Page 18 of Kiss and Tell

Grabbing his phone again, he clicked on the YouTube app and looked upKiss and Tell. He was surprised by how many videos were there. Lucy’s family was right. Her show had gone well beyond a hobby because he couldn’t begin to imagine how many hours of work she’d put into producing so many shows. His eyes widened when he saw the number of views on some of them. He’d venture to guess she was making a decent amount of money each month, enough that she was probably close to earning a living wage from the show.

Scrolling through the list, he searched until he found her first video—the one she’d made of her grandparents. Clicking on it, he smiled as he watched the cute intro Lucy had created for the show. It included a picture of her, sitting on the porch of her farmhouse, smiling that smile that had only wavered whenever he’d said something douche-y today. Tomorrow, he would have to make up for his bad first impression.

The intro was followed by a short clip of Lucy talking about her guests briefly. She didn’t speak for more than a minute or two, and he suspected that was because she wanted the true stars of the show to get the majority of the airtime.

He watched as her grandparents talked to the camera as well as each other, holding hands the entire time, telling their story together. It was engaging and touching and, at times, funny. Miles swallowed hard to dislodge the lump in his throat as the video came to an end.

One show in and he was hooked. He hit the subscribe button because he was a fan.

He clicked on another episode, watching Lucy’s comments about her guests and a few minutes of their story. Then he clicked on another, and another.

For the better part of two hours—he was going to pay for this tomorrow—he clicked on nearly every episode, no longer watching the lovers “kiss and tell,” but instead listening to Lucy’s introductions.

He’d let Joey believe his bad mood was solely driven by Rhiannon’s reappearance in his life, and for the better part of the day, that had been true. However, by dinner, it was something else putting him out of sorts.

It was Joey himself.

And Lucy.

The way he’d flirted with her at dinner, the way he’d rested his hand on the back of her chair, how he kept inching closer.

Joey had made that joke about Lucy being the woman he was going to marry, and Miles couldn’t stop himself from feeling…

Jealous.

Miles rubbed his weary eyes, trying to tell himself that was the wrong word. However, just likevulnerableandweak, it was the only one that came close to explaining why he’d had to look away when Joey sat down next to Lucy on the porch swing and held her hand.

He tried to tell himself it wasn’t the Lucy he was interested in. That his envy was born from the idea that Joey was on the cusp of getting what he’d wanted for so long.

Rhiannon’s call had opened a wound Miles had believed long since healed. He could see now he’d merely been living with a scab, one she’d ripped off last night, putting him in one hell of a fucked-up headspace.

Miles sighed, too damn tired to try to deal with so many fucking emotions.

Weakness and vulnerability wrapped in anger and heartbreak.

Jealousy draped in a thick layer of loneliness.

And worse of all, lust and longing enveloped in a desire he shouldn’t allow because Joey and Lucy fit together.

When that realization sank in, all the bad feelings morphed into something even worse.

Desperation.

That was when Miles lifted his phone, opened his text messages, and added a heart to all three of Rhiannon’s photos.

ChapterFour

Joey ran a brush through his hair, then slapped on some cologne. He’d changed from his recently gifted Rain or Shine Brewery T-shirt into a white button-down one and dark jeans. He didn’t have a clue what they were doing tonight, and he didn’t care. Once they’d finished filming this afternoon, Lucy had asked him and Miles if they wanted to hang out for the evening and he had been so thrilled by the chance to spend more time with her, he’d said yes without asking a single question about her plans.

Yesterday had been a wash as far as his pursuit of the beautiful brewmaster. She’d been working in the brewhouse all day, while he’d traipsed around the mountain with Miles, their producer, the director, and the camera crew, as well as Levi—who maintained the barley fields and hop yards—shooting hour after hour of B-roll footage.

The workday had run too late, and he and Miles had been so exhausted, they’d opted for a simple dinner in their cabin. Of course, their idea of simple fare and Claire’s differed greatly. Miles’s eyes had nearly popped out of his head when the kind woman walked in with a picnic basket filled with fried chicken, potato, macaroni, and green salads, as well as two huge slabs of pumpkin pie, complete with whipped cream. It had been a feast fit for at least ten people, but the two of them had managed to put a hell of a dent in it because it was impossible to stop eating such delicious food.

When they were finally able to rise from the table, they’d hit the couch, turned on the TV, and fallen asleep where they sat within minutes. Somewhere in the middle of the night, they’d moved to their beds, but it hadn’t been soon enough for Joey, as he’d spent the first hour of this morning trying to work the kinks out of his stiff neck.

Today, they’d begun filming the show, breaking the process of brewing beer into smaller pieces that the editing crew would piece together into a cohesive episode. Lucy had been incredible in front of the camera, just as he expected. She’d done exactly as he advised, talking to him and Miles like the cameras weren’t even there. Her personality had shone through, and he knew this episode was going to be their best of the season. When he’d mentioned it to Miles, his best friend suggested they wait until after filming the rest of the episodes before making that kind of call.

Joey still wasn’t sure how to deal with the Miles who’d shown up on the mountain because his hot-and-cold demeanor was giving him whiplash. Yesterday, during their tour with Levi, Miles had been back to his old self, laid-back, inquisitive, witty. It was a great day and they’d gotten some awesome footage.

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