Page 115 of Crash & Burn

“Chill, man. It was just a joke,” Silas says. His voice is even and calm, but I can’t help but feel the anger under my skin begin to bubble.

Maybe it’s the guilt about lying to Mateo or because Silas caught me off guard, but I feel myself heading the opposite way of “chill.”

“Eddie,” Theo says, and my eyes dart to him. I watch as his eyes widen, and he nods his head to the right. I turn to see the Lenny’s crowd, Annie, Luke, Drew, Emmett, and Mia, talking and heading this way.

Whatever is bubbling inside, I tamper it down, refusing to lose my cool in front of Mia again.

Seeing her makes me momentarily forget about the guilt, or Silas’s stupid comment, but a different kind of tension in me builds.

Her tan legs are peaking out of black denim shorts that have rips lining her upper thighs. She is wearing my black Cross My Heart T-shirt that she has yet to return from last summer, but I can’t say I’m mad about it. It is tied just under her tits, showing off her toned stomach, and her blonde hair is in a high ponytail, showing off a mark on her neck that she said she would tell everyone was a burn from her curling iron.

The way she looks tonight makes me want to fall to my knees and worship that body, but I can’t.

Yet.

As she walks over to us with the rest of our friends, I watch as she unties the knot she has at the front of her shirt, and she begins to pull it off over her head.

What the hell is she doing?

Not taking her shirt off in front of all these people, I’ll tell you that.

Before I can think about it, I’m pushing past Theo and Silas to round the booth, heading over to her with full intention to stop her from showing this whole fucking place what ismineandonly mine.

But I’m too late.

She pulls the T-shirt over her head, and I’m still a good five feet away from her.

“Mia,” I yell to her, but the rest of my words get caught in my throat.

Under her T-shirt is a pink, lace top that accentuates her jaw-dropping frame. It is flattering, feminine, and literally makes my mouth water. Her arms on display, one thin strap falling off her shoulder.

How much I wish it was just me and her right now is unhealthy, and that top and those shorts are already turning heads as people walk past her.

Cityscape is a nicer place, so I get why she doesn’t want to wear my old band T-shirt there, but the way she looks tonight, the amount of attention she is bound to get…

Yeah, I’m going to jail tonight.

She sees me, and the smile on her face is the nail in my coffin because she is drop dead gorgeous. There is a flush to her cheeks, gloss on her lips, and, if we were alone, I would ask her to leave pink kisses all over me. “Hey, raindrop,” she beams as I walk up to the group.

“Great show, Ed,” I hear Annie say, but I don’t see her. All I see are those pretty brown eyes that make my world go ‘round, and I want to spend the rest of my life counting the stars in them, getting lost in them.

Mia holds power over me that no one else does.

I had anger clouding my vision before I saw her, and I feel it all slowly fade away. I can’t shake the feeling of tension in my shoulders, left over from before and now with the anticipation of knocking people out who look at her a little too long, but being near her calms me down.

“Ready to go?” Mia asks, hanging my T-shirt over her arm.

“You were wearing my T-shirt,” I announce as if it was apparent.

“Well, you are my favorite,” she teases, calling back to last summer when she announced to Theo and Silas that I was her favorite instead of them.

“Atta girl,” I say, forgetting the act we’re supposed to be putting on. I put my arm over her shoulder and lead her to the exit, the wide eyes and smiles of our friends behind us.

I’m already going to hell.

Might as well enjoy it.

Chapter 38

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