Milo laughed as he kissed me, the taste of mirth on his tongue turning to fizzing champagne bubbles in my brain. It always surprised me how firm his body was under my hands compared to the softness of his mouth, moving so tenderly, so masterfully. He made each kiss feel like something more, something deeper.
Those kisses made me feel like I’d transformed into someone new. The wordmetamorphosisechoed through my head.
When he eased back, he brushed his nose along mine. “Hungry?”
“Famished,” I replied.
Milo gave me a pointed look and muttered, “Insatiable,” but there was a clear glint of amusement in his eyes.
“Well,thathunger will have to wait until later. For right now, I need actual food.”
We settled behind the counter with falafel wraps and pita chips, drinking the cherry cola Milo remembered was my favorite, and once I was relaxed and feeling good, he dropped the bomb.
“My parents asked if we’d come for dinner sometime in the next couple weeks.”
My entire body froze. This was not something I had done before—mostly because I’d had veryfew long-term relationships, though also because my last one was with someone whose parents lived in California. What if they hated me? What if they felt I wasn’t good enough for their son? A trickle of panic crept up my spine even as I tried to remind myself that my own parents’ opinions about me were not universal.
“Eden, breathe,” Milo murmured.
I sucked in a huge breath, then nearly choked on the pita chip I’d been chewing when he tipped the world on its axis. As I coughed until my eyes watered, Milo rubbed his hand between my shoulder blades, staring at me with a mixture of horror and concern.
“Really, it’s okay. I’ll tell them we need more time. I didn’t think it would be a big deal, since you already met the rest of the family.”
“No!” I yelped, my voice hoarse from choking. “No, you can’t postpone. They’ll be insulted. They’ll think I’m rude for putting them off. They’ll—”
“Eden,” Milo interrupted, using that low tone that cut straight through my freakout. “Take a breath, one that hopefully won’t require the Heimlich, okay?”
I grabbed my soda, sucked down a sip to soothe my throat, then tried to draw in enough oxygen to clear my head. Milo still had one hand on my back, moving in soft circles, and the other was on my knee, his thumb brushing slowly back and forth.
“Sorry,” I whispered.
“Nothing to be sorry for. I didn’t mean to spring anything on you. I promise you, though, they won’t think anything badabout you even if we need to push it off, okay? My brothers and Libby have already vouched for how awesome you are. Mom and Dad won’t mind waiting.”
I rotated in my chair so I could drop my forehead against his shoulder, but Milo only laughed softly into my hair as his arms came around me. After I pulled myself together, he tipped my chin up with one finger and placed a chaste kiss to my lips.
“You know I’m crazy about you, right?” he asked.
“I got that impression, yes.”
He smiled sweetly. “Then you know you have nothing to worry about.”
I tried for a scowl and grumbled, “I wasn’t worried.”
“No? You almost choked on pita chips because you’re totally nonchalant about meeting my parents?”
“My epiglottis betrayed me.”
“Eden,” he said, grinning now, “you freaked out, and I appreciate that you want to make a good impression, but they’re going to love you.”
“Fine. Set a date. Can we just please stop talking about it now and finish our lunch?”
My disgruntled expression apparently did nothing to fend off his good mood, so Milo just captured my lips for a more thorough kiss, winked at me, and took his arms back so he could grab his food. I sighed as I reached for my own.
Opening a store, starting a relationship, finally making friends—what was one more milestone on top of it all?
Chapter Twenty-One
Milo
