“I don’t understand what you want,” she says. “You send me away and then you come in here and touch me.”
“I don’t want to be your mistake.” I don’t know if I’m talking about tonight or last October, or maybe there’s no difference. She said she doesn’t regret October, but tonight . . .?
She opens her mouth as if she wants to reply, but then she stops herself, darts her tongue out to wet her lips. I need to taste her there. It’s as much a choice as taking the next breath.
I lower my head to kiss her, and she draws in a soft breath, sways into me. Just before our lips brush, I hear footsteps and pull away.
“Whoa,” Trent says. I spin around, and it’s evident on his face that he saw us. He clears his throat and holds up his hands. “Listen, man, I’m not judging. I mean, it’s not like Brog is dead yet or anything, but go ahead, help yourself to his woman.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. This was careless. Foolish. Trent’s words were intended to hurt, but they dug into all my open wounds even more than he could know.
I start after him, but Mia stops me with a hand on my arm. “Don’t.” Her eyes are wide. Is she upset we were discovered, or that I touched her at all? “There’s nothing you can say.”
Mia
I can’t look out back when the guys are all here. It hurts to see them cruising along with their lives. I know tragedies happen and the world keeps turning, or at least I know intellectually, but seeing it firsthand is a hot iron poking at my grief. It seems like there’s always someone from the team here now that school’s out.
Then there’s Arrow, watching me when he thinks I won’t notice. Tiptoeing around me since that night a week ago when he slid his hand up my skirt and made me feel things I didn’t believe my body could feel anymore.
I’m not sure if I’m supposed to feel guilty or satisfied or pissed at him for not explaining what it means. He didn’t even kiss you, Mia.
I’ll get these dishes done and spend the day upstairs. It’s better that way. I remind them of Brogan, and judging by the laughter coming from around the pool, they don’t want to think about him today.
“Mia.” I turn from the sink at the sound of Sebastian’s voice. He closes the patio doors behind him and comes into the kitchen and around the island. “How are you?”
“I’m fine.”
He tucks his hands into his pockets. “I’ve wanting to talk to you about something.”
Tensing, I put the dishrag down. “Is my dad okay?”
“You think I’m only going to talk to you if your dad needs something?”
“Of course not. I—” I shake my head. “What do you need?”
I spin around, but with him on this side of the island, my turn puts us uncomfortably close. He leans against the thick slab of granite, legs wide and leaving me almost standing between them.
“Do they ever give you a night off?”
“Sure,” I say. “I’m not a slave, and contrary to what my dad may have told you, Uriah is actually a very good employer.”
His lips twitch. “Good to know. So does that mean you’re free to join me for dinner some night? Maybe a movie? It’s gotta get old hanging around this place all the time.”
“Um.” I dry my hands on my apron. I’m stalling. Sebastian is incredibly handsome, and this was what Bailey was talking about, wasn’t it? She said I’ve been letting life pass me by, and I feel like if she were here, she’d be jumping up and down, nodding. She’d also probably make a few inappropriate sexual innuendos about what could happen at the movies. “It’s just that . . .” I drop my gaze to my hands, now wringing the apron.
“Isn’t this cozy,” Arrow mutters.
When I swing around to the sound of his voice, I stumble forward. Sebastian catches me. After I right myself, he doesn’t bother to take away the arm around my waist.
“Hey, Woodison,” Sebastian says, unfazed as I step out of his embrace. “Thanks for inviting me. I was looking for an excuse to see Mia again.”
I shoot Sebastian a warning glare, and he meets it with a smile.
Arrow’s gaze ping-pongs between me and Sebastian. Emotions I can’t identify flicker through his eyes, and I wait for him to say something nasty—about me or Sebastian, I’m not sure—but instead he gives