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“Speaking of,” Daniella cut in, and I wanted to throw my glass of water at her, “Niall says hi; he misses you both very much.”
The rest of their conversation faded into the background as I looked at Mia, at the stiffness in her shoulders and her fists in her lap. We needed to get out of the house before either of us exploded.
“I just remembered,” I lied, reaching over and holding Mia’s hand. Her eyes shot up to mine in alarm. “We need to go grocery shopping.”
Mia got to her feet, confused but relieved at the opportunity to leave.
“Surely you have people to do that for you,” my mother scoffed.
“Actually, it’s something Mia and I like doing together,” I said, lacing my fingers through Mia’s and pulling her after me. I didn’t wait for either of them to respond.
The moment we made it outside, I turned to Mia. “Are you okay?”
She glanced over her shoulder at the now closed door. “Maybe we should have this conversation in the car.”
“Good point.”
We speed-walked over to my car and got in, and I was out of the gate before Mia had finished buckling her seatbelt.
It was quiet for a long while; the trees bracketing the road zoomed past as I raced as far away from home as I could get. I grounded myself as best I could, my fingers wrapped tightly around the leather of the steering wheel. As we sped away from the house, the silence between us grew heavy.
“Should we stop somewhere for a bit?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the winding road that led back into the city.
“Yeah, we can do that,” Mia answered, and I chanced a glance over to where she sat. She squeezed her hands between her thighs, her left leg bobbing up and down with repressed anxiety.
It was a long drive to the harbor, but I couldn’t think of anything else, and I needed the air even if it was polluted as hell. The entire ride was quiet, each of us wrapped in our own thoughts or, in my case, too nervous to talk about what happened just yet.
We parked and Mia got out immediately. With a deep breath, I followed after her, and we walked along the boardwalk.
It was busy, which wasn’t a surprise given it was the weekend. Families of all ages wandered around, taking in the sights and grabbing food from nearby stalls and food trucks.
Mia walked next to me, her eyes on the ground, and I couldn’t take the silence anymore, it forced our kiss to the front of my mind, and that was the last thing I wanted to think about.
“Mia,” I began, sliding my hands into the pockets of my jeans, “can we talk about what just happened?”
“Yeah,” she murmured, her voice almost carried away on a soft breeze.
I blew out a breath. “I don’t even know where to start,” I admitted sheepishly.
“Your mom seems lovely,” Mia said emotionlessly.
I couldn’t help but snort at that. “Yeah, I’m really sorry about that.” I sighed. “She’s never been the easiest person to get along with, and her prejudices run deep. As much as I’ve tried to steer clear of her, she always managed to worm her way back.”
“She’s never really been held accountable for her beliefs.” Mia shrugged, her gaze moving to the restless gray ocean that thrashed along the shore.
“People have tried,” I admitted. “I tried. But some people just won’t change, and you do more harm to yourself. Not everyone can be reasoned with.”
Mia nodded absently, and leaned against one of the barriers separating us from the ocean.
“I learned that pretty quickly,” she said.
“Hey,” I murmured, reaching out to hold her arm but stopping halfway. I pulled my hand back, my heart squeezing painfully. “I’m sorry about my mother. For what she said and how she just barged in. She’s always been like that and never respected my personal life. I’m sorry you were forced to deal with it.”
“It’s really nothing,” she assured me, but the deep dent between her brows said otherwise. “I can’t say I’m not used to it.”
“Yeah, but you shouldn’t have to get used to it,” I pointed out.
“Was your ex like that when you were together?” she asked, ignoring what I’d just said.
