Under My Skin (Shady Falls Series Book 2) (13 page)

              I shook my head. My southern accent was strong, but when Gage got going, the Pittsburghese just flowed. It was difficult to focus on his words more than his accent at times. “There’s nothin’ between us. We were together for about five minutes in high school. That’s it. We’ve barely talked since then.”

              “If you seriously think there’s nothing between yinz, you’re mistaken.”

              “What’s that supposed to mean?”

              Shaking his head, Gage just smiled. “Nothing. I just hope yinz don’t play this game forever. Yinz could be missing out on something pretty special if yinz do.” Looking toward the clock on the wall he said, “I gotta git to the gym. My next class will be coming soon.”

              “See you later,” I said.

              Gage waved behind him as he walked out the door. His words echoed in my head long after he left. I moved through the motions of reading groups and working on speech lessons with some of the students. By the time the bell rang to signal the end of the day, my head was a jumble. Thinking about my annoyance with Grant’s lies, my loneliness, and Emma’s and Gage’s insistence that there was more between Jake and me than I dreamed, started giving me a headache. No matter how much they insisted, and how much I wished they were right, I knew they couldn’t be.

Chapter Eleven

Jake

“Here, for the race tomorrow. I was thinkin’ we should all drive to the airport together,” Cade said as he handed everyone their passes. Gage, Cade, Mia, and I had gathered in the gym office to discuss what was happening tomorrow.

              “I hafta to drive. Char and my brother-in-law, Roy, will be coming with me. But we have room for one more if anyone needs,” Gage said.

              “Is Char your wife’s name?” Mia asked, her gorgeous smile spread across her face.

              “Charlyn is her name, but we all call her Char,” said Gage.

              “I can’t wait to meet her.”

              “She’s looking forward to meeting yinz too.” The love that man had for his wife was all over his face. If I had any worry about Mia with him, they were gone the moment I saw him talk about his wife. I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, ever, but I longed for that kind of connection with someone.

              “Well, that’ll work,” Cade said. “Then Jake, Monique, Mia, and I’ll ride together.”

              Mia’s eyes widened with curiosity. “Who’s Monique?” she asked quietly.

              “She’s a friend of ours,” I explained, but didn’t elaborate. Let her think she was a girlfriend.

              Since our altercation at the bar, I tried to avoid her at all cost. I wanted to stay away from her and find someone else to bury myself in so I could forget once and for all, but it never worked. The more I tried to avoid her, the more I was drawn to her. And I hadn’t had any desire to be with anyone else for a long time. I hadn’t even touched Monique in months. This was turning out to be my longest sexual drought since I was a kid, before I was ever even had sex.

              If I was actually being honest with myself, I’d acknowledge that I got more out of arguing with Mia than I did being with any other woman. On the dance floor, at Bobby’s bar, any time I could get her alone and engaged in an argument I did. When we argued at the bar, she had me so worked up, it took everything in me not to take her right there. I sat in the parking lot and watched her walk to her house. I wanted to stop her and do what, I didn’t know; but with Toni and Julius there, it wasn’t the right time.

              “Are you still planning on meeting your boyfriend in Miami?” Gage asked looking at Mia.

             
No, no, no …
I didn’t want to have to spend an entire afternoon watching that anal-retentive prick try to get in Mia’s pants. Three minutes in the cocksucker’s presence and I knew he was no fuckin’ good. Why couldn’t women tell when a man was no good? Then they wondered why they could never find a good man. Maybe if they didn’t spend so much time with the losers …

              “He’s not my boyfriend, Gage. But yeah, Grant’s gonna meet us there,” Mia explained. “He’s gotta work late tonight so he’s stayin’ in the city and flyin’ down on his own.”

              “He seems to do that a lot,” I mumbled to myself. Mia snapped her eyes over toward me and looked like she had something to say, but she didn’t. She sat there, narrowing her eyes, letting me know she heard exactly what I said. It was true, I’d noticed over the past few weeks he was rarely around. He seemed to spend more time away than he did in Mooresville. More time away from the woman with whom he supposedly wanted.

              Cade looked like he had something to say, but he wisely turned his attention to Gage and Mia. “We’ll meet at the airport at eight tomorrow morning. Our flight is at ten.”

              “Can y’all pick me up?” Mia asked. “Bobby’s takin’ my car to Shady Falls for new tires and a tune-up tomorrow.”

              “Jake and I got you,” Cade said instantly, looking at me as if in challenge. Cade knew something was going on between Mia and me. He could never understand why I wouldn’t forgive her, the thing was I think I did forgive her, I just didn’t want to admit it.

              Mia looked to me before responding to Cade’s offer. “Thanks, Cade. I’ll be ready early. Come by whenever y’all are ready.”

              The thought of Mia and Monique in the same space for an extended period of time didn’t sit well with me. If I knew Monique, she would say something I wouldn’t like. She always did.

              Shortly after, our conversation broke up. Gage went home to his wife and Mia left moments later. Cade and I sat there in silence for a few moments, but then he spoke up.

              “When are you gonna figure out your shit?” Leave it to Cade to get straight to the point. No sugarcoating anything.

              I sat there and stared at him. I wasn’t about to get into this shit with him again. He just wanted to understand my issue with Mia, but at this point, I wasn’t sure anymore. I just knew I didn’t like what I felt when I was around her. Hell, I couldn’t even figure out why I still wanted her. She had a control over me a long time ago that almost crushed me, I wasn’t about to give that control back. I definitely didn’t want to admit she quite possibly still held some kind of control.

              When I didn’t respond, Cade continued like he hadn’t even asked me a question. “You know, at some point you gotta decide to fight for her. She’s a good girl and she’s spendin’ time with an asshole.”

              “How am I supposed to change who Mia decides to spend time with? We barely even talk. And there ain’t nothin’ to fight for, I mean nothin’ to her, so my opinion means nothin’.”

              He shook his head. He was my twin brother, no one knew me better than Cade. Hell, there were times he knew what I was feeling before I even knew it. But this wasn’t one of those times.

              “If that’s what you truly think, Jake, you’re more oblivious than I ever thought.”

***

The flight to Miami was surprisingly uneventful, in spite of Mia and Monique sitting next to each other. I was relieved that they barely talked. Even though everyone talked, I’d noticed Mia watching the interaction between Monique and me throughout the flight. I wondered what was going through her head. Could she be jealous?

              “So Mia,” Monique spoke up, drawing my attention. “Tell me how you are connected to these two.” Monique smiled and gestured between my brother and me with her perfectly manicured fingers.

              My eyes narrowed on her the moment she looked at me. Monique knew there was history. She also knew I was once in love with Mia. I had admitted it all to her in a drunken stupor not long after Mia contacted me to help her move to Mooresville.

              “We grew up together,” Mia said quietly. She sat, wringing her hands together, her eyes darting around the interior of the plane.

              “Y’all are just friends?” Monique pushed. “I can’t believe anyone could just be friends with these two for long.”

              Mia’s eyes snapped to Monique. “What do you mean?” she asked nervously.

              Monique smiled. “Don’t get me wrong. We’re all just friends now. But it wasn’t always that way.” Monique winked at Mia, signaling her exact meaning.

              “Enough, Monique,” I barked quietly.

              Without apology, Monique smiled at me. I knew what she was up to. She thought she had some kind of insider information. She thought she knew something and she was going to try to push an issue that was none of her goddamned business. I would have to try to keep the two of them away from each other as much as possible.

              Through the entire flight, Monique talked with my friends and family. She could talk to just about anyone, and she did. Monique had no problem relating to people. I guessed that was the reason she was good at her job. Monique also observed interactions. She could read people quickly. She was a brilliant woman, but she was far too interested in getting involved in other people’s business.

              Along with keeping an eye on Monique, I managed to constantly compare her and Mia. Monique was gorgeous and intelligent. She was confident and had a presence about her that made her undeniably sexy. But she couldn’t stop me from thinking about Mia.

              Every time I tried to focus my attention on other women, Mia always found her way back into my thoughts. Always Mia. She was always so close, invading my memories, tainting my time with others, but she seemed so far out of reach.

              “Where the hell are you right now?” Cade asked, jarring me out of my thoughts.

             
FUCK! What the hell am I doing to myself?
My blood rushed through my body, the growing tightness in my shorts would be noticeable if I didn’t get my thoughts away from Mia.

              With a knowing laugh, he quietly taunted me. “Dude, you’re starin’ at Mia like you’re about to throw her over your shoulder and take her home. But nothin’s goin’ on there, right?”

              “Fuck you, Cade.” But I knew he was right. I wanted her, and it was time to get what I wanted.

Chapter Twelve

Mia

“There you are Mia,” Grant said smiling. I climbed out of the back of the SUV we’d rented and plastered a smile on my face. I hoped like hell it was real enough. The only reason he was there was because he practically begged me to bring him along. He wasn’t even a racing fan, but he insisted he needed to spend time with me this weekend. I was supposed to be happy to see Grant, but all I saw was Jake, standing by the driver’s door with his back toward me, ridged and still. Jake didn’t turn around or acknowledge Grant at all. His frame looked severe as he stood and waited for Cade to round the front of the SUV. Everyone was gathering everything they’d need for a day at the races.

              Grant, ignoring everyone, came up, wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled me into a hug. I tried my best to return his affection, but I couldn’t. There was nothing there. No spark. No excitement. My heart didn’t leap, I felt no fireworks, or fluttering nervousness. Not like I felt with … No, I needed to stop comparing them. I couldn’t have Jake, he didn’t want me. Hell, he’d never want me, especially if he had Monique. I could never compete with her.

              “Hi,” I smiled as Grant held me close. “Have you been waitin’ long?”

              “No, got here just a bit ago. How was your flight?” he asked.

              Cade and Jake turned our direction and Grant started shooting daggers out of the corner of his eye toward Jake. “You traveled with
him
?” Grant glowered, his tone short and angry.

              “Who?” I asked innocently, like I hadn’t noticed how his entire demeanor changed. Grant apparently didn’t like Jake. His grip on my waist tightened, but he didn’t respond. His scowl only intensified and he pulled me into him possessively as Jake and Cade approached. I pushed back, hard on his chest, trying to release his hold. He needed to understand that he didn’t own me. We weren’t even dating.

              He glared down at me before he turned his eyes and stared at both men with such an intense hatred it almost frightened me. These men were my friends, I certainly wasn’t letting Grant get in the middle of that.

              After some struggling, I pulled away from Grant and turned to frown at him. “Jake and Cade? They’re my friends. We’ve known each other since we were kids. What’s the problem?”

              He pulled his hard glare away from the two blonde men approaching. Grant looked down at me again, a condescending look in his eyes. “You’re my woman.”

              I took a step back. He had to be out of his mind. We weren’t even dating and in the months since we met, we barely saw each other because of his schedule. “You can’t be serious,” I said, my voice displaying my disbelief. “I’m not your woman,” I snapped.

              “You are my woman. And I’m dead serious, Mia. You have no business hangin’ around other men. Especially those men.”

              I was confused. “Look, Grant. I like you. You’re nice enough, but I don’t belong to anyone.” The old fire I used to have started bubbling up inside. This was how it used to be, when Jake had my back. I was never afraid to stand up for myself and speak my mind. It felt good. “Look, we’re not dating. And I’m not gonna stop talkin’ to people I’ve known my whole life just because you say so.”

              “You don’t go anywhere alone with other men. You understand me?”

              It was like he didn’t hear a damn thing I said. He just repeated his command and expected me to blindly obey. He had to be out of his mind. Then Jake’s deep, rumbling voice sent my heart racing.