33. Mia
MIA
“Wow, this is so good,” I said for the third or fourth time. The turkey, the mashed potatoes, the stuffing, even the cranberry sauce—it all tasted delicious. “Your sister is a wonderful cook,” I told Aaron.
He put down the drumstick he was working his way through and chuckled. “Katie didn’t cook this.”
“But you said it was from her.”
“Yes, but she didn’t cook it. Circuit court judges don’t have a lot of free time, and she can barely boil toast.”
Diego laughed at that. “So where’d she get it from?”
“Local restaurant, I guess.”
“Wherever it is, I’m a fan,” said Diego. It was high praise coming from him, since he was such a good cook himself.
“I have to stop eating,” Cody said, groaning slightly and patting his stomach. Then he plucked another ear of corn on the cob off a platter.
“You didn’t,” I pointed out.
He grinned at me. We were all being total gluttons, and it was fun. We all had wine, too, and Diego didn’t even blink an eye this time. Though none of us were overindulging on the drinks. Diego and I, at least, had learned our lesson on that.
There was far too much food, but it was delicious, and really fun to hang out and joke with these three.
I was relaxed—more relaxed than I thought I’d be, considering that I both desperately wanted to be with Diego and was also a little worried about it.
But he’d pulled me aside this morning, took me into the room he was sleeping in, which was one I hadn’t seen before.
There was a balcony overlooking the river, and while we were enjoying the view, he suggested that we wait until tomorrow for our turn. At first, I was a little hurt, wondering if he didn’t want me to stay with him at all, but his easy smile erased that concern.
“It’s Thanksgiving. It’s a day for us all to be together and enjoy each other’s company,” he said. Then he grinned. “It’s also one of the few holidays that hasn’t been sexualized, so we should probably let it stay that way. You and I—we’ve waited a long time. I can wait one more night. Can you?”
“When you put it like that, yes. But I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night.”
“Me too.” God, when he looked at me like that… Was there anything sexier than a dark-haired man with dark eyes? Especially one who looked at you this intensely?
I took a step closer, and my gaze fell to his lips.
“Could we maybe… could I maybe have a preview?”
He smirked. “It’s a day for friends and family, so get in there.” He got that mock-stern look that was so hot. “I’m still your RA. Don’t make me pull rank on you.”
Half laughing, half reluctantly, I stepped back inside his room. He smacked me on the ass as I did.
“That’s not helping,” I said, but later I was glad he’d made that call because it was so easy to relax and joke around the three of them. I doubted I could be enjoying such an amazing meal if my mind was totally occupied by what was happening later.
What did actually happen later was TV—lots and lots of TV. Aaron made a fire, and Cody queued up a bunch of shows and movies to stream. Diego prepared some snacks none of us had room to eat, and we all piled on the couch in the little sunken seating area of the living room.
I spent my whole evening snuggled up next to them. They often touched my arm or stroked my hair, but it was done in a friendly, joking way. I was really glad that Diego had figured out we needed this.
I fell asleep in the middle of The Sixth Sense , which Cody had insisted we watch, largely because he liked the soundtrack. It seemed like a good movie, but it was late and I was in a food coma.
I woke up alone in the suite I had originally slept in the first night.
Aaron had been in it last time, so I didn’t know where he was.
I was too tired and comfortable to do much more than roll over and go back to sleep.
It wasn’t until morning that I even thought to wonder which one of them had carried me in here.
“Where are we off to now?” I was sitting in the front seat of Aaron’s SUV. He was driving, and Diego and Cody were in the back.
“Well, not a store,” Aaron muttered. We’d already passed by several shopping centers, and the parking lots were jam-packed. I couldn’t say I’d never shopped a Black Friday sale because money had often been tight for the families I’d lived with, but it wasn’t my favorite way to spend the day.
Actually, I was rapidly realizing my favorite way to spend a day was with these three.
“Cody had an idea,” Diego said.
I would have twisted in my seat to look at him, but every time we made eye contact, it was like a jolt of electricity rocketed through me. This— this was the definition of sexual tension.
There’d be no more delays, and we both knew it. Tonight was the night I was going to sleep in his bed, and I couldn’t wait.
It was strange, though. In some ways, I’d had more experience with him than I had with Cody and Aaron before I spent the night with them.
At that party, Diego and I had been all over each other, touching every body part that wasn’t completely covered, and a few that were.
But since then, we’d stayed at arm’s length.
But now, it was like I could feel this connection—this chemistry—between us. This nervous energy that made me feel like I was about to boil over.
“What’s Cody’s idea?”
“Bowling,” said Aaron.
I laughed, thinking he was joking. Then Cody, who was sitting behind me, leaned forward and smacked my arm. “Wait, you’re serious?”
“Yes,” Cody muttered.
“Why?”
Aaron answered. “Well, first of all, unless there’s a Black Friday sale on renting shoes, it won’t be that crowded. Plus, Cody likes it. We went a few times last year once. He’s good.”
“Are you?” Cody asked me.
“I know which end of the lane to stand at and which end to aim at.”
“Clearly, you’re a prodigy,” Diego said.
Again, I refused to let myself look at him. Every time I did, it felt like he was undressing me with his eyes—or I was doing the same to him.
I sighed. “All right, let’s go bowling.”
Aaron pulled up right in front of the door of the alley.
“Why don’t you just park?” I asked him. “My leg’s fine. I can walk it.”
“Nah, door-to-door service for our girl,” Aaron said with a wink. “Go ahead, I’ll catch up.”
Cody was already on the sidewalk, and Diego came around and opened my door. I smiled at him as I stepped out, my cheeks heating up from the knowing gleam in his eye.
It felt like every interaction between us was some kind of sexual promise—except, wait, what the hell was he doing? As soon as I was clear of the car, he hopped in the passenger seat and pulled the door shut.
“On second thought, maybe Aaron and I will do some Black Friday shopping,” he said, lowering the window a little.
“What?” He had to be joking, right?
From the driver’s seat, Aaron’s hand shot out of the open sunroof, giving us a wave. “See you guys later. Have fun,” he called.
And then they sped off.
My jaw dropped.
I turned to Cody, who looked like he was trying not to laugh.
“What?” I demanded. “What’s going on?”
“I guess they like shopping,” he said, mostly managing to keep a straight face.
“Yeah, right. Like I really believe they’re going shopping. You know something, don’t you?”
“Me? No. Come on, let’s go inside.”
I grabbed his arm, stopping him. “You know something. Tell me.”
The glint in his eye confirmed my suspicion.
“I promised not to tell.” He grinned. “I’m good at not talking.”
I smacked his bicep, which was a mistake because his muscles were so firm that it made my fingers sting. “Tell me or I won’t go bowling.”
“Okay, but you’re missing out. It’s fun.”
I’d momentarily forgotten that trying to be more stubborn than Cody was an exercise in futility. So maybe I could bribe him instead. “I’ll bowl two games with you if you’ll tell me.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“Okay.” He took a deep breath, opened his mouth… and then told me in sign language. His hands flew around for nearly a minute, so I suspected he was actually giving me the explanation I wanted, for all the good that it did me.
“That’s not fair.”
“You didn’t specify I had to tell you out loud.”
“I hate you.”
He immediately signed back.
“Were those the signs for ‘No, you don’t’?”
He nodded with a grin. “Come on.”
The next surprise was that I didn’t actually hate bowling—and that Cody was freaking amazing at it. The majority of the time, he rolled strikes. He could even pick up splits, though he only rolled one of those, and I half suspected it was only to prove to me that he could.
“How did you get so good at this?”
“I used to skip class and go bowling in high school.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“I don’t know,” he said innocently. “I’m normally a model student.” Despite his use of sign language earlier, it felt like he was speaking so easily to me—and I loved it.
A few frames later, he said, “I liked being at a bowling alley. It’s so loud that no one really expects you to hold a conversation, so I could pretend I was normal.”
“You are normal,” I said, and then shook my head after his ball thundered down the lane and knocked the pins into the next time zone. “I take it back. No normal guy bowls strike after strike.”
He grinned. “I get a few spares sometimes too.”
He gave me some tips after that, and I managed to get a few more pins each turn.
When we finished, his score was 256. Mine was 67.
“Not bad,” he said, looking at the numbers flashing on the computer screen. Then his grin turned teasing. “I’m sure you did better than a couple of those guys down at the last lane.”
Since there was a kid’s party at the last lane complete with balloons, a dad dressed like a clown, and bumpers blocking the gutters, that wasn’t much of a compliment. “Thanks a lot.”
“I’m serious—you did well. But I wish you’d knock down two more pins.”
“Why?” I said, looking again at my score of 67. Then I knew. “Don’t say it,” I said, turning to him.
Seeing the glint in his eye, I tried to cover his mouth, but he grabbed my hands and, in a move too fast for me to follow, twisted them behind me, trapping me against his chest.
The sudden closeness and being pressed against the hard wall of his chest knocked all other thoughts out of my mind.
But it left him free to say, “69 is my favorite number.”
“You and every other guy,” I muttered. Being this close to him was having an effect on me.
His eyes met mine, then dropped to my lips.
Then he dipped his head to my ear, his nose nuzzling against my hair.
God, it was like he was a whole new person today.
Maybe he’d really needed to tell someone about his childhood. I was honored he’d chosen me.
I stilled as he leaned in close, every cell in my body quivering in anticipation. “Behave yourself. There are children watching,” he whispered.
I laughed, trying to jerk out of his grasp, but he was stronger than I’d thought, and I couldn’t get free until he let me—which was both annoying and arousing.
After we finished the second game, we waited outside on a bench, sipping sodas.
Thanks to Cody, I was learning that it wasn’t necessary to fill every moment with conversation.
Yes, sometimes I wanted to talk to him, but other times I was content to sit in silence next to him.
This was one of the latter times. Plus, after the bowling alley noise, the relative quiet of the parking lot was refreshing.
Eventually, he got a text. “They’re on their way back.”
“Yeah? Want to tell me where they’ve been?”
“How would I know?” he said, striving to look innocent.
Despite the fact that he had the face of an angel—or at least a fallen one—he couldn’t quite pull off the innocent act.
“You know. You just won’t tell me.”
“Interesting theory,” he said. “We should test it in chem lab sometime.”
I rolled my eyes and went back to alternating between glaring at him when he was looking my way and checking him out when he wasn’t.