I shake my thoughts away. “Not bad, if I say so myself.”
She raises her head again, her lips still almost completely brown. “Yeah?” She makes a sudden movement, but I’m onto her.
I knock the wrapper out of her hand before she can smear it on my face, like I’m sure she meant to do. It tumbles to the ground, along with the last bit oftrdelník.
Eyes wide, she looks me straight in the eye. “You owe me a chimney cake.”
“No,” I say. “I owe you afractionof a chimney cake, and not even that. I bought it for you in the first place.” I know. I’ve still got her against me. I’m just waiting for her to tell me to let hergo—to struggle again or show any sign she doesn’t want to be this close.
What is it with me and Mia? She does something to me. Not to sound like an arrogant blowhard, but I have girls throwing themselves at me on the regular. So, why is it Mia I want? Is it just because she doesn’t wantme?
“Any chance you’ll let me go anytime soon?” she asks conversationally.
“Do youwantme to?” Could I be any more desperate? Or annoying? Definitely not.
“What do you need, a notarized statement? Yes, Austin, I want you to let go of me.”
I release her immediately and take a step back, hoping my face doesn’t show how stupid I feel. Did I read her wrong? Was she really wanting me to let go of her that whole time?
Maybe she’s less wrong about me than I thought. Maybe I’m too quick to assume women want attention like that from me.
“Hold on,” I say. “I’ll grab some napkins.”
I run to a nearby booth sellinghaluškyand snag a handful of napkins. My embarrassment is morphing into guilt as I watch Mia sitting on a bench, using her phone as a mirror to wipe the Nutella from her lips.
“Here.” I hand her some napkins and sit next to her.
“Thanks,” she says, dabbing it on her lips until she’s satisfied it’s gone. She turns off her phone and glances at me. “You’ve still got it on your cheek.”
Right. Forgot about that. I use a napkin to wipe it clean, my brow furrowed. “Mia?”
She crumples up the napkins she used. “Hm?”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what? Wasting a perfectly good chimney cake? Holding me hostage? Finger painting my face with chocolate and hazelnut?”
“Um, yeah. Mostly the second part. But all of it, I guess. Ijust thought… It doesn’t matter. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
She chuckles softly and takes the dirty napkin from my hand, adding it to hers. “Do you evenhavephysical boundaries?”
“Sheesh, Mia. Tell me how youreallyfeel.”
“I’m not trying to be rude. It just seems like you don’t mind having everyone all over you. Like at the meet-and-greet.”
I sit against the bench and stretch out my legs, staring at my sneakers. “Not everything is as it seems.”
“So, youdon’tlike it?”
I laugh.
“So youdo?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“How is it not that simple? Either you enjoy it, or you don’t, right? I personally don’t like having strangers all up in my space like that.”
I cross my ankles. “I’ve gotten used to it I guess. But no, I don’t always like it—especially when people are really aggressive and treat me like I’m some piece of meat. But it’s part of the gig.”
