Too Close

Chapter Forty Six

She turned in her sleep, feeling the rays of sunlight trying to invade her closed lids. She felt too warm, inside and out, as she was wrapped in the cocoon of Miles' arms, his hands holding on tightly to her body and her heart.

She fluttered her eyes open, her eyelashes brushing his thick facial hairs as she looked up at him. He was wide awake, switching his phone between his hands for comfort, and struggling a bit since his right wasn't his dominant.

Gianna's gaze raked over him, taking the time to secretly stare at him and admire his handsome features. Miles felt her eyes on him and noticed that she'd woken up. His lips unconsciously went up into a smile, a part of him finding this moment so dreamlike, like he was still asleep, but also so familiar, like they were four years in the past.

He clicked his phone off and tossed it to the other side of the bed. "Good morning." He said as he turned to her, his minty and fresh breath going in her nose and his voice raspier than normal.

"Morning." Gianna whispered, not wanting to breathe in his face. She slipped from under him and went to quickly refresh herself before making it back to what felt like the warmest spot on Earth.

"Shouldn't you be in LA right now?" She asked after she'd rediscovered her place, sandwiched between him and the sheets. Miles wrapped his arms around her body, pulling one of her legs over his.

"I booked a later flight. I didn't want to leave you in the middle of the night." Miles' fingers tapped light patterns on her skin as they laid intertwined. She smiled at his consideration of her feelings, appreciating it so much even though she would've understood if he had to leave. "What time is yours for?"

"My what?"

"Your flight to LA." Miles said, reaching behind him to grab his phone and make sure he was still good on time and that Chase was up and ready to go.

"I don't have one." Gianna spoke quietly, looking away from his eyes.

"You're not coming to the premiere?"

"No, that was never the plan. Dessi didn't get me on the flight with everybody else because she knew I'd want to stay with my family for a few more days and then go back to Atlanta. This was all discussed before I knew it was you or this happened. Again." She added, faintly smiling and trying to lighten up the mood.

"I'd love for you to be there and be my date. As a makeup for last time." His ego was nonexistent as he got the words out. It was clear that he genuinely wanted her to be there and by his side.

"I want to be there for you, but there aren't any more flights out. I've already looked." Gianna could barely finish her sentences before he was back on his phone, asking Lance to get her one and then doing a little searching of his own.

His search was cut short due to Chase calling him and asking about his whereabouts and what he was doing. Lance also let him know that his search was coming up short but he'd continue looking.

"What did you and my dad talk about?" Gianna asked, her finger trailing across the blank canvas of his chest, it was clear contrasting the tattoos on his arms. She'd been meaning to ask him since last night but was obviously distracted.

"I don't want to talk about your dad right now, Gia." He said it in the nicest way possible, his voice soft as he looked into her eyes. He didn't think she'd like to know what exactly her dad said to him anyway.

"Please? It's important to me. Was he nice to you?" Miles nodded his head, hoping that would be enough for her to be satisfied, but he soon realized that she was looking for a verbatim recap.

"He said that if I really cared about you, I would've left you alone and didn't risk your education. Also that you would be better off with someone your own age, but we came to an understanding, so it's alright." He assured her once again, but the relief didn't fill her curious void. It was aggravating that he was being treated like he did something so terrible, and she was being treated as a victim when that was never the case.