Page 26 of Paint Our Song (Cloverlily #1)

M iles wakes up too early. The sun’s barely risen, and the clock says it’s half-past six. Next to him on the bed, Calvin’s still asleep. There are pink marks on his chest from where Miles sucked too hard— oops.

Slowly and quietly, Miles gets up and slips his boxers on. He freshens up in the bathroom and realizes he only has the inn’s uniform and nothing else, all crumpled up and tossed on the ground. After an internal debate, he grabs a shirt and jeans from Calvin’s closet. It should be okay. With what Calvin’s let him get away with, stealing his clothes doesn’t seem too bad.

He heads to the lobby and is just about to turn into the dining room when he spots a familiar face and takes a double take.

There, sitting in the lobby, is no other than Theo Reid. Theo’s attention snaps up at him from across the room and before he knows it, Theo’s walking over to him .

What the hell?

“Hey,” Theo greets. “Miles, right? Cal’s friend from the festival? He did mention you own this place.”

“Yeah.” Miles puts his hands to his sides, way too stiffly.

“Sorry for the trouble.” His gaze flickers at Miles, and he frowns at the shirt he’s wearing—Calvin’s shirt. He must recognize it. “I really, really need to get in touch with Cal. I’ve been trying to reach him since last night. He hasn’t been answering—it’s not like him, and I’m worried, is all. He always takes forever to text back, but he doesn’t… not. Your staff won’t give me anything. They won’t even call his room. What if he’s out cold?”

He’s not out cold, Miles wants to say. He’s actually pretty warm right now in the comfort of the bed they both fell asleep in. “We’re not allowed to, but you’re welcome to wait here. We’re serving breakfast, if you’d like some.”

“You know who I am. Can you tell me his room number, please?”

“It’s policy.”

“Fine. Okay. I get it. I’ll wait here.”

“Thanks,” he says, as politely as he can muster. “Excuse me.”

Instead of grabbing breakfast for him and Calvin, Miles turns around and heads back to Calvin’s room.

Predictably, he’s still sound asleep.

“Calvin.” He nudges Calvin’s shoulder. “Calvin… hey.”

The blanket drops lower to his waist when he stirs, and Miles is momentarily distracted by his toned torso. Calvin mutters something incoherent and slowly opens his eyes. “What time is it?”

“Almost seven. Wake up. ”

Frowning, Calvin turns away from him and buries his face in his pillow. “Let me sleep more,” he mumbles.

“Theo’s here.”

He’s silent for so long that Miles wonders if he actually heard him. Calvin sits up, and Miles swallows—not the time to stare at his chest, his abs, his narrow waist. So much for his grand plan of eating breakfast in bed, and then putting his mouth all over Calvin’s skin.

“Theo’s here,” Calvin repeats, his tone dry.

“Yep.”

“Give me a minute.”

Groaning, Calvin gets up. He pulls his boxers on and Miles couldn’t be more disappointed. Calvin disappears into the bathroom, and minutes later comes back out with his face still wet. Calvin scowls and yanks the closet door open, then he pauses and glances at Miles. “Are those my clothes?”

“Yeah.”

His scowl melts into something much softer as he pulls on his clothes.

Miles grins at him. “Theo said he hasn’t heard from you at all and is worried you’re knocked out cold.”

“For fuck’s sake.” His scowl is back. “I’m so sorry.”

”Sorry for what? You’re fine.”

“Miles.”

Miles ignores him. There’s a ringing in his head as he holds the door open for Calvin. They don’t say anything as they head down.

“Cal!” calls Theo as soon as he spots him. “You got me so fucking worried. I need to talk to you.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I—listen, let’s go sit.” Theo gestures toward the lounge, which unfortunately is not as empty as before.

“Your fans are waking up,” Miles says, pointing a thumb toward a small group of girls who are whispering to themselves and giving both Calvin and Theo excited looks. “Better go somewhere else if you don’t want a whole thing.”

“Let’s go to your room,” Theo tells Calvin.

“No.” Calvin doesn’t say anything else, just glares at Theo in clear anger.

If Calvin ever stared at Miles like that, he’d wither away and die.

“You can use our office,” Miles suggests. He’d rather not have the two of them out here in the lobby. He can’t handle people taking photos of Theo with Calvin in his own inn.

“Miles,” Calvin sighs.

Theo turns to Miles. “That would be great!”

He leads them down the hallway behind the front desk, taking them to the small empty office. Miles yanks the curtains open as he wills down the frustration simmering in him.

Theo gestures for Calvin to take a seat, but he doesn’t budge. Sighing, Theo stays standing, as well. He says to Miles, “Could we get fruit juice? Do you have that? Cal loves fruit juice in the morning.”

Calvin’s expression twists. “Miles isn’t your wait—”

“You got it,” Miles says, giving them an awkward thumbs up. Calvin’s right, he’s technically not part of the wait-staff, at least not right now. It’s fine, though .

He says it’s fine, but when he steps out of the office, he scrubs a hand over his face and stifles a groan.

When he comes back holding a tray with two glasses of juice on it, the two are still standing. Calvin’s hands are in his pockets, his lips are pursed, his entire body stiff, and his eyes are shifting all over the place.

“What do you think?” Theo asks, his voice solemn. “I swear I didn’t want it to turn out like this—I’ve been thinking a lot, and I’d like a second chance. If you can help me convince Chase and Gil to keep the band together, they’d agree.”

Calvin glances at Miles when he enters, and Miles feels stupid, waiting on his ex like this. Still eyeing Miles, Calvin mutters, “You’re the one who wanted a solo career, if you’ve forgotten.”

“Because… you all wanted me out.” Theo sighs. “I saw the videos from last night, and at first I was really, really pissed. You all fucking played under the band’s name without me. Did you get fucking paid? You know you can’t do that, right? We’re supposed to come to an agreement and all that shit about who can use the band’s name after the separation. We haven’t even separated yet. I could sue.”

Miles places the tray on the desk and makes a beeline for the door.

“We didn’t get paid.” Calvin sounds so pissed. “Are you really thinking of suing us? What the fuck?”

“No. Of course not. I won’t sue my own friends. Listen. Never mind that. I came here to say I’m not proud of the shit I said before. I was pissed. But then I watched you all playing last night, without me, and I can’t fucking not be a part of that. I can’t lose that.”

“Should have probably thought of that before. ”

Miles grins to himself. Go, Calvin, he says in his mind as he’s stepping out.

Theo says, softly, “Love. Please.”

Shit. Miles’s world crashes around him, and he can’t help but snap his attention to Calvin. The way his chest closes in on itself is unreal, and he can’t bear this—not with how Calvin’s eyes widen and how he’s speechless for a second.

“Cut that out,” Calvin hisses. “No. Listen. I’m really, really tired. It’s exhausting being caught between you three. I told you I’m done.”

“I’ll stop making you choose, I swear.”

Calvin’s quiet, his stare drifting behind Theo to meet Miles’s.

Why the hell is he still standing by the door? Miles smiles sheepishly and ducks away, but not before Theo realizes he’s there and says, “Oh, hey, thanks so much! What’s the damage?”

“Breakfast comes with the room.” Miles gestures at Calvin.

“Sweet!” Theo digs into his pocket and brings out a crumpled bill. He straightens it and hands it to Miles. “For your trouble, then.”

Baffled, Miles stares at the outstretched hand, and the bill he holds between two fingers.

“Stop, no,” Calvin says, frowning. He puts Theo’s hand down, and Theo stares at him, utterly confused. “Just—no.”

“Okay?” Theo tilts his head in confusion and puts the bill away.

“…Bye,” Miles says.

The last thing he sees before he leaves the room is the distressed expression Calvin has.

He waits at the reception desk next to a part-timer who keeps looking his way.

Calvin and Theo stay in the office much longer than Miles would’ve preferred, and Miles forces a smile when they finally come out.

“I’m going to wait out front,” Theo says.

“Didn’t say I was riding back with you.” Calvin turns toward Miles and puts a hand on his arm. Theo stares at them for a moment too long, his eyes narrowing.

“I’ll wait anyway,” Theo says, before looking away. He walks toward the doors, ignoring a group of teenagers who get up and follow him.

Miles studies Calvin’s face. “Are you okay?”

“Not really.” He drags a hand through his hair. “Can we talk?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Miles can’t explain the strange tightness in his chest as they head back to his room. It’s as if there’s a lump in his throat and his lungs are constricted, and he wants air, and it’s such an unpleasant feeling he doesn’t even have a name for it. He follows Calvin to his door, watches as he swipes his keycard to open his room, and Calvin leads the way inside.

“I’m so sorry.” Calvin’s voice cracks when he speaks. He opens his closet and starts grabbing clothes. Okay. He actually is leaving with Theo, then. “I had no idea he’d show up, but if I don’t go back to the record label with him, he’s going to camp out there and get in a fight with Chase. I don’t know. Tell me what to do.”

It’s strange listening to Calvin ramble like this. Usually, it’s Miles who does the rambling. “Do you want the band to stay together? ”

“I… I don’t know. Yes? No? I didn’t want to break it up, but then it got so exhausting so I gave up on it—but he’s here now, and he’s saying all these things, and—I don’t know.” Calvin looks around, not actually focusing on anything.

“Okay. Wait, relax.” Miles steps close to him and puts a hand on his nape. Calvin stops fidgeting, sighs, and leans into his hand. “You love your band. There’s a reason you’re having such a hard time letting go. God, you asked me to make a painting of you guys despite the shit you’ve been through.”

Which reminds him—he should probably finish that painting.

Calvin blinks. “I… yeah. I do love the band. I guess. We’ve been together for years.”

Why does Calvin write songs, why does he play the guitar, and why does he get on stage? It’s not for the limelight, he’s made that abundantly clear. He plays music because he likes it, it gives him a thrill, and because… well, Cloverlily is his family. It’s been his family for years now, and Miles knows exactly how it feels to be on the verge of losing something so important. The inn had almost slipped away from beneath his fingers, and he did everything he could to keep it going.

That, Miles realizes, was the band for Calvin.

Or maybe he’s having a hard time letting it go because he’s still very much into Theo, but Miles would rather not think about that. He’s not going to tell Calvin that it’ll be a bad idea to keep the band together, because he doesn’t actually think that. The reason he wouldn’t want the band to fight harder is purely selfish. He’s not even going to go there .

Miles swallows. He rubs a thumb against Calvin’s chin and his eyes flutter closed for a second. “I don’t know. I can’t decide for you… though if it were me, if it was something I really did love, I wouldn’t give up on it.”

“Yeah, you’re pretty persistent.”

“Hell yeah.” Miles beams. “Wasn’t so persistent last night when everything was going to shit though, thank god you were here.”

Calvin swallows. “I think we need to fight harder, as a band.”

“Yeah. Better get moving.”

It hurts, though—him working with Theo again, being unable to leave that stage of his life behind. Miles can’t take it, so he looks away while Calvin packs the rest of his things. He places everything inside his duffel bag and puts his guitar in its case.

“Need anything else?” Miles asks, once everything’s packed.

This is it.

“Miles,” Calvin murmurs.

“Okay, so.” He looks around melodramatically, wanting this to be over with, because he can’t take this . “Thank you for staying with us—no tips necessary!”

Calvin laughs. He puts the duffel bag and guitar case over his shoulders. If Miles could, he’d pull him in and kiss him—he’d press their lips together once more, hold him by the face, put a hand on his hip—but that moment’s probably long gone since Theo Reid decided to show up.

“Your ex is kind of an ass,” Miles says.

“He is.”

“You must have left a note on his windshield at least once, right? ”

Calvin shoves him. “I don’t do that. Shut up.”

This is goodbye, then—but then Calvin steps closer, smiling tentatively, and reaches for Miles’s arm. Without meaning to, Miles takes a step back, and Calvin freezes. He puts his hand back down, and his jaw stiffens.

Love, Theo had called him. The nickname had all the familiarity in it. He must have called him that countless times. They have a song titled “Love.” Miles is never going to listen to it, ever again.

“You said we’d keep in touch,” Calvin mutters.

No, he’s right, they can’t part ways like this. What the hell is wrong with him?

“Sorry, I was startled,” Miles says, stepping closer again. He puts his hands on Calvin’s jaw and pulls him in for a kiss, and Calvin’s lips are stiff and unmoving. He’s called him persistent though, and he really is, so Miles continues to press his lips against his, coaxing, until he tilts his head and kisses back.

When they pull apart, Calvin looks at him in a way that makes his heart race and ache at the same time.

***

As soon as Calvin leaves, there’s a familiar emptiness in Miles. A few hours after, Chase and Gil check out as well—and Chase is fuming, muttering under his breath and complaining about Theo appearing unannounced. He also complains about how Calvin left before they even knew what was going on. Apparently, both he and Gil woke up to the texts saying that Calvin would meet them in the city .

Chase is in such a bad mood that he doesn’t even notice a few fans who attempt to ask them for a selfie, though Gil does, and he’s somehow able to calm Chase down long enough to indulge them.

Miles retreats as soon as the entire band leaves.

“Hey,” Gabby says, finding him in the roof garden.

He’s got his sketchbook opened to a blank page, and his pencil’s sitting there, forgotten. So much for trying to get some new ideas in. The gallery’s definitely going to let go of him at this point. He promised he’d bring them new pieces this month, but so far, he’s not sure how he’ll be doing that.

She steps up next to him. “Heard that the band left—and that Theo was here.”

Yep.”

“Are you going to see Calvin when you go back to the city?”

“I don’t know,” he says, which is a stupid thing to say, and it’s probably the frustration talking.

She puts a hand on his head, messing his hair up. “As your best friend slash honorary sister who’s never wrong… don’t end up pushing Calvin away.”

He nods, not actually paying attention to what she’s saying.