The Prelude of Ella and Micha (The Secret 0.5)

“Holy shit,” Ella breathes as the song ends. Then she busts up laughing, drunk and reckless and free. “That was intense.”

I laugh with her, but I’m a bit distraught. The cruel, harsh reality of what just happened weighs heavily inside me. I damn near killed us, all because I couldn’t keep my dirty thoughts under control.

This is getting out of hand.

Maybe it’s time to tell her, just spell out how I feel. Because, if I don’t, I damn near might end up killing the both of us.

Chapter 7

Ella

“It’s celebration time!” I exclaim as I hop out of the Chevelle with the bottle of Vodka lifted in the air.

Micha’s long legs stretch as he climbs out the car. “Celebrate away.” He doesn’t seem as happy as he should be, which makes me sad.

“What’s wrong?” I ask as I round the car toward him.

“Nothing’s wrong.” He watches me while I unscrew the lid off the vodka, slant my head back, and take a long gulp.

“You look awfully upset for someone who just kicked some ass.” I wipe the burning liquid from my lips with the back of my hand and stare out at the bonfire someone started. “Is it because you almost wrecked at the end of the road? It happens to the best of us.”

He studies me intently before snatching the bottle from my hand and downing a shot himself. “You and I need to talk later about something,” he says nervously as he removes the mouth of the bottle from his lips. “But, first, let’s celebrate.”

I pause, wondering what the hell he wants to talk about, worried he might know what I want to talk to him about. That’s when the rush of alcohol hits me square in the brain, and all I want to do is have fun, not think.

I grab the bottle from him, throw back another swallow, and then skip drunkenly toward the fire. He calls after me, laughing, but I continue to prance until I spot Renee, dancing on the tailgate of Ethan’s truck. It looks fun, so I jump up with her. She claps her hands together excitedly.

“Yeah! Drunk Ella is out tonight!” she shouts as she pumps a hand up in the air and wiggles her hips.

“Hell yeah, she is!” As I jiggle my ass to the music, the glow of the headlights and fire surrounding me, and the worries of the day dwindle away.

What a perfect night, I think. And I thought it was going to be shitty.

Then, moments later, I smell the rain.

The fucking rain, like an omen.

No, I’m not going to let it ruin my night.

I throw back another shot. Then another. Until my mind is spinning and any thoughts of this night getting ruined fade away. I start to dance. And, I mean, really dance. The kind of dancing people only do behind closed doors, yet I’m out in the open, right in the spotlight, and I don’t give a shit.

“Hey, I thought we were supposed to be sharing.” Micha suddenly appears beside the tailgate. His chin is tipped up and he’s staring at me as I rock out.

“What? You want this?” I wiggle the bottle in his direction. When he extends his fingers for it, I whip my hand back out of his reach.

“Oh, so you want to play dirty tonight, huh?” he teases with a playful smile.

I smirk at him then throw back my head and suck down a swallow.

His smile darkens, and without warning, he reaches up and snags me by the hips. A gasp escapes my lips as he jerks me forward and lifts me up and off the tailgate.

“No fair!” I cry through my laughter as he sets me down on the tailgate with my legs dangling over the edge.

“How is that not fair?” he asks, spreading my legs open and positioning himself between them.

I shrug. There was no real logic behind my statement. “I have no idea.”

“You’re so drunk.” He shakes his head as he reaches for the bottle in my hand.

Again, I move it away from him, tucking my hand behind my back. He decides to play dirty and starts tickling my side. I let out a screech while I fall back into the bed of the truck, nearly landing on Renee’s feet. She skitters out of the way as Micha clambers up into the bed, chasing after me, his body gliding up mine until we’re hip to hip, chest to chest, face to face. Lip to lip.

It feels like I should be fleeing from his nearness, but I’m too stupidly content at the moment to put up a fuss.

“This feels nice,” I say with a content sigh, relaxing under Micha’s body.

A pucker forms at his brow. “I think I might need to cut you off …” He trails off as I loop my arms around his neck.

“No way. I’m having too much fun.”

His breath catches in his throat as I graze my fingers up and down the nape of his neck. His reaction makes me giggle for some reason.

“God, I love it when you’re like this,” he whispers, lowering his forehead to mine. “I just wish you weren’t so drunk.”

“Me too,” I agree, but I’m not quite sure what I’m agreeing to.

As his hot breath dusts my cheeks, I have the strongest urge to touch his lips.

So I do.

Moving my fingers around to his face, I graze the pad of my thumb across his lip ring, drawing a soft line over his bottom lip.

His breath hitches. “Ella …” It almost sounds like he groans, but that’s probably the drunken side of my mind hearing things. My alcohol level is also more than likely the cause behind why it feels like he kisses my thumb and gently bites on it. Or maybe that’s just payback for the bite and lick I did to him earlier.

Whatever. I don’t really care right now.

“Can we go play?” I lean back and bat my eyelashes at him. “Pretty please.”

His low chuckle reverberates through my body. “We can do whatever you want.” With a deep sigh, he pushes back. Then he steals the bottle from my hand before bounding off the tailgate.

“Cheater!” I cry, flipping Renee the bird when she gives me the look. It’s the same one she’s been giving me for the entire summer every time Micha and I act like this, which yes, is a lot. But that’s what we do. Have fun. As friends. It makes me realize how much I truly need him, how much I don’t want to be a fading memory for him.

Maybe this running off to Vegas thing will be harder than I thought.

Maybe I could just ask him to come with me.

Could I do that?

Is it really that easy?

With Micha, everything is easy.

I run to the edge of the tailgate and jump onto Micha’s back mid-swig. He grunts from the contact as I fasten my arms and legs around him. “Don’t finish that off!” I try to reach for the bottle, but he spins around as he continues to drink. “Micha Scott! You are the biggest cheater ever!”