“Going to buy something?” she whispered to Ethan.
“Maybe …” he replied, kissing her ear.
“And, on a totally unrelated note, I’d like to extend my congratulations to the newly engaged couple, Ethan Christopher and Mia Devereux. I wish you two a lovely future together,” he paused in thought. “If my wife were still with us, I’m sure she’d agree with me. As you begin this life together, make sure to nourish it with trust, caring, and most of all, lots of love. Cherish each other and enjoy the journey. God bless you two!”
All eyes were now on them; people cheering and congratulating them. Mia looked at Ethan with tears in her eyes. She was a very lucky woman to have the love of this man. He held her close as the many people came by to wish them well.
Not one of those people was Luke.
She looked out to the sea of people but couldn’t find him. This was one of those moments that she would have loved to share with her best friend. Internally, she rolled her eyes, but she presented the world with a cheery smile.
About an hour later, Mia saw Luke come back in the room, looking disheveled, his hair messy, his tie askew and his shirt carelessly tucked in. His face was flushed, his lips bruised. It didn’t take a genius to know what he had been doing and with whom.
It shouldn’t bother her, yet it did. She wasn’t jealous, though the thought that he could do better definitely crossed her mind.
She strode towards him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him outside to the empty patio.
“Oww, Mia!” he said, rubbing his arm.
“Now!” She looked around to make sure there was no one around and then she turned on him. “Talk. Now,” she demanded.
“There’s nothing to say,” he said, fixing his shirt and tie.
“Bullshit,” she countered, feeling her anger grow with each false word he said. “Were you lying to me when you said you were happy for me?”
“No.”
“Then what is it? And don’t say it’s nothing because I saw the drinks and I saw the girl.”
He sighed heavily. “Can’t I have this to myself?”
“No.”
“I’ll get over it … in time,” he said wearily.
“But you see, I won’t. How can I? I don’t even know what it is. You have never treated me this way before. I have never been this mad at you. You are supposed to be my best friend …” her voice trailing off.
“Yeah I am and that’s where my problem is,” he paused thoughtfully for a moment. “Did I ever tell you that after you moved in with me, I shopped for engagement rings?”
Her face fell. “What?” she said, completely shocked. He had wanted to marry her? She scratched the back of her head, not knowing what to say.
“I had one all picked out. That’s why I met you at home that night instead of going home with you.”
“Oh,” she replied, turning away from him. The night that Taylor came and informed him he was a father.
“So you see, there was a time I wanted my ring on your finger,” Luke said, holding her hand and touching the ring. “And seeing another man’s ring there just made me remember how one decision really fucked up my life.”
“Why didn’t you ever ask me? You had years …” Life would have been very different if he’d asked her. During those years, she would’ve said yes. No doubt about it. But then she met Ethan and everything changed.
“You let me go.”
“You wanted me to do that!”
“I know. But it still doesn’t change the fact that I had, at one time, wanted to marry you.”
“Sorry,” she said, her face squinting in distress. “Goddamn it. I’m sorry. Now I feel like an ass.”
“At least you don’t look like one,” he said, trying to joke.
“Fuck. Be serious.”
“I don’t want to be serious. I want to forget.”
“Wanna do shots?” she suggested.
“Ethan would not be happy if I got you drunk.”
Mia thought on that for a moment. He was right. “No—probably not. What can I do then?”
“Just give me some time,” he said unhappily.
“What does that mean?” she asked, feeling more and more uneasy. He took her by the hand and led her to the dance floor. He wrapped her in his arms and they started to move. Her head rested on his shoulder, his head against hers. They danced slowly in silence, Mia lost in her thoughts about Luke’s revelations.
His last words ran through her mind, over and over until she couldn’t take that or the silence any longer.
“Luke? What did you mean?”
He swallowed nervously. “It means that after this dance, you’re going to have to let me go for awhile.”
“What? No!” she protested as she realized what he meant, tears slipping from her eyes.
“I’ll come back. I promise,” he said, his eyes watery too.
“When?”
“I don’t know, sweets.”
She wrapped her arms tighter around him, not wanting him to leave her. “I love you,” she said tearfully against his ear.
Luke drew back and regarded her sadly. “I love you, too.”
He kissed her lips quickly and walked away, leaving her on the dance floor alone. Mia had to get away and fast. She searched for an escape and went back to the patio. She hurried out there and let the sobs pour out, for she felt like she’d just lost her best friend.
Mia
Indianapolis, August 2007
Mia stood in the private lounge area to get a drink other than beer or soda, preferably something nice and hard. She’d been in Chicago all week, rehearsing for her upcoming tour, but she was back in Indy because she didn’t want to miss Ethan’s first home game of the season.
Unfortunately, the box she was in was full of people she did not want to talk to. This is what she got for arriving early. Ethan had made her ride in with him. He was having her Pathfinder looked at before she drove back to Chicago. He’d heard a noise and was all “how long has that been making a noise?” She had no clue. He then gave her an exasperated look.
“I’m not a car person!” she remembered exclaiming.
“Good thing you’re marrying me then,” he’d replied.
She smiled, remembering that conversation, knowing how lucky she really was.
While she waited in line, Mia looked around. The fans were excited for the season to begin and so was she!
In that excited crowd, she spotted Luke, laughing with a group of older men. It had been almost four months since she’d last seen him. His dark brown hair was shorter and tousled perfectly. He was dressed to kill for the home opener in his dark navy pinstriped suit, the navy tie already loosened around his neck.
Mia had stayed away, even though she spent the majority of her summer in Indianapolis less than fifteen minutes from him. She let him go, just as he’d asked, one of the hardest things she had ever done. She missed him so much the past few months. Daily communication with him was gone. Not one word from him the entire time. It fucking sucked!
Ethan knew something was up between them but didn’t pry. She knew he saw Luke almost every day because of work. He’d wanted to have both Kaitlyn and Luke over to celebrate her birthday. She hated having to say no to that.
Not seeing Kaitlyn the entire summer was even worse. The little girl was so close yet so far away. Now the summer was basically over and in a couple weeks she’d be heading out for a long ass tour. The opportunities to see the squirt before her tour started were bleak.
As much as she wanted to talk with Luke, Mia stepped out of line and headed away in the opposite direction—away from Luke and unfortunately, away from the privacy of her suite.
Mia rubbed at the tears in her eyes as she continued on through the crowd. The congestion of all the people watching the wall of televisions had her stopping.
Slowly shuffling her way through the mass of people, her eyes closed when a hand grabbed her forearm. Luke. She would never forget his touch. With a deep br
eath, she turned around and there he stood.
“Don’t I know you?” he asked playfully. Her eyes refilled with more tears and she pulled her arm from him and tried to forge her way through the crowd. How could he act like nothing had happened, that they hadn’t seen or talked to each other in months?
“Mia, please!” he pleaded.
She stopped and spun around. Her resolve broke when she saw the pain in his eyes. So this hurt him, too. That thought didn’t make her feel any better.
He closed the distance between them, taking her arm and leading them to a secluded corner, away from most of the people. There wouldn’t be much privacy today. She stood there, her arms crossed as she waited for him to speak. He came to her, he could talk first.
“This would be so much easier if you would say something,” Luke stated anxiously.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know what to say,” he said, running a hand through his perfect hair.
“Well, neither do I,” she admitted. They remained silent for a while, just staring at each other.
“Are you still my best friend?” he asked finally.
“I don’t know. Am I yours?” she retorted, wanting to glare at him but her anger quickly evaporated with him in front of her.
“You are,” he replied, smiling at her tenderly.
“Are you back?” she asked, her tears betraying the edge in her tone.
“If you will have me.”
“I’ve hated the past few months,” she said shakily.
“Translation: I have missed you, Luke.”
She smiled a sad smile, confirming what he said. This was worse than when he moved to Indianapolis to be with his daughter. They had still talked then, but during this time there was nothing and she had no idea if there would ever be anything ever again. Plus not seeing Kaitlyn killed her.
“I’ve missed you too, Mia.”
“I don’t want to let go of you ever again. Okay?”
He nodded and pulled her into his warm embrace. She let the tears fall in the comfort of his arms. He smoothed her hair as she cried over how much she had missed him.
“So we’re good now? Best friends again?” he asked.
“I think so,” she said, sniffing a little. “You’re not going to go away again?”
“No.”
“I can talk about my pending marriage in your company and not have you get weirded out?”
“Yes,” he answered quickly.
“You’re sure?” Mia asked, looking him straight in the eye.
“Positive,” he replied, kissing her forehead.
“And if I asked my best friend to be in my wedding, he would?”
Luke smiled widely. “He would expect that.”
“Good, because I couldn’t do this without you.”
“When are the nuptials going to be?”
“Next summer. Memorial Day weekend.”
“So, you’re happy, hmm?”
“Very happy. Especially now. Things just weren’t the same without you or Kaitlyn. I missed talking to you about the silly little things. So many times I wanted to call you. Like when I went out for pizza with the guys and they ordered deep dish. You’re the only one who would understand how much that distressed me. You and me, paper-thin crust with Italian sausage, green peppers, and onions.”
“That’s a pizza,” he agreed.
“Right? This is what I missed.”
“I am sorry. So very sorry. Sit with me and you can catch me up on all the inane things that happened while we were apart.”
“Okay,” she agreed. Luke hooked his arm through hers and he led her towards his box and to a couple seats outside of his suite.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, going back into the box.
Mia watched the teams warming up and searched the field for Ethan. She smiled when she spotted him on the sidelines, searching the crowd she realized for her. Mia stood up and waved, hoping he’d see her. His smile blossomed and she knew he saw her. Blowing him a kiss had that smile growing even bigger.
Luke returned with two beers. “Who are you blowing kisses to?” he said as he handed her a drink. She smiled over at him.
“That sexy quarterback on the sidelines,” she said, pointing with her finger.
“You think he’s sexy?”
“I do,” she replied. Luke sat down and she followed. “Thanks for the beer. I was going to get a drink earlier …”
“But you saw me and hightailed it out of there,” he supplied.
“Not exactly.”
“Whatever!”
“Haha!”
“So, tell me what’s been going on?” he asked as they waited for the game to start.
“Like Ethan hasn’t told you.”
“Maybe he has, but I would like to hear it from you,” he said, taking her hand in his.
“My second album was just released,” she smiled proudly.
“Got it already. Very good! Such a lovey-dovey album,” he teased.
“Oh hush!” she said, taking another drink of her beer. He was right. Her second album, Difference Between Like & Love, had a decidingly love struck slant. Ethan was her muse. She loved him and this album was a testament to that.
Looking around, Mia saw him on the Jumbotron, signing a few autographs. That would be how she would see him over the next few weeks—on a screen. Nothing as big as the screen here. Just her laptop when she had him on Skype. She shook her head not liking that thought one bit.
“When does the tour start?” Luke asked.
“Two weeks.”
“How long is this one?”
“Six months. I’m going all over the country twice as well as Europe, South America and Australia. With very few breaks,” Mia said, finally saying the words out loud. She had been trying to ignore the fact that this tour would be brutal. More than likely it would be months in between seeing Ethan and she was not looking forward to that. Not one bit.
“Uh oh. I sense a problem in your voice,” he said, his voice laced with concern.
“I was looking at the tour schedule and the Flash schedule. Seeing him is going to be near impossible. That does not make me happy. I mean, I am grateful that the tour is sold out, but I just wish we had more availability. I’m going to miss everyone so bad, including you and Kaitlyn. Can we please get together in the next couple weeks? I’d love to see her before I leave. Though it’ll be hard to even do that with my rehearsal schedule.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Luke said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and giving her a reassured squeeze.
Mia had her best friend here with her. She could tell him her fears, tell him how she feared this trip. Dreaded it. She could tell him … but she didn’t. That would only make it more real and Mia did not want that.
Ethan
Chicago, August 2007
Ethan pulled his car into an empty parking spot outside of Mia’s rehearsal space. Todd and the rest of the band had decided to convert an old warehouse into a rehearsal space/recording studio. They recorded their second album there and now were using it for their rehearsals. Ethan just wished they had picked a better location. It was too out of the way for his liking, but Mia liked that it was hidden with fewer distractions.
He exited his car and made his way into the building, the excitement to see Mia building with each step. She had been up in Chicago the past week, working on the final preparations for her tour, which started in a few short days. That he wasn’t excited about. This was their last weekend together until at least his bye week in October when he was off. Six weeks.
Ethan sighed as he opened the door, hearing the waves of music rushing him. They were in the middle of performing one of their new songs, “The Good Life.” Every time he saw Mia hold a guitar, he couldn’t get over the fact that it seemed to dwarf her slender body.
He stayed back until they finished that song, enjoying her performance from the shadows. There was no putting on a different show for him. This was pure
Mia and he was so proud of her, the success, all of it. She was that special, at least he thought so.
Ethan couldn’t wait for them to get married and start the rest of their lives together. They just had to make it through her tour and his football season. That thought reminded him that he still had to email Allie about a few things.
No sooner did he get out his iPhone that the song ended. He walked forward into the light and a huge smile came to Mia’s face when she saw him.
“Hi, honey! Great game last night!” she called out. He continued to the stage and she knelt down and kissed him deeply.
“Hi, suga,” he said quietly after her lips left his. Definitely going to miss her kisses, he thought sadly.
“I missed you,” she said, her eyes and fingers tracing his face.
“Same here,” he said, taking her hand and lightly kissing it. He wanted to be alone with her right now. “How much longer?”
“Uh, I don’t know,” she replied and turned to Marty. “How much longer, Marty?”
“About thirty minutes.”
“Alright. I have some emails to take care of, so I’ll just sit and listen.”
“Okay,” Mia said, kissing him one more time, letting it linger. She smiled sweetly as she stood up, touching her lips with her thumb. Ethan returned her smile and quickly found an empty chair. Sometimes her ability to arouse him amazed him. It wasn’t the kiss more than it was the way she touched her lips afterward. Goddamn!
Shaking the explicit thoughts out of his head, he got out his phone and checked his email. He searched for the last message from Allie and hit reply. They had been trying to figure out ways for him to see Mia during the tour and the news wasn’t very good. He would be able to see her during some of her Midwest shows, for the most part, but those were at the very beginning and end of her tour. He wouldn’t see her over Thanksgiving. She’d be in Europe from mid-November until just before Christmas. He would be able to see her for a few days before she headed to South America right after Christmas.
To: Allie Kellmeyer
From: Ethan Christopher
Bring Me You Page 19