“We are good, but we can’t do this again.We can’t keep things from each other.Ever,” I say, a firmness to my words that is there to remind me that I’m also talking to myself.
It isn’t just Miles that needs to hear this.I’m the one who started dating his best friend and never said a word to him.I avoided bringing Isaac around when we’d all get together because I knew I had something to hide.
But all that is out in the open now.It’s in the past, something I longed for, and I will not let Isaac get inside my head again.I will not let him screw up what I worked so hard to get back to.
“I know,” Miles replies, his jaw tight, his response resolute with honesty.“It’s just so hard to be okay with all the shit he’s done and continues to do.”
“It’s my fault, and I won’t let you tell me it isn’t.It is, Miles.We both know that.If I hadn’t gotten together with him, none of this would be happening.”
“And I could say the same thing.If I hadn’t kicked him out of the band, none of this would have happened,” he hits back, and I nod softly.
In the end, I guess we’re both to blame.
“But no more secrets,” I confirm, looping my arms around his neck, holding him close to me.“I need to know when things like this happen.”My words grow softer at their implication, the unspoken fear that lingers in the back of my mind.
“Same goes for you.If he comes by the bar, harassing you, I want to know,” Miles mutters through clenched teeth.
Just the mention of Isaac brings out a possessiveness in him that I never knew existed.A part of me loves it, but another part wants to remind him that I don’t need protecting.I’ve handled Isaac up until this point all on my own, albeit not well, but I did it.
“Do you think…” I stop, my thought trapped on my tongue, not wanting to say it out loud for fear it will put a reality to it that I hate to think exists.
Miles eases me back, his hands gripping my upper arms, the tenseness passing over him as I watch his body go rigid.I didn’t even say it, but he knows what I’m thinking.Silently, he searches my face, my bottom lip pulled between my teeth as I chew on it anxiously.
A pained expression paints his features, and he runs a hand over the scruff of his unshaven face.Shaking his head, he lets out a hard breath.
“I don’t want to think about having to do that,” Miles eventually admits, and again I find myself nodding slightly.
I go back and forth wondering if I should file a restraining order against Isaac.Coming into the bar is one thing.It’s a public space, something that I have no control over, and if he’s a paying customer, I would never take that from Lisa.But coming into mine and Miles’s home, knowing we weren’t there, painting the word “whore” on our bedroom wall, is a different level of bold.
I keep telling myself he’ll move on.He’ll find someone new to control, forgetting that he lost me to Miles.What if I’m wrong, though?
If I sat down and figured out how long Isaac and I were actually together, it would probably be less than six months.We’d break up constantly, sometimes for weeks, going without speaking to each other after a massive fight, only to reunite after I’d be overrun with guilt and self-doubt.
It was always me who returned to him, and I feel disgusting about that, making this situation even worse now.Had I not gone back, had I not let him ruin my self-esteem, I wouldn’t have to consider if I need a restraining order.
“It’s going to be okay,” Miles whispers, his forehead resting against mine, our eyes closed, and I take in a long, slow breath.“It won’t get to that.You’re safe with me, Daisy.This is our home, our future, and he doesn’t get to take that from us.”
“Thank you.”It’s said with promise, with genuine appreciation for him and where we are now as a couple.
Cupping my cheek with his calloused hand, his thumb brushes gently over my skin.Pulling back, our eyes meet, and I feel the warmth radiating between us.There is no one in the world who can make me feel the way Miles does.
Secure and safe, wanted and loved, but on a deeper level, it’s a connection that has spanned years.We were destined to be together, and the universe knew that, bringing us back together when we thought all was lost.
“Good luck today.”A soft smile crosses his lips, a reminder of what’s coming up.“If you need me, just call.I’ll be at Orchid Bay till eleven and then with Kai making boards at my dad’s shop.”
“I’m good.”I tilt my head to the small table and chairs Miles set up for me in the corner of the room.“Just some brainstorming with Sloane.”
“And demo of…” Miles pauses, pulling his brows together as he scans the room.“Whatever this is.”A chuckle leaves him, deep and sexy, sending my heart beating at a furious speed, and I close my eyes, trying to shake off the feeling only he can bring out in me.
Hearing his laugh, the way he’s so protective over me, the heat that radiates from him when our bodies are close together.It all reminds me of how much we fit together, how much we need each other and how he makes me feel complete.
His smile widens, showing off his perfectly straight, white teeth, and fuck, he’s gorgeous.He’s making it hard not to suggest we just head back home and climb into bed.
“You don’t want to keep any of this, right?”he questions, walking over to where these old, rickety wooden shelves span the room.“And the floor is coming up too?”
The room is basically just a shell, almost as if someone started working on it but left it as is.It’s musty and decrepit, and thinking back to when I was a kid, I can’t remember there being anything here.No bakery or coffee shop, no little grocery store or tourist shop selling leis and coconuts.It’s always just been empty, but not for long.
“All of it’s going.A clean slate.”
