for, liar

Chapter 40

The last thing I remember was falling asleep right in Miles' arms to the sound of the TV and his soft breathing. My arm was draped over his stomach and my head rested securely on his chest. He kept his arms around me all night and I felt so at peace.

I wake up and roll over right into the empty side of the bed. I realize Miles wasn't there and shoot out from under the sheets. I quickly climb out of bed and jog out the bedroom. Miles is standing in the kitchen area in front of the stove cooking. He's whistling to whatever mediocre pop song is playing for the fourth time of the hour on the radio.

It smells like coffee and bacon in here. My two favorite scents. He notices me staring from the doorway and chuckles.

"You were supposed to stay in bed! I was going to bring it to you." He exclaims and waves his spatula in the air.

"You do not want me eating on your sheets. That won't end well."

He rolls his eyes and smiles as he dips a scoop of eggs on each plate he set out. I walk in there and place a peck on his cheek.

"It feels like it's much later than seven o'clock. I got scared we were running late." I tell him and snag a piece of bacon from the pan.

"Nope. Just in time. Mom doesn't expect us until noon anyway."

Miles carries the plates over to the table and sets them down. He walks over to the coffee pot and pours two cups.

"Black, right?" He asks and offers me a mug.

"You got it."

I smile warmly and take it from him. He remembers everything, I swear.

"I've tried to drink black coffee, it just doesn't work for me." He says.

"It's an acquired taste."

We take a seat at the table and dig in. As much as I would love to devour every bite of food in front of me as quickly as possible, I don't want to show him the hungry and wild morning Bree so I decide to take things slow.

"When did you want to leave?" I ask with a bit of bacon still in my mouth.

"I would say 8:30 at the latest. It's a bit of a drive." He responds and takes a few sips from his coffee.

"I can definitely be ready by then."

We finish breakfast and I take a quick shower while Miles finishes packing his bag. He's a very minimal guy. He has two bottles in his shower, one being a combination of shampoo and conditioner and the other being body wash. I never found that the combos work very well. I think guys can get away with it.

I wrap up in the bathroom and put my travel necessities back in the front pocket of my suitcase. Miles grabs his keys and looks over at me from the bedroom.

"Ready, sunshine?"

I shoot him a thumbs up and pull the handle out of the socket to steer my bag. Miles picks his duffel bag up and walks us out to his car.

"It's about a three and a half hour drive so kick your feet back and get comfy. I got those tacky neck pillows if you need one." He tells me and shoves our things in the trunk.

I giggle and hop in the front seat. "Three hours is not going to make me need a neck pillow. It'll go by quickly."

"I use neck pillows for half hour car rides. Maximum comfort is always the goal."

I laughed because I thought he was joking but the seriousness on his face makes me realize he wasn't. That just makes me laugh more.

"You're stupid." I tease and nudge his arm.

"True, but I managed to snatch you up so I must have something going for me."

"Well shit, you got me there."

He grins and grabs my hand to kiss it as he starts down the road. We get onto I-277 and as we're sitting in complete silence, I look around for the aux cord.

"I have Bluetooth in here now. You can hook it up." He says when he notices me looking.

"Fancy."

I fix all the settings and connect my phone to his car. I don't really know what kind of music he likes. He's never said anything about the music I play. I've never seen any mixes or playlists he's had on Spotify. I don't even think he has Spotify. Does he even listen to music when I'm not here? He was listening to the radio this morning but he wasn't even whistling the right tune.

"What kind of music do you like?" I ask him.

He glances over at me and shrugs. "Anything. I'm not picky." He says.

"Okay, but what's your favorite genre or band?"

He wiggles his nose and scrunches his eyebrows. That's his thinking face.

"I don't know, really. I usually just listen to whatever the people around me play. My friends used to listen to old hip hop and stuff. I couldn't name a single singer or song though."

I scroll through Spotify and nod.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I just listen to whatever I'm feeling. I have a few playlists that are based on my mood, like if I was sad or angry."

"Do you have happy ones?" He asks.

I chuckle and tap my "good vibes only" playlist. "Of course I do."

La La Land by Bryce Vine starts playing. Miles makes a face from what I'm assuming is just him not knowing what the hell I was playing. The chorus comes around and he starts nodding his head a little to the beat.

"This sounds a little familiar." He says and taps the steering wheel.

"It's been on the radio. Here, roll down the windows." I suggest.

He reaches over and rolls both of the front windows down. I reach up and push back the sunroof to let the light in. The chorus comes around again and I can hear Miles try to sing it. I giggle at his lack of knowing the lyrics but sing along with him anyway.

I reach my arm out of the window and feel the morning breeze. The weather feels perfect today, making me even more excited to be going to the beach.

"Hey, baby waste your time with me in Californiaaaa." He sings way out of tune.

His charisma makes me belly laugh. He smiles warmly and grabs at my hand again, which I return to him without hesitation. I still can't believe how long it's been since I've felt this way. Everyone deserves to feel like this all of the time. Otherwise, I wouldn't want to feel anything at all.

Revised;