Page 63 of Chasing Stars
“Yes.” Miles fist pumps. “It does. It really does.”
I roll my eyes, but I can’t help smiling. “Okay then. Let’s eat.”
“He actually askedyou to be his girlfriend? Like he is in high school?” Joy gapes at me from behind the counter as I unbox holiday lights in preparation for the upcoming season.
“Yep. And he seemed excited when I said yes.” I giggle. Miles absolutely took me by surprise when he asked me to be exclusive with him. I just thought we were taking things day by day. This adds a new layer to mywhat do I do?dilemma. Suddenly, fleeing Cape May with a big, fat sales check doesn’t seem so simple. I’m not so sure I want it to be either. Maybe, I can ditch the house and keep Miles.
“Wow.” Joy smacks her lips when she says it. “I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised.” She walks around the counter and stops right in front of me, taking me in. “You don’t look any different,” she teases. “Do you feel different?”
I let out a boisterous laugh. “What? Why would I look different?”
Joy reaches out, pushing a stray hair behind my ear. “Just because you’re someone’s girlfriend now. I sort of thought you’d be glowing or something.” She cocks her head at me and furrows her brow.
“Who is someone’s girlfriend?” Leo says, barging out of the storeroom, carrying another box of LED lights.
Suddenly Joy looks as if she’s bursting to tell this new information. She hops up and down on her toes and shoots me a look that saysare you going to tell him, or am I?I shrug as if to say, go ahead.
“Jenna is Miles’s new girlfriend!” Joy shrieks and then covers her mouth excitedly. “I would have never been able to keep that a secret.”
“Wow,” Leo muses, frowning. “Are you sure?”
“Am I sure? Of course I’m sure,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Leo shrugs. “I don’t know, I just never thought I’d see the day that Miles Corbin had a girlfriend.” He sets the box down at my feet. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s my bud, but everyone knows the kind of guy he is. Since his divorce, he dates around.” Leo bends down and starts rooting through the box, passing lights to Joy to put on the shelves.
“This isn’t like that,” I say affirmatively. “Miles and I are different.”
“If you say so,” Leo says, laughing to himself.
“What? We are,” I say, feeling myself get defensive.
“Okay,” Joy interjects. “I’m happy for you.” She shoots Leo a look that saysshut up.
“Thank you,” I say, exhaling. I crouch down next to Leo and start unloading lights.
“I have to admit, Miles is different than I thought,” Joy says quietly. I look up at her and she smiles. “I’m sorry if I seemed unsupportive. I’m really happy for you.” She reaches down and squeezes my shoulder.
“Thank you,” I sigh. “I’m happy too. It feels right, and I can honestly say, it’s the last thing I expected when I came here.”
“Well, sometimes life’s little surprises turn out to be the things we didn’t know we needed,” Leo says matter-of-factly. Joy and I simultaneously whip our heads up at him.
“How prophetic of you,” Joy deadpans.
I cackle. “Leo, I had no idea you could be so profound.”
Leo feigns offense. “Hey. I am deep, okay? I’m not some superficial beach boy with half a brain.” He scowls.
“Oh, Leo, I’m sorry.” I fight back another giggle.
“Yeah. You both should be.” He whirls around and barges back into the storeroom.
Joy chortles, holding her sides as laughter bubbles out of her. I can’t help myself, I join in, and before we know it, we’re both balled up on the floor of the store laughing through tears and trying to catch our breath.
“Okay, okay,” I breathe, pressing my hands to my aching cheeks. “We don’t want to
upset Leo.”
“You’re right,” Joy says, wiping a stray tear from her lash line.
