29. Mia
MIA
On Saturday night, Diego drove. Things felt a little awkward at first, given how I’d yelled at him yesterday, but we soon found neutral ground when I told him about my phone call with Zoe.
“At first, she was skeptical about approaching The Fraser directly,” I said, “but then she did a bunch of research and found out they actually do offer an internship for culinary students. She’s going to use that info when she hits them with her pitch.”
“Good for her,” he said.
“You have good ideas,” I added, a little shyly. “Like blowing that whistle at the end of the scavenger hunt so I could find you. That’s the real reason we beat Tori and Jayden.”
He gave me a quick smile. “And look where that’s brought us.”
Diego pulled up to the front of the restaurant and came around to open my door.
I told him I could walk from the parking lot, but he refused—either because he knew my leg was still a little sore or because of the high heels I was wearing.
But I couldn’t wear a dress this nice—a royal blue wrap dress borrowed from Tori—without heels.
I waited in the lounge area while he parked. The restaurant was fancy, but not as big as I was expecting. The lighting was on the darker side and atmospheric. There was a bar at one end of the long dining room.
And soft music. The whole thing screamed high-class restaurant.
Which was not my forte. I bet Aaron would have been at home here, though.
I resisted the urge to ask for a menu to browse while I waited.
Tonight was about starting over, not scarfing down delicious food, but I could already smell amazing scents in the air.
Garlic, definitely, but maybe a chicken dish.
My stomach rumbled. Hopefully I wouldn’t eat everything in sight and ignore Diego during the meal.
Then he appeared, and my heart did a funny little flip-flop when he walked in. He wore that black suit like nobody’s business.
It fit him well. It showcased his broad upper body, slim hips, and strong legs. I was pretty sure when you looked up “tall, dark, and handsome” online, there had to be a link that led to his picture.
He smiled, his eyes sweeping up and down me once before he took my arm and went up to the ma?tre d’. He gave his name, and we were told our table was ready. Diego kept hold of me while we followed the head waiter.
He turned, leading us past the bar to a smaller, quieter dining area. I glanced in the direction we were heading, my eyes skimming the space, but I didn’t see any empty tables. Maybe there was another room beyond this one?
But then the ma?tre d’ slowed down, reached a four-top table, and stepped back.
My jaw dropped as the two people sitting there got to their feet.
Cody and Aaron were here.
“This is a surprise,” I said after the waiter pushed in my chair.
“That we own suits?” Aaron joked. Though technically, only he and Diego were wearing suits. Cody had on a black dress shirt, open at the collar, with a few threads of silver running through it. His pants were black, too, and he looked really good.
Really hot.
They all did. Suddenly, food was the last thing on my mind.
“You look beautiful,” Cody said, and the other two echoed him, as if ashamed they hadn’t said it first.
So… a bit awkward. But I couldn’t say I minded that they were all here.
Quite the opposite.
A waiter came, and Diego ordered wine for the table.
Though the gift certificate belonged to Diego and me, it was silently acknowledged that Aaron knew more about a fancy restaurant like this than we did.
I frowned at that thought. The gift certificate wouldn’t cover all of us—but I assumed they’d worked something out when they’d decided to spring this on me.
Whatever this was.
I hid behind my menu for a while, trying to figure out what sounded best…
and giving myself a moment to regroup. I was at a restaurant with three handsome-as-hell men.
And… it really didn’t feel like we were here as friends.
It felt like a date. With four men. Even knowing that Tori and Hailey did this kind of thing all the time hadn’t truly prepared me for it.
And did they feel it was a date, too? Or just a do-over from our uncomfortable lunch yesterday?
The wine came, and Aaron did that thing that I’d seen in movies, sniffing and sampling it before giving it his approval. Diego pointedly looked away when the waiter poured four glasses since Cody and I weren’t twenty-one. Once an RA, always an RA. But at least he didn’t speak up about it.
“What are we toasting to?” Aaron asked.
Diego didn’t answer, since he was still pretending that only half of us were drinking, so I spoke up. “To roommates. Four-sevenths of us, at any rate.”
Cody clicked his glass against mine and then took a long swig as the others did, too. “Good,” he proclaimed, his voice a little raspy.
It was good… red and somehow tart and sweet at the same time. No doubt Aaron knew what kind it was, what region it had hailed from, and the name of the vintner, but I was content to know that it tasted good.
Putting the menu down, I was happy with my choice: chicken marsala. It sounded good, and I recognized most of the ingredients in the dish.
By some unspoken agreement, we waited until after we ordered to talk.
And then I didn’t know what to say. Finally, I took a deep breath. “I’m glad you’re all here.” Then I flushed, turning to Diego. “Not that it wouldn’t have been nice with just the two of us, but?—”
He put his hand on mine, stopping my words. “Relax, Mia. I wanted this dinner to be for the four of us. And I suspected you might, too.”
Truthfully, it hadn’t occurred to me. But if it had, then yes, I would’ve wanted this, and I told them that.
“I was wrong yesterday,” Diego began.
“Just yesterday?” I couldn’t help asking, and Aaron snickered.
Diego gave us a mock-stern glance that was honestly kind of hot. “Wrong about a lot of things, but especially about saying you had to choose. College is about exploring your options, figuring things out. I shouldn’t have tried to get you to lock into one… path forward before you were ready.”
“You were just looking out for us,” Aaron said. “I think we all can agree that we don’t want any of us to get hurt.”
“Of course,” I said. Then I didn’t know what to say next. There was a strange tightness in my chest. It wasn’t panic or pressure. It was just… anticipation. As if we were on the path to something very important to me, but I wasn’t sure if we’d stay the course or veer off on a side road.
“Looking out for us is one thing,” Cody said, and we all stilled, listening intently. “But you have to make sure the person wants to be looked out for.”
He was probably thinking about how Diego had indicated he was most worried about Cody getting hurt at that messed up lunch yesterday.
Cody leveled a look at Diego. “Mia deserves to know, are you here because you want to be with her or because you don’t want anyone to get hurt?”
Wow. How did Cody manage to be more direct than all the rest of us? My heart thumped painfully in my chest as I waited for Diego’s response.
“I definitely don’t want anyone to get hurt,” he began, “but?—”
This time I put my hand on his. “Just tell me, please.”
“I want to be with you. If that’s what you want.”
Wow. That was very straightforward. My pulse quickened as I met his dark eyes. “It is.”
“So it’s unanimous,” Aaron said. “Not to ruin the moment, but how does this work?”
“However we want it to,” Cody said. “Mia?”
Okay, I hadn’t thought this far ahead. “I’d like some time to get to know all of you better.”
“Together or separately?” Diego asked.
“Both?”
“It’s not going to be easy,” Diego said. “I get it, you don’t want me to be overly protective of you three, there are the others to consider as well. We have to make sure not to exclude or ignore Jenna, Raymond, and Evan.”
“Or scandalize them,” Cody muttered, and it almost made me laugh.
“I had one idea,” Aaron began, speaking slowly. ”Does anyone have plans for next week?”
We had the whole week off for Thanksgiving break. “Just working on my video presentation.”
“Yeah, class stuff for me, too,” Diego said, while Cody nodded. “Why?”
“There’s this condo in Chattanooga that’s free. It’s big. It’s got multiple bedrooms. You’ve seen it, Mia.”
Diego and Cody both looked sharply at me, and I quickly clarified. “We changed there before his grandparents’ anniversary party.” I didn’t want them to think we had gone there for a quickie or something.
“Anyway, we can study there as well as here, and it’s a nice place. I thought maybe we could spend a few days up there. The four of us,” Aaron said. “Might be nice to get away from the house.”
“And the roles we have to play at the house,” Diego said.
“Aren’t you going to celebrate Thanksgiving with your family?” I asked Aaron. As far as I knew, he was the only one of us who had family left to celebrate the holiday with. Sara was still in the rehab center.
“There’ll be so many people at my grandparent’s’ home they won’t miss me,” he said. “Or we could all go together. They like meeting my friends.”
None of us looked too pleased at that thought, especially Cody. As for me, I already knew the expectations his family seemed to have about the two of us, and I wasn’t thrilled to reopen the rumors. But I didn’t say so. “I’d like to spend the holiday with you all.”
Cody smiled. “Team Mia takes a field trip.”
“If everyone wants to,” Aaron added.
I thought the holdout was going to be Diego, but he was direct. “I’m in if you’re sure you want to stay with the three of us.”
“Yes,” I said. I looked each of them in the eye. “I am.”