Wait With Me (Wait With Me, #1)(64)

I remain silent for a few minutes as I scroll through everything about Miles that I love. Then I think about everything he loves, and my eyes alight when I recall the night we shared in his grandpa’s truck.

“His grandpa has this old truck that he’s dying to fix up. But he’s dumping all his money into house renovations, so he’s holding off on it for now. He said the carburetor needed replacing.”

Dean’s eyes brighten at this revelation. “You just had seven months’ worth of rent open up.”

“You think this is a good idea?” I ask, chewing on my thumbnail nervously. “Can you just buy a carburetor for a car? Wouldn’t he have to like…I don’t know…repair it or something?”

“That’s what Google is for!” Lynsey squeals and reaches out to grab my computer.

“Wait, will this be emasculating?” I say, stopping her mid-Google. “If I buy some expensive part for his grandpa’s truck, is he going to be like, ‘Fuck you bitch, I pay my own way?’” Lynsey and I both look at Dean for an answer.

“Not if you give it to him naked.” He simply shrugs.

My first reaction is to laugh, but when Dean doesn’t join in, my face drops. “Wait, seriously?”

He lifts his brows and pins me with a look. “I’m not even into cars, but if you came at me naked with a carburetor in your hand, I’d probably be all over that.”

I look over at Lynsey, who gives me a shrug as well.

“We’ll figure that part out later,” I state with a laugh. “Let’s find this orgasm-maker!”





“Bro, what the hell is your deal?” my sister, Megan’s voice cuts through the phone line, waking me out of a deep slumber.

I scrub my hands over my face and check the time on my phone. “Jeez, why are you awake? It’s 6:30 in the morning. My alarm hasn’t even gone off yet.”

“I thought you worked for a living,” she retorts.

“I don’t leave my house until 7:15. I had a good thirty minutes before I had to get up, you brat.”

She sighs heavily. “Mom’s worried about you.”

I stretch my arms wide and throw my feet off the side of the bed to make my way to the bathroom. “Why?” I ask, pulling myself out of my boxers.

“Because you haven’t sent her an email in two weeks. Are you peeing?”

“No,” I lie.

“Liar.”

“I’m not peeing. It’s just the creek by my house. It runs really fast and hard in the morning.”

“You’re disgusting. Have the decency to mute the phone line next time.”

“But then you wouldn’t be able to hear me pee.” A lazy grin spreads across my face as I tuck the phone against my shoulder to wash my hands. “What’s Mom’s deal?”

“You go from emailing her on Sunday nights like clockwork to radio silence on all of us for two weeks. We talked about this, Miles. One email a week means you get to avoid the two-hour phone calls with her where she threatens to come stay with you for a week. Why are you slacking?”

I exhale heavily and make my way down the hall out into my kitchen. My timed coffee pot has finished brewing, and I pour myself a cup. “I’ve been busy.”

“Bullshit,” she snaps as I open my front door and step outside onto the porch. The sky is a mixture of blue and golden sunrise, illuminating the treetops in front of my house.

“I haven’t felt like talking, Meg.”

She groans loudly. “Don’t tell me you got back together with Jocelyn. I’m telling you, Miles, our family will not be able to stand this again. I thought she was married and had a kid anyway.”

“It’s not Joce,” I snap, rolling my eyes and taking a sip. “It’s that…author girl,” I admit because I know my sister, and she won’t quit until I fess up.

“The one you called me from the bar about?”

I clear my throat and reply through clenched teeth. “Yes.”

“Oh man! I didn’t know you were seeing her!”

“I’m not…I mean, I was. But it’s over now.”

“Why?”

“Because she lied to me about some shit, and I’m not bringing noise like that back into my life again. Been there, done that.”

Megan’s little growl on the other line surprises me. “Don’t think every girl who isn’t perfect is like Jocelyn, all right? I don’t know this author chick, but I do know you, and you sounded so crazy happy that night you called me to talk about her, Miles. Happier than I’d heard you in like…forever. I’d say since Joce, but honestly, you were never happy with that girl. Not a day in your life. I know I haven’t met this author, but I called Mom the very next day to tell her about how you sounded because it was so night and day different. We were excited.”

“Seriously?” I state, my jaw dropping. I knew my family had issues with Jocelyn, but they rarely ever voiced them to me. They were always blindly supportive of my decisions. “You guys never said anything.”

“Miles, Joce was the worst, and she made you miserable. You were moody for years because of that girl. God, every time you guys broke up, we all prayed it’d be the last time.”