Page 58 of Rejected Broken Mate

I rolled my eyes, resting my hands against his chest. "You're terrible."

He smiled. "Maybe, but you like me this way."

I snorted. Miles leaned down, kissing me once more. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, leaning into him. I gave myself a moment just to enjoy him. I could set aside our argument for a second and just be with him. And then I heard the sound of a door moving. We both jumped slightly and turned. My eyes widened, and I recognized Michael standing in the doorway. His backpack was thrown over his shoulder, and his eyes were wide.

"Michael." I took another step back from Miles, who looked unsure what to do.

"What are you doing?" Michael asked, anger crossing his face.

"We were just talking," I said, smiling at him, knowing my face was red from embarrassment. "Did you guys go through the career stuff already?" I moved, trying to fix my outfit and my hair.

Michael crossed his arms and scowled. "Yeah, and you weren't there. The guys said you were back here talking, so why are you here kissing him?" Michael glared at Miles for a second before looking back at me.

I felt my face grow hot and started walking towards him. "Michael, I can explain. We were just talking and…."

Michael turned and stormed off. I felt my shoulders sink as I looked back at Miles. He looked defeated and frowned. "Sorry. Do you want me to go with you?"

I shook my head, knowing I needed to go after Michael alone. “I’ve got it. Just…go back to the group. I’ll join you whenI’m done. I turned, heading out to find Michael, leaving Miles alone.

Chapter 22 - Miles

"All right, let's go over this again." Ayden laid his hands on the counter. He looked serious as he repeated everything over. "Cayden, Wesley, and Lucas, you are in charge of watching Poppy for the entire time of the party.

"How did I get stuck on watching after Poppy?" Lucas asked. "Do you really need three of us on her? It's one kid."

"She's a little escape artist, so yes," Ayden said, nodding. "I need three sets of eyes on her at all times."

"But why am I on her? Shouldn't Miles? Seems he needed the training."

I threw daggers at Lucas, who had a smug smile. "Clearly, I don't because he didn't ask me." I countered, rolling my eyes.

"No, he just put you in charge of the cake. I think that's probably the easiest job yet." Cayden said, looking bored.

"Hey, focus," Ayden said, grabbing our attention again. “I need her birthday to be perfect, and Wendy hasn't been feeling great with the pregnancy. I promised her we could handle it all. Now, let's talk about where we are going to do this."

"Why don't you just do it outside in the back? We have all the space, and I bet if we just turn the hoses on, the kids will think it's a waterpark." Cayden said, waving his hands.

Ayden rolled his eyes. "Poppy wants to have it at the park by our house. They have a large playground. She's crossing her fingers she's going to fly by then."

"You think she will?" I asked.

Ayden shrugged. "You know, there is a little part of me that wishes she would so she would stop jumping off of everything."

I snorted.

"About this cake," Ayden looked at me. "You promise the baker is going to do it right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, Luis is a great baker. I stop by her stand all the time at the farmer's market. I haven't seen her cakes, but her baking is amazing, so I imagine the cakes are just as splendid."

"I'll take it, better than anything I would bake." Ayden drummed his fingers on the counter. "Now, what did you all get her?" Ayden's eyes stayed on me as he asked this.

My eyebrows went up. "Why are you looking at me?"

"Because you're the one that bought her a damn drum set with speakers."

I couldn't help but smirk. In my defense, it was a joke, and I thought they would return them. I didn't realize that Poppy would get so attached.

"I bought her rollerblades," I said, waving a hand. "Your wife said if I bought her another stupid gift, she was going to put a hex on me."

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