Out of the Woods | ✓

29 | she's all that

If Jensen had to use makeup remover on more time to fix a smudge, she was just going to give up and go to Miles' party bare faced. Why she'd decided to attempt a look was beyond her. Miles didn't care whether she wore makeup or not. Almost every morning they had spent together Jensen hadn't worn makeup because she couldn't have been bothered to put any on.

            But now because Miles was thirty-five and she wanted today to be special because she knew how much he was dreading today and she the very least she could've tried. But trying to make it look good was more of a hassle than anything else. Jensen should've just given up. When Jensen's hand smudged her attempted eye makeup again, she might've thrown her brush in frustration. Maybe. Did she want to admit it? No.

            There was a small knock at the door. "Rhodes, are you good? I heard... um, growling."

            Jensen opened the door as she wiped away yet another layer of eye makeup. "I'm so far from good."

            Miles smiled. Softly. His eyes crinkled as he leaned against the doorframe. He eyed Jensen's phone, propped up against a shampoo bottle, with a paused tutorial that was supposed to be easy but was far from. "Do you want some help?"

            "I want to burn every bit of makeup," Jensen said, "ever to exist."

            "It's not that bad."

            "It's not the first try."

            Miles grinned. "Question still stands."

            "Aren't you getting ready?" Jensen asked. "I don't want to interrupt you, I know we need to go soon."

            Miles looked down at himself and back up at Jensen. Holding his hands out at his sides, he asked, "Is this not Rhodes approved?"

            Jensen hadn't taken a moment to look at what he was wearing. And when she did, she savoured it. Because holy shit. A button up had red roses patterned across it. Sleeves short enough that his Rocky tattoo would've been clear as day if Jensen was behind him. Black jeans lead to a pair of clean black trainers. Miles' outfit wasn't dressy, per se, but he looked incredibly good in it.

            "It's Rhodes approved." Jensen nodded. A failed attempt to cover up that she had scanned over him multiple times. But she stole another glance—up and down. "Definitely Rhodes approved."

            "You sure took a moment to look, didn't you?" Miles winked at her.

            Jensen laughed and held her hands up in defense. "You invited me to."

"You can look at me all you want." Miles grinned.

            "I just—" Jensen put her ankle on the counter, like she wasn't wearing her striped pyjama shorts but just happened to put shoes on. A lower top version of what Miles was wearing. Also black. "—like your shoes."

"I like yours too," Miles said with a small laugh. "But do you need help with the—" He leaned over to the sink where Jensen's phone was resting and smiled wider. "—easy smoky eye?"

            "It's not easy," Jensen said. "I'll tell you that."

            Miles smiled. "I can fix it. If you want."

            "Please." Jensen rubbed her temples. "I'm going to cry if I have to try this again."

            Miles gently took Jensen's ankle in his hand and took it off the counter so he could lean against it. "It's just a smoky eye you want?" he asked, taking the pallet Jensen had been using in his hand. And a completely different brush than the one that she had been using.