Tease (Tease 1)

“I was just thinking how mortified I would’ve been, had I known that you knew.” I groaned, covering my face with my hands. Mia laughed.

“But you didn’t know, so what’s the point in thinking back?”

“Because I’m still embarrassed,” I admitted. “Twelve years later, and I’m still insanely attracted to you. I don’t feel as though anything has changed. Around you, I still feel like that tongue-tied scrawny kid.”

Why was I telling her this?

“Maybe you should have told me yourself. Maybe I had feelings for you, too but was too shy to do anything about it.” She toyed with a loose thread hanging off the sofa.

God don’t tell me that! Now all I can think of is all those wasted nights…

“You didn’t seem shy that last day,” I commented, raising my eyebrows. She laughed and peeked at me, her cheeks red.

“Well I knew I was never going to see you again. So what did it matter. At least I thought I’d never see you again,” She muttered. She glanced at me, her green eyes suddenly guarded. “I’m really glad I’m here, Coop.”

I reached out, my fingers touching the velvety soft skin of her hand. “Me too,” I admitted. We stared at each other, neither game enough to make a move.

The intercom buzzed. Thank god our food chose that very moment to arrive.

“I’ll get it,” I said, jumping up before she could answer. I couldn’t get to the door fast enough.

I took my time paying the delivery guy, before walking back into the living room with our food. Sitting down on the sofa, I pulled the coffee table closer to us and began to unpack the cartons of food. I let her choose first—honey chicken—before I picked up the beef satay for myself.

We watched the TV in silence as we ate. Out of the corner of my eye, I suppressed a laugh as I watched her struggle with a particularly large piece of chicken.

“What?” she asked, defensively.

“Do you need me to cut it up for you?” I teased.

“Shut up!” She grinned and went back to the same piece of chicken, forcing the whole thing into her mouth. Her eyebrows shot up as if to say “see?”

“Very talented. But then, I already knew that,” I murmured softly.

“Liam Cooper. You’d better not have been talking about what I think you were just then.” She smirked at me, her eyes narrowing. I looked at her, innocently, feigning surprise.

I looked at her, innocently. “I have no idea what you’re referring to,” I protested. “All I meant was you are a smart, intelligent woman.” I furrowed my brow. “Did you think…Mia! Why does everything have to be about sex with you women?”

She went red. “Hey,” she giggled. “Stop trying to play Mr. Sweet and Innocent. I know exactly what you’re like, Coop.” Her eyes narrowed in on me. She pointed her fork accusingly, her eyes flashing with amusement. I laughed nervously. God, she had no idea.

I laughed. She had no idea. At that moment, I almost, almost told her the truth, but something stopped me. I didn’t doubt I could trust her, that wasn’t the issue. Telling her would basically ruin any chance of something happening between us and I wasn’t ready to let go of that just yet.

After dinner, I cleared away the dishes—by shoving them in the dishwasher—then sat back down with Mia. I was getting to the point where every moment I spent with her I’d run over and over in my head. I was getting creepy. But at least I was keeping that creepiness internal. Most of it, anyway.

“So what did you miss most about New York?” I asked her. The need to keep her talking was all about giving me an excuse to look at her. I could ask her something, then just watch her

“Oh,” she began, surprised by the question. “I’d have to say the people. Just walking down the street here you’re surrounded by all these people from different walks of life. You’d struggle to get that anywhere else in the world.”

“Florida not quite the same?” I teased. She rolled her eyes.

“Where we lived, imagine a giant retirement village. That’s what it felt like, especially to a fourteen-year-old,” she grinned. “But really, it didn’t matter where we moved to. Nothing was going to be good enough. I’d been uprooted from my school, my friends…my home for fourteen years, and forced to start again.”

“That must’ve been hard,” I murmured.

“Yeah. I made friends, but it wasn’t the same, you know? By that age, everyone has their own little groups, and unless you’re a social butterfly, it’s really hard to fit in.” She turned to me suddenly, her green eyes alive. “Oh, you know what else I miss?” she asked excitedly. “The cheesecake from that diner over on Tenth. Malson’s.

I shrugged. “Never been there,”

“Shut up,” she gasped, jumping up. her eyes wide as she jumped to her feet.