Page 52 of Chasing You

I slap a hand over my open mouth and spin around, wanting to give the guy privacy, not that he even knows I’m here.

My mind has been on a loop for the last week, replaying my encounter with him in the forest. For a minute there, it felt like we were us, just Miles and Marina, before all the hurt. And then it was like all of a sudden my mind slammed my memories in front of me, almost as if to saydon’t you remember?

My head is like a broken tape recorder, playing me snippets of my conversation with May over and over again. That was the first time I’ve ever admitted it—to myself or anyone else—that maybe I’m not as over him as I like to pretend I am. And I don’t know why, but that made me so angry with myself, and with him too. How dare he waltz back into my life, and how dare my stupid little heart let him affect me just the same way as he always did? Even after he crushed it.

I stand here, still, not sure exactly what to do. Ishouldleave, but this is my spot. I don’t have to leave just because he’s here. This isn’t his spot, it’s not even his town. I shouldn’t feel like I need to be pushed out of my own town just because he’s here.

I turn back around, removing my hand from my mouth and striding toward the shoreline. I drop my bag in the sand, andMiles must feel my presence because his body drops beneath the water and his head moves to look at me.

“Oh,” he says. “Hey.”

His voice is unsure, like he’s not sure how to greet me. I don’t blame him.

“This is my spot.”

His brows draw together. “Sorry?”

“I came here to relax, I won’t be pushed out by you.”

He just smiles, like he’s not one bit surprised about the attitude I'm giving him. “I’m not trying to push you out, I didn’t know this was your spot.”

“Good, then you can get out so I can go for a swim.” I don’t know when I got this bold, and the look in his eyes suggests he’s thinking the same thing.

I can feel myself overreacting. I could go to any other spot, but this little cove ismy place. The place that I’ve been coming to since I was a teenager, back when things like book reports and school drama were my biggest worries. But still, this was the place I'd come to clear my head, and right now Ireallyneed to clear my head.

“I can’t,” he says. “I, uh… I’m not wearing pants.”

“It’s not like it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”She’s feeling ballsy apparently.

Miles coughs. “I don’t think that’s relevant, nor is it a good idea for me to stride naked up this beach.”

“I can turn around.” I’ll do anything to have this spot to myself. I came here for a reason, I won’t let Miles spoil that for me. A small smirk creeps up his face as he takes me in, standing arms folded on the beach.

“What if I wasn’t done?” he challenges.

I tilt my head. “Were you?”

“Not really. If you wouldn’t have showed up, I don’t know how long I would’ve spent out here. Could’ve been hours.”

I squint my eyes against the sight of the hint of a smirk on hisface. He’s enjoying this. I won’t give him the satisfaction of walking away, of him getting his way.

There’s no way I’m trekking back through that bush without getting in that water. If he wants this place to himself, he’s going to have to find another day, because I’m not leaving.

I grab the hem of my T-shirt and pull it over my head, followed by my denim shorts, leaving me standing in my skimpy black bikini, that leaves little to the imagination.

With the way that Miles’s eyes glitter at the sight of me, I have the feeling that instead of doing the opposite of what he wanted, I just walked right into his trap, but I’m too far gone to turn back now.

I stride towards the water, my body jolting when a small wave runs over my toes. I always forget how cold it feels at the first touch.

Miles watches me intently as I get deeper in. I flinch as the water crests the bottom of my breasts. “It gets better once you’re all the way in.”

“Yeah, I know.”

I take a deep breath before I drop beneath the surface and swim forward, pushing my arms through the water to propel me through the waves. The feeling of my entire body being consumed by the water slows my heart rate, relaxing my mind a little bit as I swim until my breath runs out and I need to come up for air.

When I do, I’m a lot closer to Miles than I had anticipated. I puff out a breath as I take him in. We are so close that I can see every line that marks his face when he smiles. See the dimples that are ever so slightly peeking as he looks me over.

“How did you get even more beautiful?”

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