Page 58 of Tourist Trap

But besides that, there has been absolutely no contact.

It’s why when, on my day off, I meet June, Lainey, and Deck at the beach, I’m shocked to see him arrive with Grant thirty minutes later, dropping their things into the sand at the little camp we set up.

I push my sunglasses down my nose and watch as Miles takes his ever-present backward hat off, flipping it around so the brim hides his face a bit.

“Wow, did you tell Miles I was going to be here?” I ask as he pretends to be looking for something in the black bag he bought.

“What?” Grant asks with a confused look.

“I just figured if you told him I was going to be in attendance at this little friend gathering, he would have found some new, strange excuse not to come.”

The group looks from Miles to me, a blush growing on his cheeks despite the hat.

I take him in from behind my glasses and ignore the tiny pinch in my heart. I genuinely thought we had gotten past whatever was keeping him so closed off from me, but clearly I was so wrong.

Miles is off fighting some fictional battle in his head about God knows what, but I learned once before that you can’t make anyone want to be with you: they have to want to do that on their own.

And I refuse to fight for a man to grace me with his attention.

“Are you two fighting?” Deck asks from where he’s sitting in the sand beside Lainey.

“No, she’s being ridiculous,” Miles grumbles, and my eyes go wide, not expecting a response.

“Oh, Miles is just being a dick because he realized he’s super into me but he’s mad about it, so he’s taking it out on everyone around him. Feel free to ignore him.”

Grant lets out a snort laugh, but Deck doesn’t bother to hide it, laughing out loud.

“Why is he being a dick?” he asks.

“Because he kissed me under the boardwalk. You know, because he’s so in love with me.” I smile angelically, taking a sip from my water and setting it back down. “But then he panicked about it, so he’s ignoring me.”

“It did it to prove I didn’t like you!” he says, and Grant gives him a deadpan look.

“Bro,” he says, and Deck lets out another loud laugh.

“Yeah, he was all, ‘No! I can’t do this! I’m not good enough for you!’” I say.

“That’s not what happened, Claire,” Miles argues, that blush deepening, be it with irritation or embarrassment, I don’t know.

“Do you want to share with the class then? Feel free to correct me. Maybe they can decide who is in the right and who is dead wrong,” I tell him, giving him a raised eyebrow. “That’s what I thought,” I say when he doesn’t respond. “Anyway, I told him I didn’t want to play games because I am an adult, and he’s been avoiding me for the last week. This is the first time I’ve seen him since then, actually.”

“I haven’t been avoiding you—” he starts, but Grant cuts him off.

“Dude, you literally came to my house after work and showered there yesterday. Is that why you didn’t just go home? Because you’re afraid of a little blonde chick?” Grant asks with a laugh.

My eyes widen with the confirmation. I smile, but secretly, somewhere, I would very much like to ignore the sadness that leaks into my bones.

It was only an assumption that he was ignoring me, since I know in general, he works a ton, but the confirmation is…not what I was hoping for. I guess I was hoping there was some incredibly logical explanation that might, possibly, come with a romantic confession of love.

A girl can dream.

“I’m going in the water. Anyone want to come?” I ask, in desperate need to get away from the awkward tension. I stand and look behind me only to find Miles’s eyes glued to my ass exposed from the high-cut bottoms that show off half of it. Despite myself, I smile, shaking my head when I catch him, and he shifts his gaze quickly.

“I’ll come!” Lainey says eagerly, standing.

“Me too!” June agrees, both of them clearly ready to gossip.

“I’ll come,” Deck says, but Lainey glares at him. “Just kidding. I’ll just…stay here with the two Mr. Denials.”

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