The gallery? They’ll be enthusiastic. As long as I drive back for exhibits, they don’t care where I am.”
“But you can’t paint in Ridgeford.”
Miles holds his gaze and grins. “I can if you’re around.”
Redness blooms across Calvin’s cheeks. Choosing to ignore Miles’s very honest statement, Calvin asks, “I need to head back home and at least see my parents and sisters first. Want to come?”
“Can I?”
“Of course.” Calvin murmurs, smiling. “I’d like that.”
He’d love to meet Calvin’s family—to see the house he grew up in, to spend more time with him, to learn everything he can about him. There’s no holding back now.
“What else do you plan to do?” Miles asks.
“Find an apartment.”
Oh. Right. “You can stay here any time or at the inn. Just so you know.”
“Thanks, but I really should get my own place. Maybe I can set up my own recording studio for fun. Like you have an extra room for your own art.”
If it weren’t so fast, Miles would ask him to move in with him. They can share the second bedroom, make it both a recording and an art studio. Miles shoves a bagel in his mouth before he can bring it up.
“Geez, what are you doing?” Calvin asks.
“N’ffin.” Miles coughs and swallows as much as he can off the bagel, and Calvin raises his eyebrows at him. “Nff… nff-thing.”
Rolling his eyes, Calvin gets up and grabs him somewater. Miles downs it and laughs to himself, his throat finally cleared. “Nothing.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Calvin says. “Why’d you do that?”
“I have no idea.”
Calvin smiles. He puts a hand on Miles’s cheek and leans in close, smelling like Miles’s soap, and his breath is minty—Miles’s toothpaste. Miles takes a moment to calm down his breathing, then leans in and kisses him. “Help me find an apartment. I don’t care what where, as long as it’s nice and quiet,” he murmurs against Miles’s lips.
Miles grins. “I happen to know a great, quiet lake town that you might be into.”
Epilogue
