Tease (Tease 1)

“The way you said it, I was expecting something harder.” She begrudgingly took the drink from me, and sat down, making sure there was a good few inches between us.

I grabbed the remote and flicked on the TV. Of course, it was on every single fucking channel. Between this and the text that still hadn’t been acknowledged, I was ready to give up.

“God, did you hear about that?” muttered Mia. “Poor woman. And her husband, how horrible must this be for him?”

“Yep.”

Mia turned to me. “What’s wrong? Maybe talking about it will help you feel better.”

I shook my head. God, if she ever found out, any hope of us being together would be gone . . .

“How about a movie?” I jumped up and raced over to the bookshelf where I kept my stack of DVDs. “The Professional or Usual Suspects?”

Mia shrugged. Her green eyes tilted to the floor. “Whichever. I don’t mind,” she said sullenly.

She tried to hide the fact that she was upset I didn’t want to talk to her. But what the hell was I going to say?

Hey, yeah I was with Melinda when she died, and by the way, I’ve been an escort for the last eight years. By the way, why the fuck haven’t you mentioned my text message?

She made it clear she didn’t want complicated. I wasn’t just complicated—I was fucking impossible.

Chapter Twenty-Two

I spent most of the next two days avoiding everyone.

Nic had called, and so had Beth, but I hadn’t felt up to talking to either of them. I’d waited until Mia had gone to work before I left my room, then calculated what time she would be home so I could be sure not to be there. The plan kind of fell off track when she arrived home earlier than I’d expected on day two.

“Hey.” She smiled, sitting down next to me on the sofa. “I was worried about you.”

“Hey,” I mumbled. “I was about to watch a movie.”

What I was really doing was avoiding the news channels, because they were still eating up the Melinda scandal. Mia shrugged and smiled, showing no signs of leaving. Sighing, I stood up and slipped a DVD in and sat back down, pressing Play. I cared so little about what we were watching that I didn’t even pay attention to which one I’d put on. I sat back down, my hand brushing past her thigh.

God, did she feel that? My hand felt as though I’d just placed it on an open flame.

We sat side by side, both pretending to be interested in some shitty movie. My phone buzzed in my pocket. The police still had my work phone, so I knew this was likely to be Nic, Jake, or Beth. I pulled it out and saw it was from Beth.

Hope you’re okay. Call me if you need me xx

I rolled my eyes, and put the phone away. Mia raised her eyebrows at me. I shrugged, turning my attention back to the TV. Halfway through the movie, she stood up.

“Are you hungry? I was going to make a stir-fry.”

“Sure. Thanks,” I replied. I felt bad about making her feel bad. Not knowing how to fix it made me feel even worse. “Can I help?” I stood up and followed her into the kitchen.

“You can cut this. And this.” She reached into the fridge and handed me an onion and two carrots.

I nodded. I could handle that. Grabbing a knife and a cutting board, I began to slice, ignoring the stinging the onion gas was causing my eyes.

“How was work?” I asked. The silence between us was killing me. Things had never been awkward between us. Not like this, anyway.

“Good.” Her voice sounded brighter as she smiled. “I’m really liking it, actually.” She snuck a glance at me. “I put in an application for two places today.”

“Oh?” I don’t want you to go anywhere. I want you in my bed every night, up against my body. I want to fall asleep with you curled up in my arms.

I flushed at the thoughts that were escaping my head. It was that damn cream-colored work shirt. I could see her hard nipples through her thin bra.

“Yes. Both are close to the hospital. I should hear back this week. You can get your freedom back.”