Page 43 of You, Me, and Forever

Myles caught me by surprise when he reached for my hand and led me out of the tent and through the yard. It was getting late, yet the sun was still out, because that’s how we did it here in Blushing.

He came to a stop and dropped my hand before shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’m glad you’re leaving. No sense sticking around to deal with that asshat. You’re probably exhausted, huh?”

He shifted on his feet, gaze searching mine, and if I didn’t know what a cocky bastard he was most of the time, I would’ve guessed that he was a little nervous.

I had no idea why.

“Actually, I’m not tired.” I smiled up at him. “Are you tired?”

“Well, considering it feels like the middle of the day and not almost eight o’clock at night, I’m wide awake.”

“Interesting.” I chuckled. “Does that mean you want to hang out?”

He grinned. “Yeah, Honey Badger. I’d like to hang out.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“We could go back to my place and take the boat out on the water. We could pretend to look at the stars, even if we may suffer blindness from making direct eye contact with the sun.”

My head tipped back in laughter.

Myles St. James was the best distraction.

“Let’s do it.”

We stopped inside and said goodbye to my father, who was in the middle of the chaos. He gave me a quick hug goodbye before we turned and made our way outside.

We walked the short distance to Myles’s house, and I wondered what I was doing by agreeing to go home with him.

We were friends. I enjoyed his company.

He made me laugh.

He made me mad.

He made me smile.

He made me frustrated.

But the truth was that I wasn’t going home with him for any of those reasons. I hadn’t forgotten our one night together. Hell, it was the last thing I thought about every night before I fell asleep.

And tonight, I wanted to feel something different. Something passionate.

I knew he wasn’t staying in town forever. I knew it wouldn’t go anywhere.

But look how things had turned out for me with Phillip. A man who’d grown up here. A man I’d known most of my life.

Maybe forever wasn’t necessary anymore.

After all, everything was changing right now. The inn was being demolished, which meant my business was going through a lot of changes. My father was leaving a job that he’d been at my entire life. A year ago, I’d thought my whole future was mapped out, and literally so much had changed.

So maybe it was time for me to make some changes.

I wanted Myles St. James, and fighting it was exhausting.

I knew that I was playing with fire, but I couldn’t seem to stop.

And that kiss a few minutes ago—it only added to the desire that was coursing through my veins.

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