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Don’t look at him. Alexi the liar—like the fake Sacha. From day one, he had deceived her. Friends? She didn’t even know him. All those remarks she’d made about how special they were. Romeo. Stop thinking, go.
“Hey,” Alexi said.
Mia reached her purse, grabbed it and turned toward the front door. Don’t look at him, just go. Her eyes burned, and she refused to cry. What was this jealousy? It sucked.
Alexi touched her arm, turning her toward him. She stepped back, shook off his hold.
Alexi saw her face. “What happened? What’s wrong?” He spoke in Greek.
She reached her hand toward the doorknob. He put out a hand to stop her.
“Well, Sacha.”
His hand dropped at the nickname. She never called him Sacha. “Niko’s telling Hope you were something of a player.” Her voice shook on the last word. She twisted the doorknob. “I don’t know why I’m so… I have no right, but you didn’t have to lie.”
She got in her car and drove. No real direction. Her phone buzzed until she shut it off. She turned the music up loud to block out her thoughts. Why hadn’t he told her the truth, instead of making her feel stupid? Her hands were sweaty and cold when she rubbed the tears away. She put her phone back on and texted Hope, Spending night at Lauren’s.
Thank God for text messages. There’s no way she could have spoken without sounding mad. She texted Lauren next, Can I come over?
The reply was immediate. Get here.
She did. She rang the bell, and the door flew open.
“Hey, I was just about to ditch this place.” Lauren wore a mini skirt, black camisole, and sneakers. She examined Mia’s boots, jeans, and T-shirt. “You can’t wear that. I was trying to decide between the red cami and the black. You can wear the red. The black works on me, right?”
“Yes,” Mia said, glad Lauren didn’t notice she was upset. So what if
Alexi lied to her? His past was none of her business. Move on. It’s just that they’d had a connection. A real one.
Music blared from Lauren’s room. Perfect, if the music’s loud enough, all thoughts stop. Lauren’s room was trashed. Clothes were tossed everywhere, but Lauren made two grabs and had what she wanted. She put them in Mia’s arms and shoved her toward the bathroom. Mia stepped carefully around the stuff on the floor. Lauren probably would appreciate having Niko’s staff; she’d never have to pick up anything again.
The bathroom smelled like six different perfumes. Mia held her breath and changed into a duplicate blue jean miniskirt and a red camisole. After a minute, she couldn’t smell the room anymore and needed air, so she sucked in a breath. She washed her face but didn’t look too closely in the mirror. Niko never would have let her out of the house in this outfit. “Can’t I wear my jeans? These are the only shoes I have.”
“No. Those boots rock with that skirt. You look hot. I’ll do your makeup.”
Mia sat on the vanity chair and put herself in her friend’s hands. Lauren spent a long time on eyeliner, then handed Mia a shot glass filled with blue liquor.
Chapter 21
Mia downed the contents. The liquid burned going down, and it hit her stomach hard, but almost immediately she felt the tight knot dissolve. Better.
“What happened?”
Mia’s lips quivered. “Alexi lied to me.”
“Boys. You’re right. He’s wrong. What can I do? Want a hug? Want to go out and be distracted?”
“Distraction…and a hug.”
Lauren provided both, keeping up a stream of chatter until the reached the party. The host had gone all out. Strobe lights flashed across Lauren’s face, and the white in their clothes glowed under the black light. Lauren took Mia’s arm and pulled her through the crowd and onto the dance floor. Heavy bass thumped loudly from the speakers, in time with each heartbeat inside her chest.
Lauren spun around and back. “Drink this.” She shoved a glass in Mia’s hands, and Mia drank the bitter liquid. Lauren is the best. The beats pounded through the speakers and Mia stayed on the dance floor, while their friends arrived and joined in.
Lauren shoved another glass her way. “Drink this.”
Mia’s head spun for a second. She blinked and shoved Lauren’s hand away. “No thanks.”
They engaged in a brief, “‘You drink it.’ ‘No, you drink it.’” routine and then Lauren downed it herself. “Line dance.” She wobbled and the line dance had very little to do with the song playing.
