A broken heart can make you do crazy things, and avoiding Miles was one of them.Dating Isaac is another, but I’m putting that behind me and coming to terms with Miles and me being a thing again.We’re more than a thing.I want to spend the rest of my life with him, even if it feels too soon, too rushed to admit that out loud.It’s literally been only a couple of days.
“I’m not having sex with you in my mother’s house,” I tell him, putting my hands on his chest as I attempt to shove him away.
But he’s bigger than me, and all my shove does is make him laugh.“Never stopped you before.I seem to remember a very reckless sixteen-year-old Daisy who loved the idea of doing it in her bed when I would sneak in through her window.”
“Yeah, well, we can do it anywhere now, and my childhood bedroom in my mother’s house is not one of the places.”
“Anywhere?”Miles questions suggestively.With his head tilted to the side, I can see his mind flashing through all the places he’d love to do it, and I let out a giggle.
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Miles Olsen.You have a surprise for me, and right now I’d like to find out what it is.”
I push up on my toes, kissing the tip of his nose in the sweetest of gestures, hoping to calm him and his dick down.
“Fine, fine.Go change your clothes.I’ll just be out here being boring and behaving myself,” he tells me, picking up his discarded orange.
We’re back in my old Jeep with Miles behind the wheel, and it feels the way it used to.Us, side by side, his hand resting on my thigh, every so often moving it to shift gears but returning it quickly.He squeezes gently when we pass our favorite spot to surf, smiling at me, the air blowing through the Jeep.
The ocean is the most gorgeous shade of blue today, pristine and crystal, the sunlight speckling it as it floats along its waves.In the distance, surfers bob in the water, and I listen for their calls, loving the sound of it.It reminds me of everything I love about living here.
“Where are we going?”I now ask, closing my eyes briefly as I bask in the warmth of the sun.“Will you tell me?”
“I won’t, and you know that, but nice try.”Miles smiles at me, but there’s something playful yet hesitant in it, as if he’s unsure of what we’re about to do.
“Are we almost there?”I now ask, prodding for information.
But then he turns onto the street with The Pipe Dream, the street that also has our building on it.The one that sold.The one that just added to my shitty day yesterday.
“New boards at The Pipe Dream?Wetsuits?Lunch with Nate and Sage?Surfing with Alana and Flynn?”I’m hitting him with a million questions, and all he does is shake his head in response.
“Close your eyes,” he tells me, pulling off onto the gravel shoulder of the road, the ocean on one side, all the little shops on the other.
“Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously.I knew you were going to be this way, so I brought a blindfold.Maybe we can use it later too,” he teases.
I do as he says, closing my eyes as he puts the car into gear and begins to drive.The sensation of the road jostles me around with my eyes closed, making me laugh when he hits a couple of potholes, the gravel flying under the spinning tires.
“How long do I have to keep them closed?”I ask, my hand still over them as I try to figure out where we are.I know we were just turning onto the street with The Pipe Dream, but for all I know, he’s driving around just to throw me off.
“Until I tell you not to,” he commands.The warmth of his hand on my thigh sends a jolt of heat through me.“For someone who loves surprises, you are very impatient.”His words hold a teasing quality that makes me laugh.
I feel the car go in reverse and then back forward again before coming to a stop.I listen, trying to see if I can gain some idea of where we are, but I come up short.It all sounds the same: the ocean, the birds, the smell of flowers.
“Don’t move.I’m coming to your side of the car, and I want you to keep your eyes closed,” Miles tells me, and I just nod my head, my lips pursed as I feel a little out of control, not being able to see.
He opens the door, taking my hand, he helps me out, and when my feet touch the ground, I feel gravel.That doesn’t help at all.Most places around here are like that, unlike the paved parking lots of the tourist areas of the island.
With his hands on my hips, he pulls me, walking slowly until he stops only a few steps later.“Okay, open your eyes,” he says, and when I do, I’m standing in front of the little red building I love so much.
The sold sign is still there, the same place it was when I drove past it last night.I swallow back the lump in my throat.I don’t know why he would have brought me here, knowing I was upset about it being sold in the first place.
“Miles, no offense, but this is a shitty surprise,” I say, feeling the tears begin to pool in my eyes.
I had huge plans for this building, but a dream is all it was, and not that I ever thought it would happen anyway.Starting a business takes money, lots of money, and that’s something I don’t have much of.
I could have gone to college, gotten a degree like my mom wanted and like my sister did, but then I would have had to put this unreachable dream on the shelf, and there was something about that I couldn’t do.
And then, when Miles left, I clung to the only thing I felt like I had: this little red building that sat empty for years.
