for, liar

Chapter 104

Miles answers the door shortly after my anxious knocking interrupts the quiet afternoon I left him with. He looks shocked to see me and lets me in without a dispute. I'm not sure if it was the best idea to barge in like this ready to fire questions after I just told him I'd see him tomorrow. He doesn't seem to mind too much when he goes to hug me.

"What's going on? Is everything okay?" He asks and pulls me into a tight embrace.

I flinch, quickly pulling away from him. That came off like I didn't want him to touch me and he would surely question me about that if I didn't explain myself soon.

"Everything's fine, I just really need to talk to you."

He nods understandingly and leads me over to the couch. I sit down at the opposite end that he's on and set my keys on the coffee table.

"You're starting to scare me." He says.

I must be taking way too long to start talking. I just don't know how to start.

"I'm sorry. I just-"

"You're not pregnant are you?" He interrupts.

I laugh and shake my head. I've made sure that wouldn't be a worry.

"No, of course not. I just need to talk to you about something and I really need you to be completely honest."

He crosses his arms and sits up. "Of course, babe." He says calmly.

There's no indication he's nervous. There's no worried look in his eyes like I had caught him in anything bad. He doesn't seem concerned at all and I just know I'm going to make a huge mistake by bringing all of this up again after we had moved past it months ago.

"You grew up right next to my hometown. You lived not even twenty minutes from me. Why wouldn't you tell me that?"

Now he's uneasy. I completely threw him off guard.

He wipes his palms against his jeans and leans back on the couch cushion. "It's not humbling to tell your girlfriend you lived in a trailer park for most of your childhood." He says.

"You're ashamed because you lived in a trailer? Have you seen your mom's beach house?"

"It's not my mom's, it's Penny's. That's why they live together. She could never afford something as nice as that. My dad maybe, but not her. She doesn't have a lot of money."

I nod and drag my fingers through my hair. Such a bad habit to mess up my waves because I'm anxious.

"Why are you bringing this up?" He asks.

"Well you were wondering why my mother acts weird around you. She knows you, apparently. A lot of her neighbors do too."

He laughs and slaps his knee amusingly. "Of course! Of course they would start talking shit without even getting to know me. That's really original."

It's not amusement anymore. It's turned to disappointment and hopelessness.

"It's not like that, Miles. My mom likes you. I just overheard some ladies at the New Years party talking about you and your friend. I asked my mom about it and she said you had been caught a few times stealing from my neighborhood. They were just concerned, that's all."