Page 75 of Hard to Take

And no prying eyes.

In my Kappa days in the aftermath of Kevin’s drug issues, I felt that way all the time.

“You ran out of here pretty fast.” Miles is behind me.

“Normal need-to-fix-my-lipstick speed.” I glance around us. “Figured you’d want to watch the ball drop with the team.”

“Don’t blame me wanting to be close to the most beautiful woman in the place.”

My chest warms.

“What did he say to you?” His brows form a dark slash across his handsome face.

“Nothing I need to repeat.” I paste on a smile, aware of everyone around us. “I love him, even when I wish I didn’t. But he’s always had this way of dismissing things that mattered to me if he didn’t understand them, or they didn’t fit with what he wanted.”

“All right, then I’ll tell you what he said to me. He told me to stop. To end things with you.”

His words make the breath stick in my throat. “And what did you say?”

“I’m not going to do that. You matter. We matter.” Miles captures my wrists loosely in his huge hands. “I can’t be sure of everything in my life right now, but I want this.”

My heart kicks so hard I think my ribs will bruise.

“Jay’ll have to get over it.” He strokes my skin with his thumbs. “Because Princess, I don’t want to get over you.”

The backs of my eyes sting.

We’re surrounded by people but he’s the only one I see.

This man who’s been in my life for way too long, but somehow snuck up on me when I wasn’t looking.

“Three! Two! One!”

The crowd choruses, jumping in on the countdown.

I’m lost in Miles’s eyes.

When the clock hits zero, I press up on my toes and fist my hands in his white shirt.

He’s already kissing me back.

22

BROOKE

“Wait.” I hold up a hand by the doors and slip off my shoes.

“You’re not walking like that out to the car.”

“Watch me.”

Before I can protest, Miles scoops me up in his arms. My fingers grip the back of his neck, his hair soft against my fingers.

The automatic doors slide wide as he carries me to the parking lot and doesn’t set me down until we’re at the Range Rover.

He helps me inside and moments later, we’re backing out of the spot.

“Are you drunk?” I ask.