Page 133 of Spies Don’t Fall for Their Best Friend

“What?” I ask.

“That right there is what mine always feel like.”

“You’ve passed multiple?” Jace asks.

“Three.” Mackenzie’s dad looks almost proud of this. “The pain started in the back. Came around the side in waves. Couldn’t sit, couldn’t stand, couldn’t do anything.”

Miles manages, “That sounds familiar.” Color has begun to return to his face.

“Have you been eating beets?”

Miles’s attention flicks up to him. “What?”

“Beets. We bottled beets last year. Ate a jar every day. Got kidney stones.”

Someone else near the food table says, “I heard spinach is bad, too.”

Another voice adds, “And almonds.”

“Well, it depends on what kind of stones you have,” Mackenzie’s mom says.

I turn slowly toward Miles, and he closes his eyes. “Oh, no,” I say. “Miles.” He has been having beet juice or a spinach smoothie daily.

“I know.”

Miles’s mouth twitches. Then his whole body goes rigid before he shoots to his feet. He grabs for my hand again, and someone turns the chair so he can hold onto the back.

This second wave seems so much worse. “Breathe,” I say immediately. “Look at me.” He does not look at me. “Miles.”

His eyes lift.

“That’s it. Slow.”

Somewhere behind me, Blake says, “You’re doing great, buddy.”

Miles glares at him.

“What?” Blake says. “I’m being supportive.”

Miles inhales sharply.

“Slow,” I tell him. “In through your nose. Out slowly through your mouth.”

“Just like you’re in labor,” Jace says. “I’ve heard that’s what the pain is like.”

Ledger nods. “Which feels extremely appropriate, given that his water just broke.”

Miles manages to say, “I will kill you all.”

“See?” Jace says. “He’s doing better.”

I fight the completely inappropriate urge to laugh. “Breathe in through your nose. And out.”

His forehead nearly touches mine. I hold his hand with both of mine now. “Good. Again.” I hate this. I hate standing here while pain tears through him, and the only thing I can do is tell him when to breathe.

He follows my breaths. In. Out.

The pain doesn’t disappear, but after another minute, it loosens enough that he can stand fully again. He looks absolutely wrecked.