Page 56 of Ember Meadow
“That was a long time ago.” Butterflies flutter in my stomach at the low rasp of his voice.
“Not that long ago,” I counter. I reach up and run my fingers through his hair, unable to hold back any longer. I’m not sober enough to stop myself around him.
Miles sighs and leans just slightly into my touch. “Katie…” he starts, closing his eyes.
“Yeah?” I breathe. He doesn’t respond. Words fall out of my mouth like a firehose, filling the heavy silence.
“You’re just so tiring. I just want you to like me back. We could be really good friends, or we could be friends that kiss a little. I think I’d prefer that. You’re a really good kisser. The best probably. But you’re always mad at me, and it’s not fair.” The alcohol rushes straight to my head as I lean onto him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Don’t you want to kiss me?”
His fingertips brush against the waistband of my jean shorts at my hips so lightly I barely feel it, causing goosebumps to pop up all over me. His eyes look so different close up. Lighter, almost. I can pick out a few gold specks I could never see from afar.
His expression wholly darkens as he looks at me. Having his full attention on me is intimidating, but I love it. It’s like a drug. His gaze drops to my lips, and I instinctively brush my tongue across my bottom lip. He tracks the movement, throat bobbing as his eyes dart back up to mine.
I’m sure my entire face is flushed. It doesn’t take much. But I can’t find it in me to be embarrassed about it. I want him to know how he makes me feel.
“You’re drunk,” he whispers. The heat in his gaze diminishes, like a coal turning to ash. “You should go back inside.”
“I don’t want to go back inside. I’m fine right here,” I say, taking another step closer so we are chest to chest. My skin ignites at the contact, but now that he’s here the heat isn’t uncomfortable. It’s addicting.
“I’m not having this conversation with you when you’ve been drinking tequila like it’s water. You need to sober up.”
The air leaves my lungs. His scolding tone is like a bucket of ice water dumped all over me. I step back, creating as much distance between us as I can. This was a mistake. I never should have opened the door in the first place. He doesn’t want me.
“Don’t tell me what Ineedto do, Miles. I work hard, I deserve to have fun every once in a while.You’rethe one who crashed this anyway. If you don’t want to be here, just go,” I snap.
“Katie, wait, that’s not what I–” Miles starts, but it’s too late, I’m already back inside the cabin with a hand on the door.
“Just stop, okay? I get it,” I interrupt.
“Katie, who’s at the door?” Morgan hollers from the living room.
“It’s Miles,” I holler back. “Don’t worry, he was just leaving, he doesn’t want to hang around. He hates me.” The words feel poisonous as they roll off my lips, but I don’t take them back. Miles rears back a step as if I’ve hit him.
“Miles, hey man,” Parker shows up at my side, leaning into the door frame. “Want us to deal you in?” He nods towards the living room.
“No, Mac is right. I was just leaving,” Miles says, voice rough. He never takes his eyes off of mine, not even a sideways glance at Parker. He turns around and walks back down the driveway, leaving me standing at the door frozen in place.
I watch until he’s back in his truck, tail lights disappearing into the black night.
Chapter 20
Laying on a Ranch Alone
“It’s looking amazing, Katie.I mean it. You’ve really been able to breathe life back into this cabin. Never thought I’d see the day.” Walter stands next to me in front of the fireplace in the Old Cabin. He stopped by today on his way into town to see the progress after I let him know we are about halfway done.
“Thanks, Walter,” I smile. “It means a lot to me that you approve. I know how special this place is.”
“You have no idea,” he chuckles.
I still feel bad for canceling on Walter yesterday for Sunday dinner, but between my hangover and whatever happened with Miles I wasn’t in the mood to get out of bed at all. Much less spend a couple of hours over at the Autry family ranch house pretending like everything is okay.
I still haven’t seen Miles since that night. I’m avoiding him, and I’m sure he’s avoiding me right back. The Tequila fog was fuzzy at first, but once I sat in my guest cabin and recapped the night to myself, I could have crawled into any hole on the ranch where no one could ever find me.
Even the pine tree drawing I saw branded into the banister wasn’t there the next day.
It’s hard to tell what parts of it I exaggerated to myself due to the booze and the crazy overheating and flashbacks I was having all night. When he showed up, I thought maybe he was ready to give in to whatever is between us. I’m sick of fighting it. But instead, I drunkenly climbed all over him and he rejected me.
So embarrassing.
