I Saw Our Remaining Meetings Dropped From 31441 To 9 Chapter 04

I Saw Our Remaining Meetings Dropped From 31441 To 9 Chapter 04

My mom pointed teasingly at his cheek.

“That girl’s lipstick is still there.”

The air froze. Carter’s face drained of color. He scrubbed at his cheek, panic flashing in his eyes.

“It must’ve rubbed off by accident. Rowan, it’s not what it looked like.”

I was still drowning in the sting of rejection and couldn’t be bothered with him.

Seeing me about to walk away, Carter clearly panicked.

“I didn’t do anything. I follow the Code—you know that. She tripped and I caught her. It must’ve happened then…”

His voice broke off. The panic faded, replaced by a faint, pleased little glint.

“I won’t walk with her anymore. Don’t cry.”

I wasn’t crying. I just kept thinking about how Miles’s pretty eyes might fill with disgust the next time he saw me, and it made my chest ache. That’s why my eyes were a little red.

“What you do is none of my business. I told you, I’m done managing you. Leave me alone.”

My brain was already fried. Him grabbing me and running his mouth only made it worse.

Carter’s smile dimmed, but he pressed his lips together.

“You’re all talk.”

That miserable feeling clung to me until the next morning.

Yawning, I headed for the neighborhood gate—and stopped dead when I saw who was standing there.

I rubbed my eyes. He was still there. Not a dream.

Miles spotted me too. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and started walking toward me.

“I brought my phone today.”

His ears were bright red as he pulled it out and held up his QR code.

“Can I still add you?”

My heart thundered louder with every second. My throat went tight.

“You’ve been standing here this early just to get my number?”

Miles pressed his lips together. His ears had turned a deep, burning red.

“I didn’t know which house was yours.”

Oh my god, he’s adorable. I was about to die.

I grinned, pulled out my phone, and scanned his code so fast. Inside my head, I was doing a full-on happy dance.

“It’s Saturday. What if I hadn’t come out?”

Realizing this definitely wasn’t one-sided, I started pushing my luck.

“I didn’t know.”

Miles put his phone away and looked at me, steady and quiet.

“So… no breakfast yet?”

I tilted my head. When I saw the dew on the ends of his hair, I couldn’t keep my smile contained.

“Guess not. Lucky for you—you can treat me.”

He gave a small nod. Elated, I grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the breakfast diner.

Miles didn’t just not hate me. He really, really liked me!

I just didn’t expect to run into someone I knew while we were eating.

Jenna looked me up and down, her lip curling. “Carter’s not coming. I asked him out this morning and he said no. You sure have good intel, little shadow.”

I didn’t react right away, just watched her.

“Rowan, can you quit clinging to him? He almost said yes to me yesterday, but he backed out last second because he said you’d get upset. You’re not even together—why are you still so controlling?”

That was when it clicked. She wasn’t just being a bitch—she was coming after me because of Carter. “I already made things clear with him. Whatever you two have going on, it’s not my problem.”

Thinking about the perfect guy behind me, I wanted to distance myself from Carter immediately.

Jenna looked skeptical.

“You serious?”