Page 46 of Stuck-Up Big Shot
The breath rushes out of me in a burst of air, and the candle is blown out, my friends and my mom clapping excitedly, extolling their birthday wishes for me. But all I care about is the fact that Miles is coming directly toward me.
When he reaches the table, his smile gets wider, as everyone turns to look up at his tall, gorgeous form.
Melodie grumbles, Sophia giggles, my mom says hello, and I stiffen in my seat, petrified that this is some sort of dream and that I’ll wake up at any moment.
“Well, looky here. It seems someone is having a birthday party and I wasn’t invited.” He sticks out his perfect bottom lip in a pout but then smiles knowingly. “Happy birthday, Button.”
And then as if it’s all happening in slow-motion, Miles bends down and places a chaste kiss on my cheek.
He kissed me!
I can feel the exact spot on my face where his lips touched me, and I lift my hand, lovingly grazing my fingertips over the spot.
Everyone chatters and laughs, but the only thing in my focused orbit is Miles. He stands next to me, his broad body blocking everything else out around him. Miles is saying something, and I can see his lips move, but I feel like I’ve been turned into stone like we used to play in the game, Statue.
“Honey, Miles asked you a question.” My mother’s voice jars me to attention, and I look up at Miles with blinking eyes.
“Huh?”
Teasing laughter rings through the air, and he ruffles my hair. Oh my God, let me die now.
Miles crouches down to his heels, folding his arms over the table, elbows pointing out to the sides. I stare down at his arms and notice all the dark hair running across his forearms, how strong his knuckles are, and the scratch on his upper biceps, barely hidden by the cuff of his T-shirt.
He’s so close to me that I can smell the Maraschino cherry on his breath and the sweet scent of whipped cream on his tongue. Once again, I feel oddly dizzy, the way Mel described it when she’d gotten drunk off her grandmother’s boxed wine last week.
“I asked you what your plans are for your birthday today? Mel says you’ll come by the pool later, and that she’s sleeping over at your house tonight. Sounds like a fun day.”
“Yeah,” I barely squeak out. “Sounds fun.”
He chuckles again at how lame I am for repeating what he just said but seems to brush it off when Mel pipes in.
“You should kick everyone out of the pool for her for a little bit and give her a special swim time.”
My head snaps to Mel, and I glare at her. She just smiles as if she didn’t just set me up. She knows I hate being the center of attention. Even now, with Miles hovering over me, it makes me feel hot and itchy.
Or maybe that’s just because it’s Miles.
“No.”
Miles cocks his head to the side and quirks an eyebrow. “Why not? Sounds like a great idea.”
I can’t stop myself when I thrust my hand out, and it lands on his arm. “Please don’t, Miles. Just don’t, okay?”
He seems undeterred by my plea and stands back up, glancing at his group of friends over his shoulder, who are getting ready to leave.
“Listen, I gotta motor. Just wanted to wish you a happy birthday, Button. And I’ll catch you all later.”
He ruffles my hair one last time before leaving the table. I lift a hand to my hair and rearrange the strands I spent an hour straightening in the first place.
“Your brother is so cute, Melodie.” Sophia sighs in the way teen girls do—sappy and with a side of wistful longing.
Mel turns and smacks her on the shoulder. “Eww. Gross. Don’t even go there. I love my brother, but he’s a player with a side of man whore.”
My mom reacts in a mom-toned note of disgruntled reprimand, “Melodie.”
Mel doesn’t seem to care. She simply shrugs her shoulder. “He is, Mrs. Fuller. He goes through girls like they are bags of Sour Patch candies. And if any of my friends ever thought about him like that, I couldn’t be friends with them any longer. It would be just too gross.”
My heart deflates like a sagging birthday balloon.
