Page 80 of Paint Our Song

Calvin tilts his head, and he asks, voice amused, “What was that for?”

“Felt like it.” Miles grins. “Sorry, I know we’re out. I won’t do it again.”

“It’s fine. I—yeah. That was okay.”

He hands him the pick. “For you.”

“Oh. Thanks.” Calvin takes it, stares at it for a long while andthen he does it again—he smiles in that too-soft way he does, and Miles’s heart jumps. Fuck. He turns away and smacks a hand against his warm cheeks, cursing under his breath.

“Isn’t that Matthew’s bakery?” Calvin asks, pointing at the end of the road. The sign says Brown Sugar—Matthew’s place.

He forgot they were getting close. “Yeah. Matthew’s probably still at the inn, though. His mom’s probably the one manning the store.”

“Do you want to say hi to her?”

“Maybe next time,” he says, chuckling. “She’s great, but I haven’t seen her in a while. She’ll probably fuss over me, and we’ll never be able to leave.”

Calvin seems like he wants to ask something—probably bring up what Megan said earlier—when Miles’s phone rings and interrupts them.

It’s Gabby.

“Miles, you need to come back,” she says when he picks up. “The wedding party came all at once to check-in to their rooms, and we could use the help. Everything okay with the rentals?”

“Yeah, all good. On my way,” he says. The call ends, and he puts his phone away. “I need to head back.”

Calvin nods. They walk back toward his car, which is parked a block away, on the street of the wedding rental store.

“So… you and Matthew, huh?” Calvin peers at him.

Okay. He can’t avoid the question forever, and he mentally braces himself. “Yeah. I should have mentioned it.”

Shrugging, Calvin says, “You’re good, I didn’t know is all. How long were you together?”

“I don’t know, actually,” Miles says, which is a genuine answer. “We’ve known each other since we were kids, started fooling around in high school, and I’m not really sure when it became us. It’s just how it was.”

“It’s just how it was?” Calvin’s eyebrows knit together, and Miles gets it. His story with Matthew couldn’t be any less exciting. Maybe if he had been asked this years ago, when he still very much thought Matthew and he would last forever, he’d have a much more enthusiastic response.

“It made sense.” Miles studies Calvin’s expression. There’s nothing in it. It’s entirely unreadable.

“Must be nice being able to have an ex who doesn’t thrive on drama. Though… I guess it wasn’t always like that with Theo.”

That makes Miles chuckle. “So, you’re ready to talk about that?”

“Why? What did you want to know?”

Maybe something’s changed from when they last talked about Calvin’s ex, but he doesn’t seem as on edge now. Calvin cocks his head at Miles, as if daring him to ask—a huge difference from before, when he was guarded and uncomfortable.

Miles stops walking and puts a hand on his arm. “So, what happened?”

“Which time? We broke up so many times I don’t even know.”

“Calvin,” Miles says, softly, still hoping he’ll get an actual answer. Even if it’s none of his business, he wants to understand Calvin more.

Calvin’s eyes dart across Miles’s face. “We weren’t good together. We… used to be. I mean, it wasn’t always bad. He would push me outof my shell, and he said that I’m the person who kept him grounded. Theo and I used to bring the best out of each other. Making good music was really easy when we were happy.”

“All your hit songs prove that,” Miles quips, even if it strikes something in his chest.

“Yeah. It used to be a lot easier. But things change, I guess. When the band got bigger, we started seeing things differently, and the change was so gradual I didn’t even realize it until it was too late.” Calvin kicks at a stone on the pavement, but he doesn’t look upset, only deep in thought. “It’s kind of funny how the things we liked about each other became the things we couldn’t stand.”