Worse is that I came back and did it a second time when I hooked up with Isaac.After the house I shared with Sloane was sold, I had no choice but to move back in with her.With that came all the drama of dating Isaac and her opinion of it.
I can hear her bustling around the kitchen as I push open the front door.Cleaning up and making sure everything is spotless so when she comes home from work, so she can just relax.Things I at least help with since she’s letting me live here for free.
“Hey, Mom!”I call out, Miles tagging behind me.He has this nervous grin on his face, and there’s something about it that makes me laugh.
We’re adults now, but he looks so much like the kid who used to sneak in my bedroom window.Worried he was going to get caught and my mom would call his mom, and Luna was and still is one fiery lady.You’d have to be to raise boys like Miles and Kai and be married to Tanner.
“Oh, Daze, where you been?”she asks, and I realize I never texted her last night to say I wasn’t coming home.Not that it matters.She knows I spend the night at Alana’s or Sloane’s pretty regularly.
She doesn’t look up from wiping down the counter, focused on the activity at hand, but she begins talking again before I can answer.
“You are never going to believe who I saw this morning when I ran down to the grocery store to grab milk.”
Pausing, she looks up, blowing her dark hair out of her face, her eyes crinkling in the corners, a smile widening the second she sees Miles.
“Oh, Miles,” she croons, her shoulders sagging with relief.Scampering over to him, she pulls him in for a hug.“How are you?I’ve missed this face of yours.”Patting his cheek, she steps back, letting out a little laugh.
“What was that for?”I ask, clearly able to tell she wants to say something more.“This is your chance.Let me have it.Isaac is gone.For good.”
Again, she chuckles.“I know that.You wouldn’t believe how quickly word travels around here.But I saw him at the grocery store this morning with two black eyes.Now you know I never condone violence because I’m a mom and he’s someone’s baby, but way to go, Miles.”
“Wasn’t me,” Miles confesses, shrugging.Plucking an orange from the bowl on the counter, he begins peeling it, casual as hell, like nothing has changed.
“Daisy?”she questions, her eyes wide, and I can’t tell if she’s proud or embarrassed.
“It wasn’t me either, Mom.It was Kai.Lisa called him after Isaac came into the bar and wouldn’t leave.”
“Well, who would have thought that lovable goofball could land a blow like that?”she says, letting out a low whistle.
“I did,” Miles chimes in.“He was mean as fu…” Miles trails off, not saying the word despite us both being adults.He’s still so sweet around my mom that it makes my heart ache for all the time we missed.“He was mean when we were kids.Would punch me for no reason.”
“And now look, he’s doing your dirty work,” my mom jokes.“Oh, shit, I gotta go.”
Grabbing her purse from the counter, she kisses me on the cheek and then Miles as she races toward the door.Running late is just how she operates, and I’m not sure she could function without always having to be in a hurry.I swear she’s the only one on this island not on island time.
Turning back to look at us, she asks, “So is this a thing now?”She motions between us with her hand, waiting in the doorway for us to answer so she can scramble out to her car.
“I don’t know, Mom,” I whine, rolling my eyes.“Why do you need a title?Can’t it just be?—”
“It’s a thing, Tara.A good thing,” Miles interrupts, and I swear the smile on my mom’s face widens bigger than I’ve ever seen.
“Good.Love you both.Maybe I’ll see you tonight.”
“Bye, Mom.”
“Bye, Tara.”
She slams the door behind her, leaving Miles and me standing here with this news passing between us.The air feels heavy with honesty, and Miles steps closer to me, a sweet but simple smile on his face.He loves his answer to my mom’s questions.It’s what he’s wanted since he kissed me in the bar the day I ended things with Isaac.
I worry it’s rushed, that he hasn’t fully forgiven me, and when we argue, it will come back to haunt us.But there’s nothing more that I want in this world than to be with Miles again, to radiate with happiness and feel the security being with him brings me.
“You good?”he asks me, his beautiful brown eyes sparkling with excitement as he wets his lips.Crowding me in against the counter, his legs wide, his hands on either side of me.
He leans in close, his mouth next to my ear.The warmth of his breath peppers my skin, and I feel a shiver run up my spine.My body responds like it was made for him, and sometimes I think it was.That we have history, a history that goes back even before we started dating in high school, before either of us knew what it meant or felt like to fall in love.
“I’ve had my tongue and my dick inside your sweet pussy, Daisy.I’d say that makes us a thing, wouldn’t you?”Every word is loaded with emotion, and he nips at my neck, letting his teeth drag along my sensitive flesh, my pulse beating hard.
“When you put it that way…” I gasp out a breath, wondering how I stayed away from him for the last year.
