for, lover (Completed; editing)

Chapter 82

"How was your day off yesterday?" Vanessa teases me with an elbow nudge as soon as I make it to the back room for work.

"Not so great." I sigh and hang my bag up on the rack next to the back desk.

"Whaaat? Even after hottie took you home?"

I look at her. "Vanessa, seriously? You know it's weird between us."

She shrugs. "I just thought you could use something to make you feel better."

"What?" I cross my arms.

"You've been very on edge lately. Everyone notices it."

"No I haven't! I've actually done pretty well for myself these past few months."

She shakes her head and grabs her apron from the desk, sliding it over her neck and tying it around her waist. "We can tell when you're off. It's okay to not be okay but sometimes you need that extra push from a friend to get back into it."

I blink a few times. "Vanessa, did you call Miles on fucking purpose?"

"Well why else was he still in your contacts, girl? You clearly want him in your life still. I was just pushing things for you a little faster. You can thank me later."

My mouth drops. I stare at her, contemplating whether to deal with this now or when I'm off the clock. I don't have the energy to do it now.

"That was really uncalled for." I mutter and sit down in my chair.

"I'm sorry, I just thought you could use some help. You never let anyone help you."

"Because I don't need it, Vanessa. Get back on the floor."

Her eyes widen at my sudden tone. She snatches her apron and rushes to the front of the store.

I lean my chin on my hand and take a deep breath, staring mindlessly at my work until the hours fly by. Today is admin day so I won't have to be on the floor unless I'm absolutely needed. Vanessa doesn't bother me the entire morning, giving me plenty of time to get all of my work done.

When my shift ends, I walk out to my car in the front of the parking lot and unlock the passengers side to put my stuff in. My phone starts going off as soon as I'm in the driver's seat from an unknown number.

I bite down on my tongue and hesitate to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey." Miles breathes.

"What number are you calling me from?" I ask.

"I got a new phone. A new number too. I was just calling to tell you that so you can save this number instead."

"You couldn't have just texted me?" I giggle.

"Nope."

"Uh huh. Is there anything else you wanted?"

"Well, now that you mention it...yeah. I'm in the downtown area as usual and I really could use some coffee and company. All the other people I asked passed up my offer."

I laugh a little. "Yeah, I'm sure they did. I just got off work. You can come get a coffee if you want but you can't get it for free."

"I wasn't trying to! I actually prefer paying for my hazelnut lattes."

"Yeah, whatever. I'll wait in the parking lot."

"Perfect. See you soon." He hangs up.

I feel the small trickle of guilt appear in the base of my stomach as Miles pulls into the driveway. I remember that it probably wouldn't be the best idea to be seen with him by any of the people in this building so I back up my car in one of the back spots of the lot.

He returns after a few minutes with his latte, looking around for my car. He makes a worried face when he spots me in the corner and heads that way. I unlock the door for him and make room in my front seat.

"I was going to drive." He pouts, climbing in the passenger side.

"No drinking and driving." I tease and drive out of the parking lot onto the main road.

"You're hilarious."

"I've heard." I smile, taking a turn out of downtown.

"Where are we going?" Miles asks with a cocked brow.

"I haven't decided yet, I just didn't want to be in town today."

Auto pilot sets in for a half hour that I'm getting off the exit to Concord Mills once I snap out of it. The last time I was here was with Maddy where she got a damn concussion at Dave & Busters and met Damian. Taking a mental stroll down memory lane is discomforting and I try not to linger there for too long while I'm with Miles. This is already weird enough.

"Do you need to finish up Christmas shopping or something?" Miles asks and unbuckles his seatbelt when I park.

"I still haven't gotten my mom anything." I respond.

He laughs. "Okay."

We get out and walk to the entrance. I almost get ran over by two kids fleeing across the parking lot away from their parents. I huff and roll my eyes.

"Ooh, that wasn't very Christmas spirity of you." Miles teases.

"People need to learn how to watch their kids. It's annoying."

"You don't seem like the kid type."

I gasp over dramatically. "What ever made you think such a thing?"

"You really don't like kids?"

"I like Lily. That's pretty much it."

"Damn."

I chuckle and glance at him. "Why?"

"I was just wondering. You never really gave your input about having your own family."

"Seeing how my family turned out is the only convincing I need to not repopulate."

Miles sticks his hands in his jacket pockets and continues his steady pace next to me as we walk into Burlington.

"You can't really base that on how every family is. You seem to be doing pretty well for yourself. Why not keep the option open?"

"Because I don't think that's what I want. I think I would've made that decision by now, don't you think?"

Out of all that we could be talking about, it just had to be this. It feels like I'm back at my family Thanksgiving dinner being bombarded with questions about my love life and when I'm going to start "popping them out."
It makes me want to vomit but I did plenty of that yesterday.

"You never know. Finding someone you really love just might change your decision."

"Thanks, dad. I'll keep that in mind."

He smiles. "I'm just saying, keep your options open since you're still so young. You've already done so many things with yourself in just the little amount of time that I've known you that even shocked me. The world can be very surprising."

It sure can be.