Stay

Alexi smiled innocently at her.

He knew her thoughts. Okay, so he wasn’t shy, just circumspect in front of other people, and fun. She bit her lip on laughter bubbling up. They must have looked crazy fighting over that poster.

“You kids call down if you need anything.” Hope cleared the doorway.

Mia drew her gaze from her sister’s back, and turned to Alexi. “Be nice to her, especially about the painting. No manipulating her.” She used her firm voice.

“Artists don’t need nice. They live by their own rules.” Alexi sprawled across the couch and made himself comfortable. “Lunch was a fail. Where’s my movie?”

Mia took another swipe at the rough glitter on her top and walked over to the television stand. Her classic picks for Niko’s younger sister, The Princess Diaries and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, no longer seemed appropriate. Maybe they’d never been the best idea. What did she know about Sacha at all? She hesitated.

“You promised, ne?” Alexi asked the last part of the question in Greek. His throwing in the Greek word for “yes” swayed her. He knew she wanted Greek lessons, and he knew how to bargain. Plus, she liked the idea of honoring her own promise. She bent down to the Blu-ray player, picked up the girly discs and held them up. “Since your gender changed, I guess we’ll skip these.”

“My gender did not change.” He made a quick assessment of the titles. “And yes, we can skip these. We can stream a movie.”

“I have more.” She set the girly discs aside and flipped through the media folder. If he picked a movie from her favorite discs, at least she’d enjoy it. “Action or horror?”

“Both.”

“Okay.” Mia popped one in and picked up her bag of nail stuff from where she’d left it in preparation for Sacha’s manicure. She upended the contents onto the coffee table, and the nail file, buffer, and polishes clinked against the top.

The movie kicked off with a bang.

Mia dug through the stuff while Alexi’s gaze stayed on the television, his focus on the growls and car crashes. She reached for his hand. He glanced toward his doorway, where the servants still were putting away his things, and pulled away. She rolled her eyes, stretched across him, and took his hand anyway. His hand was large, warm, and dry. She squeezed lotion onto the back of his tan hand and breathed in the apple fragrance before sliding his hand between her palms. His skin felt rough, manly. She liked the sensation of it under her fingertips.

Alexi glanced around the now empty room and then positioned his other hand between hers, too.

Chapter 7

Mia massaged each of Alexi’s fingers, then bent each finger back and forth. Alexi’s gaze remained riveted on the screen, but he stilled each time she paused or grabbed another nail utensil. Mia lightly scratched her nails from the base of his palms to the tips of his fingers. Alexi shivered, and his eyelids half lowered.

A knock sounded on the door.

Mia dropped his hands. She scooted to the other side of the couch and focused on the television, sucking in a calming breath.

Alexi’s gaze followed her until Niko stepped into the room, holding one of Hope’s hands in one of his and a bowl of popcorn in the other. Niko dropped beside him. “Hope said you’re up for a movie.”

Hope had no interest in car crash movies. Instead of watching, she curled up by Niko, leaned on his shoulder, and sketched.

Alexi glanced between Hope and Niko, then his gaze rested on the popcorn. “Is it salty or sweet?” He stared at the kernels as if he could tell the answer by their appearance.

“Americans make it salty,” Niko said.

Hope kept up her sketching. “Are you tired from your trip?”

“Yeah,” Mia answered for him. “It was exhausting watching the staff tote his luggage and unpack his things.” She tried to imagine how many bags he’d have brought had he been a girl. “Clear it up for me. There’s you two. You’re halves? Steps? How many siblings do you have?”

Niko shrugged a shoulder. “Alexi and I share the same parents. My stepmother has two daughters. So, we have two step-sisters.”

That was clear and easy. Like nothing he’d said before.

Alexi fell asleep before the movie was halfway through. He looked just as good asleep, maybe better. Less tense, more his age. Mia tried to follow the plotline, but she was totally blown away by her inconvenient and enthralled reaction to Alexi. She’d been on dates, she’d had boyfriends. Nothing, not one single kiss or even a caress, came close to the charged feeling she got from just holding Alexi’s hand. Don’t go there. She knew how it would fall out. He’d be heaven to hook up with, but then he’d move back to Greece and she’d have to sit across from him once a year at the family’s holiday table—for the rest of her life—him and his new girlfriend. Pass the mashed potatoes. By the way, remember that time senior year when I crushed all over you? And then you left me… Yeah. Fun times.

No. A chance at love was not worth the risk.

They’d just be friends.

***