Page 189 of Silent Shadows

Taylor suddenly becomes fascinated with absolutely nothing.

Jax shoves popcorn into his own mouth in a failed attempt to avoid smiling.

Owen looks between us once and mutters, “Jesus, okay, I’m gonna go stare at the ceiling in my bunk.” Taylor elbows him.

And Miles… Miles just stands there.

Like his brain forgot how to work. His eyes flick to me. The laptop. The couch. Back to me.

“You’re here.”

Not accusation. Not disbelief. Something softer and smaller.

Like hope snuck in before he could stop it.

My throat tightens.

“Yes,” I say. Brilliant. Articulate. Award-winning dialogue.

He takes one hesitant step closer. “You came back.”

God. The way he says it. Something warm and terrifying blooms low in my chest.

I square my shoulders before I lose nerve.

“I came back to tell you guys your media strategy is terrible.”

Taylor mutters, “There she is.”

Jax snorts. “You should see her spreadsheet.”

But Miles laughs, and the air I’d been holding in finally leaves my lungs.

Jax resumes breathing in the most theatrical way possible and Maya rolls her eyes. Taylor mutters something about “finally” under her breath, and I let a chuckle out.

“Can we talk? Just us?” I say, voice softer.

Miles nods and I follow him outside.

I steel myself, bracing for whatever’s about to go down, and make my way down the stairs. My pulse spikes. He walks deeper into the woods, down the trail off the site. I keep pretending to look out at the tree line as golden light makes its way through the pinyons.

“Hey.” Miles’s voice is soft.

I glance up.

He looks like he has the kind of exhaustion that sits under skin. His eyes are shadowed. Like maybe he hasn’t really slept. Something twists painfully inside me.

“Hey,” I reply, biting my lip.

Silence settles. Not awkward. Just… full. Too full. A thousand things standing between us. The ache of it.

He shifts closer. Cautious. Like he’s giving me room to run.

The realization hurts.

Because I made him careful.

“You really made a spreadsheet,” he says finally.