6

Mia

“We need to talk. Come with me.” Maxello’s voice was sudden, like he wanted me away from Rolex…I already figured it out that he didn't have a close relationship with his brother, his brow pulled tight when he spoke. What could he possibly want to say?

Beg me to help him win Harper back and humiliate me again? No. I was done being his shadow, done letting him get in my head because of what I felt for him, I pushed the hurt down and forced my voice out.

“No. Say it here,” I snapped. He looked taken aback, then smoothed his features like he always did, like nothing could touch him, but he wasn't really good at masking up his feelings.

“Stop acting like a child, Mia. Come with me.” He ordered, but I didn't move. Rolex leaned against the wall, watching like this was the best show.

“Acting like a child? She’s the one coming between us,” I shot back. “I’m trying to protect you as a friend, and you turn me into the villain.” He wasn’t ready to hear it, so I held my ground.

“Please, Mia.” He begged, and the wall I’d built around my heart cracked…I hated that it did. I hated that his desperation pulled at something inside me.

I stayed quiet and he reached for my hand and tried to drag me. The motion was sudden, and heat flared under my skin….I opened my mouth to pull free when Rolex stepped forward, putting himself between us. He took my other hand and wouldn’t let go. Maxello stopped, thrown.

“What are you doing?” Maxello demanded.

“She clearly doesn’t want to go,” Rolex said simply, he stood in front of me like a shield, taller and solid. I felt so small against him.

Maxello stepped closer, closing the space between them, his teeth clenched. “You have no say. She’s my best friend. I’ll do what I want with her.” He spat the words like a challenge and something I’d never heard in him before…anger edged with fear.

Like he knew what his brother was capable of doing if he decided on something.

Rolex’s face hardened. “She stays with me.” His tone left no room for any argument… that stubborn calm of his meant he wouldn’t back down.

Maxello looked to me, waiting for an answer. I’d already decided. I pulled my wrist free and stepped away from him without meeting his eyes, steadying myself on the choice I’d made a hundred times in mind.

“He’s right. I’m staying with him.” My voice sounded small to my own ears, but I forced it out anyway. “I’m not your puppy. You don’t get to do whatever you want with me.”

Rolex’s eyes landed on me, a proud smirk tugging at his mouth annoyingly like a proud boyfriend. It was a look that said he’d won something, and it landed cold in my chest. I hated how that made me feel.

“Don’t come running to me when you come to your senses,” Rolex warned, and then he turned and walked away. I swallowed hard as I watched him disappear.

The instant he was gone, I pulled my hand from Rolex’s grip. “I didn’t ask you to interfere,” I said angrily, “I only did that because I was mad. A bet doesn’t make you own me. You’ll lose, and you can never replace Maxello.” The last words bit harder than I meant, and his eyes darkened at that.

Rolex paused in the hall and looked back at us. His face was unreadable, but his eyes were colder. “We’ll see about that,” he said, then left.

I sighed, rubbing at the spot on my wrist where Maxello had grabbed me, the skin prickled. I had stood up for myself and chosen, but the choice tasted bitter.

★

The next morning I found myself walking by the poolside in my very short gown. I liked short outfits, and people always told me they loved my legs are clean and smooth, the kind that could make a guy want to kiss them.

I didn’t have much to show off, but for the legs, I had to. The gown clung to my body perfectly and stopped mid-thigh.

Ever since I last spoke with Maxello, I hadn’t seen him or Rolex. That was fine!

One was too blind to notice my feelings, and the other had been getting under my skin. Or maybe it was the way he did things that made my stomach twist… in a way I couldn’t explain. I didn’t like it, I didn’t hate it either. A part of me wanted to experience it more.

But I still wished Max would be my first. From the way things were going, I doubted he’d ever see me that way.

I sat down by the pool, dipped my legs into the water, and sighed at the cold touch.

Was I going to swim? No. I loved water, but it would kill me if I tried. The first time Max tried to teach me, I almost drowned. I couldn’t breathe underwater….I’d just gasp and panic. That’s why I avoided swimming altogether.

But this… this feeling crawling through me now couldn’t be avoided, the cold water felt good against my skin.

I swung my legs in the water, humming my favorite song, when the water rose at the far end of the pool and Rolex DeVille surfaced as if he'd been there the whole time.

My jaw dropped when he pushed his head back and wiped his black hair from his face, his upper body came into view.

If I thought Max was hot, then Rolex was hotter…

his broad chest and muscles perfectly toned, water dripping down six solid abs. My fingers itched just from imagining how they’d feel.

WTF, Mia… I scolded myself.

His black hair stuck to his face, and he brushed it back with his fingers, our eyes met at that moment. His grey unreadable eyes staring back at me like I grew horns and I couldn’t look away either.

We just stared for what felt like forever. And suddenly images of his hand sliding up my thigh, his voice whispering filthy words, and his touch burning my skin… it all flooded back.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to erase them.

And when I opened them back, he chuckled, like he already knew what was going through my head.

I should leave, I really should avoid him as much as I can… I braced to stand, but before I could, two hands shoved me hard from behind and I stumbled forward and fell straight into the pool.

The cold slammed into me. “H-Help!” I screamed at the fear that hit me hard, but the water swallowed my voice. My body thrashed, fighting not to drown but an invisible force dragged me deeper into the pool

I gasped for air and choked, darkness creeping into my vision every seconds I spent in the water… my limbs become weak.

Is this how I'm going to die? No one is showing up to save me and the only thoughts that came to my mind was Max. I thought of everything I hadn’t said.

Then I stopped struggling, my body giving in as the darkness wrapped me up… and I blacked out.