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Margo learned a lot about Miles this past month. He likes action figures, loves to cook for others, and hates New York tourists. They talked quite often, and through this, she discovered one thing he was properly obsessed with.
"What might protect your shirt from a grease stain..." Miles muttered under his breath, chewing on the bottom of his lips. His fingertips danced on the edge of his laptop, catching Margo's attention.
"Really?" she asked, sipping on her latte. She fought the urge to giggle as he nodded his head.
"You know I can't focus on anything else if I don't start my day with it."
Every day, typically around nine am, Miles participated in the daily crossword. This consisted of warming up with the digital mini crossword, diving into the digital regular crossword, and wrapping up with the physical, daily newspaper crossword.
"I like words," was his answer when Margo questioned him the first time she witnessed this routine. She quizzed him about it teasingly, and without any embarrassment, he answered every single one of her questions. She found this aspect of him cute when she found out.
From then on, Miles began sending her his times on the digital mini, the one where he's always attempting to beat his best.
Slowly but surely, he convinced Margo to try it. However, she was more of a numbers girl and struggled to find the game as enjoyable as he did. Still, she found ways to connect with him by sending memes related to the game, which he always appreciated.
"Bleach, " Margo guessed, twirling with her hair between her fingers.
"Five letters," he responded, shooting a grin in her direction.
"You're distracting," Margo complained, fixing her eyes on her laptop.
She invited Miles to join her at a nearby cafe where she was a local. She preferred to complete her work in public spaces, creating feelings of ambiance that allowed her to focus. However, inviting Miles probably wasn't the smartest choice.
"Distracting, yeah? In what way?" Miles hummed, his eyes tracing over the features of her face, making her stomach roll in response.
Definitely not the smartest choice.
"Shut up," she muttered, losing her ability to form any and all coherent sentences.
"Apron," Miles said, fingers quickly hitting the five keys.
"Because that makes sense," she retorted, receiving a hearty chuckle from the boy sitting across from her.
"A pretty girl. One, across."
"Cutie. Five letters."
"Apron was two, down. So its second letter is A.”
Margo shook her head.
"Why don't you play Sudoku or somethin’ that makes sense… Also, aren't you supposed to be working?" She asked accusingly, pointing at his face and making a circle with her outstretched finger.
"Distracting, remember?" Miles pressed his lips together, a movement that Margo recalled from Hobie’s birthday kickback.
Miles’ eyes trailed back to his computer.
"M-A-R-G-O. Perfect fit."
Her stomach twisted as Miles' gaze returned to her person.
"God, Miles. You're so-" But she couldn't find the words. Her face was hot, her mouth felt dry, and her heart pounded against her chest.
"Honest? Look, I would never lie to you, Mar." There was a lingering sweetness of sincerity in his tone, which rang in her ears. He was so Miles. So thoughtful with the language he used and how he used it. He knew exactly what would make her feel certain ways. Perhaps he learned more about her this month than she did him.
He leaned forward, reaching for her hand, which she allowed him to caress. He ran his thumb across her smooth palm, bridging their gap of intimacy for the first time. He traced over the creases that marked where the skin folds with such care that it brought warmth that tingled in her hand.
“I’m really glad I finally got to know you at that party. And if it wasn’t clear before, I wanna be upfront with you now. I’m really into you, Margo. It’s been a month, I know, but I don’t want friendship to be the only thing in our future.”
Our future.
Margo knew she was in for it now.
Her face was hot as his stare was filled with such an intensity that she hadn’t seen before. They’ve been flirting during this month of getting to know each other, so it wasn’t a surprise to know that he was feeling her. But this?
Margo broke eye contact, shifting her eyes to the window as she tried to piece together her words.
“I’m really glad I’m getting to know you, too. However, I’ve never been good at predicting the future.”
Miles engulfed her hands, giving them a small squeeze.
“There’s no rush. I just wanted to tell you exactly where my head is at. That this isn’t just a game.”
Margo couldn’t contain the smile that spread across her face as she responded, “Thanks for that. I don’t see this as a game either.”
Miles gave her hands one more squeeze before pulling away, the comforting warmth automatically making Margo miss having his hands around hers.
Margo closed her laptop, already knowing that the only thing she could now focus on was the man sitting right in front of her.
“Do you… wanna get out of here?”
Miles grinned, nodding enthusiastically.
“Oh, I thought you'd never ask. Just lemme finish the mini crossword, and we can dip.”
Margo rolled her eyes, but the soft smile on her face gave away the fact that she found his response adorable.
Margo learned another thing about Miles today.
Miles really likes Margo.
And Margo really likes Miles.