Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
LOXLEY
I’d spent the whole damn day being mad at a man who’d done nothing but show me grace and kindness. But it’s easier, sometimes, to pretend this was all an illusion. To believe I’d just imagined the connection between us. That nothing real had happened.
Because if it was real, that made it dangerous.
My mama would probably scold me straight to hell if she knew what I’d been up to.
Falling for a man I’d barely known, in a town no one could point to on a map?
It was exactly what happened to her. She met a man.
Fell in love. Got trapped in a small town.
And he left her there, high and dry, to raise two kids alone.
Not that I was saying I was in love with Miles. I wasn’t that far gone. I was smart enough to know this was all temporary. I was just...invested.
And God, wasn’t that worse in some ways? Because being invested meant I cared what he thought. It meant I noticed when he pulled away. It meant I was the one sitting there, still naked on the counter, wondering what the hell just happened.
He’d just... left. Not out of anger, exactly. It felt more like shock. Like his own words had caught him off guard.
Or maybe he regretted them.
Either way, I felt safe again. Much better than I had been that morning when I finally turned on my phone and scrolled through the news, social media, any corner of the internet that might be buzzing about Loxley Adams.
Sam had been busy in my absence. He’d kept posting updates, but only on behalf, never letting Loxley post, but building up a slow-burning mystery that was just dramatic enough to keep people curious without tipping into full-blown panic.
He was probably lying in wait, ready to post a dramatic tale of my disappearance if he couldn’t get me back on stage soon.
Honestly, Lifetime should hire him. He was amping up to spin this into a “Based on a True Story” TV event.
After a few minutes of sitting there in the dark, I grabbed my clothes off the kitchen floor, redressed, and went looking for Miles. I needed reassurance. Not just about us on a deeper level, but about the friendship we’d built.
The house was dim and quiet. The sun had set and the moon glowing into the big window in the living room was the only light I had to guide me.
Scanning around, I realized he wasn’t in there, so I padded down the hall and stopped outside the gym door.
I knocked, but it was just enough of a knock to warn him I was there and I turned the handle without waiting for permission.
Miles was sitting on a weight bench with a dumbbell in each hand, looking like a moody Greek god who’d just discovered stress-lifting. He glanced up at me in the mirror and gave a tiny nod, reassuring me it was okay to come in.
Settling behind him on the bench, I wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing my cheek to the center of his back. He stilled, then quietly set the dumbbells down and grabbed my hands in his.
“One of us is always running,” I said softly, “but if you don’t mind, I’d like to keep that badge of honor for myself. I have a world record I’m aiming for.”
“I wasn’t running,” he murmured.
“Oh, no?” I huffed. “You left me alone in the kitchen with your cum dripping down my legs. If that wasn’t running, what was it?”
His shoulders shook from laughter and I felt the tension break just a little. Good. I needed that. I needed him to laugh.
“Do you realize,” he said, voice low, “you’re the first woman I’ve ever introduced to my grandparents?”
“Well, technically, your Grams and I go way back to our Piggly Wiggly days,” I teased.
“So really, she and I introduced you to us.” He laughed louder, and I squeezed him, holding onto the sound like a lifeline.
“And I told you,” I added, kissing his back with a soft brush of my lips against his skin. “I’m not gonna go.”
“I want you to, Lox. I want all of it.”
“Then I’ll go,” I said simply.
“My brothers are going to be there,” he said, after a beat. “And Jesse—my brother’s girlfriend—and her son, Max. Jesse’s actually a big fan of yours. But I trust them. Your secret’s safe.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I whispered. “Like you said... something’s supposed to happen Monday.”
“I can still keep you hidden, if that’s what you want,” he offered. “I can promise you that much.”
I stood and moved around to face him, straddling his lap and cupping his jaw in my hands. I tilted his face toward mine until we were eye to eye.
“I’m not scared anymore,” I said. “I wanna take control, because I don’t wanna give Sam, or anyone else, the satisfaction of spinning some story about poor Loxley. So whatever happens from here on out, it’s okay, I promise.”
His smile was quiet but certain, and he kissed me like we’d just swapped promise rings or something. When he pulled back, he stood, lifting me with him, and I knew where we were headed.
Miles loved fucking me in the shower, and even though we skipped dinner, being tangled up with him for the rest of the night was all I really needed.