Page 124 of Tourist Trap

He gives me an irritated look. “I wasnotcrying, Claire.”

Now it’s my turn to look at him with disbelief. “Close enough to it.”

“Claire,” he warns, and even though I usually like what happens when I don’t heed his warning, my body can’t handle another orgasm.

“Fine, you weren’t crying, but that unpainted patch of dry way…”

“I was mad. That was when he had just left and it was better than punching him, because that would have gotten me arrested. But when you came home, I’d just gotten off the phone with my mom after I’d called my lawyer before that.”

“Okay…”

“The contract already in place set the price of the house and how much of it Paul even owned. Brad couldn’t ask for more than that. I already had most of the money saved up through the summer, and I called Mom to see if she could lend me the rest of the money.”

“Miles…” I whisper.

“I was upset because I hate asking for help, and even more, I hated having to tell my mom everything after I left her in the dark as much as I could about the shit with the house and what a hard time Paul was giving me. But it was a bit late to keep protecting him. So she was upset when I called and filled her in, and knowing I was responsible for it killed me, which was when you came home.”

“Oh,” I whisper, starting to understand. “So when I stormed into Surf…” It wasn’t even necessary, my mind fills in, but Miles just shrugs.

“I knew you needed that, to yell at Paul and finally get it off your chest, and honestly, it was fun to watch.” He smiles at my shocked face, then brushes his knuckles along my cheekbone. “Do you really think I couldn’t catch you when you were running in flip-flops?”

My nose crinkles because I never could figure that out. Miles runs every damn morning like a sociopath, and I, well…I don’t. It didn’t make sense that he hadn’t caught me before I stormed into the office, but I wasn’t really looking too closely at it at the time.

“But at Surf, you challenged him. You told him you’d give him the house.”

He shakes his head, a wide, devious smile on his lips.

“No, I said we would settle the ownership without having to go to court. Even the contract my lawyer drew up that Brad signed the next day said the same thing: that we wouldsettle the ownership on the house as soon as the contest was over. It basically just clarified that neither of us would contest the contract that was already in place with me and Paul.”

“And he didn’t realize that when you had him sign it?”

He shrugs then. “Men like that…they’re all about whose balls are bigger. He thought he was going to win and thought that no matter what, he’d get the house. He thinks I’m just some dumb mechanic scraping pennies together, partially because I’m sure that’s the story Paul sold him. He didn’t think I’d be intelligent enough to sneak in something like that.”

“You’re sneaky,” I whisper with a smile.

“No, he’s an idiot and a shitty businessman.” He’s not wrong. “But now I got Paul's part of the house free and clear.”

“And his girl,” I say, jokingly.

Miles shakes his head then. “You were never his girl,” he says, rolling us until I’m on my back, him hovering over me. His lips trail kisses down my neck, stoking a fire I thought was long out.

“Yeah, I was always yours,” I whisper, my hips lifting.

And then he spends the rest of the night showing me just how much I’ve always been his.

FORTY-THREE

CLAIRE

When I walk into work on Monday, nerves eat at me. Even though I texted Helen on Sunday morning, hungover and happier than I'd been in years, to ask what she wanted to talk about, she told me to enjoy my weekend and that she'd talk to me on Monday, which gave me a full day to stress.

Miles continued to tell me it was probably nothing, but I couldn't help but think there was a problem. Maybe she wasn't a fan of the way I tipped the scales of the beach games even though she was in on the planning, or maybe because we're nearing the end of the season, she's going to let me go early. But most of those fears melt away when I walk in and see Helen smiling wide at me.

"Claire, my girl, how are you?" She stands from her desk and pulls me into a big hug. When she pulls back, she takes one look at my face and lets out a loud laugh. "You stressed about this all day yesterday, didn't you?"

I give her a small smile and nod. "I don't do well with vague warnings."

She shakes her head, then sits at her desk and gestures for me to sit in the chair she pulled next to hers. Once I do, I look at her.

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