Page 41 of Tell Me It’s Right

Miles grins, showing off his dimples, and does the dance as they circle the chairs.

“Don’t you dare be a gentleman and give it to her!” yells Asher.

The music cuts off, and even though Miles is on the opposite side of the seat, he slides around in a fluid motion, grabbing the chair a millisecond before Carson lands on top of him.

She stares at herself in his lap as if not comprehending what she’s seeing, and all the guys in the room erupt in cheers and applause.

Miles smiles and meets my eyes across the room. And before I realize it, I find myself smiling back.

If you angle your head just right through the line of houses and trees, you can see the ocean from their front porch. The house vibrates with music and laughter behind me as they start up round two. I sip my drink, hoping no one will notice I escaped for a moment of peace and fresh air. And truthfully, if they roped me into playing, there’s no way I’d be able to drive home after a round of that game. And I’m not putting myself in that position in a house full of basically strangers, especially not when the one person Idoknow is absolutely trashed.

“Oh, you need a way better hiding spot than this if you don’t want them to find you.”

Miles grins as he steps onto the porch and closes the door behind him. I’m beginning to think that grin is his default expression. I mean, if I had those teeth and dimples, I’d probably be showing them off as much as possible too.

“I believe congratulations are in order.”

He bows his head and leans against the railing beside me. “Not quite your crowd, huh?”

“Oh, no! No, they’re—it’s just—I just needed a minute.”

His smile turns knowing, but softens. “Not mine either.”

An incredulous laugh gets caught in my throat.

“What? You don’t believe me?”

“No,” I admit. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone look more in their element. Life of the party, some might say.”

“Oh? Some?”

I take a sip of my drink.

“So what I’m hearing is, you’ve been watching me tonight.”

Thankfully it’s too dark for him to see how red my face must be.

“Go on a date with me.”

I freeze with my cup a few inches from my face.

“Tomorrow night,” he continues, voice perfectly casual. “I can pick you up at seven. Dinner. Somewhere nice.”

Slowly, I turn to look at him. He stares back, hands casually in his pockets, head tilted to the side as he waits for my answer. The moonlight falls perfectly on his profile. A littletooperfectly. Maybe I’m hallucinating. That would make a whole lot more sense.

“Why?” is the only word I manage to get out.

His eyebrow lifts. “Why?”

“Why me, I mean.”

That gets him to smile. “Because I’ve been watching you tonight too.”

“Thereyou are, man!” Asher stumbles through the door and shoots me a nod when he notices me standing there.

“No luck with Luna?” asks Miles.

“The night is still young,” Asher insists, then glances both ways down the street before fishing something out of his pocket.

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