Playing the Game

12. The Captivating Powers of a Sundress

And then, in a move I'll probably never forget for as long as I live, I watch in fascination as Mia's gaze rolls slowly over me, full of what looks like a heated curiosity, a glimmer of interest I've never seen before. At least not from her. I think I must be seeing things, but nope.

From my head to my shoes and back up again, her lips part slightly as she meets my eyes and I'm frozen in place. A mere victim of the burning tension that's been taxing me the last several days where this insufferable woman is concerned.

Only, suddenly I feel a lot less alone in the fire, and a few puzzle pieces seem to click together as Mia promptly breaks our little stare down to say something to Steve.

He nods in response, before reaching under the counter and grabbing a stack of papers. Mia takes them from him, spares me one last glance, and walks away.

No longer blocked by the concession stand counter, my eyes are blessed with the full sight of her in the sundress she changed into at some point between this afternoon's activities and tonight's event.

The view is fucking everything.

I've been checking out her ass for weeks now. Every time she turns around, it's like my eyes have a mind of their own and can never look away. But it's never looked better than it does right now, shimmying under that breezy, floral material as she saunters off. My dick twitches, and I'm struggling to see anything past her.

It makes me feel all funny and excited, while simultaneously pissing me off. The last thing I really need right now is a distraction of this magnitude. But I can't remember the last time I wanted something so bad, and the fact that I'm leaving town tomorrow night is giving me anxiety. Filling me with the dread of unfinished business.

Mia heads toward the side entrance of the community center and disappears inside, leaving me with almost no time to plan my next move. I shouldn't follow, I know that much. Her making eye contact with me before walking off into the building is hardly an invitation to follow her. But I do anyway.

I can't seem to stop myself.

*****

It's dark inside and Mia's nowhere in sight as I walk down the long corridor. But it doesn't take long for me to find her, because there's only one place she'd be heading with a stack of papers.

The door to Uncle Hart's office is open when I get there, the only light coming in from the spotlights outside the window. They're letting in just enough to see the desk, the ugly beige leather couch that's been in here for as long as I can remember, and the bookshelf where Mia is standing.

Just a few yards away and around the building, everyone is finishing up the movie and waiting for the fireworks show to begin. They feel like a world away.

Mia's eyes are glued on the bookshelf in front of her, mostly housing folders for the business part of the community center, a few random books, and some photos displayed in between.

Her hand is resting on one photo in particular, and I smile at the sight of her eyeballing a younger version of me in the five-by-seven frame. I'm maybe three years old, up on Hart's shoulders, holding a football over my head.

I clear my throat to get her attention. "You don't have to say it. I know what a good looking child I was."

She jumps at the sound of my voice, spinning around to look at me. But despite the part where I sneaked up on her, she doesn't seem too surprised to see me standing here. Her hand drops from the photo and she levels me with a look.

"No one has any business being that cute and chubby," she says, sounding almost irritated to be admitting the truth of how fucking cute my toddler self was. "Were you at least humble back then? Or is the arrogance something you were born with?"