“Okay.” She nodded. “Okay, Grayson. I’ll give you that one. But there has to be some rules. You can’t just kiss me whenever you want.”
That was too bad. But I couldn’t let her get too big for her britches. “What makes you think I want to kiss you at all?” Burn!
Hurt flashed in her eyes and I almost felt bad. Almost. Hot as Mia was, the girl didn’t like me. I wasn’t going to be the only one putting himself on the line. We made an agreement. I wasn’t going to carry all the weight. I put up a good front, but my ego was more fragile than I wanted to admit. I could only take so many hits before I began defending myself.
Mia drew herself up and she was a sight to behold. There were a lot of pretty girls at this school but there was something about Mia that drew me in like a fly to a bug zapper only I had no desire to get zapped.
“Good. We’re on the same page, then. I don’t want to kiss you and you don’t want to kiss me. So, we’ll set that particular display aside for emergencies only.”
Interesting. “What constitutes an emergency?” I asked folding my arms over my chest. Mia eyed my pectorals much like I’d tried not to eye her when she’d made the same move. Ha! She wasn’t as immune to me as she’d like me to think. The evidence was stacking up against her and the temptation to tease her was too much to resist. “Eyes up here, darlin’.”
That had those beautiful chocolate eyes snapping up to mine with a flash of anger. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” I gave her my best smirk.
She glared for a couple of fully loaded seconds before collecting herself. “Emergencies only. And you have to ask first.” She shot me a pointed look. “With words, Grayson.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. She could have pushed me away earlier. I hadn’t forced myself on her. “Fine. But the same goes for you. No kissing me, either.” I smiled again, a cocky smile I usually reserved for the basketball court. “I know I’m hard to resist.”
“Ugh. You’re disgusting,” she spat, her face screwed up like she’d just stepped in something unpleasant.
Well, I couldn’t let that go unpunished, now could I? Stepping as close as I could without touching her, I murmured close to her cheek, my breath lifting the strands of hair that had already broken free of her messy bun.
“Really? Because, I don’t think I imagined you kissing me back a few minutes ago.” Her pulse jumped in her throat and I fought a smile. She might not like it, but there was no denying the chemistry between us. And I planned to exploit that bit of information to my best advantage, pledge to myself or not. Mia judged me without even knowing me and I was going to find out why.
“Yeah, well, you caught me off guard. You can be sure that won’t ever happen again.” Was it my imagination, or was her voice unsteady?
Pulling back, I met her unsettled gaze with a smoldering one of my own. “We’ll just have to see about that, won’t we? I’ll be seeing you, girlfriend.”
And like I’d planned it, as soon as the words left my mouth, the warning bell rang. I kissed the air between us and gave her a wink before spinning on my heel.
Walking out of Coach’s office, I struggled to control my breathing. Mia wasn’t the only one affected by the sparks flying between us. I would have to watch myself. The last thing I needed was to get my heart broken by a relationship that was doomed from the beginning. It didn’t matter that Mia was beautiful. And fun. And feisty. It didn’t matter that when I teased her her cheeks flushed the most gorgeous shade of red that made me think of kissing her until we were both senseless.
Because none of this was real.
And I was losing my mind enough that during the walk to my first period class, I came to the conclusion that my life was completely and utterly out of control. First, the father I hadn’t seen in eighteen years suddenly wanted to be a part of my life. Then, a girl I barely even knew decided to hate my guts for no apparent reason. And finally, my mom, who to my knowledge hadn’t dated once since my dad left, tried to spring a boyfriend on me. And not just any boyfriend, a man who was the father of the girl who hated me and also my basketball coach.
Yeah, no.
After thinking about it all weekend and even this morning, I still had no idea what possessed me to blurt out that Mia was my girlfriend, but when Coach Tillman reached out to hold my mom’s hand, my brain shut down and my survival instincts took over. Although, it wasn’t entirely a foregone conclusion that I would be safer with Mia as my girlfriend than I would be with Coach as my mom’s boyfriend. Especially after that little display back there.
Either way, my only defense was I panicked. I saw the little touches, the looks, the tension going on between my mom and my coach and I lost my mind. All I could think about were those texts and Mom’s secret smiles when she read them. That it could all lead to wedding bells and Mia becoming my sister. There was no way in hell that was happening. I couldn’t possibly be this attracted to Mia if she was my freaking sister! I shuddered. The whole thing gave me the heebie jeebies.
And so I said the first thing that came to mind, that she was my girlfriend. It was inspiration or wishful thinking on my part, I didn’t know which, but once it was out, it was out. And Coach Tillman dropped my mom’s hand like it was a live wire. Crisis averted. At least, temporarily. Until Mia, freaking Mia, almost spilled the beans by calling me out as a liar. I knew one thing for sure, Mia was a loose cannon and I was gonna have to binge watch her like Stranger Things on Netflix.
Stepping over the threshold into the Art room, I let my thoughts shift from worrying about Mia to my mom. Mom didn’t say a word about the incident, but some of the sparkle had left her eye and I felt a little bit guilty. Okay, a lot a bit guilty. But what was I supposed to do? Besides, I didn’t think she was that invested. Sure, she’s known Coach for a while now and maybe they were even friends. But, dating? I didn’t think so. Maybe those texts really were from the ladies at work sharing funny memes full of nursing humor. I just hoped I’d caught things in time. I didn’t want Mom having a broken heart, but really? My coach?
Not only was I going to have to keep an eye on Mia, I now had to make sure our plan was going to work. I was counting on the fact that Mom and Coach would cool it as long as Mia and I were an item. I was just glad I’d somehow had the wherewithal to beat Coach to the punch because apparently I was a selfish jerk. I knew without a doubt there was no way I’d ever be able to date Mia if our parents were together. That would just be too weird. And I was counting on the fact that they would feel the same way about Mia and I being together.
So what if that made me a jerk? I knew my plan was a temporary fix until I came up with something else. When the time came, I’d fix it and pray my mom’s heart didn’t get broken in the meantime.
Mia avoided me the whole rest of the day and I decided to let her. But if we were going to pull this off, we needed to establish we were a couple with everyone at school. Let’s face it, I was a serial flirter. I wasn’t known for turning girls away and for some reason I was still unable to understand, they loved me. I’d prefer to let my change from single to couple status be broadcast via action on my part rather than having conversations with every girl I’d spent any amount of time with in the last four years.
That meant getting Mia on board with some serious PDA on the daily for a little while. Which was why I was waiting at her locker the next morning.
“Hey, girlfriend,” I said and without hesitation, like I had every right to do it, I slipped my arm around her waist and nuzzled my face into her neck.
“Ugh. It’s too early in the day to have to deal with you.”
Laughing at the way her nose wrinkled with disgust at the very sight of me, I pretended she was excited to see me.
“I couldn’t wait to see you.”
Mia rolled her eyes but didn’t shrug away from me as she reached out to enter her locker combination. Taking full advantage, I wrapped both arms around her waist from behind and contented myself with
breathing her in.
“You smell really good,” I murmured in her ear. “What is it?”
“Just this body mist. I don’t know the name of it.” Her voice said she was all business, but the tremble in her shoulders told me I was getting to her.
I smiled into her hair. “I like it.”
“What are you doing, Grayson?” Long-suffering. That was the only way to describe the way Mia tolerated me. She sounded like my mom used to when I was little and got into everything.
“I told you, Mia. I’m an affectionate guy. It’s gonna look suspicious if I don’t love on my girlfriend a little bit.” She still had her back to me,
“Is affectionate code for clingy?” she asked, standing on her toes to reach the top shelf of her locker.
I could have helped her, but the added height gave me better access to her neck and a couple inches of exposed skin at her waist.
“Never heard any complaints before,” I said, grinning when she gasped as my hands came in contact with stomach.
She quickly lowered to her heels, spinning around to face me. “You’re hearing one now. Knock. It. Off.”
Man, she was beautiful when she was exasperated with me. Which was most of the time, thankfully.
I lowered my face until we were inches apart. “You’re really beautiful. You know that?”
Her face softened for a split second before the scowl was back. “Stop that. This is fake, remember? We can be real with each other. You don’t have to flatter me.” She gestured down the hallway with her hand. “You have girls all over this school vying for your attention. Go give them some.” She spun back around, leaving me with my mouth hanging open while she stuffed her jacket inside before slamming the door closed.
“What?” she asked, arms akimbo when she noticed I hadn’t moved the tiniest bit.
“I’m appalled. You think I would flirt with other girls while you’re my girlfriend?” It hurt.
Mia rolled her eyes and lowered her voice. “Fake girlfriend.”
I shook my head. Like that mattered. “I would never cheat on my girlfriend. Fake or otherwise. Ever. I can’t believe you would think that.”
A wave of doubt crossed her face before she got back under control and by control I mean she frowned at me for the zillionth time that morning already. “I don’t even know you, Grayson. How could I know how you treat your girlfriends?” Her frown deepened but this time it seemed it was aimed at herself. This girl was a mystery.
“No one knows how I treat my girlfriends because I’ve never had one before,” I told her.
Mia’s eyes widened, then narrowed as she studied me like she’d never seen me before. Just as quickly, her expression turned skeptical. She folded her arms over her chest. “Oh, really?”
I was dead serious. I might have ‘gone with’ somebody in grade school, maybe middle school, but that hardly counted. In my whole high school career I’d never had a girlfriend.
“Really.”
She cocked her hip as she watched me closely. “I find that hard to believe.”
Mimicking her, I crossed my arms over my chest and put my hip out. “Why’s that?”
She sputtered for a second before spitting out, “Because, you’re…you!”
Pulling my chin back, I fought a grin. Verbal sparring with Mia was an excellent way to start the day. “What’s that supposed to mean? You just admitted you don’t even know me.”
A look of confusion flashed across her face before she got back under control. “I know enough to know how guys like you work.”
Guys like me? That was a little less fun. But rather than spout off the first thing that came to mind, I decided to sit on that one for a bit. Mia obviously thought she knew what she was talking about. Who was I to tell her any different?
“Hmm. Well, we can debate that another time. Until then, I’ll walk with you to class and I think you should join us for lunch in the cafeteria.” We had a show to put on and as good as I was even I couldn’t pull off being a couple by myself.
“The cafeteria?” she muttered like it was a curse word.
“Yeah, you know, that place where the rest of us peons go to eat lunch everyday.”
She shot me a withering glare. “I know what it is, you jerk. I just don’t know if I want to subject myself to that everyday. Especially, if it means I have to hang out with you.”
I acted like that one didn’t hurt, but if I was honest, it kind of did. I wished I knew what had made her hate me so much, and without even getting to know me. Not that everyone had to like me, but most people did. Mia was bringing out all of the old insecurities I thought I’d buried.
“I get it. I’m not your favorite person. But look at it this way, you can be my pretend girlfriend for a few weeks-”
“A few weeks!” she shouted, her eyes bulging.
I went on like I didn’t hear her. “Or you can spend holidays for the rest of our lives with me as your step-brother. Your choice.”
“Are you really going to throw that out there every time we argue?” she asked, crossing her arms under her assets.
I really wished she would stop doing that. “Yes. And stop doing that. I can only take so much.” Reaching out, I grabbed one sleeve of her shirt between two fingers and pulled her arms down.
Mia frowned. “Stop doing what?”
“Nothing. Just stop it.”
“You are so weird.”
I nodded. Probably. “Come on. I’ll walk you to class and we can keep talking. It’s almost time for the bell to ring.” And I had to go the whole other direction from her first period Language Arts to my first period regular Art.
“I mean it, Grayson. We don’t even know for sure what is going on with our parents. Do you think they’re still talking to each other.”
I’d been thinking about that as well. And the truth was, I had no idea. “I don’t know. I mostly see my mom in the morning at breakfast and her days off. She’s been on shift since Sunday night.”
Mia frowned. “You’re home alone all night?”
Reaching for her hand, I shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I’ve been on my own a lot since I was younger.” Using my shoulders, I guided us through the press of bodies rushing to make it to first period.
Mia hummed in her throat at that.
“Anyway, I’ve been thinking we need to do some spy work. Do you think you can get ahold of your dad’s phone?” It was underhanded, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Mia stopped dead in the middle of the hall, her hand jerking me to a halt as well.
“What?” I asked.
She glared. “I am not going to search through my dad’s phone! That is a huge invasion of privacy.”
“Oh, come on. It’s not that big a deal.” Even as I said the words, my old friend, guilt, settled like a boulder in my gut.
Mia lifted a brow.
Ugh. My shoulders dropped as I sighed. “Okay, fine. No breaking into phones. What do you suggest?”
“I don’t know, but not that.”
“Whatever. Let’s go or we’ll both be late. And I don’t want to get in trouble with Coach for having too many tardy slips.” I picked up Mia’s hand again and started walking. Thankfully, she didn’t resist.
Mia shot me a look. “I think tardy slips are the least of your worries.
She wasn’t wrong.
10
Mia
For the first time since that first week, I hid in Dad’s office during practice. When he asked me about it, I told him I had an assignment that required some peace and quiet and didn’t want to wait until I got home to do it.
It might have been my imagination, but it looked like he breathed a sigh of relief. I got the feeling he hadn’t been looking forward to watching Grayson and I flirting during his basketball practice. That might have to be another rule.
I waited inside until all the players were gone and Dad came to get his stuff and log off his computer. I was almost disappointed that Grayson didn’t try to
drive the reality of our relationship home to my dad by forcing some kind of display. But he didn’t.
Once we got home, Dad warmed up some leftovers for himself, but I settled for a bowl of cereal before escaping to my room. Since my homework was finished, I decided to give Brooke a call.
“Oh, my gosh. I’m so glad you called. You are never going to believe this!” Brooke gushed without preamble.
This was just what I needed! Girl talk with my best friend. I hoped she had enough material to keep my mind off my own issues for at least an hour. “What?”
“I got in!” Brooke practically screamed.
“Got in? What are you talking about?” Searching my memory, I tried to remember if she’d told me something and I’d just forgotten.
“Remember I told you I auditioned for the Junior Dance Company?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “I got a call back. They wanted to see something more contemporary. I did the routine from my recital last year, but I put some extra choreography in it, more difficult moves. Ahh, Mia. It was so amazing! It was the best I’ve ever danced. Even better than the first audition. And they loved it. They didn’t even wait to tell me I got in.”
“Brooke, that’s amazing. I’m so proud of you. But I’m not surprised. You’re a brilliant dancer.” And she was. Brooke had been dancing since she was three. Her mom was a retired ballerina who’d danced in Europe before Brooke was born and now taught ballet in L.A. Brooke didn’t just do ballet, however. She was more into modern dance, but her training from an early age and base in ballet had given her a head start. It was no surprise the Junior Dance Company wanted her.
For the next hour, we talked about what would happen next. The dance company traveled a lot, performing all over the country while training with other professional groups. Brooke would dance in L.A. until the summer and then they would start their tour. She wouldn’t attend high school in California for her senior year. Instead, she would study with tutors to earn her diploma.
Dating: For the Block Page 8