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Chapter 15
Mia
Pulling open the front door, Mia breathed in the dewy, early morning air. She felt like crap, but she believed it was better to sweat out the hangover than wallow in it. She glanced down. A plate with a piece of cake and a note had been left on her porch. She lifted it, carrying it inside as she read the note.
Every birthday party should have cake.
Mia smiled and placed it inside before heading out for her morning jog.
As she made her way around the neighborhood, she kept checking over her shoulder for Andre. He caught up with her at their usual crossover point.
“Buenos días,” she greeted.
“Good morning to you,” he said, keeping pace with her.
“Thank you for last night.” She’d told him to fuck her and then nearly thrown up all over the man. After all that, he’d left her cake. She smiled. That warm feeling bubbled up in her chest.
“It’s no problem. I’d do it for any of my friends.”
He’d made sure to emphasize friends. She sensed whatever progress they’d made last night had been flushed down the toilet too. He was so hot and cold.
“Is that what we are? Friends?” she asked, carefully.
“That’s all we can ever be,” he panted, his chest heaving up and down as he gulped in air.
She couldn’t help the disappointment that squeezed her heart. Not to mention the embers of lust left over from remembering how it felt to have his body so close to hers last night—knowing that if she hadn’t gotten sick, he’d have been in her bed.
“Wanna race back?” She smiled.
He laughed, out of breath. “Sure. Ready, set—hey!”
Mia laughed as she charged ahead before he called it. She pushed herself as her legs burned. His heavy footsteps caught up to her and she swerved in front of him. Her driveway was only another three yards away—she could make it.
“Whoa! Cheater,” he called, quickly maneuvering around her.
She grabbed on to his arm, endorphins mixing in a cocktail with the energy that sizzled between them. As she laughed for real for the first time in a long time, warm joy filled every cell of her body like rays of sunshine lighting her from the inside out. The feeling of freedom enveloped her.
Andre stopped abruptly, pulling her backwards as he spun them around so that he was closer to their homes.
“Hey! Let me go so I can win,” she teased between fits of giggles.
He backed up, holding her in front of him. She couldn’t advance past him.
“No way. You cheated,” he said, out of breath, a smile playing across his lips.
“You’re in better shape than me. I just took an extra few seconds’ head start so it would be fair,” she argued. Her skin burned as he raked his gaze over her.
“I think your shape is perfect.”
Butterflies tumbled in her belly, still drunk on tequila fumes. “Careful, Mr. Stone, those aren’t things friends say to each other . . . unless.”
“Unless what?” he asked.
She took the leap. “Unless they’re friends with benefits.”
He stopped walking, staring at her intently as if he was making the most difficult decision of his life. A flash of rejection formed in his eyes, and she didn’t want to be turned down again. She wouldn’t beg anymore for this man.
Mia darted around him, crossing the finish line first. “I won!”
