Page 47 of Too Sweet
Her eyes lose their glow, and her smile slips. Disappointment clouds her pretty face, but like a good girl, she braces both hands against my chest, barely putting any pressure.
“I’m sorry, Mia, but this...we... wewon’t fucking happen.”
THIRTEEN
Mia
“I KNOW YOU DON'T LIKE FLYING, but maybe you could come watch?” Conor asks,shielding his eyes from the spring sun.
It’s almost the end of April. The temperature outside finally holds in the low seventies, and coats and cardigans are no longer required.
“If you promise you won’t try and convince me to jump, I’ll watch.”
The Hayes clan isskydiving on Friday, raising money for Monica’s Charity. This time, she chose to help a women’s shelter in Newport. Nico immediately pledged ten thousand for every Hayes and plus one who jumps.
Cody hands me a small tube of cookie dough ice cream he bought at the cafeteria. “It’d end with you puking all over the plane. Don’t worry. We won’t push. Just come and watch. I’m pretty sure Shawn will cry. You don’t want to miss that.”
“Why is he jumping if he’s scared?”
“Ego,” Conor says, stuffing his mouth with a spoonful of my ice cream. “We’ve got bets going on who’ll bail. You want in?”
“I betyou’llbe the first one out of that plane, and you...” I point at Cody, “...will land somewhere you’re not supposed to.”
“Nico will be the first one out of the plane,” Colt predicts, then scowls at something behind my back.
I turn to see Justin Montgomery making his way across the field, eyes on me.
“Not again,” Cody mutters, ripping the label off his coke bottle. “I don’t fucking like this, Mia. Don’t you think it’s odd they all suddenly want to take you out?”
“I don’t like it, either,” Colt huffs. “I could understand Finn, but you’ve been hit on by three different guys today alone. Something’s off, Bug.”
“You’re overreacting,” Conor drawls, laying back on the bleachers. “I overheard Finn talking to Ryan this morning. He sounded pretty bummed you shot him down.”
“And suddenly, every guy wants to date her?” Cody hisses quietly, glaring at Justin, who’s making his way up the bleachers like he’s climbing the stairs. “They didn’t know she existed before our Spring Break party.”
“Exactly.” Conor throws his arm over his eyes. Unaware that Justin is now within earshot. “Now they do. She’s polite, smart, and really pretty, don’t you agree? Why wouldn’t they want to date her?”
“I agree,” Justin says, bro-shaking hands with the triplets. “Come on, Mia, we need to talk.”
I pull my eyebrows together. “Why? Is something wrong?”
“You can talk here,” Colt adds, folding his arms.
“No, we can’t. Come on, sweetheart. Five minutes.”
Cody clamps his jaw, grinding his teeth when I get up, following Justin down the steps and around the corner, where he stops at the mouth of the tunnel leading to the changing rooms.
He bends his knee, propping his foot against the wall, gaze locked on me as he rubs his neck before pushing a sharp breath down his nose. “I’m risking my head here, so you gotta promise this stays between us.”
I don’t like the sound of that, but I nod, waiting for whatever he has to say.
“You’ve been marked, Mia.”
“Marked? What does that mean?”
“It means you’ve got a big red X painted on your back courtesy of Brandon. Remember when I told you he’s getting really creative? Well, the game’s afoot. The guys who asked you out? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but they don’t want to date you. They want to fuck you. The first one who does wins the money.”
“Money?” I choke, feeling as if he smacked something hard against my temple. “What money?”
