Ready for You (Ready #3)(35)

“They live here?”

She nodded. “Yes, they moved here after I left…Richmond.”

I had a feeling she had been about to say, after I left you, but I didn’t press.

“Okay, so you visited your parents. Please explain to me further, so I can understand,” I pleaded.

The elevator dinged, and we stepped out onto our floor. She fished out her key card, and I waited. She unlocked her room and stepped inside, and then I followed her inside. Our conversation wasn’t over. I closed the door behind me, and she turned, becoming aware of the very small space between us.

“I haven’t seen them in eight years,” she said.

“Eight years, Mia? Why?”

I searched her face for answers, but she wasn’t giving any.

“I wasn’t perfect anymore,” she answered.

Fuck friendship boundaries.

I took a step forward and pulled her into my arms. She came willingly, and I tried not to think about how perfectly she still molded into my body.

“Tell me about today,” I said gently.

“She didn’t recognize me,” she said into my chest.

“What do you mean?”

“My own mother. She didn’t recognize me. If she did, she pretended not to. The maid brought me in, and my mother looked up and said, ‘May I help you?’ She just stared blankly at me like I’d come off the streets, looking for a job.”

“Did you say anything to her?” I asked as I stroked her hair.

“No, I turned and ran, so she wouldn’t see my tears.”

“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry.”

I held her until all her tears dried up, and the sobs ceased, but even then I didn’t let go. I couldn’t. Now that I had her, I didn’t want to lose the feel of her between my arms again. Her head turned upward, and our eyes met. Hers were still red, but they were the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen. They were blue and translucent, like ocean water.

“Garrett, I—”

“Shh,” I said.

I bent down and hovered, feeling her heart beating against mine, as I waited for her to push away. She didn’t, and for the first time in eight years, I found heaven again as my mouth brushed up against hers. Our lips met hesitantly at first, and we kissed each other softly, like a reunion of souls. But soon, our impatience grew, and I needed more. My fingers dived into her hair and angled her mouth, so I could kiss her long and deep. She tasted exactly the same yet completely different. It was like having a favorite wine and trying it again several years later after it had aged a bit. She was still my Mia but bolder, fiercer, and sexier.

She moaned into my mouth, and I lost it.

Slipping my hands down to her thighs, I caught her knees and pulled her up around my torso as I walked us to the bed.

I was done being friends with Mia Emerson.

With her hands wrapped around my shoulders, we tumbled onto the mattress. She watched me as I slipped my hands under her dress and pulled it over her head. My dreams hadn’t done her justice. She was stunning. Her br**sts spilled over the edge of her lacy pink bra, and they were begging to be touched and licked. Reaching behind her, I undid her bra and freed it from her body. She squirmed and writhed underneath me as I attacked, rubbing each nipple between my fingers into a taut peak.

Bending down, I licked and sucked that perfect pink nipple until she was screaming.

“Oh God, Garrett!”

Hearing her say my name nearly made me come in my jeans.

In one swift movement, I reached over me and pulled off my T-shirt. I groaned as her hands found my chest.

Loving the way her hands felt on me, my hands found her waist and I lifted up off the bed and flipped us, loving my new view—Mia on top of me in a lacy pink thong.

I watched as she bent over and started kissing her way up my body. Her ni**les brushed against my skin, and I felt myself growing harder with every single touch. She paid special attention to my tattoos, stopping to kiss the band around my left arm, the knot woven over my shoulder, and then moved to my inner arm.

“Stop,” I said suddenly.

Her eyes focused on the script, and she read the words. “Until then. What does it mean?” she whispered, her eyes now focused on me.

“Just drop it, Mia.”

Her eyes shifted to my arm again and stayed. “What does it mean, Garrett?”

I exhaled and pinched the bridge of my nose to keep the emotions at bay. I didn’t want to do this. Not now. Not ever. But there were some things you couldn’t outrun.

I took a deep breath. “That day we found out…when you were crying in my arms, asking what we were going to do. I wasn’t scared, not at all. You were carrying my child. The woman I loved was carrying my child. I didn’t care how old we were or what people would think. I kissed you and said everything would be okay because I knew it would be.”

She moved off of me, and I sat up. Both of us needed a bit of space. This was a conversation that we’d put off far too long.

“I always thought we would have a girl. I pictured her with your hair and my eyes. She’d be seven by now, Mia.”

She nodded, and a stray tear fell from her cheek. I grabbed my shirt and got up, knowing this was over. All of it was over. We were living a lie if we’d thought this could be fixed.

She’d aborted our child without giving me a choice. She’d left me with nothing more than a note and a shattered, broken heart. I couldn’t get over that.