“That doesn't mean I want you to dye it,” she mumbles, trying to get herself out of his grip but he keeps his hands on her forearms. “Would you really do it if I told you to?”
“If it annoys you that much, of course I would, Angel.”
What the hell? When did this happen? Has he always called her Angel? And has she always let him? I’m not going to remember this in the morning so I will start to erase it from my memory now. They both stare at each other and it's hard to tell which one of them is drunk at this point.
Until Scarlett finally says, “I’m drunk I don't know what I'm saying.”I’m drunk and I don’t know what I’m saying, title of your sex tape,I want to say but maybe right now is not the time to bring up my Brooklyn Nine-Nine obsession.
“Drunk thoughts are sober words,” I say, trying my absolute best to wink at Scarlett.
“That's not how the saying goes. But good job, baby,” Miles says, wrapping his arm around my waist. “Can you walk okay?”
“I think you might need to carry me”
“Really?” I nod, smiling up at him. “Fine.”
He picks me up in a fireman's carry, hauling me over and I’m lucky I’m not wearing the skirt that the girls begged me to wear. Luckily, all Miles can see is my fully clothed ass in my favourite pair of jeans. He carries me all the way to the car as Evan has Kennedy and Scarlett on each side of him and they slip into the back with us. We drive home mostly in silence and Miles insists on walking us up to the door.
After the girls have gone to their rooms, Miles follows me into mine. I’m still a little tipsy, on the verge of falling asleep but the second that Miles comes into my room, I’m fully awake. It’s pitch black outside and Miles Davis is in my bedroom and he’s looking at me, waiting for me to do or say something. Anything. He steps closer towards me and the back of my knees hit the bed and I sit down. My heartbeat is racing a thousand miles per hour as he kneels down in front of me and- Pushes me down? Obviously he wasn’t about to go down on me because that would be insane. Instead, he urges me to get inside my covers and he wraps them around me.
He passes me the glass of water that I hadn’t realised was there and I take a few gulps. He places it back on the nightstand and gets into the bed with me. I’m laying down, tucked neatly under the covers as Miles sits beside me on top of them, looking down at me.
I turn to the ceiling and say, “I’m sorry about that.”
“I’m just glad you're having fun. You deserve a break sometimes, you know,” he says, sliding down onto the bed next to me, our shoulders brushing against each other. He looks up at the ceiling too as I turn to him before facing upwards again.
“I don't deserve anything. I don't deserve you and I especially don't deserve a break,” I say into the air. I don’t know what’s going on with me? I know how pathetic I sound but I can’t tell my mouth to stop. He turns to me now, one arm resting beneath his face and the other wrapping a finger around my hair and it distracts me for a second that I almost miss what he asks next.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t think I try hard enough. If I tried hard enough my mom would actually like me and I wouldn't be constantly trying to win her approval.”
His face is so close to mine now, the light touch of his hand centring me as his words reverberate through me. “You have no idea do you?”
“What?” I breathe.
“You have no idea how special you are, Wren, and it breaks my heart everytime I hear you speak like that. Because I would give up everything in this world for you to realise that you're perfect in every way that counts.”
I suddenly feel like all the alcohol has left my body as the words leave his mouth and puncture me right in the heart. This is what it feels like for my inner child to be healed. I do what I’ve been needing to do since I saw him today and I wrap my arms around him. It’s a little struggle at first since we’re both lying down but once we’re comfortable, I nuzzle my face into his neck, breathing in his lavender smell. Instinctively, I hook my leg over his. Not in a way to be purposefully sexual, it’s just what feels the most comfortable right now.
“Can you stay here tonight? Just hold me,” I ask into his skin, not wanting him to leave me just yet. Yeah, I really am an emotional drunk.
“Rule number three, Wren,” he says.
“This doesn't count. I'm not asking you to sleep with me. Well I am, just not like that. Can you, please? I need you. Here,” I admit, realising that this is the only thing keeping me calm. The only thing that is keeping my heartbeat at a settled pace.
“Anything you want,” he says, brushing my hair out of my face.
He gently pushes me to turn around until my back is flush against his front, his arms braced tight around me. I don’t tell him about Austin or how stressed I am because it doesn’t feel like the right time. All I need is to be held by him and it seems like he needs it too. So, he holds me.
All night.
He’s just there.
CHAPTER 25
WREN
I’ve spent the better half of two weeks practicing non-stop. Maybe I’ve started to go delirious since I’ve not been eating well, and all my days have become on big cluster. Every time I close my eyes, I see myself falling on the ice again and I can’t get that image out of my head. I need to get it out my head. I know I’ve been distant with Miles after that night at the bar, but I had to. After having a few days off to hang out with my friends, I've needed to go back to skating everyday.
