Stay

by Emily Evans

  “Niko, it’s still too hot for a sweater,” Hope said. It wasn’t a problem. She’d do what all her friends did, change when they were out of sight of the parents or, in her case, slip off the sweater. Gotta pick your battles. “See y’all tonight.” She went to Alexi and nudged him with the apple. “Ready?”

  He rose without saying anything. He went out to the car in the same silent sulk. And when they got in, he stared out the passenger window and paid no attention to her.

  She didn’t like it. She’d become rather spoiled by his attention and missed it. And she wanted to shake him out of the mood. He needed a distraction. She slipped off her sweater and adjusted the hem of her cheer top. “This top isn’t even that bad. And if Niko’s like this with me, I can’t imagine how he’ll be with his own kids.”

  He stiffened.

  How odd. She needed to stop hypothesizing about being an aunt. It was a fun pastime for her, but clearly she was making Alexi worry. He shouldn’t worry so much. Hope would be a great mom. Well, a great mom if one didn’t mind having paint smears on his baby and a ridiculous number of portraits. “Can you imagine Hope trying to get the baby to hold still for a pose?” She chuckled. She could hear Hope now, lecturing her baby about the importance of continuity. Mia was going to love the wiggly little beast.

  Alexi’s smile was small, but it was a smile.

  His smiles. Oooh. “Lucky kid, he’ll probably get to visit Greece with you guys.”

  “Greece.” His face went flat.

  Oh no. Screw the distance. She reached out and squeezed his hand. She wanted to ask about his dad, but needed to head there cautiously. “Homesick?”

  His eyes widened in surprise. “No.”

  Relief eased her shoulders. “Good. Because America has you now. We’re keeping you, like we did with all the immigrants before you.”

  He turned his head and touched her hair. “You want to keep me?”

  “Yep. I have you in my thrall. You are obsessed with me.” She purposefully used the exaggerated words his father had used on the phone call.

  “Mia.” His voice came out chastising. “Were you listening in on my phone call?”

  “That’s how I roll.”

  “My father sees what he wants to see. And he wants me back. He’s lost Niko to this place and Hope. And Niko has his own business; he doesn’t need our father. So, Father wants me to run his end of things one day. In Greece.”

  The car had stopped. Vincent came around to get the door before she could ask him more. Too soon. Alexi was opening up to her. If he was still here after graduation, she’d make him take a road trip with her. Alexi and a long car ride. She’d learn everything about him. Grrr. She let her eyes close a second. She’d never wanted to know everything about a guy before him.

  ***

  The following week was a short one due to the Thanksgiving holiday. On Wednesday, Alexi’s lunch tray contained the school cafeteria’s version of a Thanksgiving meal. He poked at the spongy slice of turkey with his fork. It bounced a bit and shoved into the gravy and dressing.

  “Movies show Thanksgiving as all about the food.” He looked bitterly disappointed. The gravy contained pieces of floating egg alongside something very much like a bone. “Mia…” He jabbed the loaf with his fork.

  Mia’s gaze lit on his plate. “Score. You got the wishbone.” She stuck her fingers into the gravy, lifted out the bone by one of its two prongs, and held out the other toward him. She shook it. “Make a wish.”

  Alexi drew back.

  Quinn stretched a hand across the table. But Alexi beat him to it and grabbed hold of his half of the wishbone. He looked at Quinn in triumph. Quinn was too slow off the field as well as on. Mia gave a sharp tug. Snap. The bone separated into two pieces. She waved the larger piece at him. “I get my wish.” She let her wicked thoughts show in her smile.

  Alexi placed his half of the wishbone on the tray and wiped his fingers. “Interesting.”

  Quinn held out a cupped palm. “Grow a pair, A, and just eat it.”

  Alexi lifted the small piece of skeleton in his hand and flicked it down the center of the laminate tabletop. It stopped and flopped over wetly in front of Quinn. “Enjoy.”

  Jake laughed. “Yeah. You suck it up, Quinn. You lost that round.”

  “Your wish had better be about my holiday party,” Lauren said. “It’s going to be off the hook this year.”

  “Is it this weekend?” Quinn asked without touching the carcass.

  “Friday night. Shots, sheets, and no supervision,” Lauren said. “And no fireworks.”

  “I’m there.” Quinn glanced at Mia. “My band has got a gig tonight to kick off our four-day weekend. A private party, but they rented out a whole club. If y’all want to swing by, you can catch us.” He gave Mia a pointed look. In case she’d missed the invite.

  “Cool,” Lauren said.

  Mia leaned toward Alexi, close enough that she could smell his yummy mall kiosk cologne, and put her lips to his ear so the table wouldn’t overhear. “We’ll have to make the most of this party because Hope warned me—we’re getting a new curfew.”

  That evening, Mia headed toward the living room with caution. She did not want a new curfew. She didn’t want a curfew at all. How to work this…she paused in the doorway.

  Niko was pouring a drink, and Hope was sketching. “Thank goodness Sacha came to his senses. For years, it was a different girl every week. My father used to call him the Greek whore.” Niko tilted his shoulder down in apology to Hope. “Uh, I mean, Romeo. He’s doing much better here. He should stay.”

  Romeo? Heat rose in her face at Niko’s words, and her stomach twisted. What? What girls? What was Niko saying? Alexi was a virgin, waiting like her. Wasn’t he? Why would his dad call him that? Her stomach tightened harder. Stupid, stupid, of course Alexi isn’t waiting. Look at him. Mia eased away from the room. She went directly toward the foyer, one goal in mind. Get her purse and get out before she embarrassed herself. She’d misunderstood him before, spilled her V-card secret, and he’d let her.

  Alexi appeared on the stairs.

  Don’t look at him. Alexi the liar—like the fake Sacha. From day one, he had deceived her. Friends? She didn’t even know him. All those remarks she’d made about how special they were. Romeo. Stop thinking, go.

  “Hey,” Alexi said.

  Mia reached her purse, grabbed it and turned toward the front door. Don’t look at him, just go. Her eyes burned, and she refused to cry. What was this jealousy? It sucked.

  Alexi touched her arm, turning her toward him. She stepped back, shook off his hold.

  Alexi saw her face. “What happened? What’s wrong?” He spoke in Greek.

  She reached her hand toward the doorknob. He put out a hand to stop her.

  “Well, Sacha.”

  His hand dropped at the nickname. She never called him Sacha. “Niko’s telling Hope you were something of a player.” Her voice shook on the last word. She twisted the doorknob. “I don’t know why I’m so… I have no right, but you didn’t have to lie.”

  She got in her car and drove. No real direction. Her phone buzzed until she shut it off. She turned the music up loud to block out her thoughts. Why hadn’t he told her the truth, instead of making her feel stupid? Her hands were sweaty and cold when she rubbed the tears away. She put her phone back on and texted Hope, Spending night at Lauren’s.

  Thank God for text messages. There’s no way she could have spoken without sounding mad. She texted Lauren next, Can I come over?

  The reply was immediate. Get here.

  She did. She rang the bell, and the door flew open.

  “Hey, I was just about to ditch this place.” Lauren wore a mini skirt, black camisole, and sneakers. She examined Mia’s boots, jeans, and T-shirt. “You can’t wear that. I was trying to decide between the red cami and the black. You can wear the red. The black works on me, right?”

  “Yes,” Mia said, glad Lauren didn’t notice she was upset. So what if
Alexi lied to her? His past was none of her business. Move on. It’s just that they’d had a connection. A real one.

  Music blared from Lauren’s room. Perfect, if the music’s loud enough, all thoughts stop. Lauren’s room was trashed. Clothes were tossed everywhere, but Lauren made two grabs and had what she wanted. She put them in Mia’s arms and shoved her toward the bathroom. Mia stepped carefully around the stuff on the floor. Lauren probably would appreciate having Niko’s staff; she’d never have to pick up anything again.

  The bathroom smelled like six different perfumes. Mia held her breath and changed into a duplicate blue jean miniskirt and a red camisole. After a minute, she couldn’t smell the room anymore and needed air, so she sucked in a breath. She washed her face but didn’t look too closely in the mirror. Niko never would have let her out of the house in this outfit. “Can’t I wear my jeans? These are the only shoes I have.”

  “No. Those boots rock with that skirt. You look hot. I’ll do your makeup.”

  Mia sat on the vanity chair and put herself in her friend’s hands. Lauren spent a long time on eyeliner, then handed Mia a shot glass filled with blue liquor.

  Chapter 21

  Mia downed the contents. The liquid burned going down, and it hit her stomach hard, but almost immediately she felt the tight knot dissolve. Better.

  “What happened?”

  Mia’s lips quivered. “Alexi lied to me.”

  “Boys. You’re right. He’s wrong. What can I do? Want a hug? Want to go out and be distracted?”

  “Distraction…and a hug.”

  Lauren provided both, keeping up a stream of chatter until the reached the party. The host had gone all out. Strobe lights flashed across Lauren’s face, and the white in their clothes glowed under the black light. Lauren took Mia’s arm and pulled her through the crowd and onto the dance floor. Heavy bass thumped loudly from the speakers, in time with each heartbeat inside her chest.

  Lauren spun around and back. “Drink this.” She shoved a glass in Mia’s hands, and Mia drank the bitter liquid. Lauren is the best. The beats pounded through the speakers and Mia stayed on the dance floor, while their friends arrived and joined in.

  Lauren shoved another glass her way. “Drink this.”

  Mia’s head spun for a second. She blinked and shoved Lauren’s hand away. “No thanks.”

  They engaged in a brief, “‘You drink it.’ ‘No, you drink it.’” routine and then Lauren downed it herself. “Line dance.” She wobbled and the line dance had very little to do with the song playing.

  Mia laughed and wobbled, too. Mid-spin, she spotted Quinn at the microphone. Above his band was a sign with their name on it, The Queue. He was right to be confident; they were good, even if they didn’t play line-dancing songs, or maybe especially because they didn’t play line-dancing songs.

  “Mia,” Jake said.

  Mia turned in the crowd and spotted him, with Willow. “Hey, guys.” Willow waved like they were besties. She wasn’t so far gone that she bought it.

  Jake turned her toward him for a fast-beat shake-it-out dance. Good old Jake, at least you know what you get with him. The music slowed into a ballad, and Jake drew her close, hands at her waist. Hers went around his neck. Jake was familiar.

  The music switched to deejay and another ballad while the band took a break.

  Quinn tapped Jake on the shoulder. “I’m cutting in.”

  Jake stiffened then released Mia, and she found herself in Quinn’s arms. She patted his shoulders. Quinn was tall, like Alexi. Not as tall. And no accent. She rubbed her fingers at one of the purple streaks in his hair then looked at her fingertips. Nope, it didn’t rub off. Hope would find him interesting. So much color. “You named your band Queue—clever.”

  Quinn slid his glow stick bracelet off and snapped it in half. Using one of the broken ends, he traced the letter ‘Q’ onto the inside of her wrist, then tossed the bracelet aside. Mia lifted her wrist. Cool, it glowed. “Your band is very good,” she said slowly. It’d be nice to pick up a musical instrument. She didn’t have any talent in that direction, but maybe if she practiced enough, she could play something. How long had it taken Quinn to learn the guitar? “How long did—”

  Quinn’s mouth landed on hers. The kiss was warm and smooth. Quinn had had practice—not mind-blowing, but not bad.

  A hand on her arm tugged her away. She looked up into Alexi’s lying blue-gray eyes—pissed-off blue-gray eyes—beautiful blue-gray eyes.

  Chapter 22

  Alexi. Here. Mia’s heart rate sped up.

  “Hope asked me to pick you up.” Alexi’s accent was heavy.

  Mia shook her head. “I told her I’m staying at Lauren’s.” She was pleased to note there was minimal slur in her words.

  “If she wants to go home,” Quinn said, “I can take her.”

  Alexi’s fist clenched and his stance widened. “Our driver’s here. She doesn’t need you to take her anywhere. Do you want to worry Hope?” He had switched to half Greek, half English now. “She’s very concerned you’re breaking the rules.”

  She didn’t want to worry Hope, and she kind of wanted to go now anyway. Mia shook her head. She called out over her shoulder to her friends. “Jake, tell Lauren I gotta go, ‘k? Bye, Jake. Bye, Q.”

  The warmth of the Houston night felt cool after the heat of the club. Mia walked slowly toward the car, enjoying the feeling. She held out her arms and walked carefully, very glad she’d stopped drinking or the world would be spinning. The letter on her arm glowed in the night. She smiled. Glow-in-the-dark stuff was cool.

  Alexi opened the door, waited for Mia to enter the limo, then climbed in after her. His posture was stiff. He flipped the intercom. “Home, please, Vincent.”

  Mia dove for the minibar and grabbed bottled water. She sat back with it. Thank God she no longer felt like crying. After a brief struggle with the plastic cap, she took a drink.

  “What’s that?” Alexi stared at her arm. His eyes widened, and he rubbed at the Q.

  She jerked her arm away. “What?”

  “Are you out with him? Hope said you aren’t allowed out with Lauren, said the last time you went out with her, you came home drunk at five in the morning. Are you drunk?”

  “That was last year. No, I’m not drunk. And what, like you never drink?” Mia scooted back in the cushy seat. It was nice to sit. “You drink like all the time. Everywhere we go and at dinner.”

  “You didn’t answer my calls. I had to come in and get you like a child.”

  “You didn’t have to. I’m fine.”

  “You put a Q on your arm.”

  “Quinn did.”

  Alexi frowned.

  “It’s the name of his band.”

  “He was all over you. Your hands were in his hair.” Alexi spoke with his hands tonight. He looked a lot like Niko when he did it. Not so much in looks, but in mannerisms.

  “It was purple.” The car stopped in front of the house. The lights were on. Mia grabbed a napkin from the minibar and wiped at the makeup on her face. She looked down at her outfit, cute in the club, bad news in the foyer. “Give me your top shirt.”

  “If you want to dress like that, you should dress like that.”

  Mia threw her bottle of water at him and got out. She climbed the front steps and twisted the doorknob.

  Hope and Niko stood in the foyer waiting. Great. As soon as she crossed the threshold, Niko started yelling in Greek. Mia remembered back fondly to the time when she didn’t understand any Greek. Walking off, worrying Hope, and shaming us all translated loud and clear now.

  Hope put a hand on his arm to calm his tirade. Then she asked Mia, “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Sorry for the drama.” Mia spoke slowly and clearly, making sure she didn’t slur any words. Good thing she’d switched to water; her head was already much clearer. “I’m going to bed.”

  Hope nodded and gave her a hug. Mia stood there for a moment and hugged her back hard. Hope kissed her on the head.
“You smell like a bar. Take a shower first, so we don’t have to burn the sheets.”

  Mia laughed and hit the stairs. She agreed. She hated it when her hair smelled of smoke.

  Alexi followed her upstairs. “What are you wearing?”

  “Ugh, you and Niko, always on about my clothes.”

  “You look like a—”

  She cut him off. “Takes one to know one.”

  He didn’t look pleased at her response. He followed her to her room, but she slammed the door in his face and headed toward the shower. She emerged from the bathroom in her pajamas, rubbing her wet hair with a towel, and stopped cold.

  Alexi was standing in her bedroom.

  Chapter 23

  Alexi ran a hand through his hair. “Look. Okay, I knew what you thought the night of the bonfire. I straight up knew it.”

  Heat rose in her face and she stood still. It was so embarrassing, and now they had to talk about it?

  “It’s just that, how you looked at me, in the car, I liked it. The connection. I didn’t want to give that up.” Alexi leaned against her door.

  “Were you ever going to say anything? I feel so stupid.”

  “You and I, we’re not supposed to happen, understand? But you wear those clothes and make me laugh and are always touching me. Then you touched Quinn’s hair and kissed him.”

  Heat flushed her face. For a second, she was about to cry, then she got mad. All he ever had to do was say something just once, and she would have backed off. Like he never touched her. Well, never again. “Fine, we were too close and now we’re not. All better.” She tossed down the towel and sat at her vanity to pull a comb through her wet hair. The teeth caught in a tangle forcing her to work from the bottom upwards. It made her angrier, and she turned back to him. “You couldn’t just say that? I get it. I’ll back off. You stay away from me, and I’ll stay away from you. Is that what you want?”

  “Quinn had his hands on you. I hate that.”

  She laid the comb down and turned to face him. What was he on about? Her dance with Quinn? Really? “It wasn’t about you. I mean, I wasn’t trying to even the score, I just…”