Chapter 29 Mia
I ended up falling asleep when he left. I napped. I hadn’t even done anything, but I was exhausted, and as I lay back on his bed, I felt sleep pull at me.
It was the sounds of the house coming alive that woke me, doors banging, voices raised. I was startled out of sleep and was completely disoriented. Then I realized I was cuddled into Ash’s pillow like it was my most favorite possession.
Venturing out of his room, I made it to the kitchen, where some of the team were hanging out.
“Hey, Mia,” one of them greeted me, and I lifted my hand in a wave as I looked around.
“Alden,” I greeted him as he sat beside his friend. “Where are the others?”
“You know so little about football,” Alden told me. “We’re backups, we’re not first team.”
Was this a big thing? “So? Do you not play football?”
My other chaperone, Casey, started to laugh. “We play. We’re just not on the roster for the first team, and because of that, we don’t have as long as they do for practice.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” I said as I took a stool at the counter.
“They’re first team because they’re better?
Right?” Several of the boys nodded. “So why would they need to practice longer? If they’re better, why aren’t you training?
Surely you need more practice?” Several blank stares met mine.
Then I heard my words back. “It wasn’t meant to be insulting,” I added hastily.
“It’s okay,” Casey said amicably. “We have different practice sessions. We do train more, but when the first team is using the field, they get priority. Tonight, we did general training together, then Coach does the next session just with the first team.”
“Oh, that makes sense, thank you.”
“Why are you here?” Alden asked me as he came to stand beside the counter. “Here to part with more money?”
I laughed even though I realized I hadn’t paid him my bet. Had Ash? I would need to ask. “Leak in my dorm, and I was here earlier, so I thought I would wait for Ava and Quinn to come back.” There were five guys here. “You guys don’t all live here?”
“I do,” Casey piped up. “In the basement,” he added.
“Oh.” I thought about it. “Sounds dungeon-y.”
“One of our tasks as freshmen is to make sure the first team don’t need to do much at home.” Alden spoke to me as he crossed his arms.
Wait, that sounded like . . . “You’re their maids! Seriously?” I asked incredulously.
“How else do you think the house gets maintained?” Casey asked me. “You ever seen a Santo do his laundry?”
“No . . .” I didn’t know why, but this fascinated me. “You seriously clean up after them?”
“Yeah, you have to. It’s part of the rules,” one of the other guys spoke up. “Then next year or maybe junior year, we’ll have guys do it for us.”
“That’s . . .” I wasn’t sure. “I think you guys just blew my mind.”
“That happen a lot?” one of the others jibed, and I lost my smile.
“Excuse me?”
“Shut up, Ian. Don’t listen to him, he’s an asshole.” Alden scowled at the other guy. But my good mood had evaporated. Sliding off the stool, I decided to go back upstairs, a place where I wasn’t constantly referred to as an easy lay.
“Well, aren’t you all . . . disappointing.
” Onyx stood in the entrance, his three-piece suit fitting him like a glove, dark hair falling around his eyes, sharp cheekbones, and full lips.
It didn’t matter that he was an attractive man — gorgeous man, Mia, I corrected myself. He just looked intimidating.
“Where are my brothers?” he asked the guys in the kitchen. His dark stare landed on me, and his head cocked to the side slightly. “Ah yes, the roommate. I know you.”
“Doesn’t everyone?” someone muttered behind me, and I felt my cheeks redden.
Onyx also heard them, but he said nothing as he continued to watch me. “Come,” he instructed as he turned and headed to the stairs.
“Me?” I called uncertainly.
“Hurry along, Mia.”
I followed him into one of the guys’ bedrooms. It wasn’t Ash’s, and I stood dumbfounded as he flung open the closet door and crouched down close to the floor.
“Um . . .”
“Wait one moment,” he told me politely.
Should I have been surprised that one of them had a safe in their bedroom? Probably not, but that didn’t lessen the fact that I was.
The oldest Santo stood swiftly, closed the closet door, and then led me out of the bedroom and into the other bedroom. With no quibbles at being in the bedroom, he looked around in distaste. I saw clothes that I recognized as Quinn’s.
Onyx’s nose wrinkled in revulsion. “She infects everything,” he muttered as he turned and led us into Ash’s room. He looked surprised.
“He cleaned?” He looked to me for confirmation. “Or you cleaned?”
“I think the army of freshmen downstairs are responsible.”
Onyx snorted in contempt as he sat at the computer desk. He stood again and took off his jacket, tossing it onto the bed.
“Right.” With sure hands, he opened and logged into Ash’s computer.
“I don’t think you should . . .” I stalled when he fixed me with a pointed stare. “Sorry, go ahead.”
“Close the door.”
I turned and did as he asked.
“I got a very excited but garbled message from Ash. When I finally made sense of it and spoke to my brother, I believe you were accosted this morning?”
Was it just this morning? “Um, yes.”
“My apologies. I thought I had dealt with the lowlife,” Onyx told me as his fingers flew over the keyboard.
I did computer science. I knew my way around a computer. He made me look like I was my Aunt Lola, who still didn’t know where the space bar was but was just “going to press the big button at the bottom.”
Screens opened and closed with such speed that I wasn’t sure he was human. Suddenly, a USB stick appeared, and he plugged it in and then turned to me with a wide, charming smile.
“Tell me about yourself, Mia.”
“Why?” I asked him cautiously.
The smile was gone, and the sardonic smirk I’d seen him wear before appeared. It suited him better. “Because I’m bored.”
“Wow.” I sat on the edge of Ash’s bed. “You must do so well at social gatherings.”
“I tend to avoid them,” he said easily. “I don’t particularly people.”
“I can’t say you surprise me,” I replied. “Well, I’m nineteen, music performance major, I do a few electives in computer science, and Ava is my best friend.”
Onyx yawned. “Did I fall asleep?”
“Your manners are shocking. Quinn told me your mom was a lady.”
“She is. She raised Devils though, little Mia.” He turned to check the screen and clicked a few times before he was downloading something else.
He turned back to me. “Now, Mia Celia Davis, born of Gloria Davis, July third, makes you a what? Cancer?” When I nodded, he continued.
“Lived in Knoxville your whole life, mom’s an .
. . I want to say actress, but I’ve seen the show.
” He looked at me with mocking sympathy.
“Why would an actress live in Knoxville, I hear you ask.” Onyx paused.
“Something tells me it’s to do with the unknown father.
Hmm?” His eyes danced with mirth. “Mom knows though, doesn’t she?
” He leaned back in the chair with his legs crossed as he assessed me.
“I would hope so, she was there,” I retorted sarcastically. “What’s your point?”
“My point? I’m getting there.”
“Please hurry, the suspense is killing me.”
His face was a mask, and I wondered suddenly what his sex face was. The randomness of my thought made me giggle.
Onyx’s head tilted to the side, and he looked at me with curiosity. He made me nervous.
“Are you done?” he asked me quietly.
“Yes.” I caught myself from saying “sir.”
“Your GPA is three point eight, not as good as Ava, but then again, your voice is better. It’s your voice you plan to make a career in. But you’re street smart enough to know you need a backup in case you fall flat like dear old mom.”
“Why are you telling me about myself?” I asked sharply. “I’m no one.”
He turned back to the laptop, quickly ejected the USB, and then he was on his feet, putting his suit jacket back on. “No one is no one, everyone is someone, and you, Mia Celia Davis, are someone who’s piqued my curiosity.”
“Why? I think I’m too young for you.”
He barked out a laugh, and I was amazed at how human laughter made him. “You can keep fucking my cousin, Mia. My tastes run a little darker.”
Not a surprise. At all. And somewhat of a relief.
“You’re not a nice man, are you?” I asked him quietly.
He fixed the cuffs of his jacket as he looked at me. “No, I’m not.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“Are you sure about that?” He was almost teasing.
“You’re a businessman. Sports agent?” I recalled. “Successful, rich, handsome, you can be charming when you want, but you don’t usually want to. I think you’re right; you usually are bored.”
His smile was wide, but his eyes were dead. “Go on.”
Wetting my lips, I looked at him. “You play with people. You like to get in their heads. You resent your brothers for pursuing a career that holds no financial long-term stability, so you became a sports agent to ensure your brothers, and cousin, would get the best deals. You don’t do it for money or the love of the sport; you’re making sure your family are looked after. ”
“Am I? I get a significant percentage of clients’ contracts,” he said conversationally.
“You would. You’re the best, aren’t you?” I was almost mocking him, and he knew it. “And everyone knows you pay well for the best.”
He chuckled. “You do indeed. So, Mia, you have me all figured out?”
“No.” I shook my head as I watched him. “You being involved with them, with this thing and Quinn, makes no sense. You encourage them to look into it, and that’s not safeguarding them.
” Leaning forward, I thought about it. “But you need to be kept in the loop. That’s why you’re here, taking things from Ash. ” I sat back. “They don’t trust you.”
His smile wavered, but he remained silent.