Chapter 23 MIA #2
‘I begged Charlie over and over to let me talk to you. He was like a brick wall. Just totally iced me out where you were concerned. I wanted to write you a letter, but I was afraid I would bungle the words again. It had to be in person. Like now. So you could see for yourself that I meant it. That it wasn’t just pretty words and it wasn’t cheap.
’ Sam heaves another sigh. ‘Mia, hurting you that night is the single biggest regret of my life.’ He stares off into the distance for a minute, then clears his throat and continues.
‘Anyway. Over the years, I had tried to move on. Tried to date other girls, but none of them were you. It never went anywhere. Then I moved, and found the earring. Charlie called me the same day and we were chatting about holiday plans, and I was so down about my family being gone so I told him how I couldn’t get the time off work to go with them.
The idea of being alone for Christmas made me feel sick. ’
‘So, when Charlie invited you up here, it probably seemed like all the stars were aligning,’ Mia murmurs.
‘It was a chance to right some of my very worst wrongs,’ Sam says simply. ‘I had to take it.’
‘It’s kind of unbelievable, really,’ Mia says as she mulls over everything Sam has just divulged. ‘If I hadn’t been so thorough at ghosting you, we could have cleared this up years ago.’
Sam makes a face. ‘That’s true.’
‘It’s going to take me a little while to rewrite the narrative on this particular story,’ Mia says. ‘I’ve believed my version of what happened for a really long time.’
Sam nods vigorously. ‘I understand. Really, I do. I didn’t tell you any of this to put any kind of pressure on you. I just wanted you to know that none of what happened that night was your fault.’
But much of what had happened since then was on her, Mia realizes.
It’s ironic how she was so inflexible with John about how he should have had the courage to have a simple conversation and yet the same approach would have spared both her and Sam so much heartache.
Sam is picking at a loose thread on his socks.
One foot boasts sausage dogs reading books, and the other has dragons eating ice cream sundaes.
They’re utterly absurd, but Mia finds that there’s something a bit endearing about Sam’s awful sock choices.
Almost like it’s a bit of his more flamboyant personality leaking out around the edges of a carefully collected persona.
Sam gives her his full attention when she starts speaking again. ‘I will say this, though. I’m hard pressed to believe that anyone actually treats you like a serious professional when you wear ridiculous socks like that.’
Sam laughs, throwing his head back and rocking his chair on to its back legs.
The move exposes the length of his neck, and his throat muscles work as he chuckles, captivating Mia’s attention.
That sensation creeps over her again, the one where her hands want to roam and explore, to reacquaint themselves with every inch of him.
He looks back at Mia, sensing the shift in her mood.
She drinks in his face, the sharp edge of his jawline dusted with stubble and his deep brown eyes that seem to darken as he looks at her with renewed interest. His hand reaches up to cup her jaw as his face moves closer, and there’s a question implicit in the look he levels at her.
Heat starts building in her stomach, pulsing through her as her want builds.
She gives a tiny nod, and he moves in, closing the space and crushing his lips to hers.
Mia leans her body forward, hungry for more of him as he wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her on to his lap so she’s straddling him.
Sam’s hands, confident and firm, run up her back, one pressing her to him tightly and the other cupping the back of her head.
He uses his tongue to coax her lips apart, and a groan escapes her as his mouth moves lower, kissing and sucking at her neck.
‘Oh, Sam, fuck.’ Mia can barely get the words out as her breath hitches when he nips a particularly sensitive spot.
‘Mia, you have no idea how badly I’ve needed to kiss you like this,’ he mutters into her neck, his voice a low growl that makes Mia’s breath go ragged.
He shifts her on his lap, pulling her closer into him, and she feels beneath his trousers that he’s completely hard for her. The thought turns her insides to liquid, and she realizes that she needs more of him, all of him, in this moment. Needs to be made his again, after all this time.
‘Sam …’ she murmurs.
As if reading her mind, he nods and says gruffly, ‘Do you think we can make it upstairs without anyone noticing?’
Mia can’t help but giggle at the ridiculousness of it all, the two of them being reduced to sneaking around like horny teenagers, as she stands and takes Sam’s hand, leading him down the hallway and past the open kitchen door as quietly as possible.
Thankfully, the rest of the Robinsons seem to be too distracted with clearing up to notice Mia and Sam sneaking past, and the two of them hurry the last few feet to the stairs before taking them two at a time, desperate to reach Mia’s room as soon as possible now they’re in the clear.
Mia enters first, and as soon as Sam closes the door behind him, he spins her round, Mia’s back colliding with the closed door. Sam leans into her until his lips are inches from hers, and his mouth quirks in that crooked smile that sends her mind spinning.
‘Have you missed me, Mia?’ he whispers as he dips his head, brushing his lips across the pulse in her neck.
For a moment, sound can’t escape her throat, her breathing too shallow to allow her to form the words, too turned on to think of anything except the heat building in her core. ‘Well, Mia?’ Sam prompts.
‘Yes, fuck, yes,’ she gasps out, and with a satisfied smirk Sam closes the gap once more, his mouth sweet and firm against hers as the heat in her veins rises. Goosebumps break out over Mia’s skin as one hand caresses her thigh, while the other becomes tangled in her hair at the nape of her neck.
Mia hasn’t let herself think about this, about how perfectly the two of them fit together.
She had convinced herself that she could live without him, but now she’s here with Sam’s lips on hers she thinks she might not survive if she has to go the rest of her life without feeling him this close again.
Mia’s desire builds as he deepens the kiss, and she lets herself become lost in the sensation of his body pressed to hers, the need burning through both of them, pulling them together.
Sam’s gaze is gentle on Mia’s face, filled with a renewed tenderness as he lies facing her, their legs tangled and chests rising and falling in unison.
He reaches up one hand and brushes a stray strand of hair from her forehead before pressing a kiss to her temple.
Basking in the sweetness of the release she found with Sam, Mia finds emotion blooming in her chest, warm and bright and strangely familiar.
Something she hasn’t felt this clearly or keenly since they were both at uni, before everything fell apart between them.
Mia realizes that it feels as though she can actually breathe again, as though her senses have reawakened after years of hibernation.
‘Mia, I—’ Sam begins, his voice quiet and thick with emotion.
‘I know,’ Mia replies, studying Sam’s face intently, trying to memorise every detail. And then, with a small smile she adds, ‘I guess you could take that as an apology accepted.’
Sam’s eyes grow wide for a second and then they’re both laughing, full belly laughs at the relief of it all, the joy that they’re finally back here, in each other’s arms.
As their laughter gradually subsides, Mia can’t quite believe the about-turn she’s done.
She’s spent years hating Sam, but when she searches herself for any residual anger, she finds none.
After all those years of resentment, she’s finally managed to cross over into something new, something healthier and happier for both of them.
She can’t deny that she’s even a tiny bit proud of herself, for allowing herself to be vulnerable and brave again despite what happened the last time.
As she lies next to Sam, there’s a confidence burning through her that she hasn’t felt since that night at the pool, and she only realizes now how much she’s missed it.
They stay in comfortable silence for a few minutes more, until a clatter from downstairs breaks the tranquillity that’s surrounded them. As though suddenly snapping back to reality, Mia jolts up, hastily looking around for her clothes.
‘Oh my God, Sam, my family! We have to get downstairs! They’ll have noticed we’re gone by now and I don’t think I can face my mum given what we’ve just done,’ she garbles, flustered at the thought of her family working out what they snuck away to do.
‘Hey, Mia, it’s OK,’ Sam reassures her gently, his fingers entwining with hers. ‘Just take a second, it’ll all be fine.’ Her heartbeat instantly slows as he brushes his thumb against her knuckles. ‘They don’t need to know about us if you aren’t ready for that yet.’
Us. The word catches something in her chest, and her eyes return to his face.
He’s looking at her with such sincerity, so much care underpinning his words, that she realizes in a rush that she’s being ridiculous.
She doesn’t care if her family know that she and Sam have resolved things and that they’re back on track after so long apart.
In fact, she wants them to know. Penny will be beside herself that Mia’s finally come to her senses, Aunt Gertie will probably commend Mia’s sexual boldness, Charlie will just be relieved that there’s no more animosity forcing him to choose sides, and Martin?
No doubt he’ll just be happy that Mia’s happy.
The joy in her chest swells as a smile washes over her face at the thought.