“That’s it? That’s the question?”
“Yes! It’s been bothering me for weeks. Isn’t it annoying when your phone autocorrects?”
His lips twitched, mocking amusement lighting his eyes. Relief flooded in. “You know you can just turn auto-capitalisation off, yeah?” he said. “So, no, not annoying. And I started so people would know it’s actually me, since Tina is always logged into my social profiles too. Now it’s just habit.”
“Oh. That makes sense now you say it.”
“Why did you think I did it?”
“I don’t know!” I cried, throwing up my hands. “You could have been doing some fucking Derridean deconstruction of grammar for all I know.”
Miles blinked, confusion knotting between his brows. “Could have been what?”
“Oh, so you can math big numbers on the spot but French philosophy is out of your wheelhouse?”
“How are you like this, Russo?” he demanded, laughing. “Unpredictable doesn’t even begin to cover it.” He jabbed me in the ribs again and soon we were grappling and teasing our way toward something hotter and all was right again with the world.
Awhile later we lay together sated a second time, his bedcovers far less tidy, pillows strewn. A slow, hard fuck had been everything we needed, leaving my brain feeling like melted jelly.
Until a knock sounded on the door.
“Ah, shit,” Miles hissed, glancing toward his phone. “I guess that’s my two hours.” He looked from me to the door and back, andgrimaced. “Look . . . I would really rather this not be the way you meet Tina actually, so I’m going to be fucking cringe and ask you to stay out of sight. Once I’m gone, just wait a couple of minutes then let yourself out, yeah? Sorry.”
“Don’t be, it’s fine,” I said with a laugh. “I also don’t want to meet her in this state.”
“You say that like you’re not heart-stoppingly gorgeous right now.” He brushed his thumb over my cheek. “I would stay just to look at you, but my sister does not take no for an answer, so . . .”
As though to prove his point, Tina knocked again. “Come on, Miles!” came her muffled voice from outside. “We’re going to be late!”
“Do you want me dressed or not?” Miles called back, and finally rolled off the bed to do something about his lack of clothing.
I followed his lead, heading to the bathroom to clean up.
“Hey,” he said as he unzipped one of his suitcases. “You’re not playing tomorrow and I don’t play until late, so why don’t you meet us for breakfast? I’ll have Tina find a nice place.”
“Oh, all right, yeah.” I paused in the bathroom door to watch him hastily drag on shorts. “I mean, only if you’re sure.”
“Very sure. My choices aren’t your problem. I promised, remember? We’re friends, so let’s be friends.”
“Miles!” Tina growled. “What are youdoing?”
He grinned as he pulled on a shirt. “I’d better go,” he said, and came to drop a light kiss on my lips. “See you tomorrow.”
Miles walked away on the words, leaving me stunned as much by his always so easy affection as by his reiteration of the promise he’d made me weeks before. So stunned, I only remembered to duck out of sight just before he pulled open the door.
“Here, see? Almost ready,” he said as I leaned against the bathroom wall. “Just let me grab my phone.”
“Miles, do you have someone here?” Tina hissed, her voice too close for comfort while I had nothing on. Almost I grabbed a towel, but I didn’t dare make a sound, my grin already barely containing a laugh.
A laugh that became almost impossible to hold in when Miles said with perfect innocence. “I would never.”
“You are a terrible liar,” she said, and the door closed, the rest of her words becoming a muffled murmur hastily retreating along the corridor.
Left alone in Miles’s hotel room, I cleaned myself up and pulled on my clothes. Tomas had messaged with a practice time and I wrote back saying I would meet him there, and then because Miles had asked me to wait before making my escape, I looked around. There was something oddly intimate with being trusted alone in his private space. It was just a hotel room, but like with his terrible London apartment, the way Miles inhabited space was uniquely him. Without a second bedroom where he could store his luggage, he’d lined his suitcases and bags neatly along one wall, none left open or spilling any contents, everything about the room perfectly tidy. Except for a brand-new e-reader sitting on the arm of the couch. I opened it, took one look at the book he was reading, and closed it with a smile. He’d helped fix my game, and I’d gotten him hooked on gay romances.
Seemed fair, I thought, and headed out to find the practice courts.
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