Page 108 of Silent Shadows

“You started it.”

He shakes his head. But his hands slide under my flannel anyway, warm against my waist, and suddenly I’m not entirely convinced I remember my own name.

Voices drift faintly through the trees nearby.

Taylor yelling something about casting footprints.

Reality crashes back hard.

We break apart abruptly.

Both breathing too fast.

Miles looks wrecked.

Hair messy. Mouth pink. Pupils blown wide enough to swallow the green.

The sight nearly sends me right back into him.

“We can’t do that again,” I pant.

“Right.”

A beat passes.

Then, in an unspoken agreement, we crash back into each other like magnets.

This kiss is even rougher. Hungrier. All the restraint we’ve been pretending to have snapping clean in half. I feel myself letting go with him. Wanting him in the most primal way.

Then Jax’s voice echoes somewhere through the canyon. “Yo, Adler?”

Miles jerks backward like he’s been tased, and I slap both hands over my mouth to keep from laughing.

He runs a frantic hand through his hair, his nervous laughter spilling out in short bursts. “Oh my God.”

Another voice echoes through the trees.

“Miles?” Maya calls.

“We’re coming!” he yells back, his voice cracking on the last word. “Daisy just needed some sound bites.”

I lose it laughing.

“This isn’t funny.”

“It’s a little funny,” I raise a shoulder.

My laughter stops when he closes the space between us, cradling my cheek in his palm.

“This thing with you…” His eyes flick over my face. “I don't want it to impact either of our work.”

I understand now. He’s not worried about the crew’s judgment.

He’s worried about losing something real before it even fully starts. Us, and our work. And so am I.

I know we’re past the point of keeping things casual, but it doesn’t stop me from lying. I loop my fingers through his belt loops, pulling him closer. “So, let’s just keep it between us, and have a little fun?”

Miles brushes his thumb once along my jaw, considering what I said. The movement is so gentle it almost hurts. “I think we’re going to have more than a little fun.”