Mia’s eyes were like windows into her soul. We were going to have to have a talk about her game face. It sucked.
“Fine,” she finally responded.
“Mia! I’m so excited. I can’t believe Grayson finally has a girlfriend. Maybe now I won’t be the only girl around while these two play video games on game night.” Tierney leaned forward and gave Mia an awkward yet genuine hug.
“Uh, yeah. That’s sounds like fun.” Mia glanced at me with wide eyes.
Tierney laughed. “Fun might be stretching it, but it would definitely be more fun if you were there.”
Noah looked injured. “Hey, we have fun on game night. Don’t we, Gray?”
I shrugged. “I always do.” Although, it would be a lot more fun with Mia there. Especially since we would still have to pretend to be dating. For Tierney’s sake. I imagined game night with Mia against my side or in my lap like Tierney sometimes sat with Noah. I’d never been jealous of that aspect of their relationship before, but now, with Mia in the picture? I had a sudden yearning for what Noah had with his real girlfriend who wasn’t faking the fact that she liked him.
To be honest, Mia wasn’t even faking that she liked me.
“Hey, we better go. See you guys at lunch.” I pulled Mia’s hand, half-dragging her away from Noah and his suddenly perfect relationship. That guy had all the dang luck.
“See you at lunch, Mia!” Tierney called out with a huge smile on her face. It actually kind of warmed my heart that Tierney was so excited about Mia and me.
I just wish Mia felt the same way.
“Game night,” she uttered through clenched teeth.
But that’s right. She didn’t.
“What? It wasn’t my idea.” But now the thought was in my head, I could think of a million and one things I’d like to do with Mia.
Not that!
Well, maybe that, but more like go on a date. The movies. Or maybe to the diner. I wondered if she could ride a skateboard? We could double with Noah and Tierney. Or even Piper and Drew. Mia’s dad was the head basketball coach. Did she play? How fun would it be to play basketball with our girlfriends on the neighborhood court?
“Yeah, but you didn’t try to put her off, either.”
I was irritated. “Is it really that horrible of an idea? Spending time with me? I’m not a troll, you know. In fact, a lot of people like hanging out with me.” Suddenly, I wished I was with any one of them rather than being with her.
But that was stupid. Winning Mia over was secondary and likely impossible. I needed to be more concerned with the end goal here which was keeping our parents from dating and possibly falling in love, or more importantly, getting married.
And that’s when I decided this had to be a business arrangement between Mia and I. We had a common goal- not to become legally related to each other.
“That’s the problem,” she murmured under her breath. At least, that’s what I thought she said.
“What?” I’d completely lost track of what we were saying.
She shook her head. “Nothing. Look, we don’t have time to talk about this anymore right now. Let’s finish later.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Are you going to eat lunch with us?” I asked. She’d gotten out of it yesterday, which was fine since it had given me time to talk to Noah, but I was sick of this fight.
“Yes.”
“Okay. See you later, then.” I left her to walk to her class alone. I really needed to reevaluate what was going on here. Mia hated me and I was beginning to think it was time to just ask her point blank. I hadn’t done anything to her. I wasn’t used to being treated the way she treated me. I didn’t deserve it and I was over it.
Over. It.
12
Mia
I walked away from Grayson with a sick feeling. It wasn’t like me to be so mean. In fact, it was taking a toll to keep my distance from Grayson, physically and emotionally. I was a lover, not a hater. Except I hated what Jonathan had done to me. I hated hated feeling like I couldn’t trust boys anymore. I knew deep down that all guys weren’t like Jonathan. For one, my dad wasn’t anything like that. There were good men in the world. I’d just had the unfortunate luck of dating one of the bad ones and he’d hurt me.
That first day of school, in the bathroom listening to those girls talk about Grayson being a player had ruined him for me. Or, at least, I thought it had. Especially when it turned out it was Grayson kissing some girl in front of my locker, reinforcing the image of him the girls had put in my head.
It made things super confusing when I was so attracted to him and when there were times I could almost believe he wasn’t like Jonathan at all. In the end, what was I so afraid of? Grayson and I were just pretending. Who was to say we couldn’t just be friends while going through this ordeal together? Grayson was nice. He was funny. I’d never actually seen him be unkind to anyone. And it was killing me to keep pushing my anger at Jonathan onto Grayson.
I let those thoughts percolate for the rest of the morning and by the time lunch rolled around I was ready to embrace my change of heart. I just couldn’t lose my heart. Friends. Friends that were pretend dating. That’s all we had to be. We didn’t have to be enemies. I was calling truce.
Grayson met me outside the cafeteria. He’d watched me approach with wary eyes and suddenly I felt bad.
“I’m sorry.”
His brows pinched. “What?”
It was time to come clean. At least, a little. “I’ve been taking my anger at someone else out on you. I’m sorry.”
Grayson’s expression blanked with surprise. “Wow. I was not expecting that.” He eyed me with suspicion. “Who are you really angry with?”
I wasn’t ready to share that much. “It doesn’t matter. I just-,” I just felt stupid. I’d been a complete jerk to Grayson and he didn’t deserve it. It wasn’t his fault he was the hottest guy I’d ever laid eyes on. It was his fault he was a player, but he’d never tried to play me. I had no reason to be angry with him, other than the fact that he’d pulled me into this ridiculous plot to keep our parents apart, but I’d agreed to that, so it wasn’t fair to keep punishing him for it.
I took a deep breath. “Like I said, it doesn’t matter. But we’re in this and it would be easier if we could just be friends rather than at each other all the time.”
Grayson stared, his eyes searching mine, probably waiting for me to take it all back and belittle him again.
I stuck out my hand. “Friends?”
He glanced at it. When his gaze met mine again, his eyes sparkled with laughter.
“I thought we went over this, no handshakes.” Without any hesitation, Grayson wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me close.
“What is this?” I asked, my arms reaching around his body on instinct. That was a lie. I wanted to hug him.
“It’s a hug, Mia,” he replied, his voice filled with amusement. “Friends can hug.”
Friends. Okay. I could do this. I relaxed in his arms and let myself enjoy being close to him. As friends.
“Thank you,” he whispered close to my ear and the tingles making the hair on my neck stand on end were anything but friendly.
That was my problem. One I’d have to deal with. Grayson was just being nice. He wasn’t even flirting with me. My reaction to him was all on me.
I pulled back. “Friends.” I’d repeat the word until I believed it, no matter how long it took.
Grayson smiled. “Ready for lunch?” he asked, releasing me from his arms as he reached for my hand.
“As I’ll ever be.” We might be friends, but as far as everyone else was concerned, we were a couple. Hopefully, with a new attitude, this wouldn’t so difficult.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you, Mia,” Tierney said as soon as Grayson and I joined her at a table in the center of the cafeteria. She sat beside Noah and there were three other guys from the team as well- Will, AJ, and Mateo.
“Go
od grief, Tierney. You act like we aren’t cool or something,” Will teased around a mouthful of apple.
Tierney rolled her eyes. “Or something.”
Grayson held my chair. Our eyes met as I moved to sit, sending a now familiar tingle down my spine. Once I was situated, Grayson sat beside me, resting his arm across the back of my chair. Friends, I repeated in my head as the warmth from his body seeped through my clothing where we touched.
Will glanced in our direction and did a double take. Apparently, word of our new relationship status hadn’t made the rounds on the basketball team. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised. I thought for sure Grayson would have told everyone.
“What?” Grayson asked Will after he’d been staring at us for a couple of uncomfortable moments. Under the table where no one could see, Grayson swiped his free hand down the length of his thigh.
Huh.
The ever cool and collected Grayson Levitt was nervous?
Reaching out, I covered his hand with my own and tried not to be affected by the feel of his leg under our clasped fingers.
Grayson shot me a surprised, yet grateful smile. Will, Mateo, and AJ were all staring at us. Of course, Noah and Tierney already knew about us and Noah watched the goings on with an amused grin.
“When did this happen?” Will finally spoke up waving a finger between Grayson and me.
Grayson shrugged. “Recently.”
I almost snorted. Grayson’s hand tightened on mine. I squeezed back and he pulled me closer against his side with his arm around my shoulders.
I should have been annoyed. He was definitely taking advantage of the situation, but I’d grabbed his hand first and let’s face it, there were worse things in this world than being held against Grayson Levitt.
Will still wore a bewildered expression. “Coach is okay with this?”
“What are you saying, Will?” Grayson’s tone was laced with irritation. I remembered what Dad had said after he found out about us dating and felt a surge of compassion for Grayson.
“Of course, he is,” I spoke up, leaning into Grayson’s side and gazing into his shocked green eyes. “Grayson’s amazing.”
Warmth spread through my chest as I spoke the words and watched Grayson’s expression soften for a moment that went by too quickly before he seemed to get ahold of himself.
Friends. Because anything more would be a disaster.
As it turned out, Grayson was an attentive boyfriend. It was dawning on me, the appeal he held. Well, other than his looks, which were devastating and becoming more so with each day that passed. It was crazy, too, because I really didn’t think he had a clue how good looking he was. He was all about talking up his game on the court and he never shut up about his success with the ladies, but he never attributed it to his appearance. It was always his charm and laid back personality. He claimed both were irresistible. He wasn’t wrong, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t gorgeous, too.
“What are we doing here?” I asked.
Grayson turned to me with a frown. “Shhh.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes and instead used them to take in our surroundings. Grayson had called me earlier in the evening. It was Sunday and we’d been fake dating for two weeks exactly. He insisted he needed to go somewhere and I needed to drive him. Good thing Dad had surprised me with an older model Ford truck the week before or Grayson would be hoofing it to wherever he wanted to go while I stayed snuggled under the covers rewatching Sherlock on Netflix. I had a thing for Benedict Cumberbatch, so sue me.
Anyway, I’d driven over to the apartment complex where Grayson lived with his mom and picked him up. He’d been waiting on the front steps of the run down building and I was surprised by the feelings of sympathy flooding my chest. Things had gotten easier between us, but Grayson hadn’t changed. Girls still threw themselves at him everyday. He might not flirt back or give them any kind of encouragement, but the fact remained, Grayson was a charmer.
“Seriously, what are we doing?”
Grayson pointed. “Pull over here. Park under that tree.”
I did as he asked, cranking the wheel and pulling my aging truck under a tree with large overhanging branches.
“Okay. Now what?” This was ridiculous.
Grayson eyes searched through the leaves and then he pointed again. “There. See them?”
Squinting, I looked where he pointed. At first, I didn’t see anything, but then it was easy to see why we’d snuck out so late.
“What are they doing?” I asked.
Grayson turned to me. “What do you think they’re doing? They’re sneaking around.”
“They’re having coffee, Grayson. Friends have coffee.” Just like friends hug, I thought to myself. Oh, dear. I looked harder. My dad and Michelle sat in a booth, clearly visible through the large bay window of the cafe. Instead of sitting across from each other on the vinyl benches, they sat side-by-side. Dad’s arm circled Michelle’s shoulders and her head rested in the crook of his neck.
We weren’t close enough to see their faces. “Let’s get closer.” I was out of the truck before Grayson had a chance to respond. He scrambled to follow.
“Hey! What are you doing? We don’t want them to see us.” He was right beside me after jogging to catch up. It was dark in the street but the parking lot to the cafe was lit up like the Fourth of July with street lamps.
“Put your hood up.” His EH sweatshirt wasn’t much of a disguise, but at least it was dark and wasn’t the team shirt with his name emblazoned down the sleeve.
“What about you?” He was right. I wasn’t wearing a hoodie. If my dad glanced out the window right now, it was possible he’d recognize me.
“Right,” I said and ducked behind a black SUV, pulling Grayson down beside me.
“Hey!” He yanked his sleeve out of my fingers. “Are you crazy? What are you doing?”
I pointed a finger at him. “You’re the one who dragged me out here to spy on our parents.”
He rolled his eyes a little and shook his head. “Yeah, from the safety of your truck, a good distance away. Not in the parking lot just outside the window where they’re sitting.”
“How are we supposed to know what’s really going on if we can’t see them?” It wasn’t rocket science. If we were going to keep our parents from falling in love, we needed all the information we could gather. “What are you chicken? Afraid they’ll find us? What are they going to do even if they did? Ground us?”
“Your dad is my basketball coach,” he replied as though that were explanation enough. “I have no intention of riding the bench for the rest of the season because I got caught being a peeping Tom with his daughter.”
I waved aside his concerns. “He’d never bench you for that. You’re too good and he likes winning. Besides, she’s your mom. You have every right to be protective of her.”
Next to me, Grayson crouched silently, his body still as a statue.
“What?” I asked. He was being weird.
“You think I’m a good basketball player?” he asked with wonder.
I always underestimate the fragile nature of the male ego. “Of course, you’re good. You start every week. Now, stop being a big baby and help me figure out what’s going on in there?”
“You’ve never said that before. Not once have you ever complimented my game.”
We were still stuck on this? I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “Grayson. Focus. We have more important things to worry about than basketball.” I looked him in the eye and lifted one brow. “Unless you’re okay with having me for a step-sister?”
His face blanched. “Right.” He glanced back at the window. Dad had both arms around Michelle and it looked like they were having a disagreement. “Okay, so what do we do?”
“We observe.”
Beside me, Grayson nodded and we watched transfixed by the moment playing out before our eyes through the windows of the black SUV and the window to the cafe.
I studied my dad’s expression,
surprised at the depth of emotion he displayed. Dad wasn’t much for expressing his feelings, physically or emotionally. I couldn’t ever remember a time when I’d seen my parents kiss or even hold hands. I was young when they were together, but I still should have seen some sign of their affection for each other, right?
But this Dad, the one sitting curled around Michelle was someone I didn’t recognize. Every molecule of his being was attuned to her. It was likely we had nothing to worry about, even if he did happen to look out the window and spot us, I doubted he’d even register our presence, he was so focused on the woman in his arms.
And Michelle. I couldn’t see her face, but it was apparent she was in just as deep as Dad. However, her hands rested on his chest and I got the impression that one minute she was pulling him close and the next pushing him away. Either way, her arms kept a distance between them even though it was easy to see the pull for her was just as strong as it was for my dad.
Adrenaline shot through my system, making my knees weak. Giving in, I sat on the asphalt beside the SUV and put my head between my knees.
“Mia?” Grayson dropped to one knee beside me. “What’s wrong?”
My breath came in shallow gusts as panic rose from my gut up my throat threatening to choke me. I’d been here before. With my mom and Mark. Those looks my dad and Michelle were exchanging were just the beginning. Soon, they’d be so wrapped up in each other they’d forget all about me, about Grayson. I looked up to see Grayson’s worried eyes trained on me. I couldn’t let that happen. His dad was gone. I didn’t know the story, but it was obvious he wasn’t in the picture. My mom had abandoned me for Mark. Grayson and I weren’t all that different. Forget the fact that if Dad and Michelle got married I’d be Grayson’s step-sister. The bigger worry, the one we both had to remember, was that if our parents got any more wrapped up in each other they’d forget all about us.
I couldn’t let that happen. Not just to me, but to Grayson. I’d seen it, the hurt in his eyes that he kept buried under a cheerful facade. It was easy to recognize because I felt it, too. What right did out parents have? They can just have children, bring us into the world, and then jack up our whole lives for their own selfish reasons? How was that fair?
Dating: For the Block Page 10