Page 33 of Sing Your Secrets
“Oh, nothing. I just made a bet with the universe that this night couldn’t get more embarrassing for me.” He gestures to me and ducks his head. “I clearly lost.”
I laugh, relieved he seems playful…and sober. You never know what to expect when you see a man sleeping on the sidewalk. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he says as he rises, using the brick wall to steady himself. Balling up his fists, he pats the outsides of his legs like he’s trying to get his blood flowing. “I just locked myself out like an idiot. My keys, my wallet—” he juts his thumb over his shoulder—“everything is in there. And my phone died.”
“That’s shitty luck.”
“No kidding.” It might be a crappy night, but he’s still smiling at me like he’s happy to see me.
“Does anyone else have keys?”
“Two others. But one is in Breckenridge on his anniversary trip, and my dad is no doubt sleeping. He’s still injured from falling through the stage yesterday. I don’t want to wake him.”
“The stage broke?” I bury my hands in my face. “I’m sorry—I mean, first—is your dad okay?”
“Just a sprained ankle for him, and some scratches for me,” Miles says patting his back. “Nothing to stress about.” Except he winces, and then I can’t control myself.
“You fell too?” I ask and he nods in response. “It hurts? Let me see.” I swivel my finger in the air and to my great surprise he obediently turns in place. Holding my breath to control the tickle of excitement flurrying in my chest, I remind myself that at the present moment, undressing Miles is strictly business. I pull up the back of his zip-up hoodie and white undershirt to see inflamed, red scratches on the tan skin of his lower back. There’s a little bruising too.
“Miles,” I scold. “This looks like it’s getting infected. There’s a bunch of little splinters still in here. You need to go to a hospital—”
“No,” he says firmly. Yanking down his top, he steps away. “I don’t need a thousand-dollar hospital bill to pull some splinters out and slap some Neosporin on a scratch. I’m good. They’ll come out in a hot shower.” He smiles at me warmly. “But thanks for checking.”
Stubborn.Which is apparently my type.
“So, what are you going to do?” I ask, crossing my arms. “Sleep here, on the sidewalk? Do you want my phone to call someone? Or, better yet, I’ll drop you off wherever you want to go. Come on,” I say nodding toward my car. “It’s freezing.”
I take two steps and realize he’s not following me, so I backpedal. “Um, you’re going to need to get in the car for me to take you somewhere,” I sass.
“I don’t have my house keys. My parents live outside of Castle Rock—it’s almost a forty-minute drive. My brothers are a little closer, but they have little kids and they’re probably sleeping. I don’t want to bother anyone. I’ll call someone in the morning.” He leans back against the door and shuts his eyes until he hears me burst out laughing. Again, he looks startled. “What?”
Holding my ribs, I manage through huffs of laughter, “You’re bat shit crazy.”
“Excuse me?” He raises his brows looking slightly perturbed.
“Look at you,” I say, pointing to where his brows are furrowing. “You actually think I’m going to leave you out here overnight? Hilarious. Get your ass in the car, Miles. I know of a hospital that has a plushy couch, costs zero dollars, and serves beer.”
He smirks. “Really?”
“Really,” I snark back.
“And where’s this impressive hospital?” he asks as he follows me to the car this time. He hustles to beat me to the driver’s door so he can open it for me. Oh, damn. If I wasn’t weak-kneed before.
I slide into the driver’s seat before shooting him a wink. “My place.”
He shuts the driver’s side door and I swear I hear him let out a low whistle—the kind of whistle a man lets out when he knows he’s walking right into a woman’s sexy trap.