Ugly Love (Hoover)/Chapter 13
from the Collection “Ugly Love”
Chapter Summary
After Thanksgiving, Miles returned with Tate and her brother, Corbin. Corbin joked about Miles having gone six years without sex. Miles privately arranged for Tate to visit after Corbin went to bed, while she wished she could be part of his future.
Tate carefully prepared for their encounter while trying to look casual. Miles texted her using a number he had secretly taken from Corbin’s phone. He left on a late-night errand, and they met in the hallway once Corbin retired.
Inside Miles’s apartment, Tate felt uncertain about an arrangement that excluded both his past and their future. He had bought orange juice for her, a thoughtful gesture that pleased her. Their playful struggle over his shopping bag revealed condoms.
Tate asked about his injured hand and learned that he would leave for work in a few hours. She worried about him flying without sleep, but he said he could rest as copilot. He declined to hear about her sexual history and asked to kiss her instead.
They went to his bedroom, where Tate admitted feeling nervous. Miles reassured her that they could slow down or wait. After learning that he would be away for nine days, she confirmed that she wanted to stay and continue.
They had sex for the first time. Miles worried that his excitement would make the experience disappointing for her, but afterward he attended to her pleasure, and they were intimate again. Both expressed intense satisfaction with the encounter.
Afterward, Tate noticed that Miles had avoided eye contact during intercourse and wondered whether it was deliberate. She realized she wanted no other partner. Although he remained affectionate, he handed her clothes back and asked her to lock the door when she left.
Tate felt hurt and embarrassed by how much his dismissal affected her. She acknowledged that he had promised only sex, yet doubted she could keep her feelings casual. Despite an inward warning to stop, she persuaded herself that she deserved some enjoyment.
Hearing Corbin talking in their apartment, Tate hesitated to enter because he believed she was asleep. She did not want him discovering her involvement with Miles and becoming angry. Rather than return to Miles, she went downstairs to wait.
In the lobby, eighty-year-old Cap invited her to sit beside him. He asked about Thanksgiving and guessed from her smile and blush that she and Miles were involved. Tate denied falling in love and avoided confirming anything more. Cap hoped Miles would smile more often, then honored her request to change subjects by mentioning a dead body he had once found.
Characters
Quotes
If the past and the future are off limits, that only leaves the present, and I have no idea what to do in the present.
I walk to the kitchen in the present.
I leave, not knowing what to feel. He didn’t promise me anything more than what just happened between us. We did what I willingly agreed to, which was have sex.
There’s a small voice in the back of my head, warning me to pull away from this situation before things become too complicated with him. Unfortunately, there’s a much louder voice urging me to just go for it