He’s quiet for a moment as we eat more, face soft and curious. “I get that.”
My mind is swirling with questions, but there is one I have to know. “What made you come?”
“Your writing, actually,” he says softly.
“What?” I can’t hide my surprise. “That garbage?”
He balks, dropping his taco and scrambling to pick it up. “It wasn’t garbage, Jordan. Not even close. It made me think…” Miles’ cheeks get even more red, and he bites his lip before finishing. “It made me think you wanted to test this out too. In person, I mean. But I knew you couldn’t come to me yet. So, I came here instead.” He seems less certain with every word, eyes darting between mine.
He got that from my writing? How? “You came all the way here just to see if we work together?”
He wipes his mouth. “Is that so hard to believe?”
“A little, yeah.”
“Why?”
I can’t explain it, so I look away.
“You got…” He reaches out to brush some sour cream off my chin, and it makes me shiver. There’s so much energy coursing through me right now, through every nerve, that I can’t sit still.
It’s not even that he’d touched me. It’s that he’s here. Miles camefor me.And he’s saying he came because he feels something for me. He wants me. Enough to get on a plane to see if it’s real.
That’s not something people do for me. They don’twantme. The darkness scares them away.
When I don’t reply, his smile fades. “Is it okay that I came?”
I reach for his hand, squeezing. “It’smorethan okay, Miles. I’m just speechless.”
He slowly relaxes, then his attention darts to my plate. “What’s that one?”
I have to force myself to look away to figure out which of the three tacos he’s asking about. “Barbacoa.”
“Is it good?”
I hold out the half-eaten taco without thinking. “Try it.”
He doesn’t blink. Just leans in, wraps his fingers around mine, and takes a bite.
Okay, yeah. It shouldn’t be a big deal to share a taco with Miles, but it is. Itsois. His fingers are warm on mine, his lips just inches from my skin, and I’m suddenly a little dizzy. Blood rushes south.
He chews deliberately, taking in the flavors I know are dancing on his tongue. Slowly, his face lightens, and he points at my plate. “That’s delicious,” he mumbles behind a hand.
“Told you.”
I notice a freckle on his lip as he takes a sip of his Orange Crush. “Keep staring at me like that and we’re gonna have a problem,” he says.
I reach for my soda, my cheeks burning. “Sorry, I just… you’re fucking here, Miles. In San Diego. With me.”
“You say that last part like it’s the most surprising.”
“It is!”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why? A beautiful guy who flies across three states to be with me? That shit doesn’t happen. Not to me.”
He freezes, chip halfway to his mouth. His eyes soften behind his glasses. “You think I’m beautiful?”
