I peeled off the third t-shirt with a sigh. He was right about one thing, I suddenly cared what I looked like because of Seattle. Milo.
I loved the name Milo for him. He looked like a Milo.
“Look, you got hurt, and everyone saw you vulnerable, and you don’t want that again. Which is understandable,” Dante said. “That’s what makes this perfect. Casual fun. No strings attached. I heard him say he’d be gone in two weeks. If it took Brady almost ten years of really working at it to break your heart, there’s no way a sweetheart like Milo could do it in two wee—ow. Hey!”
I turned just in time to see Dante prying tiny kitten teeth off his hand, glaring at Nebula. “You’re my favorite,” he said. “I can’t believe you’d treat me like this.”
Nebula sat down hard enough to make a thump despite weighing a half-pound soaking wet and meowed up at Dante like he was the one who’d done something wrong by taking her chew toy away.
“Oh,” Dante said, his eyes softening. “Precious.”
I chuckled. “You should think about adopting her,” I said gently. “If, y’know, you’re ready.”
“Ithasbeen two years since Mr. Whiskers crossed over,” Dante said, offering Nebula his hand to sniff.
“He’d want you to be happy,” I said seriously.
“Right, like I want you to be happy,” he said, turning his attention back on me. “Will you at least take some outfit advice? I can’t handle watching you struggle any longer.”
“I thought you were gonna make me beg.”
“That’s about to be Milo’s job,” he said. “Once I find that one pair of jeans you own that fits.”
8
MILO
After the dayI’d had moving things around the florist for Dawn, I could’ve stayed under the shower forever. Maybe I would. Maybe I’d just let the incredible water pressure I assumed she’d achieved with some kind of witchcraft pound into my aching shoulders for the rest of my life.
How did she even unload one of those delivery trucks on her own? I’d have to remember not to challenge her to an arm-wrestling match anytime soon.
I might have stayed for another few hours, just to enjoy the sweet relief of hot water, but Dawn had cornered me into going on a da—
To dinner.
With Xander.
It wasn’t a date. I had to keep telling myself, or I’d chicken out.
Belatedly, I’d figured out why Xander was so afraid of meeting me in person. It really, genuinely wasn’t about me. It was about him. I knew, because I was feeling the same thing right now.
Except he had no reason to feel it, because he was obviously perfect.
The other thing I couldn’t quite stop thinking about was Brady. Brady, who Xander had apparently broken up with last week.
I’d felt like he was flirting so many times, but he didn’t seem like the kind of person who’d do that if he had a boyfriend. So now I was wondering if I’d been misreading him the entire time.
I was also wondering what Brady was like, and in a dusty, cobwebbed corner of my mind that I didn’t want to examine too closely, whether or not I measured up.
Not, obviously, that I particularly wanted to be a rebound fling. I didn’t want to ruin what I had with Xander for that.
But then if he asked…
Could I say no to him? I wasn’t sure I could, and it wouldn’t have to be a big deal, like Zara said. I was only here for a couple of weeks.
Not that he was interested. Obviously. I’d been misreading him the whole time. That was the only logical explanation.
The mirror was fogged when I stepped out of the soothing warmth and pressure of the shower, which didn’t exactly come as a surprise. I toweled off my hair and then wrapped the same towel around my waist, hearing footsteps on the stairs.
