Page 39 of Beginnings By the Sea

Miles concentrated back on the road, and I noticed a lot of traffic up ahead. Pulling out my phone, I looked for any alternate routes back to Oak Island. It just so happened there was one that was mainly back roads; only it added an extra ten minutes to the trip.

“Do we want to stay on this road or go the long, country road route?” I asked. “If you want no traffic, you can take a right on that road up ahead.” I pointed at it and he got over in the right lane.

“Let’s go the back way. I don’t mind if it’s a little longer.”

I smiled over at him. “Neither do I.”

The more time I spent with him, the harder it felt like I was falling. I never thought I’d feel this alive again.

When we turned down the back road, it was pretty desolate, which was nice. There was a long road ahead of us with no cars in sight.

Miles cleared his throat. “There’s still some fish left over that I need to cook. Want to come over and eat dinner together?”

As much as I wanted to say yes, I knew it wasn’t a good idea yet. I still hadn’t spoken to Cohen. I wanted to talk to him before letting things progress with Miles.

With a heavy sigh, I turned my head toward Miles and leaned against the seat. “Not tonight,” I said, watching the disappointment flicker across his face. “Tomorrow’s a busy day for me. I know how you and I can get sometimes. We’ll be up till all hours talking, and then I’ll be a zombie at the Spring Fling.”

His smile came back, and he nodded in understanding. “That’s true. I remember us doing that the first night we met.”

As memories of that fateful evening resurfaced, I couldn’t help but smile. Miles had been my savior, my knight in shining armor. I remembered how he had looked that night: tall and handsome, with his sexy bedhead blond hair and piercing eyes. The drunkard at the bar had been relentless, trying to buy me drinks despite repeated rejections. He was getting handsy and just as I was about to knee him in a painful place, Miles appeared out of nowhere and claimed to be my boyfriend. His voice was like thunder as he threatened to dismember the drunk if he didn’t back off. The guy scurried away like a scared rabbit and Miles stayed by my side for the rest of the night.

“You were my hero,” I confessed.

Miles smirked over at me. “I’m so glad I was there to help.”

That night was also the first time I’d met Noah. He and my roommate hit it off quickly so both he and Miles came to our apartment and stayed the night. While my roommate and Noah had fun in her bedroom, Miles and I watched TV all night in the living room. It wasn’t just his bravery that drew me to him, though; we talked until we watched the sun rise over the city skyline. We shared stories of our dreams and fears, our likes and dislikes, and everything in between. That night felt like fate had brought us together.

“We talked about so much that night,” I murmured.

Miles kept his eyes on the road and smiled. “We did. And the next morning, I had to go to work. It’s a good thing there weren’t any major fires.”

I waved him off. “You would’ve been fine. I don’t know anyone with the same work ethic as you. You were always a hard worker.”

Even when he was sick, he never missed a day of work. I was the same way.

Miles smiled over at me. “I still haven’t called in sick yet. At some point, I need to take all my vacation days. I think I have three months of days to take off.”

My mouth dropped in shock. “Wow. You might want to get on that.”

He winked. “I was thinking about it.”

There was no denying the spark of excitement that coursed through my body. He was supposed to stay in Oak Island for another couple of weeks for work, but it would be nice if he could stay longer. Everything between us was so up in the air. I had no clue what was going to happen once Cohen came back into town and things got complicated. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I had a feeling it was going to be inevitable.

“What’s on your mind, Ny?” Miles asked.

I focused on the road and opened my mouth to speak, but I didn’t want to talk about Cohen. Once tomorrow comes and they meet at the Spring Fling, I had no doubt there would be a lot of awkward conversations from everyone. The people around town knew I was with Cohen, but soon, they were going to find out about Miles. It was like I was in a soap opera, stuck in the middle of two lovers.

“Nyla?” Miles called out, glancing quickly over at me.

I laughed and shook my head. “I have way too much on my mind.”

We came up behind a white SUV, but were still a little way behind them when all of a sudden, they slammed down on their brakes just as three deer darted across the road. Everything happened so fast after that. Their vehicle swerved back and forth, clearly out of control; I knew it was going to flip over. My heart stopped as I watched in terror as the inevitable happened. The SUV flipped over three times and landed in the embankment; thankfully, right side up. The sound of it all was going to stay imprinted in my mind for a long time.

Adrenaline shot through me like a rocket, spurring me into action. I wanted to help them. Miles gripped the steering wheel and pulled over, his expression focused and determined. After I called 9-1-1 and quickly explained everything, I grabbed my traveling medical bag out of the back seat. I kept the line open with the dispatcher but put it on speaker and slid my cell into my back pocket. Talking to them was not as important as trying to save the people’s lives in the SUV. All that mattered was that help was on the way. Until then, I was going to do everything in my power to save the people in the car. They were going to be lucky if they were still alive.

Miles and I leaped out of his car, and my feet skidded across the pavement as we raced toward the SUV. Its airbags had all been deployed, and its windows were smashed, leaving a glittery trail of glass shards around it.

The girl in the driver’s seat had blood streaming down her face from an open wound on her forehead, while the guy in the passenger seat was slumped over with a deep gash on his arm, dripping red. Miles tugged at the driver’s door handle and helped me carry the female out of the ravaged vehicle and onto the ground.

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