About Last Night (About Last Night #1)(85)

Oh, God.

Of all the people to misread signs with…

Oh, f*ck.

…of course it had to be with my best friend’s sister.

I was never going to live this down. Not ever.

“Oh, God,” I grated. I lowered my palms only low enough to cover my mouth. “You’re not into me, are you?”

Her brows rose as she took in my words. “I—”

My hands fell and I rested one on my hip. I closed my eyes and held the other hand out. “No, Mia. You don’t need to explain. I clearly misread the situation.” I let out a long sigh, looking anywhere but at her. “It’s just that I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, and I know you’re Harry’s sister, but…but I thought…” I groaned a laugh. “Well, I feel like an idiot.” Then I actually did laugh. I peeked up at her, speaking softly through my discomfiture. “I thought you were jealous tonight. It never occurred to me that you were just embarrassed to be seen with your hooker.”

We stood there, cautiously looking at one another, Mia wringing her hands together and me unable to speak. I had no idea how to fix this.

Just as I began to apologize, she spoke, whisper-soft, “I was jealous.”

My head snapped up. “What?” I was sure I hadn’t heard her right.

She looked down at her hands, speaking a little louder, “I was jealous.” She took a small step back and wrapped her arms around herself. “I hated her, because she was with you. And my date the other night?” She closed her eyes and breathed out a shaky, “I did that because I was falling for you.” Her smile trembled. “I had to get out before I was in too deep. I needed to forget about you, because…” her eyes shone bright, “because jealousy was killing me.”

Then it was my turn to stare.

Mia shrugged lightly. “I would’ve never asked you to leave your job. I never thought we even had a chance. I tried so hard to make out like it wasn’t a thing, but”—she blinked rapidly and a tear trailed her cheek—“it was killing me.”

My brow creased. “What are you…?” I took a step toward her, my eyes never leaving hers. “What are you saying?” Another step forward. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Her lip twitched and I rushed out, “Because if you’re saying what I think you’re saying, then you need to get over here right now or I’m coming after you, and when I catch you, I’m never letting you go.”

A second tear escaped, and she laughed and sobbed at the same time. Then she grinned at me and said something I would remember for the rest of my life. “Come and get me.”

It took three more steps for me to claim my girl…five minutes to hear her whisper she loved me…and a night of lovemaking to prove it.

And I knew it would take an eternity before I got my fill of Mia Bridgeton.





Chapter FortyThree



Mia




I rolled my eyes at the doofus stealing all the blankets. “We are not doing this.”

Quinn sat up, his gloriously bare torso on display. “Why not? It’s a perfectly good and fair way to make a decision.”

I scoffed, pulling the sheets up to my chest as I sat up against the headboard. “I’m not doing this. It’s ridiculous.” He didn’t answer, just held out a fist and raised a brow. I shook my head vigorously.

He sighed long and low, lowering his fist. “I want to talk to Harry. You want to talk to Harry. Rock, paper, scissors is a completely legit way to handle this.” He added hastily, “You’re a girl; you don’t get it. There’s a code between friends. I never should’ve touched you, and now that I have, I should talk to him.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a hand and rushed out, “But…I love you, and I love you enough to do this the fair way.” Out came the damn fist again.

Whenever he said those sneaky words, I was ready to rob a bank for him. I reached over to cup his cheek. “I love you, too.” I let my hand drop, wrapping my palm gently around his fist and bringing it to my chest. “He’s my brother, Quinn.”

His hazel eyes bore into mine as he uttered, “Mine, too.”

My heart stuttered. I was mentally terrified of approaching my brother. “He’s going to be mad,” I stated.

Quinn snorted. “Um…ya think?”

You know what? Maybe Quinn should talk to him.

Coward!

He smiled as I wore my indecision like a fluorescent pink headband. He leaned down, pressing a lingering kiss to my cheek, and I breathed him in. The scent of him calmed me. He kissed my cheek, over and over, before kissing my lips once, whisper-soft. “Let me talk to him.” I opened my eyes to find a cautious but sincere man looking back at me. “Please. Let me do this.”

Heart racing, I admitted quietly, “I’m scared.”

His hesitation told me he felt the same, but he covered with, “Everything’s going to be fine. I promise.”

I watched Quinn dress from my place on the bed. Silently, I wondered how this had all happened and, more importantly, how I managed to make a man like Matt Quinn fall in love with little ‘ole me.

A small stretched my lips and Quinn caught it. “Pervert,” he muttered under his breath, and I laughed.