“I am. And you’re gonna have to figure out what you want sooner rather than later. Like, way sooner.”
I frown. “Why do you say that?”
“Because he’s blowing up your phone right now.”
“What?” I’ve been so tied up in our conversation, I haven’t even noticed my phone. It’s sitting on the table between us, lit up with text messages from Myles. I shoot her a wide-eyed look as I grab it and read them.
Myles: hey, I just stopped by pearl’s to see if you were working.
Myles: can we meet up somewhere? to talk?
I meet Myles at the beach, just past the pier.
He’s sitting on the sand as I approach, facing the water. A few clouds have moved in, and he’s wearing a gray hoodie and navy-blue shorts. His blond hair blows around around in the wind, and he reaches up with one hand to push it out of his face.
“Hey.”
At the sound of my voice, he jumps up and immediately pulls me into a hug. I automatically wrap my arms around his waist to return the embrace. “How are you?” he asks. “Are you okay?”
I frown into his sweatshirt, wondering if he somehow heard about Kat’s and my fight (and that it’s all about him), but then he adds, “That thing with Luke was so scary. I’m just glad he’s gonna be okay, you know?”
Oh. “It was awful, but I’m okay. I’m good.”
He pulls back. “You sure? You must know him pretty well, him being Kat’s brother and all.”
I nod. “Yeah, I do. But I promise, I’m fine, now that I know he’ll be all right.”
“Yeah. Okay, good.” He smiles at me, and it’s not one of his wide, confident ones. He grips the back of his neck and almost seems… nervous. “Wanna sit?”
“Sure.”
I settle in beside him and wrap my arms around my bare legs. I should have brought a jacket today.
Myles must notice, because he tugs his hoodie over his head. “Here, take this.”
God, he’s so sweet. “Thanks.” I pull it on, and it’s warm and cozy and smells like him. I lean into him a little. “Thanks for helping out with Luke that night too.”
“Of course,” he says, resting his forearms across his knees. We’re facing the water, watching the waves roll in with their steady rhythm. “I, um, I wanted to talk to you about that night. Not about the thing with Luke, but what happened before that.”
I fidget with a string at the bottom of my cutoffs. “Okay.”
“I think I had one too many beers, and I might have come on a little strong.” I feel his gaze on my face, but I’m too much of a coward to meet it. “I just… I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”
I do look up at that. I shake my head. “You didn’t.” I think everyone within a five-mile radius knows I was pretty into whatever he was doing. Kat heard about it all the way in New York, for crying out loud.
Relief fills his features, and his shoulders drop. “No?”
I shake my head. “Promise.”
“Okay. Good.” He smiles, and this one is the usual Myles variety. The kind that makes my heart race and my breath catch. “Because I meant everything I said.”
I think about you all the time.
I’m really into you, Amelia Madden.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to wrap my brain around it.I think about you a lot too. “So did I.”
He reaches over and tugs at a fold of his sweatshirt near my elbow. “It was pretty shitty timing for me to ask you out right before I left for ten days,” he says. “So I guess I just wanted to make sure… do you still want to? Go on a date?”
