A / N

...and this is where the real plot begins.

x Noelle

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0 6

(aka the one where Miles is Kaden 2.0 (but better) (and hotter) (and sexier))

WINTER NIGHTS AT Caverly were almost unbearable. This town was warmer than most places during the daytime, but far colder at night. I hated them as much as I loved the sun, and avoided the beach by evening.

But it was where Miles had arranged for us to meet. I'll be at the place we first met at 11:30, his follow-up message had read. It wasn't a request, almost like he knew that I would show up.

And damn him, but he was right.

I dawdled around my apartment until eleven-ish, then made my way to the beach. Tucking my hands in my pockets, I braced myself for the inevitable cold. Although whether the chill would be from the weather or from him was debatable.

To my surprise, Miles was already there. He cut a lonely, tall figure in the distance, barely illuminated by the lamppost nearby. I took a deep breath and trudged up to him. He must've heard my footsteps because he stiffened, but his gaze was fixed on the shack several feet away.

There was a lengthy pause before he finally broke the silence. "I didn't realize this place had shut down."

I followed his gaze to the dilapidated hut. The metal shutters had been pulled down, and years-old dust covered the counter. A sharp sting of nostalgia swept through me and I quickly looked away.

"Yes." My voice was small, and I felt his gaze on me. "My parents had to close shop two years ago. This town wasn't in a good shape before Brielle opened Sereinn. Too many of our old customers had left, and there weren't enough tourists to hold onto the business. Wavelength made about five months of losses before they decided that it just wasn't worth operating anymore."

Miles didn't respond. His expression remained impassive as he stared at the shack, and I wondered what he could be thinking. Did he remember it the way it used to be—with sunlight filtered through the roof, rust on the deck chairs and sea salt lingering in the air? Or did he remember it the way I did—as a place where we first met, where we first kissed and where we first fell in love?

I ripped my gaze away from him. "Sometimes, I think we could've made it work," I admitted. "If we'd held on to the shack a little longer, or if the overhead costs hadn't run quite so high... I could've run it, I think. But I never really got the chance to try, and then it was gone." I drew in a shaky breath and let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Anyway, that's not important anymore. Did you get my message?"

Miles shot me a sideway glance. "The one about how I had to be careful or the big bad bullies of Caverly would stab me in the back?"

My cheeks reddened. I hadn't quite meant to sound so dramatic, but I'd been worried and he had refused to see me. "Believe what you want, but these guys aren't messing around. You remember Liam Tulden, don't you?"

"I remember all of them."

"Yes, well, then you'll remember how they're like. You don't want to piss them off."

"You really think that little of me?" His voice was sharp, and I realized that he'd taken my concern the wrong way.

"I really think that little of them," I corrected. "Come on, Miles. These are the guys who gave you hell when you tried out for Corvus. They'd strip two initiates, put them in a ring and make them fight until one of them was bleeding all over! Why would you even want to antagonize them?"

"Because I can!" he snarled, his features hard with anger. "No one in this fucking town antagonizes them. Ever. Everyone keeps playing by their rules and that's why they go on the way they do. Assholes since grade school and assholes even when they're pushing thirty. But it's been six years. Six fucking years. If I ran from them the way I did back then, all these years of growing up would've been for nothing. And now, with Hale & Co., I don't have to play by their fucking rules any longer!"

He spun to leave, and I could only gape at him. My mind reeled. There were several ways to deal with bullies. One was to knuckle under, which was what most helpless victims did. Another was to not give a shit, which was what anyone with enough backbone would do. The last one required a little courage to best the players at their own game and rewrite the rules.

It was what Miles had done. In his own unorthodox way, he'd bested the kids who used to bully him. He'd pulled the stability of this town from under their feet, and threatened the very place they lived in. Were Hale & Co. to obtain Blue Haven, or any other part of Caverly, they would effectively be playing by his rules.

Because he could.

"You're right," I called after him. He stopped mid-stride, his fists still clenched by his sides, but he didn't turn back around. I took several steps forward until I was beside him again. "No one antagonizes them, because it's so much easier to shut a blind eye to it all. And they were my friends. I used to think the world of them...until I met you."

His tensed shoulders seemed to slacken, just a little, his rigid posture loosened. Under the dim light, I watched his Adam's apple slide up and down as he swallowed, before he raked a swift hand through his hair. When he spoke again, his voice was measured.

"So I had lunch with my dad the other day, and he mentioned something quite interesting."

I blinked, confused by the sudden switch in topic. "Did he?"

"Yes." His gaze bore into mine. "Apparently, going by a conversation he had with you three months ago, you and I are still together."

"Oh." I bit my lip. That had been the weekend I'd dropped by the city for some errand of sorts, and unexpectedly ran into Miles's father. Suddenly, I was thankful for the lack of lighting, because my cheeks were all kinds of flushed. "Um..."

"Why didn't you tell him that we'd broken up?"

Because we never really did. "Well, he didn't seem to know and I figured that you hadn't told him either. So...I thought that, maybe, you didn't want him to know."

Miles's jaw tightened and he looked away. "You're right—I don't. He seems to approve of you, for some reason, and I'd hate to disappoint him." He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat, and let out a slow breath. "Let's make a deal, Evers."

"What kind of deal?"

"Since my father thinks we're still together, I'd like to keep it that way. I have to go to three events within the next few months. Attend them with me and let him see that everything's perfect between us."

His words took me so much by surprise that I could only stare at him. A million questions burned in my mind, the most important of which was—are you doing it for your dad, or are you doing it for you? For the first time, I had the strangest inkling that I was about to play with fire. "What's in it for me?"

"I will be open to negotiation," he said simply. "I'll take a look at those files you sent to Hale & Co. the other day. If they're convincing enough, I'll raise them to the board. We'll take your concerns into consideration before making any decisions regarding Caverly."

Three events in exchange for safeguarding Sereinn and, possibly, Caverly. It sounded like a fair deal to me. It also sounded too good to be true. "Really? You won't back out on this?"

He let out a laugh—the first one I'd heard from him since his return. Instead of the warm, husky sound I remembered it to be, it was bitter and biting. "Surely you haven't forgotten everything about me, Evers? Have I ever broken a promise that I made?"

I thought about what he said. Miles was not a person who made many promises, but on the occasions that he did... As far as I could remember, there were three. One—that he would help me do well in my SATs when I retook it. Two—that he wouldn't leave Caverly until I'd been accepted into a college. And three—that he would return to me.

He'd fulfilled all of them. He'd taught me until I did well enough to go to Linville, and it was after I received my acceptance letter that he'd packed his bags. And even though his feelings towards Caverly (and me) were hostile at best, he'd still returned to me.

I met his gaze squarely and held out a hand to him. "Deal."