“No,” she eventually says, the word a whisper, barely audible over the pounding in my heart.
“No to which?”I ask, my thumbs brushing against her hip bones, sliding under the fabric of her tank to rest against her warm skin.
Daisy swallows hard, her chest rising and falling with hard breaths as she whispers, “Both.”
“Fuck,” I growl, my heart pounding in my chest as I slam my mouth against hers in a hard kiss.
The moment Miles’slips touch mine, my knees go weak, fisting my hand into his T-shirt to hold myself up.I moan into his mouth in a desperate plea for this to never end, but this won’t fix anything, and as much as I’ve dreamed about kissing Miles again, all the bullshit is still there.
But I can’t stop myself.
My lips move against his, deepening the kiss with every pass of our tongues, and the seconds tick by, feeling like minutes, hours, days, and I never want it to end.
Kissing Miles feels like home, like every single kiss we’ve ever had is wrapped up in this one, this one that has been waiting to happen since he came back.
He pulls back, our breathing labored, our chests heaving in time together, and he rests his forehead against mine.With closed eyes, we linger like this, trapped in a bubble of time that remains only for us, and reality doesn’t exist.
His question comes out on a ragged breath, tortured and desperate.“Did you fuck him bare?”It’s pained, and his brow furrows with the ache of my impending answer.
“Never,” I say.I’ve broken his heart enough as it is, and what I gave him when I let him come inside me was only for him.
A deep, possessive growl rumbles in his chest when the word finally registers in his ears, and I wish he didn’t have to ask it.That he just knew that was only for him, but we’ve fallen apart so badly that any trust that ever was there is long gone.
And not just from me, but from him too.
“This doesn’t fix anything, Miles,” I murmur, the threat of tears prick my eyes, something that seems to happen whenever he’s around.“We can’t keep asking each other these questions, torturing ourselves with the answers.”
He holds onto me with a grip so tight, the worry it’s all a dream passing between us, and I don’t want to let go either.Every second that goes by, every heartbeat, every ragged breath feels like it could be the last.
Nothing has changed with this kiss.The old baggage still remains, tucked away until it’s pulled out again and used as a weapon.We burn too hot, too intense, too much, but it’s what makes us who we are, all-consuming and desperately needy for each other.
“We need to talk,” I whisper against his lips, the softness of my breath peppering his warm skin, and he shudders.My fingers trace up his arms, goosebumps springing up in their path, resting on the lean muscles of his biceps.
“What time do you get off work?”
“Late.Not till after midnight,” I respond, and working for Lisa at this local bar was never in the plans for me.I wanted more, but a broken heart ruins everything in its path, and with it, it took my dream of the future.
“Meet me at our place,” he says, and he doesn’t need to elaborate.I know what he means, and my chest constricts at just the idea of being there.A swell of emotion rises up inside me, a wave of sadness that nearly knocks me over.
I nod in response, unable to get the words out, trepidation lingering on my tongue, and I want to tell him that I haven’t been there since he left.That I’ve avoided it at all costs, driving the long way to places just so I don’t have to pass it.
Miles was the first person I told my deepest secret to, never wanting it to get out because it felt so out of reach.And it wasn’t just about my wish for the future I shared with him.He knew all my secrets, and he held them close, protecting them like they were his own.
But we don’t separate, our bodies still flush against each other, the patter of our hearts beating in time.I don’t want to leave him.My body swirling with an energy that I only get from being this close to him, growing lightheaded as his fingers slip under my tank, grazing my skin and setting me on fire.
As much as I want this, this isn’t the time or the place.The fucking stockroom at the dive bar isn’t exactly the place for reconciliation.
“I have to go,” I whisper weakly.
“Meet me, Daisy,” he rasps roughly, desperation present, and again I nod.“I need you to say it.I need to hear you say it.”
“I’ll meet you there, Miles.”
The darkness has taken over, and all that fills the space is the sound of the ocean, the waves lapping at the shore.I love the island at this time of day, a quiet stillness where there isn’t the crowd of tourists milling about or the din of people.Crickets chirp in the night, and the smell of the short evening rain still lingers.
I texted Miles, letting him know I’m on my way, and when I pull up out front, he’s waiting for me.He’s sitting on a bench that has been there forever, and we’ve sat on it together a million times.It brings back so many memories seeing him there, remembering everything we’ve shared.
I love the little red free-standing building with its worn-out shaker siding and rusty nails from the salt in the air.It looks the same as it did the day I found it.Not far from The Pipe Dream, a location that couldn’t be more perfect, and it’s sat empty for years.
