Page 17 of Who The Hell Are You?

Turning the machine off and grabbing my water, we both step off at the same time and I aim towards the changing rooms. “Are you still working out?” I'm elated when he shakes his head, whilst taking a long drink from his aluminium bottle and making his t-shirt rise to show a sliver of light skin in the process.

“Nah, that's it for me. Do you wanna grab a coffee before heading onto campus?” The invitation is easily given, Miles doesn't even look at me whilst he asks, but it feels like fucking everything to me.

He barely broke a sweat, so I took the quickest shower of my life and returned to the locker room in just a pair of tight black boxer-shorts. His ears turn an adorable shade of pink when he sees me, so I intentionally flexed my glutes as I passed by. I don't have a clue what possessed me to do it, but being the Inkedreaper is definitely a confidence boost. Getting dressed in record speed too, into black jeans, my vans and of all the things I'm trying to not internally die about right now, his hoodie. He of course notices straight away, but sensing my apprehension when I smooth it down my torso, he doesn’t say a thing. Miles just smiles like I gave him great news and we head out to the coffee house before class.

Chatting the entire time about farm life, the book he's currently reading for class and of course I had to show him the live stream of Winnie that Harris’s sister had set up. I felt swept up, suddenly being plopped in front of Brew and Bramble, the coffee shop. More pumpkins and golden brown leaves have been added to the window display, the door even has a wrap around reef of autumnal foliage. I loved this place and turns out he does too.

The doorbell tinkles as we step inside and I place my hand on his back, leaning in. “Go find a spot and I'll grab us two coffees.” I say, the smell of cinnamon and vanilla from his jumper blending with the aroma of the coffee shop.

“How will you know what I want?” He bats, not moving away but lifting his arm so the back of his hand rests against my chest.

“I’ll make an educated guess from the time you soaked me in caramel.” The noise that crawls out of his throat makes me laugh as I give his back a little pat, pushing him towards the seating area whilst I step in to join the cue. “Go sit Miley, I'll surprise you.

So I may have got excited buying sweet treats for him, but gifts are my love language, that I tend to throw on all my friends. I got us both a pumpkin spiced latte, extra cream and cinnamon dusting for Miles. I then indulged in the confectionery department, buying a cinnamon swirl, two chocolate chip cookies, a blondie brownie, a pumpkin short-bread cake and because I couldn't resist, two croissants.

As I bring our loot over to the little table by the window, his eyes widen. “Is someone else joining us?”

I grin. “I’m a feeder.” Balancing the tray, I place both our drinks down before dishing the treats onto plates and carry it back to the counter. Turning, I witness the moment the pumpkin spice hits and his eyes practically roll into the back of his head. A small warmth sits in my chest. A light layer of cream and cinnamon coats his upper lip. His tongue darts out and slowly licks it away.

Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me.

I quickly stride back to our table and slide into the free seat, my knee brushing his thigh.

“It tastes so good.” Miles hums, taking another large sip. “What do you want to eat?”

Doing my best to ignore the fluttering in my stomach, I acknowledge all the food and take a sip of my own coffee before answering. “Let's share everything. Oh, apart from a cookie. That's Ems.” I reach over and slide one of the cookies into a paper take away bag the barista gave me.

He smiles, ripping into the cinnamon swirl and I take the other half. “You're friends seem great.”

“They really are. We grew up together. Harris and I could wave at each other from our bedrooms if we leant out far enough.” I chuckle, taking a huge bite and groaning inappropriately. I don't miss the way he watches my lips, but he quickly recovers.

“That's awesome. I bet you were all happy you got into the same university.”

“Yeah, we kind of mapped the entire thing out. Harris and I waited for Em to complete a foundation degree in art, then applied with work experience as well as the correct qualifications. They're my best friends and we're a team.” Feeling like I can go on and on about the subject, I finish the rest of the swirl. “What about you? What brings you here? How old are you?”

Instead of gawking at my blatant word vomit, he leans forward and presses his palms together between his legs. “I'm from here actually. My mum–shes a single parent and I didn't want to be far from my family. My aunts live close, so I've practically been raised by wild women.” The image of him being bossed around by women who probably are a lot shorter, with ashy waves like his own makes me smile. “I'm twenty two. I needed a couple of years before I knew what I wanted to do.”

“Becoming an author?” I ask, taking another sip of coffee and humming as the pumpkin spice touches my tongue.

He nods, his eyes sparkling so bright it mirrors an ocean. “It's all I've ever wanted. I knew from a young age I always wanted to write gay vampire smut.”

My laugh is so wild that the table next to us jumps out of their skin. I can't reign it in and the louder I get till I'm practically choking, the brighter Miles smiles. Pink tints his freckled nose and he shrugs, unable to contain his happiness though. “Ok that's a lie. I'm not restricted to just vampires, all fictional creatures are good.”

Slapping at my chest, I raise my hand in an apology to the now glowering table of women and scoot my chair closer to him until our legs are pressed together from hip to knee.

“Sorry, I didn't realise I was sitting with Dracula's number one fetish fan.”

He faux gasps. “It is not a fetish Cassie, being his number one is a lifestyle.”

I playfully push his shoulder, sliding my arm along the back of his chair. Remembering what we'd spoken about the first time we'd met in the cafe, I click my finger and dig my phone out of my jacket.

“Dunimarle would be the perfect place to set a book like that. In the autumn time they throw an all hallows festival pretty much every weekend. In winter, it's permanently covered in fog and freaks the fuck out of the locals.” He hangs off my every word, nodding.

Unlocking my phone, I ignore my teammates group chat where Rowley is probably still defending his cheesecake's honour for bake off night, and the comments flooding my new video posted to my masked account. Someone under the account @kittycumboy asked me to collar him and I decided maybe it was for the best if I stopped looking at them. A post dump and run approach. Opening my photos, I scroll quickly until I get to January and find the snaps I took when I visited the castle village with Dad.

“Take a look.” I slide my phone over to him and pick up the cookie, snapping it in half to demolish my side in two bites. Fuck I love how sweet and spiced everything is. Miles swipes through the photos in awe, pointing out details he likes and shyly asks if I can send them to him. This man is a marvel; confidentially announcing his love for paranormal smut but blushes asking me for a simple text message.

Instead of teasing, I find his contact with the little ghost face and hit send.