Page 75 of Tourist Trap

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

My heart skips a beat, and even though I’ve been secretly dying for this for years, I shrug. “I don’t know, you haven’t really given me a compelling argument for why I should say yes.”

“A compelling argument, huh?” he asks, his lips moving to my collarbone.

“Yeah,” I say, breathy now. His lips shift again, moving to my nipple and sucking deep. My back arches off the bed as he does.

“Then let me plead my case.” His lips move down my belly, and he does, in fact, plead his case.

At the end, before we fall asleep after round two, I say yes to being Miles Miller’s girlfriend.

TWENTY-SIX

MILES

The next morning, I wake up before Claire to find her wrapped around me, her head on my chest, and an overwhelming sense of relief. After years of wanting this exact moment and not letting myself have it, it’s even better than I expected.

Slipping out of bed, I use the bathroom and shuffle down the stairs, checking the weather and water temperature before I decide this is the perfect morning for what I have in mind. Next, I check if her coffee is in the fridge since I know there’s no way I’m getting her out of the house early if we don’t have coffee. We do, thankfully, so I quickly make her a to-go one and refill Margo, grabbing a few things and tossing them into a bag before I move back upstairs.

She’s in the same position but curled around my pillow like she realized I wasn’t there and needed a replacement. Too fucking sweet. I’m almost tempted to scrap this whole idea when she lets out a sigh and snuggles in deeper, but instead, I grab the bottom of the blanket and tug until it’s on the floor.

Once again, I almost abandon my plan, seeing her naked body curled into my bed, a leg hitched up on the pillow, and I can see her pussy again.

Nope, not now, Miller, I tell myself.She wants boyfriend things; we’re giving her boyfriend things.

Except right now, she’s glaring at me in the most adorable way.

“What are you doing?” she asks as I tug on her arm. She looks toward the window where the curtains are cracked and gets even more skeptical. “It’s still dark?”

“Surprise,” I say, whispering. I feel stupid acting as if I need to be quiet so I don’t wake someone, but it’s just the two of us here. And, of course, half a dozen hermit crabs.

“I know this thing with us just got official and all, but you should know I don’t do extra early mornings.” She glares at me with more venom than one person should be able to muster first thing in the morning, and even though I should hide it, I let out a laugh.

“You don’t say.”

Her glare intensifies. “Especially when I don’t get the details of why I’m so rudely dragged out of bed.”

“We’re going to knock something off your list,” I say.

“What?” She blinks a few times, looking adorable.

“We’re doing something on your list. You’re not working today; I’m not working today. As much as I’d love to spend the day in bed with you, let’s go. I know a place.”

“A place? What kind of place?”

“Do you have to question me on absolutely everything I ask of you?” I reach out, placing a hand on her waist and pulling her into me. I can’t help but smile down at her as she melds her body into mine. I couldn’t tell you the last time I felt this way: light and airy and just…content in the world, like this piece I didn’t realize I was looking for finally snapped into place.

“It makes life a whole lot more interesting if I do,” she whispers, and then I dip to press my lips to hers. Her hand slides up my back, tangling in the hair at the back of my neck. I break it before either of us gets any ideas since we’re on a bit of a deadline.

“You’re sure right on that,” I whisper against her lips, then tug her out of bed to get on our way.

We drive to a stretch of the beach that’s on the very edge of the town, then climb up onto the jetty before walking down to the very edge of it. The ocean is calm this morning, the low tide just barely lapping at the dark rocks, working in my favor. The sky is starting to lighten up, and I set out a towel on the ground for Claire to sit on, then hand her a coffee and a cereal bar.

“I was going to do the whole nine, but I figured after this we could go to Seaside Coffee.”

“But… your mom…”

“Hate to tell you, babe, but if my mom finds out I finally got the nerve to give this a shot, we’re really fucking in for it.”

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