Page 70 of Too Sweet
“Oh, I’m sure.” Mom hooks their elbows together, leading Mia away.
Before I take one step after them, Theo appears on my left, using his body as a shield that blocks my view of Jared and Kaya sitting at a table nearby.
“We’ll end up slow dancing until the morning if you don’t give me room to breathe,” I say. “Relax. I won’t go throwing punches for no reason. We both know I should thank the fucker for taking Kaya off my hands.”
“True that.” He motions his chin at Mom and Mia, chatting by our table. “You’ve been dating this chick for five minutes, and she’s already Mom’s favorite. Fucking figures.”
“They’ve known each other for a while,” I say, crossing the room. “Mia being mine isn’t a factor.”
“Bullshit,” he mutters quietly as he takes his seat. “You’ve always had it easy.”
I grip the back of Mia’s chair and lean down to kiss her head. “You want wine or a spritzer?” I bite my cheek, trying not to laugh at my mother’s gleeful expression.
She’s basically swooning.
“Spritzer, please.”
That’s all the conversation we have for the next hour and a half while the guests take turns on the stage, boasting about their contributions.
Theo breathes down my neck when Kaya gets up there, pretending to care about the abused, battered women her donation will help.
It’s a tax write-off for her, nothing else.
She hasn’t changed much. Same dark brown hair, perfect makeup, and bright-red lips that used to summon my attention. Same thin figure, her tight dress hugging a clearly defined ribcage, and the same vile, toxic interior.
I glance between her and Mia, wondering what I saw in that woman. Although it’d be better to wonder what I see in Mia. She’s the odd one out in the long line-up of women I looked at twice. Yet in some twisted way, seeing her earlier dressed and done up like every woman I ever fucked had my insides wringing with disappointment.
Kaya raises the champagne flute higher, zeroing in on me. She stumbles over her words when I purposely kiss Mia’s head but recovers quickly, reciting the rest of her cheap speech.
All the while, I’m willing the time away so I can take Mia home. We’re both seemingly listening to the speeches, but I catch her watching me as often as she does me.
I’m itching. Impatient. I want to be alone with her.
Thirty more minutes and the waitresses clear the tables. Cody’s back to his usual flirty self now that he’s not pretending he’s into the girl he considers his little sister.
One of the waitresses leans over the table to grab my plate. Cody grazes his fingers over the back of her knee, making her squirm, the plates clattering in her hands. She sends him a warning glare. He ignores it, yanking her arm and pulling her closer to whisper in her ear.
Not even ten minutes later, he excuses himself from the table with a self-indulgent smirk.
TWENTY
Nico
“I WANT TO STAY WITH YOU TONIGHT,” I tell Mia when the cab driver pulls up outside her house just after two in the morning.
Her cheeks heat, but a small smile makes an appearance. “I want you to stay, too.”
“Stop blushing, baby.” I give the driver fifty bucks and help Mia out of the cab. “I’ve had three whiskeys, and you had two glasses of wine.” I dip my head, kissing her neck while she rummages through her bag, searching for keys. “I’m here to sleep. Nothing else.” As soon as the door opens, I haul her up, cross the threshold, and carry her into her bedroom. It’s easier to kiss her when she’s not craning her neck. “We will have sex,” I whisper, laying her on her bed. “There are so many things I want to teach you... but not tonight. I want you comfortable around me first.”
“Don’t make me wait long. I am comfortable.”
“Oh yeah?” She wouldn’t be blushing every goddamn minute if she were. I sit up, pulling her with me. “Strip.”
“Strip? As in...?”
“Get naked, Mia.”
It’s a dare. One I know she won’t take when that alluring pinkness spreads like a flame all over her face and neck. She opens the nightstand, pulls out a brand-new toothbrush, then hands me a towel. “I need a shower. There’s another bathroom at the end of the hall. Toby’s been using it, so I’m sure you’ll find whatever you need in there,” she says, locking herself in the en suite.
