Page 9 of Room One Hundred and Nineteen: Watching Her

Miles walked toward me, and with a knowing look, he asked, “What was that all about?”

“That, buddy, is us knowing now for sure she’s into us. The three of us.” A brow rose before he frowned.

“What did you do?” he asked.

“I didn’t do shit. She kissed me,” I shared because we didn’t keep shit from each other.

“She… what the fuck?” he said under his breath before his eyes moved to the door. “She kissed you?”

“Yup. She did. It was fucking fantastic. Then she said she shouldn’t have done that because of you guys.”

“Us.” I could feel the hope that bloomed inside of him. “She wants us?” I nodded.

“I think she’s worried about it. But yeah. I’m ninety nine percent sure she wants us.”

“So? What do we do now?”

“Now we talk to Josh and set shit in motion.”

“In motion,” he repeated. I couldn’t exactly read him. Which wasn’t unusual for Miles. He was a tough nut to crack sometimes.

“She’s ours, Miles,” I reminded him, and he scowled.

“You don’t think I know that?” I scratched the back of my neck. Miles wasn’t like Josh and me. He kept his feelings close to his chest, which I got. He’d bounced in and out of foster care because his mom was an addict. He’d done everything he could and worked hard to get what he did.

“Wanting her and having her are two different things.” I treaded carefully. I knew by the muscle twitching beneath his eye, I was off base. Yet I couldn’t seem to shut the fuck up. “If you’re having second?—“

“Don’t even finish that sentence, man.” His jaw clenched. “Let this be the last time this needs to be clarified. I want her just as much as you and Josh do.”

“You know she comes?—“

“As a package deal? Yeah, man, I know that. I know I come off as the jokester and sometimes a little aloof, but don’t confuse that with my intentions when it comes to her.” Maybe I had needed to hear that kind of confirmation from him myself?

“Finally,” he whispered. Miles’ bright blue eyes seemed to almost fucking glow under the fluorescent lighting of the locker room. “Fucking finally.” His shoulders relaxed, and I found myself smiling, too.

Finally, indeed.

3

DR. MILES JEFFERSON

Ilifted the bottle to my lips and took a healthy chug of beer while I listened to Josh and Rick bounce ideas off each other. They had been doing that shit for the last three hours. Shit, they hadn’t even waited for us to get in the car before they started to talk.

They were idiots.

But sometimes, you had to let idiots tire themselves out so that when you gave them a good idea, they heard you out.

Each scheme they came up with was more ridiculous than the last. I honestly had no idea how the hell I’d managed not to get dizzy from how many times I had rolled my eyes or how the hell I hadn’t started to laugh at how stupid they sounded.

But I didn’t say a word.

I didn’t show them how stupid they were being. I simply kicked my feet up on the coffee table and watched. Listened. Drank my beer after eating dinner. Some ideas, I had to give them credit, had merit. But they didn’t come close to what I had up my sleeve. What would work for a multitude of reasons.

“You guys done?” I finally chimed in. They turned. Both were opposites in how they looked and acted, yet they turned toward me with matching scowls.

“You have anything better?” Josh clipped, and my lips twitched.

“Grab a beer. Both of you. And sit down,” I ordered, and they begrudgingly did as I asked. Each of them sitting in their own recliner while I kept my ass on the couch facing the two of them.

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