Chapter 7

Micha

I’m not sure I’ll ever fully understand what goes on in that head of hers. I gave her the perfect opportunity to tell me she never cheated and she totally dodged it. But in her eyes, she probably thinks that I’ll move on.

Maybe it’s time, but how am I supposed to move on from the one person I know I’m supposed to be with?

“Dude, I can’t pronounce a single thing on this menu.” Ethan runs his fingers along the list of appetizers, blinking his eyes. “Are these prices in US dollars? Fuck.”

A stuck-up-looking couple point their noses up in our direction. The restaurant seems overdone, with the trimming in gold, small chandeliers hanging over the top of each table, and silverware more shiny than the sun. It kind of reminds me of my dad’s house. And I haven’t seen or heard from him since our awkward meeting in New York.

Ella shuts her menu and tosses it into the center of the table, looking at Lila with an entertained expression as she bats her long eyelashes. “Oh Lila Dila, I think you might have to order for us common folks, who can’t read French.”

Ethan and I shut our menus and toss them into the middle of the table, agreeing with her.

Lila sighs and tosses the menu on top of the stack. “Do you guys want to bail and walk to the Applebees I saw on the corner?”

“Yes,” Ethan, Ella, and I all say at the same time.

We leave the table in a hurry, before the waiter can come back and try to bill us for the rolls and drinks. We cause a scene as we dash out of the stuffy restaurant laughing our asses off. It’s Friday and the sidewalk is as crowded as the traffic on the street. Lights dance across our faces and there’s excitement buzzing in the air.

Ella raises her hands above her head as she squeezes through a group of guys and my protective instincts kick in. I put my hand on her back, keeping her close as one of the guys tries to check out her ass. I can’t really blame him, since I’m doing the same thing.

She has a tight pair of jeans on and a black shirt short enough that there is a sliver of space between the top of her jeans and the bottom of her shirt. Her pale skin looks soft and I let my finger run along it gently, as if it’s accidental.

She peers over her shoulder and the lights reflect in her eyes as she shouts over the noise, “This reminds me of senior year when we took that road trip to New Orleans!”

“The one where you took your shirt off and flashed everyone.” I wink at her and she swats my arm.

“That didn’t happen and you know it,” she says, forcing back a smile.

“I know!” I yell over the loud music from a band playing in front of a gift shop. “But that night was much more intense than this!”

The noise fades out as we walk into the restaurant. There’s a row of people waiting for a table, but it’s still much better than the other place. Lila heads up to the hostess standing at the front to put our names down on the waiting list.

“That night was intense, but only because of you.” Ethan smirks maliciously. “If you could have just kept it in your pants, then we wouldn’t have had to run away from the club.”

Lila returns and her eyes scan the three of us. “I’m so lost. Who couldn’t keep it in their pants?”

“It’s a good thing that you’re lost, trust me.” I pat her arm as Ella and Ethan start to laugh. “These two are just trying to embarrass me with a drunken mistake of my past.”

“ ‘But she looked so hot when we were dancing,’ ” Ella says mocking me in a deep voice. “ ‘And I swear she looked younger.’ ”

Ethan busts up laughing, leaning in toward Ella, who’s laughing just as hard. Ethan told me about their little shake thing with Mikey and it seems like it kind of broke down a barrier between the two of them.

I shove Ethan and he staggers into a tall blonde with a big rack and his hand ends up touching her boob. Ella whirls toward the wall laughing her ass off.

“I’m sorry,” Ethan apologizes to the blonde with an amused grin. “I didn’t see you there, sweetheart.”

She’s probably around the same age as us, maybe a little older. She narrows her eyes and stomps off toward the seating area with her arms crossed as she sinks down at the end of the bench.

“Thanks for making me look like a perv.” Ethan scowls at me and then glances discretely at Lila.

“You don’t need my help with that, man.” I notice that Ella is still facing the wall and her shoulders are shaking. “Oh pretty girl, are you alive over there?”

Shaking her head, she turns around with her hand covering her mouth and tears streaming out of her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she says between laughs. “I just can’t stop picturing that lady in New Orleans and how you almost did her in the bathroom. And then we had to drag you out of the club as she chased after us.”

“That’s what happened?” Lila starts to giggle and her legs almost buckle from under her as she hunches over, clutching at her stomach.

“She wasn’t that old, like maybe thirty-five or forty,” I argue, moving aside as some people walk in through the door and let in a cool breeze. “And I was drunk.”

Ethan pats my shoulder and gives me a sympathetic look. “It’s okay. We all love our cougars.”

I punch him in the arm and Ella laughs so hard she can barely stand. I decide she needs to be punished too so I fix my gaze on her. She stops laughing and her lips shift to a frown.

“You don’t scare me, Micha Scott.” She backs toward the corner. “I know you won’t hurt me.”

“You’re right. I won’t ever hurt you.” I spread my hands out to the side, so she’s got no place to run. “But I did see a water fountain down the block.”

“Please don’t,” she pleads with her hands out protectively in front of her. “It’s like fifty degrees outside.”

“You deserve it.” I easily pick her up and throw her over my shoulder.

“Micha.” She squirms as I push out the doors and onto the sidewalk. We turn heads as I march toward the fountain at the end of the street just in front of a park. When I reach the marble edge of it, I pause, deciding what to do. Jump in and toss her under the spraying water? Or just set her down in it?

“What is it with you and water?” She elevates her head and brushes her hair out of her face to look me in the eyes. “Whether it’s sprinklers or showers—you’re always getting me wet.”

Unable to help myself, I spread my fingers along the back of her thigh and give her ass a squeeze. “Am I making you wet right now?”

She looks like she’s going to cry, which was not the reaction I was expecting. “How can you joke around with me? After what I did?”

I shrug, tug my pants higher up onto my waist, and step into water, which fills up my boots instantly. “Fuck, that’s cold.” I wade out to one of the various streams of water that surround two angel statues slanted together with harps in their hands. Water soaks my jeans as I set her down in the middle of it, letting her get drenched.

She squeals, panting from the cold. “You are the meanest guy I’ve ever known.”

Water rivers from the fountain and down her rock-hard body. It takes me back to the time in the shower when I touched her all over for the first time. God, I f**king miss touching her like that.

“You know that’s not true.” I step forward, to the edge of the stream, and take in her wet clothes. “In fact, I think you know I’m the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.”

She doesn’t argue, just moves out from the water, and wrings out her hair. “I think we need to talk.”

A weight falls from my shoulders and I open my mouth to tell her we should go somewhere to talk, when someone screams. Our eyes dart to the edge of the fountain where Lila is sitting in the water, her clothes and hair soaked, and Ethan is standing on the marble step, laughing hysterically.

Ella busts up laughing as Ethan steps into the pool of water that surrounds the fountain and we end up having a full-on water fight. We stop only when security shows up and we run into the nearby park in our wet clothes. I’m not much of an artist, only with lyrics, but if someone were to snap a picture of us in the fountain, I’m sure they would see a rare moment of perfection.

Ella

I haven’t had a night like this since I was fifteen and Micha and I spent the entire day out at the lake on a small raft we “borrowed” from the neighbors. It was one of those days of simplicity, but it meant everything because there was no darkness, only light.

We get a lot of glares as we walk through the lobby of the hotel in our sopping clothes, leaving a trail of water along the tile floor. The guys didn’t get their own room and apparently they’re too broke, so Lila and I decide to let them stay, even though it makes me uneasy.

When we get up to the room, Micha peels off his shirt and chucks himself onto the bed, while Ethan kicks his boots off by the door.

Ethan rubs his hands together. “Who’s up for a community shower?”

“Are you including Micha in your request too?” I joke maliciously as I shut the bedroom door.

He scowls at me, pulling a disgusted face. “Shut up.”

I stick out my tongue as Micha shakes his head disappointedly. “Pretty girl, you took it one step too far.”

I laugh, grabbing some pajamas out of my bag and running into the bathroom. “Since you’re the one who threw me in, you can take the shower last.”

He starts to run for me and I close the door, laughing. Once I’m alone, I assess the night. I don’t understand. Why is he being so nice to me? Does he… did he figure out I was lying?

I strip off my clothes and toss them in the corner, then turn on the shower, waiting until it warms up before I step in. I’m washing my hair with the hotel shampoo when the lock on the door clicks.

I know who it is because he taught me how to pick a lock. “Seriously, Micha, no more for the night.”

“It’s me,” Lila says and something lands on the counter with a clank. “I just needed to brush my teeth. I think I got fountain water in my mouth.”

Soap stings in my eyes. “Did you pick the lock?”

“No, Micha did it for me.” She turns the water on briefly, but it’s enough to make the temperature change.

I shiver as I rinse the rest of the shampoo out of my hair. The sink turns off and then it turns quiet. “Lila?” I wonder if she left.

“Are you ever planning on telling him the truth?” Lila finally asks. “That you didn’t cheat on him, but that you had a…”

“Nervous breakdown—you can say it.” My hands remain in my hair and soap drips down my face. “And I don’t know if I’m going to tell him.”

I hear her sit down on top of the toilet. “Can I ask why not?”

Swallowing hard, I peek out from the curtain. “Because he seems happy, and if he is, then I don’t want to ruin it for him. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for him.”

Tags: Jessica Sorensen The Secret Book Series
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