Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
Dinner was filled with celebratory remarks from the whole family.
I even video chatted with Aunt Maddy to relay my heroics.
The cherry on top was making Milo smile at me again.
It was only twenty-four hours that we were on radio silence, but it hurt so much, it may as well have been twenty-four years.
I spent last night anguishing over hurting Milo and the revelations I found in Mom’s diary. Thankfully, with all the talk about Alfie and my crawl through the mud, Coach is the last thought on my mind.
“Oh, thank God,” Mrs. Nelson says, reading through her emails at the table. “Kai, you’d better thank your lucky stars.”
Kai screws his face up. “Huh? What are you talking about?”
“After Jamie’s trouble with her school grades, I suspected you were flunking some classes too,” Mrs. Nelson says, turning her laptop. “I asked Ms. Thornesmith in the administration office to send over your school report. She finally got back to me and looks like you’re doing very well.”
Kai rolls his eyes. “Oh, is that all?”
“Wait a minute,” I say, getting up to view the laptop screen. “Kai’s doing well in classes?”
Mrs. Nelson nods proudly. “Seems that way.”
“What the hell?” I blurt at Kai.
He shrugs, indifferently. “What?”
“What about all your speeches about not being a mindless drone and sticking it to the man? All the while, you’re getting As and Bs?”
“I can’t help it’s easy to remember the crap they teach,” Kai says, scraping a fork along his plate. “That’s why I don’t get why you need so much time to study. I just ask Milo what part is needed for the test, and I skim over it.”
“You never told me you study before a test,” I say, feeling the betrayal run deep. “I ignored everything because I thought that’s what you were doing. Then I find out you’re acing your tests.”
“It wasn’t that hard to figure out,” Kai says matter-of-factly. “Ever see me in detention? No, because I have better things to do with my time.”
I slam a fist on the table. “You’re a fraud!”
Kai chokes on a mouthful of food.
“Jamie,” Mrs. Nelson scolds.
Grandma Nelson coaxes me back to my seat, but I wriggle away.
Kai swallows, coughing roughly. “Excuse me?”
“I guess I should’ve known,” I say coldly. “Anyone who thinks running into a drawer is hardcore can’t be that badass.”
A mixture of confusion and realizations morphs and contorts his face.
“Forget this,” I mutter, leaving the dining room and escaping upstairs.
In Milo’s bedroom, I flop down on the bed, letting an angry noise sizzle out of me. Kai has been berating me about studying, and all the while, he’s passing his classes. It didn’t matter if his parents could pay, because he’d never have his place in school jeopardized.
Ugh! This is infuriating!
I get off the bed and pace the carpet, calming the raging blood in my veins. When my nerves settle, I sit back on the edge of the bed with a heavy exhale. Footsteps sound up the stairs, and soon, Milo is at my door.
“Just when I think everything’s okay,” I say dryly, “another thing sends me into hysterics.”
“I don’t blame you for going off,” Milo says, hanging by the door. “Kai is such a butthead. Who knew he was doing well in school? He never let on.”
“The night was going so well beforehand.”
“Yeah. Umm, Jamie,” Milo says, scratching the side of his head and digging his toes into the carpet. “Things are off between us. Don’t you think so?”
I latch my hands behind my back and squirm. “What do you mean?”
“Like earlier,” he says, throwing a thumb behind him at the doorway. “In my grandparents’ room. We were talking, but it was a little awkward.”
“Well, you had been ignoring me,” I admit. “It’s a little hard to get close again after that.”
He nods. “That’s exactly what I mean. I’m such an idiot. I never should have ignored you because Alfie was gone. There was no way I thought you did it on purpose.”
I flop down to sit on the edge of the bed. “Then why did you do it?”
“Because I thought you were pulling away from me.” He sits beside me, an arm’s distance apart. “I thought you finally agreed I wasn’t worth your time.”
I frown. “Because I let the cat out?”
He shakes his head, looking at his knees. “Because you were with Kai. He told me to go away, and it seemed like that was what you wanted too.”
I turn away from him, annoyed he’s making me relive that moment. “Kai and I were just in the middle of talking. That’s all.”
“You were in his arms.”
I turn back with a clenched jaw. “Because I was upset.”
Milo shrinks. “I want to be the one to hold you when you’re upset.”
My tension dissipates as I watch his wounded form. I slide closer to him, brushing a hand over his knee. “Maybe you can hold me while I’m happy.”
His lips quirk upwards, and he turns his body toward mine. “I haven’t made you unhappy?”
“Only when you’re not around,” I whisper with a flirtatious lilt. “I don’t want to do anything that’ll push us apart again.”
He takes both my hands. “Neither do I. Being apart from you was hell. I wish I hadn’t done it. I’m sorry.” His thumbs rub tight circles on my hands. “I’m crazy about you, Jamie.”
My heart flutters, and tingles play under my skin. “You’re… You’re crazy about me?”
His adorable grin spreads, and he caresses the side of my face. “I’ve always been on the edge of falling for you. And now…” He pauses, running the tip of his thumb under my bottom lip. “Now, I am.”
I swallow with nervous excitement, and then blink several times. “You are?”
He pushes his lips onto mine, pulling back to blurt breathlessly, “I love you, Jamie.”
A soft gasp escapes me as my heart hurls into overdrive. My chest rises and falls as I work to catch a breath. “Oh my gosh,” the words tremble out of me.
He kisses me again, running a hand smoothly through my hair. My pulse fires on all cylinders, surely strong enough that he feels every beat. I wrap my arms around him, kissing him back with feverish need. We slide further on the bed; careful we don’t entangle ourselves while on the edge.
“Milo,” I whisper, barely able to break my lips away from his.
“Yeah?” he whispers, swiftly connecting with my lips again.
“Don’t ever let me go,” I say, barely audible over my pounding heart. “I need you.”
My words send him into a powerful lust. His hands journey from the base of my neck, down to my lower back. His nibbles and caresses across my mouth, cheek, jaw, and neck. All the sensitive areas tug moans and giggles of pleasure out of me.
Oh my gosh. This is it. My ultimate rom-com moment. We’ve fallen for each other. We’re on the road to this thing between us becoming official.
I can’t believe I almost admitted this to Kai.
Right now, with how betrayed he made me feel, it makes me happy I didn’t.
But I wonder what he would’ve said. Would he have appreciated me sharing how deep my feelings are for his brother?
Yes, I’ve kept this a secret from him, but maybe if I opened up that much, it all would’ve been forgiven?
Especially after I shared all that stuff with Coach.
Kai was the ultimate best friend, giving up everything to hang with me while I slept the day away.
Maybe revealing the truth about my crush earlier in his bedroom would’ve been the exact right time.
Maybe he would’ve understood why losing Alfie hit me so dang hard.
It’s such a gamble. Kai and I just got back what we’d lost over the last week and a half.
If I blurted out how hard I’m crushing on Milo, it might’ve hurled us into an even bigger fight, and I wouldn’t have left to find Alfie.
But even when I’m not looking for a fight, another one happens regardless.
I hate that. I don’t want to keep yelling at my best friend.
I moan into my kiss, remembering the moment I pulled Alfie from under the house. The massive relief. It’s a moment not worth giving up. If anything, I should be happy Kai was there for me and that I got Milo back.
Oof.
I’m flung backwards after Milo shoves me away.
I anchor my hands behind me, saving me from falling completely backwards. “What the heck?”
Milo stares at me with a horrified expression.
My face screws up in confusion. “What?”
“Do you think I’m okay with what you just said?” Milo says in a serious tone.
Lines crease in my forehead. “I didn’t say anything.”
He deadpans me.
I lift my palms, questioningly. “Milo, what are you talking about?”
“You said my brother’s name,” he says bluntly.
I jerk away, squeamish. “Huh? No, I didn’t.”
He grimaces. “Yes, you did.”
I think hard about it. “Are you serious? I’m certain I didn’t say anything.”
“I know what I heard, Jamie. You were kissing me and whispered my brother’s name. That’s not okay.”
I plant a hand on my chest, feeling the vibration of my racing heart. “I swear, I didn’t mean to. Yes, I was thinking about Kai, but not like that?”
He looks ill. “Why were you thinking about him while kissing me?”
I groan, rubbing my hands over my face and into my hair. “I was just thinking about how good a friend he was to me today. Despite what just happened at the table. He dropped everything to hang with me. Weirdly, I think it gave me the strength to find Alfie.”
Milo shifts, his frame becoming less tense. “So, you and Kai were together all day?”
“Pretty much after I saw you in school today.”
“When I avoided you.” He looks away, adjusting his glasses. “After that, you left with Kai.”
“It wasn’t because of you.”
He turns to look at me. “Then what was it about? The thing you can’t tell me?”
I gulp and nod.
“Will you ever tell me?”
I huff, looking down at the bed cover. “I don’t want to talk about it. I was just happy to talk about it with Kai, that’s all. Is that such a big deal?”
He chews his lip, eyes darting about our surroundings. “Maybe, because you’re thinking about it while kissing me.”
“It’s nothing romantic,” I blurt. “Far, far from it.”
Tension tightens his body language, pulling him away from me.