by Tia Siren
My mom looked at him, questioning his laughter.
We managed to get through the rest of our meal without any further incidents. As we were walking out of the restaurant, Brad leaned in close and whispered in my ear. “You’re going to pay for that.”
I laughed. “We’ll see.”
We took our walk with my mom before she decided it was time for her to go. She thanked us for breakfast and left us alone.
“Back to your place,” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me along the sidewalk.
“Do you want to get a cab?” I called out.
“No. This is faster, and trust me, you want me to walk off some of the sexual frustration you have given me,” he growled. The clouds that had rolled in earlier had turned into a full-on rainstorm.
I was laughing as he pulled me along, not caring a bit that we were getting soaked. I liked knowing I had that kind of power over him. When we got back to my place, I was only a little bummed he didn’t follow through with his earlier promise. Instead, he ordered me to get changed into dry clothes while he did the same.
When I returned to the living room, he was on the couch with the remote in his hand. He had found the Syfy channel and seemed to be settling into some ridiculously cheesy show about people living on another planet.
I sat down beside him, content with watching television. It didn’t take long before he began to run his hand over my arm and then my breast. The man was handsy, though he didn’t appear to be interested in sex. He was intent on the movie, but his hands roved over my body, stroking here and there, even tweaking my nipples on occasion.
I was worked up into a frenzy, and the man wasn’t giving me what I wanted. I was too embarrassed to ask. I settled for his touches, all the while hoping he would get tired of the movie and have his way with me.
Chapter Nineteen
Brad
Waking up in her bed, I didn’t move or open my eyes. I had to get my head straight. I’d come to New York with a plan, but I had yet to make it happen. I needed to bring up the topic of the marriage pact. She had purposely been avoiding it. She could pretend all she wanted, but it needed to be discussed.
I was enjoying spending time with her, but I had to do something. I was leaving tomorrow and needed to know what to do when I got back. Did I look for a new job in New York or stay put in LA? Would she have me? I felt as if I were running out of time. I didn’t want to live my life without her in it. I had to convince her she wanted me in hers as well.
I rolled over to touch her, a little bummed that her naked little body wasn’t tucked against mine. My eyes popped open when I realized the bed was empty.
“Mia?” I called out.
No answer. I pulled on my briefs and headed down the hall to the kitchen.
“Hey,” I said with a smile, but I stopped walking toward her when I saw her arms crossed and her foot steadily tapping up and down.
She was pissed. I knew that look well.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, searching my memory bank, trying to remember what I said or did to piss her off in the last twelve hours or so. I had thought she’d been pleased when we had finally gone to sleep. Maybe I had said another woman’s name in my sleep.
I cautiously took a step forward. “Mia?”
She held up the ring I had brought with me. “What the hell is this?” She was fuming.
“It’s a ring,” I answered honestly.
She glared at me. “No shit it’s a ring. Why do you have an engagement ring, Brad?”
I took a deep breath. I wanted to have the conversation, so I may as well get it out in the open now.
“You know why.”
“Uh-uh. No way. You did not come out here and think you could fuck me into marriage.”
I was a little stunned by her crassness. The woman blushed when I talked about sex. Now she was throwing around a loaded word.
“Mia, I was serious. I am serious. I want to marry you.”
“No! Brad! Seriously!”
Her one-word sentences told me a lot about how angry she was. The woman was a writer. When we used to argue, I had needed a dictionary to keep up. She was so mad she couldn’t find the words. That was not a good sign for me.
“I want to marry you. We’re great together. You have to admit that.”
“No. I cannot believe you actually expect me to marry you after one weekend together.”
I shook my head. “No. We’ve known each other a lot longer than that.”
“No. We knew each other. Then you walked out of my life without ever looking back. You can’t show up on my door one day and expect me to forget everything that happened. You can’t expect me to marry someone I’ve only known for a couple days.”
I groaned in frustration. “We’ve known each other longer than that. Yes, we had a gap in there, but we’re still compatible. We had fun this weekend.”
Her eyes widened, and I knew I had used the wrong word. It looked as if she was going to spit fire. “You are so immature. What a childish thing to say. You don’t marry someone because you had fun. That’s not what a marriage is about. Marrying because we had a little fun over a weekend is only going to end in disaster. We’d end up hating each other!”
“No way. I would never hate you. I can’t. You are a part of me. I haven’t felt this happy in a long time, Mia.”
“That’s bullshit. We had sex, Brad. I know you’ve been having plenty of sex with other women. Do you propose to all of them? How many times have you tried to give away this ring?”
I bit back my own anger. “Never. I have never felt like this, and that ring has never been offered to anyone else. I picked it out with you in mind.”
“You need to go,” she said in a hiss.
“Excuse me?”
“I need to be alone. Go. I don’t care if you go to LA or around the block. I need some time alone. I need to think, and I can’t do that with you staring at me.”
I nodded my head in understanding. “Fine. Let me change and I’ll go pick up some breakfast for us.”
“I don’t want breakfast!” she shrieked.
“Okay. I’ll go get breakfast for myself,” I said, and I walked out of the kitchen.
That did not go as I had planned. I never expected her to get angry. I expected her to say no, and I had been fully prepared to convince her otherwise. Hell, I’d been ready to beg. Her fury had caught me by surprise. I didn’t understand it.
I pulled on my shorts and threw on a clean shirt and one of the new hoodies I had picked up the other day. I walked out of her condo without saying another word. I would give her time to cool down. Then we could have a rational conversation.
I walked to a juice bar and grabbed a smoothie. What I really needed to do was run. I looked down at my feet in my worn tennis shoes and took in my khaki shorts. I looked up and down the street, not seeing what I needed, so I headed up one block and then another until I found what I was looking for. I bought myself some running gear, rented a locker to stash my old clothes in, and headed into Central Park.
It felt good to run. I was used to running on the packed jogging paths around LA, so I didn’t mind the crowds and other joggers as I moved along the path. Running helped me think. Mia had to be blind not to see how good we were for each other. I knew I could make her happy if she would give me a chance.
I had put in a good three-mile run and was feeling the burn. I grabbed my stuff from the locker and used the walk back to Mia’s condo to cool down my muscles. I knocked on her door, hoping she was home and willing to let me in. When she yanked it open, I could tell she was still mad.
“Mia,” I said with exhaustion. “Please, can we at least talk about this?”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m not marrying you because of some stupid pact.”
“Then marry me because you want to.”
“It doesn’t work like that. You live in LA; I live here. There is no way I am going to turn my life upside down to honor some stupid pact you made up
when we were kids.”
I walked to her kitchen and got myself a glass of water before answering her. “We weren’t kids. We’re definitely not kids now, and I know what I want.”
“I’m happy for you, but I don’t feel the same way.”
“I think you could if you gave it a chance. You know we get along well. We are definitely compatible in the sex department. No one is saying you have to move anywhere.”
She scoffed. “Oh, so it’s to be a marriage of convenience. You pop in when you want to get laid and then head back to your little beach cottage where you surf all day and fuck a different woman every night while your little wifey sits in New York. I suppose you’ll expect me to pop out those kids you talked about before, right? So I’ll be here, raising your children all alone, and you’ll be the absent father who comes and goes as he pleases,” she said, her voice shrill.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You are really getting ahead of yourself, Mia. No one said anything about kids or you being alone. I want a marriage, a real one.”
“You’re so childish!” she shouted. “That’s not how it works! I had thought you’d grown up a bit, but I was wrong. You’re still that same immature guy from eleven years ago. This is never going to work.”
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to remain calm. Letting my anger rule would be bad news. I didn’t want to say something I would regret. The woman was being completely irrational. Clearly the four hours I had stayed away had not been enough.
“Look, I’m going to jump in the shower. When I get out, can we please just pretend none of this happened? I only have one night left in New York. We’ve had a great time, and I don’t want it to end badly.”
She glared at me. “No, we can’t pretend it never happened, and hell no I’m not just going to forget everything and jump right back in bed with you.”
“I’m taking a shower,” I said, refusing to engage. I thought about inviting her in but knew that would probably get something large and hard thrown at my head.
I took a long, hot shower, letting the water wash away my frustration and anger. If I was being honest with myself, I was also hurt. How could she not want me? We were perfect for each other. I wasn’t exactly an ogre, and I would do anything to make her happy.
I got out of the shower, dreading what I would find on the other side of the door. I hoped she was calm and ready to talk. I pulled on my shorts and carried my T-shirt with me as I walked down the hall.
She looked up from where she was sitting at her kitchen table, her laptop open as she furiously typed.
“Put your shirt on. Your bare chest isn’t going to make me change my mind,” she snapped.
I nodded and put the shirt on.
“I’m sorry you’re angry,” I said softly.
She shrugged a shoulder. “This isn’t going to work. You need to leave.”
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” I reminded her.
“No. Leave now. Go find a hotel.”
I stalked toward her and shut her laptop with one move of my hand and forced her to look up at me.
“Enough. You had your say. I get it, but I’m not going anywhere tonight, Mia. You’re the one who’s being childish.”
She stood up, put her hands on her hips, and glared at me. “Fine! But you’re not sleeping in my bed.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “Whatever.”
I was done fighting. Everything I said made the situation worse. I opted to keep my mouth shut. Maybe she’d feel differently once she slept on it. If not, then there truly was little I could do about it. I couldn’t exactly club her over the head and drag her back to my cave, even if that was what I wanted to do.
She stomped down the hallway and came back with the same blanket from the first night, but I wasn’t even given a pillow this time. She threw the blanket on the couch, shot me one last death glare, and stomped into her room, slamming the door hard behind her.
It was still early, way too early to be going to bed, but I had a feeling I wouldn’t be seeing Mia again this evening. I sighed and flopped down on the couch. I didn’t remember her being this volatile. I must have really brought out the best in her. Tomorrow was my last chance to prove to her I was serious about making our relationship work. My last hope was that the night alone would give her time to think and time to miss me.
I looked at her closed bedroom door and debated forcing my way in and making her lie with me. I couldn’t. We would end up having sex. I knew that. She might have been pissed as hell, but she wanted me. She would have sex with me and then kick me out of her bed. I had to do this a little differently. I wasn’t sure exactly how, but differently.
Chapter Twenty
Mia
The dawn of a new day brought fresh regret and humiliation. I had freaked out on him yesterday. Some of it had been warranted, but I could admit I had gone a little overboard. The thought of marrying him because of a stupid pact had just struck such a chord with me. I’d lost all control of my emotions. I had turned into a raving lunatic.
I blamed my mother. She read me too many stories as a child, made me believe in happily ever afters and having it all. I didn’t want to get married because of some silly pact made when I was twenty-four years old. I didn’t want a marriage of convenience. I didn’t want to settle down and pop out kids just because my time was running out. I wanted to get married and have a family because I loved someone and was loved in return. I didn’t think that was too much to ask for.
I was dressed and ready for work, dreading the moment I had to open my bedroom door and face him.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled open the door. A shiver of fear rolled over me when I heard nothing but silence. Oh God, had he left already?
I hurried down the hallway in a slight panic but stopped when I saw him leaning over the couch, fluffing the throw pillows. His bag was zipped up and sitting on the floor. He was dressed and obviously ready to go.
He looked up when he saw me. Instead of the warm smile I was accustomed to seeing first thing in the morning, he gave me a cold, wary look.
“I’m just waiting for my cab and then I’ll be out of your hair. I’ll wait in the lobby,” he said, bending down to pick up his bag.
“Brad, wait,” I said, walking toward him. “You don’t have to wait in the lobby. I don’t want to end it like this.”
I fought back the rush of tears that wanted to fall. I was not going to cry. This was a momentary weakness brought on by the sight of him ready to leave. The man was devastatingly handsome, and I would miss him, but his leaving was for the best. After my reaction last night, I didn’t know if I could ever truly forgive him for the past, for leaving me behind.
I stood in front of him.
“I’m not in the mood for another fight with you, Mia. I don’t want to end our great weekend like that.”
“I know. I understand.” I leaned up on my tiptoes and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry about last night.”
“You are?” he asked hopefully.
“It doesn’t mean I’ve changed my mind, but I am sorry. I know you don’t think it’s wrong, and I know you think you’re doing something gallant or noble. I respect you for trying to honor a pact. That means a lot to me, but it was a silly pact made between two young people who were naïve and clueless about real life,” I said.
“I don’t think it was. I think it was made between two people who cared a great deal for each other but had the maturity to understand they both had a lot of living to do first.”
I smiled. “That’s one way to put it. A lot of living brings a change in perspective. My perspective has changed.”
“Maybe mine has too, which is why I’m here. It took me eleven years to realize I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have let you go. I want to rectify that mistake,” he said in a gentle tone, one hand resting on my shoulder.
I sighed, thinking about what would have been different had he stayed. I had played out the what-ifs in my mind a hundred different ways over the years, but I could
never see it working out any better.
“I’m sorry. I think you did do the right thing. You did what was best for both of us. I don’t think I would have been able to do that. For that, I thank you. However, I am still sorry you wasted your time and energy on trying to rekindle that spark between us.”
He looked into my eyes. I saw my own sadness reflected there.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m not. Coming out here may not have gone exactly as I had hoped, but I am not the least bit sorry I got to spend time with you. It wasn’t wasted in the least.”
I stomped my foot in frustration. I was frustrated with myself for not giving in, frustrated with him for asking, and frustrated with the situation in general.
“It just wouldn’t work. Not like that, not with the two of us. Even forgetting everything that happened in the past, we’re both strong people who can’t settle for anything,” I told him, meaning every word. “We would never be able to compromise.”
“I’m not giving up, Mia. I think you have this all wrong. I’m leaving today, but I am by no means giving up on you.”
“Brad,” I said, getting ready to list more reasons why we couldn’t get married.
I looked into his eyes and saw something change. Before I knew what he was going to do, his mouth covered mine, his tongue sweeping inside as his arms wrapped around me, holding me close to him. I sank into his body, letting myself enjoy one last kiss. The man was a superb kisser. He could make me forget everything with one touch.
He pulled away and looked down at me. I felt a little dazed. “Dammit, I hate when you do that,” I muttered, doing what I could to steady my legs, which now felt weak.
“I want to do it again.”
“No! I’m sorry, but you can’t. We can’t. This isn’t going to work. I’m really sorry, Brad.”
He grinned. “Don’t be sorry, and quit fucking apologizing. I’m tired of hearing that damn word,” he said, his smooth voice disappearing and that dominating tone and demeanor taking over.