Mia looked absolutely stunned. Her lips kept lightly parting and closing while her eyes mercilessly scanned over my face as though lost for words.
I tried in vain to control the corners of my mouth from twitching upward, but they just kept fighting their way through as I stared at a still startled Mia. It was horrible of me how much I was enjoying this.
The noise of others in the circle still continued all around us as we engaged in our mini little stare-off. From the corner of my eye, I could see a few of my teammates rolling themselves with laughter as they made rather knowing looks my way. It was clear that everyone in the circle knew I was getting exactly what I wanted. Well, everyone except for Mia, of course.
The shock briefly left Mia's eyes, and her beautiful brown eyes slowly narrowed themselves in on me. Littered with disbelief, her eyes rocked themselves back and forth between my own.
"You're such a liar; give me the paper," she scoffed as she held out an expectant hand.
She clearly thought I called out her name as a joke to wind her up, but this was far from a joke. I had every intention of leading her into that cupboard with me.
Knowing I had nothing to worry about regarding the paper, I lightly chuckled before rising to my feet. Slowly sauntering across the circle, I crouched down to Mia's level on the floor. Then maintaining eye contact with her, I confidently placed the piece of paper into her awaiting hand with what I knew must have looked like an arrogant grin.
Mia immediately dropped her gaze down to read it, and the second she saw it, she froze. The light confidence that was starting to build in her eyes faded away into nothing. Then slowly, she lifted her head, and the moment our eyes met, her throat wobbled as she swallowed.
"So, erm...seven minutes, huh?" she mumbled with a slightly nervous laugh.
My smile widened further. "That's right, seven wonderful minutes," I repeated, holding out a hand for her to take.
She looked down at my hand, then back at me before hesitantly placing her hand in mine. Smiling as I closed my hand around her smooth one, I wasted no time before pulling her up to her feet. Then in a confident path, I led her over to the closet before opening the door.
"After you, Chubs," I smirked, gesturing ahead with the nod of my head. Mia's eyes narrowed a little, clearly pissed at my level of excitement.
"Remember no evidence, no eyebrows," Lucas called out from behind us with a laugh.
Mia immediately swerved her head around to face him and shot Lucas a vicious glare. As Lucas started to cackle, Mia just shook her head before turning back around and storming her way past me and into the closet.
Before turning, I caught Lucas's eye just in time to see him wink at me while mouthing, 'you're welcome.'
Smiling even wider, I wasted no time before turning around and climbing into the closet after Mia. My eyes immediately found hers from where she stood; leaned all irresistibly against the dimly lit wall. And at that moment, I knew Lucas was absolutely fucking right. I had everything to thank him for.
In normal circumstances, being locked in a confined space with someone for however long, would seem kind of unpleasant but not when that person was Mia. When that person involved Mia, the tinier the space, the better.
Or better yet, if there was no space or clothes between us at all...
I'd barely stepped both feet through the door before a door was slammed loudly behind me, followed by a lock sliding cleanly into place.
Mia jumped slightly at the sound of the closing door.
"Wow, someone's feeling jumpy," I teased.
Mia angled her body towards me and presented me with a flat look. "Can you blame me? I'm stuck inside here with a weirdo."
Too happy, to take the insult anywhere close to heart, I let out a laugh. "Well, ouch, tell me how you really feel," I mused as I relaxed back against the closet wall.
My laughter only seemed to piss her off more, and those fiery eyes of hers narrowed in on me. "Why the hell do you look all relaxed for?" She huffed as she looked me up and down.
My lips twitched upward, highly amused by the extent of her obliviousness. Did she really think I was remotely upset right now? Lucas had basically constructed one of my dreams and laid it out on a plate for me.
"I hate to break it to you, Ethan, but you didn't look so hot when both your eyebrows were missing," she snapped, shooting me a pointed look. Running a stressed hand through her hair, she let out a long groan. "Don't you get it? We're fucked, Ethan. We're well and truly fucked!" she cried.
I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. "He's not gonna shave your eyebrows off, Mia; he's just messing with you."
Her eyes met mine and narrowed. "You promise me," she said.
The intensity of her eyes caught me off guard, and I had a weird little brain stutter as I remembered what I was supposed to say. What the fuck was with her and her eyes? They were dangerous distracting at this point.
"Well..., I don't know that for sure," I stuttered dumbly. Then realizing I needed to save the situation, I flashed back a confident smile. "But it doesn't matter, either way, because we're going to get evidence," I stated matter of factly.
Suddenly, Mia's eyes seemed to sparkle as though hit with an idea. "Wait, a second," she said, her voice littered with excitement. "Maybe we could fake the evidence or something."
I did not smile. In fact, I felt seconds away from frustratedly slamming my head repeatedly into the door behind me.
Unable to hide my annoyance at the idea, I gave her a hard stare. "Erm...fake the evidence?" I questioned slowly.
"Yeah, you know we could ruffle up our hair a little or something," she suggested with an excited grin.
My heart beat faster in panic, realizing she was ruining my plan. "Chubs, Lucas isn't as stupid as he looks. He'll want stronger evidence than that," I scoffed.
Or, more truthfully, I wanted stronger evidence than that.
Mia let out a growl of frustration. "Well, I guess I'm just screwed then. Who needs eyebrows anyway?" she laughed as she threw her arms up in the air dramatically.
I couldn't help but find her reaction cute. She was always cute, to be honest, but now more than ever. I playfully rolled my eyes at her before gently pushing myself off the door.
"Relax, I've got an idea," I smiled as I drew myself closer.
Mia's eyes widened with confusion as I closed up our distance. It was only on my third step that my heart started to jump even more manically inside my chest. Those large brown eyes of hers were enough to make me lose my mind as they rocked softly back and forth between my own.
God, she was so fucking beautiful...
Completely forgetting any hope of a plan, I found myself pushing her till her back was completely flush up against the wall. She jumped a little at the sudden contact, only making me further amused.
Going further, I pushed myself closer, so my chest was crushed up against hers. The extra contact did nothing to calm me, and my heart was beating so hard to the point where I wondered if she could feel it. That thought was soon diminished by the feel of her chest rising and falling rapidly against my own.
Under the dim light of the room, I could just about make out the slight flush of her cheeks and the size of her widened pupils. Placing a hand on either side of her head in a playful attempt to intimidate her, I let a teasing smile slip to my lips.
"Am I making you nervous?" I whispered.
The question though meant as a light taunt was also half asked as a genuine question. I wanted to know if my touch made her as nervous as hers always made me.
Mia rolled her eyes and let out a light scoff. "Pft...no," she lied, her breath shaking slightly as she spoke.
I chuckled lowly, knowing she was completely chatting shit. I knew Mia well enough to know she was way too proud to admit my touch did anything to her.
Noticing a little escape of baby hair had fallen out from behind her ear, I lowered my hand off the wall and down to her ear, where I carefully tucked it back. Mia sucked in a breath at the action and stared at my arm, then my eyes before swallowing hard.
Instead of moving my hand back, I let it stay behind her ear, hoping to deliver home a point. I wasn't expecting to make out with her, of course. If I tried, I'm sure I'd quite quickly be delivered with a slap. I just wanted one small moment of intimacy – that was all.
Her brown eyes flittered across my face, all widened and beautiful. "What...what are you doing?" she whispered.
Sparing one last look at her eyes, I brought my lips in a smooth and slow trail right up to her ear before pausing. "Do you trust me?" I whispered.
My heart hammered fast in anticipation of her response to the point where it became almost dizzying. I knew this was the point where this all could come to a stop, where she could tell me to get away from her. Where she could insult me for even thinking I had a chance.
Then a shocking thing happened, and she slowly nodded her head. Smiling stupidly against her ear, I felt a jolt of excitement shoot up my spine. "Then just relax," I whispered.
Dipping my head down, I slowly brought my lips to the crook of her neck. Without any hesitation, I softly reached to cup the base of her neck before placing a soft, gentle kiss on the skin.
Mia immediately froze under my touch, and her chest pushed out abruptly in an almost pant. Her hands, whether consciously or unconsciously had moved to my back where they held me to her. Unable to contain in my urgency to proceed, my hands found themselves at her lower back as I placed dragging, light kisses up the column of her neck. And selfishly, I found myself pulling her closer with each one.
It was nothing like how I'd imagined it to be. It wasn't just hot; it was fucking amazing – a feeling you could almost get drunk off of.
"Ethan...," she mumbled breathily as I pressed my lips deeper.
A needful knot formed in my stomach at the sound of her breathless voice. It was single-handedly the hottest thing I'd ever heard. I was convinced now – this had to be a dream. The real Mia couldn't possibly be turned on by this.
Actually...wait a minute...did she call my name out to ask me to stop?
Feeling my heart ramp up in a panic, I lifted my lips briefly up from her skin. "Just tell me to stop, and I will," I whispered.
As I rested my lips back on her neck, I briefly waited a second or so for a response, but she didn't say a word. Instead, she subtly leaned herself into me.
Not needing any more encouragement than that, my lips moved to her collarbone, where I started to kiss her skin with more urgency. After all, there was a good chance this was the closest I'd ever be to her, so I might as well make it something to remember.
Every slight adjustment she made with her body to subtly push me closer drove my heart wild. Nearly forgetting that we were supposed to be playing a game, I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to give her a hickey.
Hastily reaching for the collar of my jacket that she was still wearing, I pushed it half off her shoulder to expose more of her neck. Then doing the same to the strap of her dress, I let my lips drop down to her collarbone, where I started to kiss with more frantic desperation against the skin.
Then picking the perfect spot, I started to suck hard against the skin in a deliberate effort of leaving a mark. Mia, who had been making slight movements this entire time, completely leaned back at this specific action to bear more of her neck to me. I took the invitation with both hands and sucked harder while pressing her even closer.
As I was about to move my lips somewhere else, Mia let out the softest moan, the sound echoing beautifully out in the quiet closet air.
Closing my eyes briefly, I dug my fingers a little harder into her back as I tried to calm myself down. It was official – this was genuinely the most turned-on I'd been in my life. And considering how often I was turned on, that was saying something.
Not saying a word, the corners of my lips stretched into a smile against her skin as I continued to kiss and suck against her neck. Then unable to resist teasing, I dragged my lips up the length of her neck. Playfully pulling at the lobe of her ear with my teeth, I softly chuckled before slightly parting away.
"Glad you're enjoying it," I whispered.
That's when a knock sounded at the door.
"Fun's up, guys, you have seven seconds," we heard a voice call out with a laugh.
Abruptly, Mia's hand flew to my chest and pushed me back hard.
I stumbled backward a couple steps in surprise before quickly regaining my balance. Staring across the room in confusion, I saw Mia was staring at me with a still-like face while blinking rapidly, as though struggling to process what had just happened.
Remembering that we were playing a game, I closed my eyes in frustration and nearly kicked the closet wall. A part of me was genuinely considering angrily ordering whoever was outside the door to relock the door, so I could have another fifty minutes. The only thing that was stopping me was the high risk of receiving a backhanded slap by Mia.
"Seven minutes is a little bit too fucking short if you ask me," I grumbled, unable to resist voicing my frustration.
The look of blank shock left Mia's face briefly as she rolled her eyes at me. Then, suddenly she froze and snapped her head my way. "Oh, no, oh no, oh no," she said, starting to hyperventilate. "We've got nothing, Ethan. We've got zero evidence," she cried, her eyes widening in panic.
I blinked back at her slowly, having no idea what she was on about.
"Ugh, you're such an idiot! Why the hell did you distract me for?" she snapped as she pushed me back hard.
My brows lifted in alarm, not understanding how we'd gone from moans and kisses to her cussing me out. Then it hit me.
Drawing my eyes down to her neck, my lips twitched upward as I spotted the very visible and massive hickey right up by her collar bone. A hickey that she clearly had no idea I'd just given her... It went without saying that it provided plenty of proof of our time together.
"I wouldn't worry about that, Chubs," I chuckled softly. Then grabbing her shoulders, I pushed her gently towards the direction of the door and opened it for her.
"Bu-but, what are you talking about?" she stammered out in confusion as we both climbed out.
The second we stepped out into the brightly lit room, all eyes turned to us. Then everyone in the circle started to laugh and nudge each other as they looked over at Mia's neck.
Rather terribly, I couldn't help but feel proud as they all stared. If her wearing my jacket wasn't enough, then that fat hickey on her neck surely had to convince people she was into me. Maybe if enough people thought that, then it would turn it into a reality.
Suddenly, Lucas stepped up from the circle and walked up to us while smiling his head off. "Wow, that's quite a hickey you've got there, Mia. Nice to see you guys had fun," Lucas winked. Then moving his head my way, he subtly waggled his brows.
Mia suddenly grabbed my neck and snapped her head towards me at a frighteningly sharp speed. "You gave me a fucking hickey," she hissed, her eyes hot with anger.
Oh shit...
My heart sped up in a panic before I remembered I had a pre-prepared explanation. "Well, it's part of the game," I justified with a shrug.
"And besides," I smiled, my eyes drawing proudly back down to her neck. "Maybe it'll inspire some of the perverts at the party to back the hell away from you. You're marked as mine now," I winked.
I barely got the words fully out before Mia suddenly lunged forward and shot a sharp kick to my shin.
"Fuck," I winced as I buckled down to grab my leg.
"Next time, don't mark people just to make a point," she spat out.
I didn't get a chance to speak before she turned sharply on her heel and stomped her way back to her position in the circle amongst her friends.
Soon there was a hand at my back, patting me soothingly. "There, there, buddy, better luck next time," I heard Lucas call out.
Straightening myself up, I felt my cheeks burn red in embarrassment. I don't think it can get any more embarrassing than getting kicked in the shin after making a move on your crush.
As I made my way back to my place in the circle, I glanced across the circle and saw Mia was avidly moaning to her friends. As I strained myself to overhear, I flinched as I heard her grumble about all the work she would have to do to, and I quote: 'cover this shit up.' A guilty feeling crept up on me as I started to realize just how wrong it was that I hadn't made it clear that I was going to leave a mark.
That was the moment Mia turned her head and met my eyes. Something briefly flashed in her eyes before she quickly shook her head, and looked away.
Great going, Ethan, way not to fuck up...
When everyone had finished with the game, I followed along with everybody else as they made their way downstairs. While half of the group spread off to go dance, I trailed my way over to the drink stand. Suddenly, I felt someone grab my arm. Turning around, I followed the hand up to a blonde girl in a pretty red dress.
As soon as I realized who it was, I smiled in surprise. "Oh hey, Savannah, I didn't know you were coming?"
Her smile grew wider. "Yeah, Lucas invited me, and I was in town, so I thought, why not?" she shrugged.
Savannah was my mum's younger sister, but rather confusingly, she was only a couple of years older than me and in college. She came over to my house pretty often to see my mum hence why Lucas knew her so well.
"Anyway, where have you and Lucas been. I've been looking all over," she said, her brows knitting together in confusion.
"Oh, sorry, we were just playing a silly game upstairs with some friends," I explained with a light laugh.
"Oh, a game? Tell me more?" Savannah teased as she plucked up her brow in intrigue. "Was this a normal game or a high school game?" she said, shooting me a pointed look.
I immediately froze, realizing she was on to us.
She snorted. "Just as I thought," she said as she playfully shook her head at me. "And I'm guessing this game involved girls, hmm? Perhaps even a pretty Miss Mia Collins," she said, waggling her brows at me.
"Oh shut up," I mumbled, my face burning red. My mum being the wonderful person she was, regularly gossiped to her sister about my pathetic crush on Mia.
"Well, I've got to give it to you, Ethan, at least you've got more game than Lucas," she snickered as she nodded her head back to something over her shoulder.
Following her gaze, my eyes nearly flew out of my head as I saw Lucas in a deep squat as he twerked violently in May's face.
Absolutely losing it, tears pooled my eyes as I laughed my head off, and Savannah joined me with silent giggles.
As I started to sober up, I casually looked over Savannah's shoulder and spotted something. It was Mia, and she didn't look happy. Not at all.
She was staring in our direction with a still-like and fierce intensity. I tilted my head in concern, wondering what was wrong with her. I was familiar with Mia's angry face, but what she looked like now was different. There was anger mixed with something.
I turned back to Savannah. "Sorry, I've just got to check up on someone, excuse me," I murmured.
"Yeah, of course," she shrugged.
Pushing myself off the wall behind me, I made my way on a steady path over to Mia. There was still that unmistakable rage behind her eyes, along with rather strangely – hurt.
Once I'd made my way to her, I shoved my hands in my pockets and gave her a weak smile. "Hey, Chubs, you alright? You look like you kinda want to kill someone," I joked with a light chuckle.
"No, not at all; I'm fine," she snapped rather sharply.
Feeling the visible hostility towards me, I glanced down at her still visible hickey and felt guilt tug at me.
"Look," I mumbled, my face falling in defeat. "If it's about earlier, I'm so, so sorry. I got too carried away, and I shouldn't have given you a hickey without asking," I said, finishing my words with a swallow. "Forgive me?" I whispered as I lifted my eyes up to hers shyly.
She paused a little before her lips twitched a little, and she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you're forgiven. It's not your fault you're stupid," she smiled.
As soon as I saw her smile, I instantly felt better knowing she wasn't mad at me anymore.
"That was the only reason you looked upset, right?" I questioned slowly, wanting to check there wasn't some other stupid thing I'd also done.
Mia's lips lifted higher. "Yeah, absolutely," she answered smoothly.
Feeling like I could finally breathe again, I relaxed. However, at the back of my mind, there was this nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right. All I knew was that something about the way she looked at me had changed.
And I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad.
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Author's note:
So yay, chapter's done, hope you enjoyed.
It took me a crazy long time to write this chapter lol because every night I kept falling asleep.
Anyway, can't wait to share more with you xx