Ugly Love (Hoover)/Chapter 25
from the Collection “Ugly Love”
Chapter Summary
Several weeks after learning about Tate’s involvement with Miles, her brother Corbin still refused to speak to him. He recognized where Tate went during her unexplained absences but no longer questioned her.
Tate had adjusted to Miles’s rules for their sexual relationship. She wanted more intimacy than he offered, had never stayed overnight, and felt hurt by his withdrawal afterward. Despite trying not to think about it, she constantly worried about their future.
After Miles returned from four days at work, they lay together fully dressed. He asked whether Tate was a nickname. His unusual interest in her personal life made her happier than their previous encounters and renewed her hope.
She explained that her full name was Elizabeth Tate Collins and that Tate was her grandmother’s maiden name. Miles shared his middle name, Mikel. They playfully used each other’s full names while discussing their jobs.
Miles said he loved being a captain but disliked being away when Tate lived across the hall. She gasped at his admission that she made him want to stay home. Expecting him to retract it, she silently wished he would let her keep that hope.
Instead, Miles kissed her intensely. Tate believed the kiss expressed feelings unlike his earlier desire and revealed the person he had once been. After they had sex, however, she again felt unsure whether she could ask for affection or stay.
Afraid of rejection, Tate dressed and left, saying she would see him tomorrow. Miles watched without replying. Back in her apartment, she challenged Corbin’s disapproving reaction, and he accused Miles of deceiving him and acting hypocritically toward another man, Dillon.
Tate defended Miles, saying he had been honest about what he wanted and that she was his first sexual partner in six years. She accused Corbin of hypocrisy over his own relationships. Miles entered during their argument and asked whether she was all right.
Corbin finally asked why Miles could not have been gay. Miles smiled, and Corbin laughed despite his frustration. Tate took this as a sign that Corbin was beginning to accept the situation and left them alone to repair their friendship.
Downstairs, Tate met Cap and accompanied him to his twentieth-floor apartment. Asked why a man might reject love forever, Cap suggested he might have experienced its ugliest side. At his door, he added that past ghosts could overwhelm a man’s spirit. Tate remained confused about Miles.
Characters
Quotes
I know I want so much more than what he’s giving me and he wants so much less than what I want to give him, but we’re both just taking what we can get for now.
One would think limiting oneself to just sex would be the simplest thing in the world, but it makes me question every move and every word that comes out of my mouth.
Sometimes a man’s spirit just ain’t strong enough to withstand the ghosts from his past. ... Maybe that boy just lost his spirit somewhere along the way.