Page 15 of Kiss and Tell

Joey’s face proved he knew where this story was going. “Don’t give me all the nitty-gritty details. Just say it.”

“I accepted her apology, and we spent the rest of the holidays unwrapping each other in bed. Hollywood hadn’t been much nicer to her than Broadway, and I thought that meant she was coming home, that we were working on rebuilding our relationship.”

“She went back to California?”

“Three weeks later. Her agent called and said she’d gotten a part in some stupid commercial. She hopped on that plane so fast, I didn’t even have the chance to say goodbye. She packed her bag and left a note while I was at work.”

“Heartbreak number two.”

Miles nodded. “Wasn’t as bad that time, probably because I had experience with it, and we’d only been together for three weeks.”

“Maybe so, but, dude. After all that, why would you let her walk back into your life a third time?”

Miles drained the rest of his beer, debating opening a second. “I didn’t think I would. I got that gig, my big break. You know the one. Doing the voice in that animated cartoon. The job was in California. Where I knew no one. Rhiannon reached out—as a friend—and offered to show me around, help me find an apartment, shit like that. I told myself I could handle the two of us just being friends because I missed her, missed having her in my life.”

Joey rolled his eyes and looked like he wanted to argue, but Miles cut him off.

“We’d spent our whole lives together,” he stressed. “And I had her momandmine chirping in my ear, telling me that Rhiannon missed me too.”

Joey groaned.

“They’re still convinced that Rhiannon and I are going to get married one day and give them grandbabies.”

“Bro.”

Miles chuckled sadly. “Yeah. I know.”

“So she gave you the ‘we’ll just be friends’ line?”

“And I fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.”

“How long were youjust friends?” Joey’s question proved just how well he knew Miles.

“Six weeks.”

Joey laughed. “And how long did you date that time?”

Miles grimaced. “Two years. And before you have to ask, she broke it off because she met someone else. Another aspiring actor. They’d run into each other at a few auditions and started talking. One day, they met for coffee.”

“She cheated on you?!”

“Not really. They hadn’t progressed beyond a couple coffee dates before she dumped me. Said she felt a spark with the guy.”

“Jesus,” Joey muttered.

“Anyway, it worked out for the best because a week after that, I landed theManPowergig, and we’ve been on the road ever since.” Miles had divided the time he and Joey weren’t filming between spending the occasional week with his mom in New York and staying with Joey, who’d maintained the lease on his apartment in Philadelphia.

Joey finished his beer and set the empty bottle on the coffee table. “Guess I see what you mean when you say she was due. It’s been a couple years. Why did she call last night?”

“She wound up dating that guy from the coffee shop. The relationship ended a few weeks ago because she finally got her dream, mostly. She’s been offered a role in an off-Broadway play. She’s moving back to New York. The boyfriend decided to stick it out in California, so they parted ways.”

“That still doesn’t tell me why she calledyou.” Joey really wasn’t letting him get away with shit tonight.

“She said she just wanted to catch up, see how I was doing, find out if I was happy. Apparently, she’s never missed an episode ofManPower. We talked until nearly two a.m., and it was nice. Two old friends reminiscing.”

Joey pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head.

“I’m not going back there again, Joey,” Miles said, trying to reassure himself as much as his best friend. “I’m older and wiser. I swear it.”

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