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Straightening, I smoothed my dress and sucked in a breath. I wasn’t confident in how this night would go, but I knew for certain I looked good. Black was my power color, and though this was a daytime event, I’d made it work. The lacy skirt was flowy and hit mid-calf. The bodice fit like a glove, hiking up what little boobs I had. My arms were bare, but I’d draped a charcoal gray shawl around my shoulders, providing just enough warmth.
“Nice shoes,” Miles remarked. “Pretty dress.”
“Thanks.”
I tried for breezy and unaffected, but I hadn’t mastered those emotions yet. My “thank you” had come out as more of an admonishment. His compliments weren’t wanted—not when he was so capable of withholding them and himself.
Miles tried to help me into his car, but I was already feeling bite-y. I jerked my hand away and helped myself. He huffed, but didn’t argue, and carefully closed the door once I was in.
A moment later, he climbed in on the other side and pressed the button to start the engine. When we didn’t move after a minute, I turned to look at him, finding his eyes already locked on me.
“I saw your email late last night. My assistant had placed it in a folder I never check.” Chuffing, he shook his head. “Not that it matters since I’d already spent two weeks putting you out of my mind by ignoring you.”
I stayed silent. He’d established boundaries, and so had I. After two weeks of being set aside by him, I’d decided I wouldn’t pretend to be okay with crappy treatment just to keep the peace. I’d done that with Andy far too many times. I wouldn’t be starting any new relationships—friendships or otherwise—that required me to bite my tongue or bend over backward.
Miles continued. “I’m sorry for being a shitty friend, Daisy-daze. To be honest, I’m surprised you see…or saw me as one.”
“Why would that surprise you?”
He exhaled, heavy and ragged. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is I thought I was doing us both a favor by pulling back, but I did it in a hurtful, burn-it-all-down way that wasn’t necessary.”
I blinked at him. “Look, I just recovered from a broken heart. I’m not looking to do that all over again anytime soon. I told you we were on the same page. I guess I was wrong, though. I thought you meant what the things that happened in the kitchen and hot tub meant—not the rest of it. You didn’t break my heart, but you definitely kicked me in the gut.”
His head fell forward, eyes fluttering shut. “I hear you. I went about it wrong, but I didn’t think you’d care. Honest to god, I didn’t. I thought I’d show up today and we’d get back on the right track.”
I flicked him on the arm, sending him shooting back against his door with wide eyes. I held up my fingers in flicking position as a threat.
“Two older siblings. I can flick you straight through your window if you don’t get off that self-pity horse right now. You can’t carry around the ‘my older brother rejected me as a kid so I expect everyone to reject me’ yoke for the rest of your life.”
His brow dropped. “You don’t get it, Daisy.”
“Don’t I? Didn’t I just get dropped before I could drop you? You liked hanging with me so much, you decided to ditch me.”
“You’re thinking highly of yourself.”
“I don’t think highly of myself at all. I do know you like me. The same way I like you—well, before you turned out to be the jackhole I’d originally expected you to be.”
“Guess we’re two messed up humans living a self-fulfilling prophecy, aren’t we? I expect to be rejected, you expect people to screw you over, and here we are.”
I went to flick him again, but he caught my hand, holding it in his. “Shut up, Miles. I’m not messed up. I gave you a chance when my instincts told me not to, and you kicked me in the freaking gut.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “If you were going to do that, why’d you bother to keep talking to my brother? Are you going to ditch him too? If you do, I’ll eviscerate you. He can’t handle that.”
“I’m not going to ditch him,” he said softly. “I promise you I won’t.”
Without another word, he got out of the car and circled the front, his eyes on me. Next thing I knew, he yanked my door open and leaned in, his face a breath away.
“I don’t deserve it, but I want another chance to know you.” He brushed his nose back and forth along mine. “I’m sorry I stopped talking to you. I was protecting myself…and I thought I was protecting you. If I’d believed for a second I was hurting you, I would have been here, asking how to make it right. That’s the opposite of my intention.”
I leaned against the headrest to gain a tiny bit of distance. “How have you been the past two weeks?”
“Feeling stupid. Working a lot to stop feeling anything. Talking to your brother on the off-chance I might hear something about you. In other words, not great.”
“Did you drink?”
“No. Hate that you have to ask.”
“Proud that you didn’t.”
He rolled his forehead on mine, then pulled me out of my seat and hugged me like he’d been waiting to do so for weeks. It took me longer to curl my arms around him, but I told myself this was it. I’d forgive him this once, but we were not at the start of a pattern. This was one-and-done.
