Mr. Bryne glanced over at me, his biceps flexing. I looked at him for a moment longer than I should’ve. He didn’t break eye contact with me, just turned around and leaned against the bar.
Grabbing my drink from the table, I begged myself to look at his face and his face only.Nowhere else, Mia.Not at those lips curled into a smirk. Not at his taut muscles. Not at the bulge in his pants.
I sipped my glass and stared over at him. His deep, gray eyes were playful again.
“Is there something wrong, Mia?” he asked, voice low.
I parted my lips, unable to form any coherent words.
Mason. Think about Mason.
But all I could think about was Mr. Bryne placing me on the bar counter and fucking me senseless. His full lips all over my body. His teeth biting gently into my neck. His fingers—those long fingers—rubbing my clit the way I did every night.
“Mia!” Melissa shouted from the bedroom. “Are you coming?”
I blinked a few times and stepped to the side, trying to think clearly. Then, without another word, I walked past him.
“It’s not my place to say anything,” Mr. Bryne said before I walked up the stairs.
I stopped and looked back.
He paused for a moment and stared back at me. “Your boyfriend.”
“What about Mason?”
His tongue glided against his teeth, his jaw tight. “He should treat you better.”
After staring at him for a few moments more, I nodded and walked up the stairs, taking deep breaths to calm myself down. “He should,” I whispered to myself.
CHAPTER3
MIA
Blonde hair falling into her face, Melissa rolled onto her stomach and typed about a million miles an hour on her phone with her lips set in a small smile. It was almost three in the morning. Serena was passed out on the couch in Melissa’s room, and I was trying to sleep.
Her phone’s brightness must’ve been turned all the way up because I could see it through my damn closed eyes. I squinted one eye open so I didn’t go blind, and stared at the door. Maybe if I got something to drink or went to the bathroom or told her I couldn’t sleep, she’d get the hint and turn it off.
The hallway light suddenly turned on, and I opened my eyes fully, listening to Mr. Bryne’s footsteps out in the hallway.
Control yourself, Mia. You don’t have to go out there. Tell Melissa that you’re tired and hope that she’ll turn off her phone.
“Jeez, Victor is still awake?” I asked.
Melissa’s blue eyes widened, and she dimmed her phone screen. “Sorry. Yeah, that boy can drink until sunrise.”
I gave her a half-hearted smile and turned onto my side, gazing at my phone that had zero—and I mean, zero—messages from Mason. I’d texted him earlier—quite a few times—only for him to ignore every single one of them. After sighing, I gazed back out at the light blaring under the door from the hallway.
Relax, Mia.
Melissa continued typing away, her blue manicured nails clacking against the screen.
“I’m going to the bathroom,” I said, scrambling out of bed and sneaking into the hallway. I closed the door and wandered down the hallway, past the bathroom and over to the living room sliding glass door.
I walked out onto the deck and sat on one of the plush navy-colored patio seats. A breeze blew through the woods, giving me goose bumps on my exposed legs. I rested on the seat and looked down by the pool, where Mr. Bryne was sitting by the fireplace. His back was turned toward me, his muscles rippling against his white T-shirt.
“God,” I whispered, taking a deep breath.
What am I even doing out here? It was late.
