But as we start walking someone shouts his name. He looks back at me, thinking it was me who called him. I shake my head and shrug.
“Miles!?” the shrill voice from behind us shouts again. We both turn this time. A dark-haired woman walks towards us in a bejewelled silver dress, and I instantly recognise her. My stomach tightens.
Miles has never been closed off about his ex-girlfriend, Emily Fraser. Mostly because she comes up a lot when he talks about Carter. She’s short-ish woman with dark brown hair that cuts off at her shoulders. She studies marine biology at Drayton so she’s smart and gorgeous. She's the opposite of me and I can't figure out of that's a good thing or not. I take a little step back and Miles’ strong hand wraps around my waist, pulling me into his side.
“Oh my God, itisyou!” she shrieks and before either of us can register, she pulls Miles into a hug, his hand slipping off me. As if I’m not there.
“It’s good to see you, Emily,” Miles says when she pulls away from him. His hand returns to me again. “This is Wren. My girlfriend.”
“So, I heard,” Emily says as she gives me a once over. Her fake smile doesn’t even reach her eyes. She turns back to Miles, ignoring my presence. “Are you staying in town for a bit?”
“Yeah, only until Monday. Our flights in the evening,” Miles explains.
“Aw, that’s tomorrow. If I had known we could have hung out,” she groans.
She comes closer to him, her hand resting on his chest.Okay. So, we’re doing this. Miles doesn’t look at her. In fact, he looks straight over her head. It doesn’t take a genius to know that she’s drunk and he’s too nice to tell her to do one.
“I miss you. I miss your body,” she whines and that’s where I draw the line. I grab her hand and push it off him and push her back gently.
“Hi, I’m sorry but I’m right fucking here. If you wanted to flirt with my boyfriend, you could haveat leastwaited until I slipped away for a second,” I say, coming into her face.
The darkness of the bar and the LED lights have given me a lot more confidence than I should have. I’m lucky I just about tower over her in my stilettos or else I’d look ridiculous.
“Miles, can you tell your girlfriend to chill?” Emily scoffs. She blinks up at Miles, but he steps back away from her, pulling me into him again.
“No, she’s right,” Miles says, looking at me and then back to her. “You don’t have the right to say shit like that anymore."
"I can say what I want," she retorts, spluttering.
Miles groans, lowering his voice so only we can hear. "And Emily, you're lucky I'm talking to you nicely because the last thing you deserve is nice. I don't want to shout at you and cause a scene because I'm a decent human. So please, step back so me and my girlfriend can leave."
She blinks at us and I want to laugh so badly.
“Happy fucking New Year,” I say to Emily before grabbing the cuffs of Miles’ shirt and getting us the hell out of there. I know it was a petty thing to say but it made my blood boil. Exes like that are not good for anybody. The kind of ones who want you back when you’ve moved on. That shit sucks.
We wait outside of the bar for a cab, not saying anything as we sit down on the sidewalk. There is something comforting about being around Miles in this setting, watching cars drive past and drunken strangers howl behind us. He's sitting next to me, sighing loudly as he throws his head back, probably as frustrated as I am.
"Thank you for doing that," I say quietly. I don't know how it came out but it's New Year's Eve and I'm feeling emotional.
"Doing what?" he asks, turning his head to me.
"For not pretending I wasn't there," I reply.
"Why would I do that?" he asks, sounding genuinely confused. I shrug. "Have people done that to you before?"
"Not on purpose," I admit. "I've always felt like I take up too much space because I do so many things that people find interesting. But, when I was with Augustus, it was like he was trying to compete with me. Like he wanted to make me feel small and insignificant. Sometimes, he'd just pretend I wasn't there."
The words fall out of my mouth at a stupid pace, spilling all my secrets like it's nothing. It's definitely the darkness. I don't like oversharing this much but with Miles, it seems to easy.
What shocks me that he pulls me into a tight side hug, his strong arm tightening around me and I fall into him for a second. "I would never do that to you, Wren. Ever."
Miles and I don't hug. We kiss and we hold hands when people are around. But we never hug. It always feels too intimate. Like were crossing a line.
*
We go back to the hotel mostly in silence, walking past people as they go down to get ready for the countdown in the lounge. We go back to our room, standing outside on the balcony, watching the early fireworks that are being set off down the horizon. It’s not long before the new year’s about to start.
“That was hot,” Miles says nudging me with his shoulder as we lean against the railing, looking out into the darkness. I turn to him and laugh.
