AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My ears start to burn. Fucking hell. I nearly say something stupid, but I desperately need to learn my lesson. The more I try to cage her, the more Mia pushes away from me.
As she should, I think.
“I don’t know,” Mia says. “Maybe. I’ll text, though, either way.”
“Is Edgar invited?” Edgar asks. “Of course he is,” he adds, laughing. “You said there would be hot guys.” He points both thumbs to his chest and sways his hips in a way I’m not sure his seasoned body can handle. He sighs and puts a hand on his lower back. “Well, I would come. But I’ve got two hours of Bingo on tape and I’m going to play along. I might even invite your Grams, Mia. We had a real good time the other night.”
“Trust me,” Mia says, sounding like she’s trying not to lose her dinner. “Grams told me all about it.”
Paisley cocks her head. “Wait. You… taped Bingo? Like a TV show?”
“From a cruise. My niece brings me the tapes from the cruise she works on. I just get my own card and play along. No need to change out of my jammies that way.”
“Wow,” Mia says. “That's… an interesting strategy.”
Edgar salutes, then shuffles past me. “Night, Colon,” he says, looking straight at me.
“Col–” I start, trying to replay his words.
The bell jingles and Edgar heads out into the cold night.
Paisley is covering a smile. “Did he just call you Colon, Mr. Saulters? Is that like a nickname you haven’t told us about?”
“Definitely not…” I say, unable to stop myself from grinning, though.
“Okay, well, night!” Paisley says. “Don’t forget to text me if you’re coming, Mia. We’ll save you a spot at the bar.”
“Okay,” Mia says, waving.
Zander shoots me a quick look on his way out with Paisley and Edgar. I give him a nod. I still kind of want to punch him, but it’s a little easier to resist the temptation than usual, at least.
When the door finally closes again, it’s just me and Mia.
“You wanted to talk?” she asks. Her hair is a little sweaty over her forehead and the bridge of her nose is shiny from a long night in front of hot pans and ovens. She’s wearing simple white pants and a black shirt beneath her chef’s coat, which is unbuttoned and hanging loose.
“Yeah… I recognize I’m being difficult,” I say.
One of her eyebrows lifts. “Go on…”
“And I told Zander I’d try to stop wanting to punch him in the face as often, so…”
She scrunches up her nose, tilting her head. “Is that how guys make truces? I’ll try to stop wanting to hit you so badly?’”
“It was all I could manage. For now.”
She chews the inside of her lip. “Okay. Well, that’s great for you two.”
I clench my jaw. Can’t she understand what I’m trying to say here? Why is she making this so damn hard? “I could go to that bar with you.”
The way her expression hardens tells me that wasn’t the right thing to say. “I bet you’d love that. You could loom right behind me all night and make sure no guys even think about talking to me.”
“That’s not what I meant,” I say.
“Nolan,” she says, voice clipped. “I’m not interested in being a dusty trophy on your shelf. I never was, okay? I’m not sure I’m interested in being anything of yours, honestly. But I’m certainly not going to be some afterthought you mark as yours just because you can’t stand the idea of other people wanting me.”
“Mia,” I say. The words aren’t coming clearly to me. All I can really think to do is shake my head. “I don’t want a fucking trophy. I want–” I trail off.
She leans closer, eyebrows raised expectantly. After a few seconds without another word from me, she lets out a huffing breath and laughs. “You don’t know what you want, Nolan. But I do, okay? And I don’t need you to get it.”
