Page 17 of Kiss and Tell

“Yeah. I think she is. Well,” Joey said, rising and stretching. “You can stick a fork in me, because I amdone.”

Miles grinned at his silly, old-fashioned expression, perfectly aware it was one Joey had picked up from his nonno. He followed suit, standing as well. “Me too.”

The two of them said good night, then headed to their bedrooms.

Miles closed the door behind him, taking care of business in the bathroom before walking to the bed. Pulling down the covers, he sank onto the soft mattress, wondering when the last time was that he’d been this exhausted—physically and emotionally.

Before he could come up with an answer, his phone pinged. He sighed and considered ignoring it because he knew who was texting him. After a minute or two, he gave in and picked up his phone. Because apparently, he was a glutton for punishment.

Sure enough, there was a photo of Rhiannon. She’d started practice on her new play today. Someone must have snapped the picture for her because in it, she stood on the stage alone, reading from the script, one arm raised dramatically.

She was beautiful with her shoulder-length black hair, dark skin, and expressive eyes that flashed fire when she was angry or in the throes of passion, and while it was hard to admit, there was no denying she took his breath away just as much now as she had that first random day in ninth grade.

For a moment he considered responding, but he talked himself out of it. Then he lifted his finger, intent on tapping a heart on it.

He stopped himself from doing that too.

He’d opened a door when he answered the phone last night. He’d known that even before he picked up his cell, but he still did it. He wasn’t sure why. Part of him wondered if it had been loneliness driving his ill-considered action. Or maybe he was suffering from the same fate as his best friend, longing for the kind of meaningful connection every single Moretti had found in the past few years.

He didn’t want to be a bachelor any more than Joey did.

Rhiannon was as close as he’d ever gotten to forever, and as much as he hated it, she was still his Kryptonite. Going back to her was a one-way street to heartache. He knew that.

Or at least, he knew heshouldknow that.

Hope was a dangerous beast.

So answering the phone last night?

It had been the height of stupidity.

Rhiannon, true to fashion, had seized that open door and walked right on in, making herself at home.

In addition to the picture of her onstage, she’d texted him two other photos today, as if they’d never skipped a beat, as if they were still best friends who constantly shared bits and pieces of their days. The first photo had come through as soon as they’d reached the top of the mountain. It was a selfie of her with his mom.

Look who I just ran into.

The second had come at the beginning of the farm tour, and it was a photo of their childhood apartment building, with their moms sitting on the front stoop, heads close together, gossiping.

Some things never change.

Miles forced himself to put the phone down without replying to any of her texts. He needed to stop the madness right here.

No replies.

No heart emoji.

He needed to slam the door closed and dead bolt the stupid thing.

He closed his eyes, but unfortunately his body hadn’t sent word to his brain that it was time to sleep, because his thoughts wouldn’t stop whirling, touching on one topic before moving on to another, then another.

He replayed Rhiannon’s call in his mind, then he tried to force himself to think about Lucy’s tour of the brewery, considering questions he might want to ask her and Sam during their demonstration.

Unfortunately, thinking about Lucy sent his brain in a different direction…and he was reminded of her story aboutKiss and Telland how it had started. It had touched him, and opened his eyes to exactly what Joey had seen in her.

She was sweet and sexy and special.

Curiosity got the better of him, so he decided he’d put his sleepless night to good use.

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