AllFreeNovel
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Mia straightens. “I need to pretend to like youandI need to run? I don’t know, Des…”
“It’s a three-legged race,” I clarify. “All the couples participate. I haven’t had a date, so I’ve been paired up with my grandmother for the past few years, and my brother has won three years in a row.”
Still holding her razor, Mia leans against the wall, frowning. “You need a date on Thanksgiving because you want to beat your brother in a three-legged race?”
I snort, looking up at the ceiling. “Basically, yeah.” When I look back down, Mia is staring at me strangely. “What?”
“I can’t figure you out,” she says.
I spread my hands. “I’m not sure there’s that much to figure out.”
“Is your family really dysfunctional, or something? What am I walking into? Is this really just about a stupid race?”
“Well…there’s a trophy involved.”
She rolls her eyes, but her lips twitch. Almost there. I’ve almost made her laugh. She huffs. “This is ridiculous. No way. Forget I even mentioned it.”
I chuckle, gripping the armrests of the chair to stop myself from reaching for her. Then I quiet down and realize I need to tell her some truths—things I don’t usually talk about with anyone. “My family is average-level messed up,” I admit. “My parents died when I was eleven, and my aunt and uncle adopted me. They gave me a home and all the basic necessities to raise me, but…” I shrug. “It wasn’t the same. My brother, Vince—cousin by blood—took a real disliking to me. It never really went away.”
“He’s the one who’s won the trophy three years in a row?”
I nod.
Mia hums, watching me. “You think winning the trophy will change any of that history?”
“No, but it might wipe that smug smile off his face, and that’s got to be worth it.”
To my surprise, Mia laughs. It’s as gorgeous as I imagined it would be. I freeze, watching her, my heart beating a mile a minute, my breath heavy in my lungs.
She steps up beside me and tilts my head to the side to start shaving me again. “I can’t believe I’m actually considering it.”
When I find my voice again, I say, “A free weekend away. I’ll pay for everything. Plus, Lovers’ Peak is a popular tourist destination. You might like it.”
She pauses, razor suspended above my skin. “Lovers’ Peak, Colorado? Where Georgia’s sister just moved?”
I meet her gaze in the mirror and shrug. “Not sure.”
She bites her lip, and I can almost hear the gears turning in her head. I could have her beside me at Thanksgiving. I could walk into my aunt’s chalet in Lovers’ Peak with Mia and Bailey by my side and silence all their jokes about me being alone, me never belonging.
But beyond that, the idea of having the two of them by my side feelsright. I would be so damn proud to be anywhere with Mia and Bailey beside me.
Suddenly, I need it. I can’t bear the thought of spending that weekend without Mia. Ineedher to agree. “What’s it going to take for you to say yes?”
“Six months’ free rent,” she answers, voice hard. “And I want a guarantee that you won’t raise the rent again for at least two years.”
I whistle. “That’s asking a lot.”
“You’re the one who needs a date to a family reunion, big guy.” She brings the razor to my face again, working on my jaw. “For six months’ rent, I’ll even pretend to like you.”
My throat grows tight.
The silence stretches as she works for another minute or two, then she pulls away and meets my gaze. “So?”
“The guarantee, I can do,” I say. “But the most I can give you is one month rent-free.”
“No deal.” She moves to the other side of me, her breast pressing into my arm as she leans over to position my head. Then she backs away slightly, so all I can feel is the heat of her body beside me. She shaves my face, my jaw, my neck, then cleans me up and moisturizes.
When she steps back and puts the razor away, I watch her chest rise and fall as she takes a deep breath. She spins to face me, eyes determined. “Three months,” she counters. “Final offer.”
