Chapter 22
Twenty-Two
A week of dating Tori had involved so much kissing that Mia’s lips were chapped, slightly bruised, and definitely swollen. She also hadn’t slept over four hours in a single night, but had never been more energized. Had never felt so full of purpose—even if it hadn’t translated into more packing. She had, however, cleaned and organized and felt more like a complete human rather than a collection of mismatched pieces than she had in a year.
Mia had intended to plan actual dates with Tori, but they always seemed to get stuck on her couch. Get lost in laughter and stories and talking until they’d run out of words, then kissing until they ran out of breath. It was new and familiar and addictive as hell.
Waking up ungodly early on Saturday morning, she put the final touches on her grand gesture of a first official date. In leggings and a tank top, she slathered on sunscreen and found an old Vineyard Vines baseball cap. She ran her thumb over the faded pink fabric and imagined her mom wearing it on her walks.
What would she say about her dating Tori? The thought made her smile even as her eyes watered. It was the first time thinking about her mother triggered a pleasant warmth in her belly rather than the nausea of grief. Her mom had always adored Tori. Mia had suspected that she liked her better, and she couldn’t blame her.
Even as a teenager, Tori had been so incredibly level-headed. She’d always had such a clear vision of herself. So responsible and loyal and intense and strong and smart. Mia laughed and dropped backward onto her messy bed.
And she’s so hot , Mia thought with all the blood rushing to her face. She’d always known Tori was beautiful, but there was something extra. Something incredibly sexy she’d never noticed until she walked into her office weeks earlier.
Or maybe it was something she hadn’t allowed herself to notice, Mia considered. She needed more time to figure that out. But first, she had sandwiches to make.
It was mid-morning and Mia had finished packing up the station wagon when Tori showed up at her door. At the sight of her walking in wearing white shorts and a button-down short-sleeved shirt like she was going sailing at the country club, Mia grinned. Mercifully, she’d also worn sneakers, though probably not the right ones.
“Hi.” Mia met her in the entryway.
Tori slid her sunglasses off and set them on her head. Her brown eyes gleamed when she tilted her head down to look at Mia. “Hi,” she breathed, smile lopsided and worth indulging.
Arms around Tori’s neck, Mia pulled her in for a kiss. It didn’t matter that she’d just kissed her ten hours earlier. That her neck was still sore from turning her head toward her while they talked for hours. That she should find some dignity in her suitcase and play it cool. She’d missed her in the hours they’d been apart, and she showed Tori with her fingers scraping the back of her neck and teeth grazing her bottom lip.
“You’re dressed all wrong for our date,” Mia muttered against her mouth, skin buzzing with the contact high from Tori’s lips.
Tori wrapped her arms around Mia’s waist and held her close. Held her like they’d been standing like that all their lives. Like maybe they should have been.
“I didn’t know there was a dress code,” Tori murmured before kissing her again.
“Mm-hmm.” Mia almost forgot why they were talking when Tori’s palm followed the curve of her spine. Desire was a living, wild thing pounding at her core while she waited for Tori to slide lower. To grab her ass and throw her against the nearest surface and ravage her. But Tori was distressingly decent and smiled into their kiss instead.
“Where are we going?” Tori asked as she straightened, using her thumb to wipe the excess lip balm from beneath Mia’s bottom lip—like she actually wanted to kill her.
“You’ll see,” she managed, knees weak and thighs trembling as she walked toward her bedroom.
“What does that mean?” Tori called after her.
Mia laughed, drunk on Tori and the insanely adorable nature of her plan. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise. Let me carry you away with whimsy,” she shouted over her shoulder.
When she returned with basketball shorts and a muscle tee in hand, Tori was sitting cross-legged on the couch. The sight of her looking down at her phone, expression serious, brought back the wobble in Mia’s balance.
How could anyone look so gorgeous doing something so fucking mundane? It was ridiculous. She tried not to compare, but she couldn’t recall ever finding Eric heart-stopping while he scrolled through college football stats.
Sensing her presence, Tori glanced up from her screen to find Mia looking at her. Everything in her face softened, as if seeing her was a revelation. Mia felt her affection in the warmth dripping down her chest like raw honey.
Then her gaze darted to the clothing Mia was holding. Laughing, Tori stood. “How much of my old shit do you have?”
Mia bit the inside of her cheek, but it did nothing to stop her stupid grin. “Shut up, okay.” She tossed her the clothes. “Accept my hoarding in the endearing way I intend it.”
Tori’s entire aura was blinding. “We might have to talk to someone about this?—”
Mia pulled her in by the loop of her shorts and kissed her until Tori stopped debating whether Mia was nuts. Anyway, it was Mia’s mother who’d saved everything. For an irrational second, she wondered whether her mom had always expected Mia and Tori to reunite. Or maybe she’d hoped. Her mother had been as devastated as Mia when Tori walked away.
A buzzing on Mia’s wrist made her break their kiss and stop wondering about her mother’s intentions. “We have to go,” she said before snagging another kiss and slipping away.
“Go where?” Tori asked again, but her voice was husky and her gaze was tracking Mia. What she really meant was let’s stay here . But Mia wasn’t going to throw away her incredible idea—no matter how much she wanted to keep kissing her. No matter how much she wanted to do more than kiss, even if she hadn’t exactly worked out how they were going to take the next step.
“You’ll see,” she teased before grabbing her things and heading outside where the Volvo was packed with three huge coolers and several grocery bags.
Mia was already sitting in the driver’s seat and waiting when Tori stepped out. She looked exactly like an older version of her high school self. Toned arms visible in the tee and hair pulled back, Tori was literally jaw dropping.
“Are you going to tell me now?” Tori asked when she slid into the passenger seat.
Mia answered by grabbing Tori by the back of the neck and kissing her so hard, she busted her own lip when their teeth banged together. The metallic tang was a small price to pay.
Tori’s hand found her hip, and for a shattering second, Mia thought she was going to pull her across the center console. That she was to make Mia straddle her lap and devour her in the driveway. Instead, Tori gave her a squeeze and smiled.
“What was that for?” Tori pressed her forehead to Mia’s like she couldn’t stand to stop touching her either.
Only the sound of ice shifting in a cooler kept Mia from dragging Tori inside the house. She pulled away just enough to look into her mesmerizing brown eyes. Inhaling so deeply that her chest burned from the expansion, Mia didn’t have an answer. Didn’t have the words for everything swirling in her body.
“I like you in basketball shorts,” Mia replied because it was true even if incomplete.
Tori chuckled before dragging her teeth over her bottom lip in a way that made Mia want to let a lot of good food go to waste. “I guess I’ll wear them more often.”
Mia wanted to reply with something cool and flirty, but everything sounded so stupid in her head. She kissed her instead.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
Tori connected the freckles scattered over Mia’s arm using her fingertip. Everywhere Tori touched sent lightning branching over her skin. It restarted her brain and made her throw the car in reverse.
“So impatient,” Mia replied with a grin.
Twenty minutes later, Mia was pulling up to the park where a dozen of their high school friends were already waiting. To avoid lugging the overstuffed coolers, Mia drove through the grass and up to the pavilion she’d rented next to a basketball court.
“I’m sorry, are we crashing a child’s birthday?” Tori gripped the door handle as if Mia were taking hairpin turns down a ravine instead of rolling slowly over a clearing.
“Please forgive me for forgetting the pinata,” Mia joked before shifting into park between the pavilion and the barbecue.
Still openly confused, Tori laughed when she recognized the people walking toward them. “Mia, what the heck did you do?”
“I set up a basketball playdate,” she replied like it was obvious.
Tori’s eyes were incandescent while she beamed at her. As if Mia had presented her with some precious jewel rather than a silly gathering at the park. It had only taken a few days to gather most of her old basketball team and some extra friends so there were enough people to play. It wasn’t a big deal.
“And you even invited Ashley Mora.” Tori’s grin was bright enough to guide ships to safety.
Mia rolled her eyes, biting the inside of her cheek and still failing to keep a straight face. “Yeah, well. It’s not like I had a lot of options,” she lied.
Tori looked like she was going to lean in and kiss her, but they were mobbed by helpful friends opening doors and grabbing supplies from the Volvo. For the first time, Mia considered whether they’d tell people they were dating. They hadn’t discussed it yet, mostly because they’d never left Mia’s house as a couple. Until now.
Something about that made Mia’s stomach clench. She didn’t have time to ruminate on it before she was standing at a communal grill sweating her ass off. While people chatted and music blared, Mia pushed hot dogs around the foil she’d set down and wished Daniela was back from her honeymoon.
It didn’t feel out of fucking nowhere to tell her about dating Tori. But everyone else? Was she supposed to make an announcement? It all felt so new. So fragile. Like one wrong move and what they were building would cave in under its own weight.
Her gaze drifted to where Tori was holding a basketball above her head and looking to pass. Mia was too far away to hear what she was shouting, but she looked so intent.
She chuckled to herself. Tori’s skin was flushed, her hair dark with sweat. Allergic to doing anything half-assed, Tori hustled up and down the court like she was making her professional debut.
While Mia watched, Tori did a ridiculously cute move where she dribbled the ball behind her back and then twisted around to take a blind shot. When she made the basket, Tori’s team erupted into whoops like they’d clinched the Super Bowl.
Before Mia could find someone else to take over cooking, fucking Ashley Mora was running up to Tori. Apparently slapping Tori’s ass wasn’t enough. She had to jump on her back like a deranged koala.
Glaring, Mia couldn’t help but notice how often Ashley touched Tori. Aggressively transferring charred hot dogs to a foil pan so she could start the stupid burgers, Mia tracked every unnecessary butt slap and high five and hug.
If Ashley were acting that way with the other girls, Mia wouldn’t be on the verge of hissing. Well, she might be, but it wouldn’t be burning the back of her throat to get free. But no, it was like Ashley’s hands had a fucking magnetic attraction to Tori’s body.
Didn’t Tori notice? Did she like it? Why were they so comfortable touching so damn much? Had they touched before?
Flipping burgers, Mia wondered if Ashley Mora would taste the jealous rage she was infusing into the meat. She hoped so. She hoped it tasted just a little sour. Maybe she would choke on it. Not enough to drop dead, but just enough to scare her into backing off.
Mia had downed three boozy seltzers and was helping set the food on the picnic tables under the pavilion when Tori came jogging up to her. Covered in sweat and skin flushed, Tori used the bottom of her shirt to wipe her face, giving Mia the briefest glimpse of her flat belly and sports bra. Watching her, Mia tried to remember why she was angry.
“I’m starving,” Tori said, opening a cooler and reaching for a bottle of water.
Mia tried not to wonder what it would feel like to run a dripping ice cube over Tori’s hot skin. Tried not to hear the sizzle or taste the salt on her skin. She was annoyed and wanted to stay annoyed and Tori looking mouth-watering while covered in sweat was really ruining her vibe.
“What’s wrong?” Tori cracked open the bottle and gulped.
The way her throat bobbed was bad enough, but the exertion had also brought out the veins in Tori’s hands. It was unfair. Mia didn’t have the defenses for this kind of assault.
“Nothing,” Mia lied and pretended to care about how paper plates were arranged while their friends helped themselves to enough food to feed a small nation.
Tori tipped her head to the side, some hair sliding out of her ponytail. Just the right amount of hair to be devastating. Hair that begged Mia to stop and tuck it behind her ear. Mia opened an unnecessary box of biodegradable cutlery instead.
“Not nothing,” Tori replied with a confused smile, like she couldn’t quite decide if Mia was playing. Not that Mia knew either.
Mia busied herself with turning up one of the massive box fans someone brought to its highest setting. It didn’t exactly cool anything down, but it kept everyone a few degrees below sweltering.
“Mia.” Tori’s fingers loosely grasping her wrist made her stop. “Hey.” Her eyes were so big, so dripping in earnest concern, they made Mia stand still like she’d been caught in a trap. “What’s wrong?”
The question was so pathetic, but it leapt out of Mia’s mouth anyway. “Have you hooked up with her?”
Tori’s perfect eyebrows drew together. “Who?”
Mia narrowed her gaze. “Who else?” She lowered her voice. “Ashley.”
Ashley who didn’t spring into your life with her mess. Who’d known she was gay. Who already knew how to do this.
Chewing on the inside of her lip, Tori’s attempt to stop her laugh was pitiful. “What? Do you really believe the stereotype that all lesbians sleep together?” She put her hand to her chest, but her feigned offense was too obvious. “How could you?”
Mia crossed her arms over her chest and waited for a real answer.
Tori laughed and then offered a shrug that burned in Mia’s gut. “Once,” she admitted. “A very long time ago. We were super drunk and made out in the bathroom of a shitty bar.”
A war cry, high-pitched and deafening, rang in Mia’s ears. Her gaze darted to where Ashley was sitting at a table, laughing while she shoved a hot dog down her gullet.
“Mia, I never?—”
“Well, why the hell haven’t you made out with me in a gross bathroom?” Mia shot back, even though she wasn’t exactly sure what she meant.
“What?” Tori’s surprised laugh illuminated her perfect face.
Acting on instinct while the tendrils of jealousy spurred her to stop overthinking it, Mia grabbed Tori by the shirt and pulled her in. Tori’s arms wrapped around her waist because it was where they belonged. Because they belonged together and if anyone was getting mauled by Tori in a filthy bathroom, it was going to be Mia.
Not unlike an animal marking territory, Mia pulled Tori down and kissed her. Kissed her for every time she should have held her close. Every time she should have stayed with her on the roof. Every time she should have slipped her hand higher up her shirt while they slept. She kissed her because she was proud and wanted everyone to know that she’d managed to capture a tiny flicker of light in the dark.
The first oh shit gasped in delighted surprise was followed by a riot of clapping and cheering. As if their friends had been waiting for this declaration for years. Mia grinned into their kiss before she flung her arms around Tori and kissed her harder.
“What was that for?” Tori breathed against her mouth like they were still alone in her living room.
Instead of responding with the truth, Mia kissed her again. Growling mine seemed like a bit much for a Saturday afternoon in public.