Page 17 of Miles

Miles

KAZ WAS looking at him with understanding in those captivating gray eyes of his, and not the sympathy he usually got. Kaz had been through his fair share of shit, too. He knew. He understood better than probably anyone else could.

I bet you two have more in common than you think.

There was a big, ‘I told you so,’ somewhere in his future, and he couldn’t even be mad about it. Not when he got to see this side of Kaz. The real Kaz, underneath all the bullshit and bad attitude.

“I wake sometimes, thinking I’ve heard gunshots,” he confessed, unsure why he did, why he told Kaz of all people.

“Do you think it’ll ever go away?” Kaz asked, and Miles knew he wasn’t only talking abouthisnightmares.

“Probably not.”

Kaz crossed his arms, a thoughtful expression on his face as he stared off into nothing for a while.

“I hope it does,” Kaz said, his voice barely above a whisper.

A smile tugged at Miles’s lips. “Me, too.”

He was sharing things with Kaz that he usually never spoke about to anyone, and he wasn’t sure why. Kaz had bullied him for years. He’d continued to crawl under his skin any chance he got, no matter how many bloody noses Miles gave him.

He glanced at Kaz out of the corner of his eye. It was only fair if Kaz shared something, too.

He took a deep breath, and when Kaz faced him, the words left him in a rush. “Why are you such a bully?”

Something fiery flashed through Kaz’s eyes.

“You want me to give you excuses?” Kaz arched a brow at Miles. “You want me to claim that it’s because I had a shitty childhood? That it’s because my parents didn’t love me?”

He blew out a heavy breath and shook his head. “Forget it.” He turned and headed back toward the bike. He only made it two steps before a grip around his wrist jerked him back around. Fingers slid into his hair, grabbing hold to tug his head to the side. He met Kaz’s dark eyes for a second before Kaz was pressed against him, lips finding the side of his neck.

He gasped, mouth falling open as he leaned against Kaz, hands grasping at Kaz when his knees wobbled.

“You want the truth?”

Kaz’s breath was hot on his skin, lips brushing his Adam’s apple as he swallowed.

“Yes.”

A pinch of pain had him gasping, teeth scraping acrosshis jaw. He dug his fingers into Kaz’s arms, heat surging through him. Kaz leaned back, those silver eyes dark as night as he said the last thing Miles expected.

“You ignored me.”

He blinked at Kaz, lips parting, though he never found the words.

“When we met,” Kaz continued, “You barely looked at me, and I wanted so desperately for you to see me. To like me. But you just looked at me like I was shit under your shoe.”

“Kaz,” he breathed. “That’s not what I?”

“It was the only way to get a reaction out of you. Fuck, but I love it when you get all worked up and I become the only thing you see.”

He could barely breathe as he looked at Kaz, emotions rushing through him at lightning speed. How Kaz could ever think he hadn’t seen him…

“I thought you were hot,” he said with a wince, and when Kaz simply stared at him, the words came on their own. “I… I didn’twantto think you were hot. I wanted to get the hell away from you because my body was reacting to you in a way that made it impossible for me to ignore or deny.”

Kaz’s lips spread slowly, his smile breathtaking as his eyes gleamed wickedly.

“How long have you thought I was hot?”

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