A Million Tiny Pieces

by Nicole Edwards

  When Tarik had called her cell phone and asked her to lunch on Thursday, Mia had nearly swallowed her tongue, but somehow she had accepted. She’d felt a little guilty, as though she were cheating on Phoenix, but she had reminded herself that she and Phoenix were only friends. That kiss — although mind-blowing — couldn’t happen again. Without a doubt, Mia knew she wouldn’t survive another relationship with a man like Phoenix.

  Unfortunately, after that incredibly comfortable lunch where she and Tarik had talked about everything from where he was born to what classes she was taking at school, Mia had been even more confused than before. She’d given in to the idea that she was physically attracted to Phoenix and enjoyed his company immensely. But she’d had a very similar reaction to Tarik.

  And that was the main reason Alex was on her way over. Mia needed a sounding board, and she hadn’t had a chance to talk to Alex. So much had happened since the night of the charity ball.

  But the waiting was over, because she was about to get a chance to chew Alex’s ear off, and she hoped her friend was ready.

  As far as she was concerned, there was nothing better than a bottle of wine shared between friends on a Friday night. She’d take that over going out to clubs any day of the week. Uncorking the wine, Mia took the bottle to the living room and set it on the small wooden coffee table along with the two glasses she’d placed there earlier. The music was playing softly, an upbeat playlist that Mia had been listening to for the better part of the afternoon in anticipation of her friend’s arrival.

  The doorbell chimed, and Mia smiled as she skipped to the door, flinging it open and coming face-to-face with a cheerful Alex.

  “Girl, you’re lucky you invited me over, because I was getting ready to crash your condo,” Alex said as she walked in, hugging Mia briefly before looking around. “Holy shit. This place looks fantastic.”

  “Thanks. You wouldn’t believe what bargains you can find online if you search long enough.” Mia smiled to herself as she thought about the other things she’d uncovered when she’d been searching the Internet over the last few weeks.

  “I love it.”

  Alex hadn’t been to the condo since the day Mia had moved in. As was usually the case, Alex’s schedule was tight, and their girls’ nights generally had to be planned well in advance just so Mia could see her. Granted, back when Mia had been with Damien, they’d crossed paths more frequently at various functions, but now that Mia had reverted to a commoner, those encounters were less frequent. The blame certainly couldn’t be laid at Alex’s feet, though, and Mia felt a twinge of guilt for not spending more time with her closest friend.

  “Sit,” Mia suggested as she motioned toward the sofa. “I’ve got wine.”

  Alex walked toward the couch, still looking around the condo as she did. “I really like this, Mia. It seems so … you.”

  “As opposed to?”

  “That prison Damien calls a home,” Alex said bluntly. “I never liked the fact that you weren’t able to put your stamp on it. This is cozy and fun.”

  “Thanks. It definitely suits me.”

  Alex dropped to the sofa after kicking off her flats, then curled her feet up underneath her. “So tell me about school. How’s the new semester going? What you thought it would be?”

  “I don’t know that I had any expectations,” Mia admitted as she poured the wine into one of the glasses, then handed it off to her friend. “Quite frankly, it’s boring. But I love it.”

  “I’m glad you decided to go. I’m so proud of how in control of your life you are.”

  Mia laughed as she took the other glass once she filled it. “I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily in control. These days I feel anything but.”

  “Spill,” Alex said, her eyes meeting Mia’s when she lowered herself to the other end of the sofa, pulling her legs up so she could face her friend.

  “I’m not sure there’s anything to spill,” Mia said, gauging her friend’s reaction but unable to hide her grin.

  Just as she’d suspected, Alex smirked, a knowing smile that told Mia far more than she wanted to know. Alex had always been able to read Mia like a book. “Well, let’s see if I can figure it out. You know I wanted to be a private investigator in my past life.”

  Mia chuckled. She did know that. Alex prided herself on being a super sleuth, attempting to solve every mystery she came up against.

  “I’ll rewind back to the charity ball. If I recall correctly, you were sandwiched in between two incredibly sexy men. I also have it on good authority that the seating arrangement wasn’t an accident.”

  “What?” Mia leaned forward, holding her wine away from her body to keep from spilling it on her shirt. “What do you mean it wasn’t an accident?”

  “You know I’m friends with a member of the board. She told me that someone specifically requested — at the very last minute, mind you — a change to the table arrangement.”

  “Are you serious? Why?”

  “Well, at first I thought it was because someone smarter than the person who put the seating chart together realized they’d put you at a table with Damien.”

  Mia frowned. She hadn’t known that.

  “But from what I remember, the two men who were flanking you couldn’t seem to take their eyes off you.”

  “That’s not true,” Mia said defensively.

  Alex chuckled and sipped her wine. “Oh, honey, trust me. I had the perfect view. The way Phoenix Pierce was looking at you … I thought a couple of times you might go up in flames.”

  Mia looked down at her hands, her face heating from her embarrassment.

  “And the other guy… Crap. What’s his name? He’s the PR guy for the Austin Arrows.”

  “Tarik Marx,” Mia said quickly, realizing a second too late that she’d fallen right into Alex’s trap.

  “That’s exactly what I thought. So, of course, me being the overprotective friend that I am, I did a little investigating of my own.”

  “I take it you’ve figured it all out?” Mia teased, hating that Alex knew her so well.

  “I guess you haven’t seen the tabloids, huh?”

  Mia shook her head. She’d purposely been avoiding recent events on the online gossip sites, and she did her best never to read the magazines at the grocery store. After her research spree, she’d found enough information to keep her busy for a lifetime without having to delve into things that had happened in the last few days.

  “Let’s just say you’ve looked pretty happy in the pictures they’ve snapped of you over the last couple of weeks. But what’s with them walking you to school?”

  Mia leaned forward and poured more wine into her glass. “It was only one day. On the Monday after the charity ball, when I left for school, I swear someone was following me. They’d never done that before, so it kinda freaked me out. I ran into Phoenix — literally — around the corner, and he insisted on walking me to school. He insisted that his driver took me the other days.”

  “Are you sure it was nothing?” There was concern in Alex’s stern tone.

  “I never saw anyone, so I figured I was being paranoid. If there was someone, I’m sure it was a reporter, anyway.”

  “Never assume, Mia,” Alex said gravely. “You’re a single woman now, and that’s a widely known fact. You need to be careful. There are some serious nut jobs out there.”

  Mia waved her off. “I’m careful, I promise. And Phoenix and Tarik aren’t letting me go far without one of them with me.”

  “So, tell me more about them. By the way, I think it’s incredibly hot that you’ve got two guys catering to your every whim.”

  “It’s not like that,” Mia stated cautiously. “We’re just … friends.”

  “Yeah? So why’re you blushing?”

  Mia didn’t say anything, but she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.

  “Did you kiss them?”

  “What?” Mia exclaimed. “No! Well, not both of them. No.”

  “Which one?” Alex�
��s curiosity caused her to lean forward, her eyes fixed on Mia’s face.

  “Phoenix.”

  “How was he?”

  “Oh, God, Alex, it was … incredible. I’ve never in my life been kissed like that.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Mia realized how she sounded.

  Alex giggled, her grin splitting her face from ear to ear. “I know you’re probably expecting me to give you a hard time. And I would, except I’m so happy to see you smiling.”

  “It’s been a while, huh?” Mia looked down at her lap again. Truth was, there for a while, she hadn’t been sure she’d ever smile again. When Damien had cheated on her, she’d stood tall and done what needed to be done, but her heart had been ultimately broken.

  “Too long. So what about Tarik? You didn’t kiss him?”

  Mia laughed. “Why in the world would I kiss two guys?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe to see which one is the better kisser. That’d be why I’d do it.”

  “Oh, my goodness, Alex. Are you serious?”

  “As a heart attack.”

  “Do you think that’s really okay?” Mia asked, her voice soft.

  “Why wouldn’t it be?” Alex questioned excitedly. “You’re not married. Good grief, woman. You need to live a little.”

  “I’ve never dated two guys at one time. Not that I’m doing that now,” Mia tacked on.

  “Well, it sure looks like it to me. So, they’re walking you to school. They both danced with you at the charity ball. According to the tabloids, you were seen at dinner with Phoenix, then yesterday having lunch with Tarik. What else have you done, you little minx?”

  “It’s much more innocent than I’m sure they made it sound. I don’t see them much. Really. They’re out of town most of the time.”

  “Away games,” Alex said. “By the way, Johnathan is a little jealous. He wants to know when you’re inviting us to dinner with Phoenix.”

  Mia laughed. “I’m sure he is. I don’t know that I’ll be having dinner with Phoenix.”

  “So why don’t you ask him out? Or, hell, ask ’em both.”

  Mia couldn’t believe her friend was suggesting she do such a thing. It felt like a betrayal even though she had her suspicions that they would be all for it.

  “Oh, come on,” Alex stated. “They know about each other, right?”

  “Well, yeah. But...” Mia wasn’t even sure what her argument was going to be. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Of course.”

  “Are…” Mia paused to take a swig of her wine, tempted to down the rest of the glass just so she could get the question out. “Are threesomes really that common?”

  Surprisingly, Alex didn’t laugh in her face, which was what Mia thought would happen. Instead, she smiled. “More common than you think.”

  “Have you ever…?”

  “No,” Alex answered immediately. “Johnathan is far too possessive for that. And I can guarantee you that I’m never letting another woman touch my man.”

  “So is it a bad thing if a man wants to share a woman with another man?”

  “No. To each his own, Mia. And yes, I know where you’re going with this. I’ve seen the stories about Phoenix. I’m nosy like that, which is the only reason I even bother to read that crap.”

  Mia knew her friend was quite fond of the gossip magazines. They used to sit for hours and make fun of the stories, and the people, that they read about.

  “Do you think there’s something going on between them?” Alex questioned, surprising Mia with the direction she’d taken the conversation, although it was something she’d wondered herself.

  Mia frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Alex held out her empty glass, and Mia moved to refill it, anxious to hear what Alex was getting at. She wasn’t disappointed. Well, she was and she wasn’t. It was all in how she took what Alex said next.

  “Phoenix is a very newsworthy guy. He’s been known for his bedroom’s revolving door over the years. But I also recall a story about—”

  “Him and Tarik together,” Mia said, completing Alex’s sentence. “I read that, too. Seeing them together, sure, it seems like there might be some … chemistry there.”

  “But they clearly like women, too.”

  “I think so. Hell, I don’t know,” Mia said, exasperated. She laughed, a hysterical sound that announced her discomfort with the conversation, although she’d been the one who wanted to talk about this. “I really don’t know how any of that stuff works. I thought that was just something they did in porn. Or erotic books. I had no idea that normal people did that stuff.”

  “Normal people?” Alex asked, laughing. “There are all kinds of kinks out there, Mia.”

  “Well, I didn’t know that,” she said a little sensitively. “Remember, I was a virgin when I met Damien.”

  “Oh, right. The sweet little innocent virgin.”

  “Shut up,” Mia huffed, still giggling. “I don’t understand why they might be interested in me if they’re actually lovers.”

  “Ever heard the term bisexual?”

  “Of course I have.” Mia pondered that for a second, following with, “Oh.”

  “Exactly. And it’s really not as uncommon as you think.”

  “Really? Well, there was this one story…” Mia thought back to the story she’d read about Tarik and Phoenix together.

  “Clearly I’m falling behind on my reading. What story?”

  “Apparently Phoenix took home some chick, and according to her, things got a little freaky. Something about his bodyguard going down on him.” Mia worried her lip for a moment, thinking about that as she recalled the article. The mental image that she came up with had her feeling the need to fan herself. It wasn’t a bad feeling, which surprised her. She’d never been into that. Then again, with Damien, she hadn’t really been into anything. When it had come to their sexual encounters, she’d been generally left lacking, although he’d tried to turn it around and blame her most of the time. These days, she was at the mercy of the books she read. Well, those and her trusty vibrator.

  “Earth to Mia. You’re still blushing.”

  Mia focused on Alex’s face, the mental image dissipating. “So, you really think they’re bisexual?” she asked, her curiosity unmistakably piqued.

  “You know them better than I do. What do you think?”

  “I don’t know them that well,” Mia admitted.

  “Well, honey, if I were you” — Alex’s smile widened as she held up her glass for a toast — “it’s time you get to know them better. Just go for it. I mean, hell, what do you have to lose?”

  Her heart.

  That was what she had to lose. But she didn’t bother to tell Alex that. She was her best friend; she already knew how Mia’s heart worked.

  Chapter Sixteen

  A week and a half later

  MIA COULDN’T BLAME the annoying beep of her alarm clock for waking her before the sun was up. It hadn’t even gone off when she found herself lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, her mind replaying the dream she’d been woken from.

  She almost wondered whether or not it had only been a dream — it had seemed so real. So much so that she really wished she hadn’t woken, so she could see where it might lead. In all her life, she’d never experienced anything like what had happened in her sleepy brain.

  Apparently she’d been thinking too much about the whole threesome, ménage, bisexual stuff. She’d actually spent the better part of the weekend doing even more research because it fascinated her. Why, she had no freaking clue. The idea of two men sharing one woman… Well, it seemed… The only fitting word would be hot. Yes, it was hot.

  Touching her lips with the tips of her fingers, she smiled at the memory of her dream. Her entire being had been affected by what had happened. In her dream, she’d been in her kitchen, and Phoenix and Tarik had both been there. It had started out innocent, the three of them simply talking, but it had quickly escalated into something significantly …
hotter, for lack of a better word. Phoenix had kissed her, overwhelming her with his scent, his touch, the way his lips moved over hers — very similar to the way it had been when he’d kissed her for real. But then Tarik had pressed up against her back. She’d felt the warmth of his lips on her neck, his calloused hands along the skin of her stomach as he touched her, pulling her against him while they both proceeded to pleasure her beyond anything she’d ever known before.

  Turning her head now, she looked at the blue numbers on the clock. She should be asleep. She didn’t have school on Tuesdays, which meant she had the opportunity to sleep in, yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep her eyes closed. That dream… It’d felt so real. And part of her was scared to give herself over to it once again, fearful that she’d want something she knew she wasn’t equipped to handle.

  Maybe she should go to the gym. She’d put it off since she’d moved in, always coming up with one excuse or another, but it all boiled down to, she didn’t want to put forth the effort. But maybe it would help to get her mind out of the gutter and back where it needed to be. She was supposed to be focused on herself, on her education, not dreaming about wicked sexual encounters with not one but two men.

  A rumble of thunder echoed outside her bedroom window, and Mia turned her head to the opposite side. The pitter patter of raindrops against the glass was soothing, but not enough to lure her back to sleep, so she did the only logical thing she could come up with. She kicked off the blankets and forced her legs over the edge of the bed. When her feet hit the floor, she stood and went to the bathroom.

  Ten minutes later, she was dressed in her workout clothes — the ones she’d had to take the tags off of when she’d pulled them from the back of her closet. Feeling determined, she practically skipped into her kitchen.

  Pulling the carton of orange juice, along with an apple, a mango, and the leafy kale from the refrigerator, Mia realized she was humming. Retrieving a banana from the holder on the counter and the small jar of protein powder she’d picked up last week, she headed for the cabinet. Pulling out a glass, she hefted her items over to the sink and set everything on the cutting board. She smiled. She’d always wanted to make a smoothie, and she’d heard that they were good for her, so why not?