Chapter 29 – Miles
TWENTY-NINE
MILES
"One car?" Claire asks as we walk out of the house. "We can park in my spot."
I glare at her as she gives me a wide smile, then tug her into me, pressing my lips to hers.
"You gonna let me live that down?" I ask against them.
She shakes her head. "Maybe next year."
"Next year, huh?"
"I have to try and keep my reign," she whispers. But all I can hear as I help her into the passenger seat is that she's planning on being here next summer.
"I can't believe they're already putting up signs for fall," she says a bit later, tipping her chin to an apple festival sign as we drive past it.
"Yeah, but the Apple Fest is fun, though. Have you ever been?" She shakes her head, though I already know the answer. I've been taking note of when Claire is in town for as long as I've known her. "We'll go together. The bakery makes apple cider donuts and sells them fresh; it's my favorite thing every year."
She smiles at me, and I reach over to squeeze her knee. Her fingers trace over the veins in my hand before she speaks again.
"You know, technically, my contract is up in five weeks."
"I know," I say, because I do. I'm intricately aware of just how long Claire has a job in Seaside Point.
"What do you think…" she starts to say, then hesitates, then restarts her sentence. "You know, we are new…" Then her words fade off again.
I look at her quickly before moving my eyes back to the road, turning off the main road toward the bay. "We'll figure it out, Claire," I say, squeezing her knee again, then shifting my hand to grab hers, twining our fingers together.
"Really?" she asks, disbelief and hope in the words. When I slow to a stop at a red light, I turn to her, confused.
"What do you mean, really?" My pulse quickens, because what if we're on separate pages and I didn't realize?
"We'll figure it out?"
My brow furrows as I realize there's hope on her face, and I shake my head gently. "What did you think I'd say?"
She shrugs. "I…I don't know. I thought…" I sit patiently, waiting for her to find the words so I can understand where she's at. "I wasn't sure how things would go at the end of the summer. We haven't talked about it, so?—"
With that, I put the car into park at the red light and shift in my seat to face her fully.
"Miles—"
I quiet her by pressing my lips to hers before leaning my forehead against her.
"I'll never be done with you, Claire. Don't you get it? I've waited six years to have this. I'm not going to just have it for one summer. I'm in this for the long haul."
Her breathing hitches as her eyes widen, and I smile.
"I'll come see you; you'll come down here if we have to. Whatever you want, I'll make it happen."
She smiles then, wide and happy, and I know I said the right thing. I hate that I keep messing this up, but I'm on a mission to change that, to make her as confident as I am in our relationship.
“Okay,” she whispers, and I smile again, leaning to kiss her once more before a car honks behind us. Claire lets out a laugh, and we both look to see the light has gone green. The car behind us lays on its horn now, and I roll my eyes, sticking an arm out the window to flip a bird to the person behind me, as I put the car back into drive and continue on to the Seabreeze.
"Fucking tourists," Claire says with an exaggerated eye roll.
I let out a loud laugh, the sound free, and then we drive off to see our friends.
* * *
"Boys versus girls," June shouts, pushing her brother away from the table she secured. "You can't sit with us!"
We've been here for approximately five minutes, and already, I'm regretting it.
"Are you kidding me, June?" Grant asks.
"Girls versus boys. May the best team win."
"What about me?" Deck asks, putting a hand to his chest. "I'm an honorary girl."
"Not tonight, you're not. Go to your side of the bar," June says, arguing.
She and Deck go back and forth as they tend to do, and while they're distracted, I start to stealthily move Claire to the opposite side of the room from June because the girl kind of scares me on days like these. I always forget just how insanely competitive June is.
"No, no, no," June says, her attention snapping to Claire and me, my arm around her waist. "No. You two separate."
"Excuse me?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at my best friend's little sister.
"No, no, Miles, that won't work on me. I've heard stories about you now." She puts a hand on her hip and then grabs Claire's elbow. "Your grumpiness is no longer effective."
"Uh, what kind of stories?" I ask, looking from June to Claire, whose face has gone suspiciously red.
"All kinds. I know things I never wanted to know about you, but because you make my best friend so happy , which means she'll probably be closer to me more often now, I accept it. But the line stops at trivia night."
"June, come on," Claire tries, but June turns her ire on Claire.
"No. You can spend a single night not attached at the hip." She then shifts to me with begging eyes. "Give my best friend back for one night."
"Oh, stop it, we're not attached at the hip, June," Claire says with a laugh, but still, she steps away from me, and I give her a glare.
"Where are you going?" I ask, reaching for her once more, but she steps away.
"It's boys versus girls, bud," she says with a smile. "You're the enemy."
"The enemy?"
"Oh yeah," she says with a teasing smile, taking another step back toward the table where Lainey is already sitting with Helen, who, it seems, they conned into being on their team. A boon for us because Helen is terrible at any trivia that happened before the year 1990. "May the best team win."
Something about the way she says it and the look in her eyes sets me on fire, and I lean forward, grabbing her wrist and tugging her into me. She stumbles before falling into my chest.
"And what happens if I win?" I mumble low enough so only she can hear.
"If you win? You're not going to, so that's no problem." Her grin is wide and cocky, but I continue to look at her. She rolls her eyes. "Fine. I'll give you the parking spot." I nod, accepting her offer. "But if I do?"
I raise an eyebrow, and her cheeks go a bit pink. She bites her lip, and I have to fight my dick getting hard in this.
"You know what you'll get," I whisper, pulling her closer, my lips moving to her ear. "Lifeguard chair."
Her cheeks grow even pinker. "Really? But you said it would be too dangerous," she says, suddenly seeming excited.
I have no desire to fuck my little daredevil in the lifeguard stand, but there's also no chance she's going to win trivia today. It happens once a month, and the whole town comes out, hence the packed room. Her team consists of a few women I recognize, my mother and Helen, neither of whom are even the slightest bit decent at trivia.
We have Grant, who is alarmingly good at all history trivia, and Deck, who, for some reason no one quite understands, can recite all celebrity trivia starting in 1980 and on, though if you ask him about the ’50s, ’60s, or ’70s, he's a lost cause. When I look over the rest of our team, I see a pretty even spread, so I know there's a solid chance we're going to win.
"You're not going to win, so I'm not worried," I say with a smile, then step back from her.
"Oh, Miles, baby, I don't think you know what you just did," she whispers before she turns to her team, who bring her in, all of them whispering and giggling.
"We're Team Trebek’s Rejects," Deck says with a laugh when Benny, our moderator, asks for the team name. Benny rolls his eyes but writes the name at the top of the giant chalkboard. Usually, it's a few smaller teams playing, but it seems we're really leaning into this boys versus girls thing.
"And you ladies?"
"Team WAP," Lainey says. My mother bursts out laughing, and I look at Claire, who seems far too pleased with herself. I can almost guarantee it was her idea because she gives me a sassy wink, and I shake my head.
"WAP?" Benny asks, clearly confused.
"It's a song," Claire says with an angelic smile.
Benny, clearly sensing her mischief, just shakes his head.
"Okay, tonight we only have two teams, but the rules are the same. I ask a question, and the first to raise their paddle gets to answer. If you answer wrong, you lose a point, and the other team can steal. If you answer right, you get one point. I got some fresh questions, so be ready to be stumped!" Benny says, and we all look at one another, both intrigued because Benny rarely adds new questions to the roster.
"Edie Falco and James Gandolfini star in what series about the life of a New Jersey mob boss?" Benny asks, and Deck, our resident guido’s hand, shoots out, slamming the table.
" The Sopranos !"
"Don't look so happy with yourself, Deck," June says, rolling her eyes. "Literally everyone knows that."
"Crazy, because you didn't even raise your paddle."
"Neither did you, so wouldn't that disqualify you?" June asks, her paddle in the air.
We all glare at Deck, whose smile starts to fall.
Benny lets out a loud laugh. "Girl’s got you there, Jagger. Yes, Team WAP?"
There is something so fucking wrong with Benny saying WAP, but here we are.
"That would be The Sopranos ," June says, batting her eyes at Benny.
An hour later, the crowd is getting rowdy. The score is just about tied at thirty-five to thirty-four, with our team one point down. It's so close and so heated that Benny even took his pipe out, setting it to the side for the night.
"All right, this one is for the win, five points to whoever gets it," he says. "So I've gotta make it a good one."
Looking over to the girls, I see them giggling and whispering, but as always, my eyes are on Claire, who gives me a small smile and a wink before pulling out her phone.
The room quiets as Benny shuffles through his papers, looking for his next question.
My phone buzzes in my hand, and considering almost everyone who texts me is in this room, my brow furrows as I reach for the device. Upon lifting it, my brow furrows deeper, seeing Claire's name on my screen. I look up and see her head tipped back with laughter at something June said.
My heart fills like a sap because she's so fucking beautiful, and I love having her like that, happy and overjoyed.
"You know what I mean?" Deck asks, and I lift my head to look at him and nod.
"Definitely," I lie, because I have no idea what he's saying, but he smiles and nods before sliding me the paddle, but I can't focus on that because I just tapped open my texts and read the message Claire sent.
I can't wait to ride you on the beach.
All the blood leaves my body and goes straight to my dick.
There is noise around me, cheering and booing, but I can't do anything but look at Claire.
Then my phone buzzes once more. I slide it under the table because who the fuck knows what she's going to send next, and I'm glad I did because this time, it’s a photo.
Claire, in the primary bathroom mirror, her hair is full and loose, clearly taken today because the makeup is the same, completely naked. Her arm covers her breasts, but I can see the edge of a rosy nipple, and she has her hips popped backward, legs crossed to hide her pussy, but still, I know it's there. I know what she's hiding.
And I want it.
My chair moves back with a loud screech. With it, everyone in the room turns to me, but I only have eyes for Claire. Hers are wide like her smile, and she leans to June, whispering something, but her gaze never falters from mine as I move across the room to her.
I grab the back of her chair, tugging it, and thus Claire, back when I reach her.
"Miles, what are you doing?" my mother asks, and I force myself to forget that my girlfriend is sexting me while sitting next to my mother.
Without answering, I bend down, grab Claire, and lift her over my shoulder. I know she waves at the girls as I make my way to the door, feeling her move and the chorus of laughs behind us, but I can't focus on anything but getting my girl out of here and alone.
"Girls win!" I vaguely hear Benny shout with a deep belly laugh.