Page 38 of Paper Hearts & Plot Twists

“That must be the reason your neighbors commented about the fun evening times,” Mason mused.

“That’s so embarrassing,” Emily mumbled, crossing her arms on the table and burying her head to hide the blush blooming on her cheeks.

“It’s actually pretty funny,” Miles teased. He tapped her foot with his beneath the table and Emily came up from her arms and wrinkled her nose at him.

“Breaking your crush’s teeth in middle school was funnier,” Emily responded with a raised eyebrow. The dropped jaw and widened eyes at that comment made it all worthwhile. Mason chuckled as he watched the byplay.

“How do you know about that?” Miles demanded, though he turned toward Mason with a glare, immediately knowing the culprit.

“Hey,” Mason defended, “I needed help surviving the signing and she drove a tough bargain. One little embarrassing story was the least I owed her.”

“Out of all the stories, that’s the one you had to choose? You could’ve picked literally anything else.”

“What would you have had him pick?” Emily innocently asked. She widened her eyes and fluttered her lashes. She wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity to get more stories.

Miles, not realizing the trap he was walking into, responded, “Probably the time I broke my tailbone chasing down the dump truck, or the time I went to Mom’s formal work event covered in mud because I wasn’t playing carefully before it started.”

“Those sound like good stories too,” Emily exclaimed. “I want details.”

“Is this Embarrass Miles Day?”

“Yes it is, actually. I’m glad you’re a willing participant. Mason, details!” Emily demanded, looking toward Miles’s brother.

“How can I deny the lady?” Mason teased.

Miles glared, though there was no real heat behind the expression. “I have embarrassing stories about you I could tell as well,” Miles threatened.

“True,” Mason responded. “But my stories aren’t the ones Emily’s interested in,” he said with a self-satisfied grin.

Emily patted the table to bring their attention to her. “Less arguing and more storytelling,” she demanded.

“Of course,” Mason replied. “You’ll get a kick out of this one. Miles, myself, and Mom were heading to a Christmas party put on by her work, and it was a pretty fancy event. She had us dressed in vests, button-ups, and bow ties. We were pretty snooty.”

“That sounds adorable,” Emily admitted, interrupting Mason’s storytelling. She glanced at Miles. “Not too far off of your regular attire.”

“I wear what works,” Miles said with a shrug.

Mason rolled his eyes. He didn’t agree that it worked, as he obviously didn’t dress that way. “That must be where Miles picked up his current fashion tastes,” he said before continuing his story, “We’d just arrived at the venue, but we were a bit early, so Mom told us we could walk around the parking lot. Check it out.”

Miles grinned. “She told us to be careful, but she knows us. She really should’ve kept us in the car, because at that age we didn’t have a careful bone in our bodies, and it was ten times worse when we were together.”

“Which was always,” Mason interrupted. “In our infinite wisdom, we decided to grab a soccer ball from the trunk and kick it around a bit. That occupied us for a solid two minutes before we decided to grab some loose branches and make goals to set up a match.”

“Poor Mom was so occupied with some extra work in her car that she didn’t realize what we were up to,” Miles mused, a fond smile on his face. “She worked hard to make sure we had a good life and a good upbringing.”

“Anyway, we started playing a one-on-one soccer match, and poor Miles couldn’t keep up,” Mason said. “I was beating him and going toward the goal. This would’ve solidified my lead if I made it, and Miles knew it, so he was pressing hard to stop me. Unfortunately he didn’t see the giant mud puddle that was right in his path.”

“You led me to that puddle purposefully.”

“So you say,” Mason said with a shrug. “Miles took a step, landing smack dab in the middle of the puddle and immediately slipped. The look of horror on his face was priceless.”

Emily giggled when Miles glared at Mason. She loved the relationship the two brothers had. She’d always wanted a sibling, though it was probably better that her parents avoided making that a reality. Joel and Leo had been lovely stand-in parents, but there was something special about a sibling bond that Emily had always been envious of.

Mason continued, “Miles reminded me of one of those silly cartoon characters as his foot slid forward and out from under him and his body slammed into the ground. Mud flew everywhere, though thankfully I was far enough away that I avoided that fate.”

“It sounds like Miles was completely covered,” Emily mused, looking between them contemplatively. “Any chance there are pictures?”

“Not a chance,” Miles said at the same time Mason replied, “Of course! Mom keeps them in an album at her place.”

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