The Secret of Ella and Micha(19)

His hands move around to my back and he enfolds me against his chest. I rest my head against him, breathing in his comforting scent. I start to ask him what happened that night, but my fear of the truth shushes me. What if it's bad? What if it pushes me over the edge?

"What do you want to do today?" he whispers. "You name it and it's done."

I pull away, blinking back the tears. My gaze travels to Lila sitting in the car, reapplying her lip gloss in the rearview mirror. "I have to take her to the shop and get her on the road."

Against my protest, Micha cups the back of my head, and lures me against him. "You could just ditch her."

I slap his arm. "Since when are you mean to girls?"

"Since they keep complaining about the sheer drabness of the town," he says in a mocking cheerleader voice. "And the bugs. It's ridiculous. Ten minutes out here with her and I want to lead her into the crack house over there and run."

"That's not a crack house and you know it." I shake my head, forcing back a grin. "And I know you better than that. I'm sure you want to get in her pants."

He pauses, and then slowly his hand explores my back and sneaks to my ass. He grabs it, and bows my body into his, firing a heat deep inside my core and fumbling a moan from my lips. For a second, I forget where I am.

"The only thing I want to get in is you," he murmurs in my hair.

I regain control and shove back. "Seriously? You're going to start this? Here of all places."

He swings a hand at the trailer. "Why not? Because of Grady? He'd be happy to finally see us together. He's been saying for years that you and I will end up together."

I cover my ears. "I can't listen to this."

In three long strides, he's in my face, nearly stepping on my toes. "You think that just because you left, it would change how I feel? Well, guess what? You're wrong. I can't help how I feel. I'm still in - "

"Don't say it." I point a finger at him. "Don't you dare, Micha Scott."

He holds up his hands, wide-eyed and derisive. "Oh, now I'm in trouble. You used my last name and everything."

I glance at the car, checking if Lila's eavesdropping, then whirl back and hiss, "You are in trouble. I've been back for less than a day and everything I've worked on concealing is falling apart because of you."

His aqua eyes are a fierce blue. "Good. You're f*cking crazy if you think that you can run off and change your identity. This unfeeling, preppy girl thing you got going on," he motions his hand at my tank top, white frilly skirt, and curly hair, "is nothing but bull shit. You can't just change who you are on the outside and expect it to change who you are on the inside."

Anger bubbles through me and I shove him. "You're wrong."

His boots scuff the dirt as he catches his balance and smiles haughtily. "Am I? Because right now that fire I love so much is burning pretty bright." He reaches for my cheek, to touch me -  entice me.

"Micha, this is who I have to be otherwise I can't breathe. Please just leave it alone. That damn fire might exist, but I want it gone." I spin my back to him, praying he'll listen to me for once, because if he keeps it up, sooner or later I won't be able to resist.

But Micha has never backed down on a challenge in his life.




Micha

The pain in her eyes nearly kills me. If it were possible, I'd go back in time and stop her from climbing down that tree that God awful night. Maybe then, I'd still have my best friend.

I decide to make a sporadic stop to try and get Ella out of her own head. I park the car in an open space in front of the small coffeehouse located in the heart of town, between the Stop n' Shop and Bubba's Sports Barn. I shut off the engine and wait patiently for her to scold me.

Her face reddens as she takes in where we are. "Micha, I'm really not in the mood for this right now. I have things to do and so does Lila."

"Come on, you haven't seen me play in ages," I coax, using my best seductive voice. "I'll just do one song. In and out and we're done."

"Sounds cool to me," Lila says from the backseat, finally relaxing a little now that we're far away from Grady's trailer. "I love hearing bands and lead singers are always sexy."

"Micha plays the guitar and sings by himself," Ella says with a flicker of possessiveness in her eyes. "He's not a lead singer. He's a solo singer."

"It's all the same to me." Lila pats Ella's head and in a way I think she's making a private joke with her. "Band or not, a guy who can sing and play is hot."

I grin charismatically and incline over the console. "Come on, pretty girl." I wind a strand of her hair around my finger. "You know you want to come in and watch me be all hot and sexy, singing up on the stage. You know you've missed it."

Her eyes narrow at me as she fights back a smile. "You know that voice doesn't work on me. I've seen you use it too many times on too many girls."

"I haven't used it on a girl since you left." I let the truth fall out. I used to come and go as I please with whoever I wanted, but once things started to change with our friendship, it became clear the void I was trying to fill was in her. "And I don't want to use it on anyone - "