I feel toward her is as consistent as the gravity keeping us on the ground.
“Oh my God, Arrow. I am the biggest buzzkill of the century.”
“I wasn’t buzzed, so you couldn’t be a buzzkill.”
“Seriously, though, you should go back to the real party. My pity party is no way to spend your Friday night.”
“I’m not going to leave you unsupervised until I’m positive you’re not going to offer up your virginity to the first fool willing to take it.” Unless that fool is me. Fuck, I don’t even know what I’m doing, but I can’t stop. I roll so we’re facing each other. A lock of dark hair has fallen across her cheek and brushes her lips. I want to smooth it away with my fingers, lean in and taste those lips for myself. “Mia . . .” Not yours, asshole.
She brushes the hair away before the impulse to do it myself can win me over. “You really think I’d do that?”
“No.” I smile. “But I do think Bailey might do it for you if she thought she could get away with it.”
“Probably! God, please don’t mention it to her. The way she goes on about Mason’s skills, she’d probably ask him to do the honors, and Bail and I are close but I don’t know that I want to share lovers with her.”
I draw in a ragged breath and feel as if I’m about to step out onto ice I know is too thin to support me. “I know we’re just joking here, but can I say something in all seriousness?”
Her face grows serious, and her gaze drops to my lips. “What?”
“Don’t throw it away on some asshole who isn’t one hundred and ten percent worthy. And that includes Brogan. If you’re not doing it because you want to, don’t do it at all.”
“You don’t think he’ll leave me if I make him wait?” Her voice is small, as if she’s afraid to speak the secret fear too loudly.
“Any guy who sees you for as special as you are will wait until you’re ready.”
Mia
October, three months before the accident
“I can’t go to the Cavern,” I tell Bailey as she drags me out of the car. “I’m not twenty-one.”
She rolls her eyes. “Look at you. No bouncer in his right mind is going to card you.” Stopping, she grins and pulls something from her back pocket and shoves it into my hands. “And there’s this.”
“You didn’t.” I study the fake ID with my picture and name.
“Consider it your birthday present. Come on! They have karaoke. It’ll be fun!”
I follow her into the Cavern, a popular hangout for preppy college kids who fancy themselves craft-beer aficionados. She leads me to a big U-shaped booth in the back that’s already filled with the usual suspects—Chris, Mason, Trent, Keegan, and Trish, a girl who always seems to show up at these get-togethers, whether she’s invited or not. The only two missing are Brogan and Arrow. Brogan’s out of town with his family for a couple of nights, so I know he won’t be joining us.
I was supposed to go with him. Until his mom found out about our plans.
I shove the thought from my mind before it can latch on. It’s my birthday. I’m not going to turn tonight into a pity party.
“Hey, Mia.”
And there’s Arrow. The sound of his voice murmuring my name sends chills up my spine and makes the butterflies in my stomach do a little dance.
Pretty much, I hate myself.
I take my seat in the booth and Bailey positions herself on the side opposite me. When Arrow slides in beside me, I smile at him, as if sitting next to him here is no big deal, as if I haven’t spent the last year avoiding being this close to him.
“You could have sat by me, Arrow,” Trish says from the other side of the semicircle.
Snorting, Bailey cocks a brow at her. “And have you molest him under the table?”
Chris props his elbows on the table and leans forward. “Where’s Brogan?”
“His cousin’s getting married tomorrow,” I say. “But don’t worry. He’ll be back for the game on Saturday.”
“Right, the wedding,” Keegan says. “But I thought you were gonna go with him? Make a weekend of it or something?”
“Didn’t work out,” I say quickly.
“I bet he let his mom talk him out of it,” Keegan guesses with a nod. “What a fucker.”
Arrow looks away, pretending to watch the guy who’s setting up the karaoke machine at the front of the bar,