“Have them sent up.” Alexi walked into the house.
No resisting the plan. Mia followed him to his room, where she went directly to his closet. She opened the door without asking and assessed his wardrobe. It was if a banker had needed a more conservative wardrobe, so he’d asked his grandma to shop for him. Then, if he thought the garment was too uptight, he’d gifted it to Alexi.
Alexi grabbed a book and threw himself across his chaise lounge by his window. He occasionally looked up and shook his head at her intent scavenging, bu
t he didn’t protest aloud.
***
Tap, Tap, Tap. The sound against her door pulled Mia from a dream, and she groaned. The alarm clock read 5 a.m. She didn’t have to get up until six. “What?”
“Come run with me, lazy American,” Alexi said through the closed white door.
Groaning again, she rolled back over, but it was no use, just the sound of his voice made her adrenaline soar. “Give me a second.” Mia threw on tennis shoes, shorts and a T-shirt. Grabbing a ponytail holder, she shoved it into her hair as she trudged into the recreation room.
Alexi reached a hand toward her hair. “It’s so gold in the morning light.”
Mia slapped his hand away.
“Girls should have long hair.”
That made her want to cut off her hair. But she liked her long hair, and it was one of Willow’s mandates; they couldn’t cut their hair short during football season. Uniformity added to their style points. She gave him a look, too tired to correct him or explain about style points.
Alexi bent and grabbed an ankle, pulled it up to stretch out his thigh, then did the other one. Mia breathed deeper and watched.
Nice legs. With her foggy morning brain, she wasn’t too sure how well she’d hold up on the run. Especially after staying up several hours last night worrying about what Alexi had said. Were they mooching off Niko? She hated that. Mia rubbed her fingertips against her temple. Was that how Niko saw them? He’d seemed very insistent that Hope move in. Maybe Hope had pushed her into the picture? No. Niko was stricter than Hope. He’d never let her stay at Hope’s loft alone.
One hand under his elbow, Alexi stretched his arm across his chest.
“Let’s go, I know a good trail.” She’d never taken it alone, just on walks with Hope. It’d be handy having him around for company.
They jogged out the front and went down the long drive. “There are hike and bike trails all through this neighborhood.” Mia swung her arms out. “We’re lucky it’s only 75 degrees.” She paused and did a quick conversion in her head. “Twenty-four degrees. It’s going to heat up today like it’s still the middle of summer. What’s England like right now?”
“Fifties.”
“Nice.” Her shoes pounded on the sidewalk until they fell into an easy rhythm. They left the manicured lawns and turned onto a dirt path canopied by tall pine trees and covered with fallen pine needles that crunched under her feet. She concentrated on her breaths and stopped the chatter, until they reached the small lake with benches. “I know you’re a runner. If you want to go all out. I’ll do some stretches here.” She pointed to the nearest bench.
Alexi nodded and took off.
He was fast. She did standing pushups against the edge of the wooden table and watched him. A brown pine needle landed on her hand, and she brushed it off, pushing back up.
Alexi came back to her, his hair sweaty, his expression free. He gave her a grin, an honest, open, isn’t-this-moment-great grin, and her heart cracked open a little, just enough that she wasn’t sure she could close it back up.
***
Vincent held open the door to the limo and they got out at the front of the school. Every kid being dropped off by their mom, mostly lower classmen, turned to stare. Every one of them. And it wasn’t just at the limo. They were checking out the new guy, Alexi. The school was large, but not so large that the new guy didn’t shine like a new toy on a commercial. Alexi was the new toy. He wore an off-white linen shirt with dark slacks. Mia had laid out jeans with that shirt, but Alexi ignored them. “My first school without a uniform,” he’d said. He’d looked so proud, and he looked so great, she hadn’t insisted he change. She wore a dark orange dress, very fall in color, but with short sleeves so she wasn’t dying in the heat.
They walked up the path to the school. Yellow dandelions had been planted alongside the blooming purple sage bushes. Yellow and purple.
“What?”
Mia pointed. “The new principal changed our school colors. The landscaper’s driving it home. Go Dragons.”
Alexi tilted his head at the large dragon statue in the front.
“What’d your old school look like?”
“Not like this.”