Stay

“He was all over you. Your hands were in his hair.” Alexi spoke with his hands tonight. He looked a lot like Niko when he did it. Not so much in looks, but in mannerisms.

“It was purple.” The car stopped in front of the house. The lights were on. Mia grabbed a napkin from the minibar and wiped at the makeup on her face. She looked down at her outfit, cute in the club, bad news in the foyer. “Give me your top shirt.”

“If you want to dress like that, you should dress like that.”

Mia threw her bottle of water at him and got out. She climbed the front steps and twisted the doorknob.

Hope and Niko stood in the foyer waiting. Great. As soon as she crossed the threshold, Niko started yelling in Greek. Mia remembered back fondly to the time when she didn’t understand any Greek. Walking off, worrying Hope, and shaming us all translated loud and clear now.

Hope put a hand on his arm to calm his tirade. Then she asked Mia, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Sorry for the drama.” Mia spoke slowly and clearly, making sure she didn’t slur any words. Good thing she’d switched to water; her head was already much clearer. “I’m going to bed.”

Hope nodded and gave her a hug. Mia stood there for a moment and hugged her back hard. Hope kissed her on the head.

“You smell like a bar. Take a shower first, so we don’t have to burn the sheets.”

Mia laughed and hit the stairs. She agreed. She hated it when her hair smelled of smoke.

Alexi followed her upstairs. “What are you wearing?”

“Ugh, you and Niko, always on about my clothes.”

“You look like a—”

She cut him off. “Takes one to know one.”

He didn’t look pleased at her response. He followed her to her room, but she slammed the door in his face and headed toward the shower. She emerged from the bathroom in her pajamas, rubbing her wet hair with a towel, and stopped cold.

Alexi was standing in her bedroom.

Chapter 23

Alexi ran a hand through his hair. “Look. Okay, I knew what you thought the night of the bonfire. I straight up knew it.”

Heat rose in her face and she stood still. It was so embarrassing, and now they had to talk about it?

“It’s just that, how you looked at me, in the car, I liked it. The connection. I didn’t want to give that up.” Alexi leaned against her door.

“Were you ever going to say anything? I feel so stupid.”

“You and I, we’re not supposed to happen, understand? But you wear those clothes and make me laugh and are always touching me. Then you touched Quinn’s hair and kissed him.”

Heat flushed her face. For a second, she was about to cry, then she got mad. All he ever had to do was say something just once, and she would have backed off. Like he never touched her. Well, never again. “Fine, we were too close and now we’re not. All better.” She tossed down the towel and sat at her vanity to pull a comb through her wet hair. The teeth caught in a tangle forcing her to work from the bottom upwards. It made her angrier, and she turned back to him. “You couldn’t just say that? I get it. I’ll back off. You stay away from me, and I’ll stay away from you. Is that what you want?”

“Quinn had his hands on you. I hate that.”

She laid the comb down and turned to face him. What was he on about? Her dance with Quinn? Really? “It wasn’t about you. I mean, I wasn’t trying to even the score, I just…”

“Even the score?” His eyes glinted and he took a step forward. “Don’t even say that.”

“It was a dance, a kiss. It was nothing.”

“A kiss is something. You’ve never kissed me.”

Mia clenched her fists. “I’m the girl, you spoiled pretty boy. You’re the one who is supposed to do the kissing. And I hear you’ve had plenty of experience.” She advanced on him. “Do you know what it does to me to think of you out with all those girls? I wish they were just a dance or even a kiss.” She stopped. “I thought we…I thought you were like me…that we were…”

“We are.” He grabbed her arms and looked directly into her eyes.