More to You ✔

Chapter 24 - Emily (Mitch)

The conversation ended after that. The cab pulled up at the mall which gleamed in the sunlight, and Shawn stepped outside to let Emma out. He asked her to meet the others inside and said he and Mitch would catch up with everyone in a minute. Mitch tensed. Why hadn't had just stayed home with his booze for company?

"Listen, Mitch," Shawn's voice softened, and his face relaxed. "I know I said to stay away from Maria, but if you have genuine feelings for her—"

"She's sweet, and she's hot, but that's it." It was what Shawn needed to hear.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, she's watching Daniel and Sunshine with little stars in her eyes. She wants that yesterday, and we both know I'm not that guy."

Shawn's brow furrowed. "Did she tell you that?"

Mitch shifted in his seat and looked away, not wanting to relive that night. Her tears were daggers in his heart, and her words had said enough about what she expected from him. "Nah, well, sort of. She's trying to tell me she's down for a purely physical relationship while wiping away her 'where is my perfect man' tears. I get it. I fucked with her head, and I'm done." His chest trembled as he sighed. "I'm sorry, man."

Shawn scratched his forehead. "Even after spending all that time together?"

Mitch chuckled. "What, you think she's changed me?"

Rubbing his hands on his jeans, Shawn met Mitch's gaze. "You're different when she's around, more like you were before..."

"Before Emily..." The moment her name left his lips, his chest tightened and he could see nothing but her corpse lying in the open casket. A morbid part of him had wondered what her face actually looked like in her final moments. The pain and crushing sensation he had experienced minutes before the phone call confirmed her fate were probably only a fraction of what she'd suffered. She would never have been that calm as she died, which meant someone had posed and dressed her like a doll to put her on display. He had wanted to strangle the guy who'd touched her. Everything related to her brought out the worst in him.

Shawn cleared his throat, bringing Mitch back to the present, his fists clenched by his sides.

"It's been almost three years, and this is the first time you've mentioned her since we left home," Shawn said.

That was likely the Molly creeping in, not Maria, but Shawn would tear him a new one if he admitted it.

"So I'm a little different," Mitch said. "So I think about Maria more than I should. I'm supposed to let her shit on her dreams, so I can have someone around to entertain me and make me feel better about myself?"

"That you care about her dreams at all is a good sign."

"I'm not a sociopath, just an asshole. And if she knew everything about my past, she would have run weeks ago."

"I meant that you're showing self-restraint, so she can have what you think she wants. You should try talking to her about Emily. Her reaction might surprise you if that's what you're afraid of."

He flinched like a ton of bricks had collapsed on his chest from a great height. She still talked to him, but if she found out... "Or she'll see me as the piece of trash that everyone else does."

"You can't let one traumatic part of your life define you."

Mitch closed his eyes as a warm wave of pleasure shot through his body. About god-damned time. His fingertips tingled as he ran his hands along his smooth jeans, which felt like warm butter. How had he never noticed? He took in a deep breath, letting the soft particles of air around him caress his skin.