Page 4 of Tender
“You’re calling me,” Juno said with a grin. Behind him, Miles could see his bakery. God, he needed to visit.
“Yeah. You’re at work now,” Miles said. “Is this a bad time?”
Juno rolled his eyes. “Pfft, no. There is no one here. It’s fucking pathetic. What are you doing? Are you home? Uhg, is your girlfriend there? I don’t want her to yell at me again.”
Miles bristled, but he knew Juno wasn’t trying to be cruel. In all honesty, Selene hadn’t earned any grace from anyone at the wedding. She’d been combative, rude, and unapologetic about it. In all honesty, he wasn’t feeling defensive about her. He was embarrassed that this was what his life had come to.
“Sorry,” Juno said after a beat. “I don’t mean to be a dick.”
Miles snorted. “Yeah, you do. You hate her.”
“Fair. I do. But I don’t want to make you feel bad about that.”
Miles stretched his arm above his head, then sat back up and curled one leg in toward his chest. “However I feel is myown fault. But don’t worry, she’s not here. She’s out for the weekend.”
Juno raised a brow. “It’s Thursday.”
“Yep. And her weekend started yesterday. And goes until next Wednesday.”
“So…a week. God, what’s that life even like?” Juno wondered. He leaned forward across his counter and let the phone sag forward. For a second, Miles caught a glimpse of his completely empty shop before his face was back in the screen.
“I wouldn’t know. She doesn’t invite me along to her…whatever she’s up to.”
Juno’s eyes narrowed. “Is she cheating on you?”
The question hit him like a punch in the gut. He’d never found any evidence. Her socials were nothing more than her and her friends shopping, drinking, clubbing—whatever wealthy people did with free time and endless money. But he couldn’t say no, either.
They didn’t have sex a lot, and when they did, it always felt like she was phoning it in. She’d never really seemed into him the way other couples were. He had no idea why she wanted him. He was pretty sure that was a mystery that would never be solved.
“Do you know who she’s sleeping with?” Juno asked. “Want me to kill them? Or her?”
Miles shook his head and tried to hide a smile. “No, it’s…I don’t think she is. Or, if she is, she’s hiding it really well. She’s just never home.”
Juno lifted a brow at him.
“I know, I know. I’m not being naïve on purpose, okay? I don’t…” Miles groaned and rubbed a hand down his face. “What does it make me that I’m struggling to give a shit what she does? Right now, I just regret all of this.”
“Getting serious with her?”
“Being foolish enough to give up my housing and my car. Believing her when she said it would be easier and better for us as a couple.” It had been a weak argument, but Miles was burned out from school, and honestly, a little desperate for someone who wanted to be with him.
He’d learned that lesson a little too quickly though, and he wouldn’t make the same choice again.
Not ever.
For any reason.
He just didn’t know why those felt like famous last words.
“Anyway, I just needed to see a friendly face. I won’t keep you.”
“No, it’s fine, I—” Juno’s gaze suddenly looked up and his face transformed. He was smiling brighter than Miles had ever seen, and his cheeks turned pink. “No, it’s good to see you too! I’ll only be a second. Wait right there.”
The person in the background wasn’t speaking loud enough for the captions to register or for Miles to hear, but he could make out a very low rumbling voice. And whatever they were saying, Juno was smiling even wider, blushing even harder.
Oh my God. He was into this person.
Juno looked down suddenly. “Shit. Sorry. Look, I?—”
