Ugly Love (Hoover)/Chapter 31

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😭

Colleen Hoover

Ugly Love. Chapter 31

Tate confronts Miles’s emotional boundaries

2014

Summary of a Chapter
from the Collection “Ugly Love”

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Chapter Summary

Tate waited eagerly for Miles to return after ten days away while Corbin prepared dinner. She had found an apartment closer to work and school but had not yet told Miles she would be moving out.

She and Miles rarely contacted each other unless they were both home, preserving the boundaries of their arrangement. Although her new place was only a few blocks away, she feared he might end things once seeing her became less convenient.

Miles arrived and struggled to conceal his excitement at seeing Tate. Corbin remained curt and focused on cooking, still uncomfortable with their involvement. Miles asked about her midterms and silently told her she looked pretty.

Unable to keep his distance, Miles kissed Tate in front of Corbin and led her out. At his apartment, she noticed his luggage was still in the hallway. He admitted he had come straight to see her before going home.

Tate teasingly said he had missed her, but Miles immediately tensed and changed the subject. His sudden withdrawal made her recognize that she could no longer handle their arrangement, despite hoping he would eventually open up.

When she directly asked whether he had missed her, Miles refused to answer. He said they did not say such things and had never been friends. He also invoked her rule against giving her false hope to explain his refusal.

Overwhelmed by accumulated hurt, Tate asked what another woman had done to him. Miles warned her not to pursue the question and told her to leave. She swore at him and headed for the door, but he followed and slammed it shut before she could go.

Miles insisted their relationship had always been strictly sexual and that his two rules were clear. Tate challenged him, saying their intimacy had become lovemaking. She cited his looks, his longing, and his rush to see her as evidence that his actions contradicted his words.

After Tate finished, Miles stepped away and struggled to control his breathing. He turned from her, gripped his neck, and finally asked what he was doing to her. He sank down against a wall, covered his face, and began crying silently.

Recognizing the same anguished crying she had witnessed when they first met, Tate knelt beside him and put an arm around his shoulders. She stopped asking about his past because she was now frightened to learn the source of his pain.

Characters

❤️‍🩹

Tate — narrator, young woman who works and studies, lives with Corbin, and plans to move nearby; deeply attached to Miles, she challenges his emotional distance but comforts him when he breaks down.

🛡️

Miles Archer — young adult man living across the hall, Tate’s sexual partner; eager and affectionate on returning home but resistant to emotional acknowledgment, intimidating during their argument, and ultimately overcome by pain and tears.

🍳

Corbin — adult man sharing his apartment with Tate, aware of her planned move and uncomfortable with her involvement with Miles; prepares dinner and responds curtly to Miles’s arrival.

Quotes

“But we were never friends. And I don’t want to break your one and only rule by giving you false hope, so I’m not saying it.”
I can’t explain what happens to me, because I don’t know.

You can’t even wait ten seconds to walk in your own front door before coming to see me. So don’t you dare try to tell me you’ve been clear from day one, because you are the murkiest goddamn man I’ve ever met.

This grown man, this wall of intimidation, this solid veil of armor, he’s completely crumbling right in front of my eyes.
“Miles?” I whisper. My voice is weak compared with his massive silence.

This summary is based on the UK edition of the novel (London: Simon & Schuster UK, 2014).