Mia
After Elias shutme down this morning, all I want is to make him regret it.
Forget best-friend’s-little-sister Mia. Forget girl-next-door Mia. Forget classy-sexy-Brooklyn-Mia. The reaction I got for her was fine, but it pales in comparison to what I want from him tonight.
So I decide to go full on so-hot-it-borders-on-trashy Mia. Sex hair. Full makeup. A dress that puts the “little” in Little Black Dress. Heels. Well, wedges really, comfy enough for walking long distances, because let’s be real, twenty-nine-year-old Mia’s feet are no longer the same as twenty-one-year-old Mia’s feet.
In the elevator down, I give myself a pep talk.Walk confidently. Chin up. Shoulders back. Tits out. I’m so distracted I don’t even notice the cute man standing next to me in the elevator.
“Hey,” he says.
I stop my mental checklist for a second, wondering who he’s talking to. Oh. Me. He’s talking to me. “Hi,” I tell him.
“Going out?” he asks. He’s cute. Tall. Angular face. Dark features. Seems nice, I note vaguely.
“Yep,” I answer. The elevator doors open, and I march out, cute elevator man already forgotten.Chin up.
I spot Elias’s curly hair from across the lobby.Tits out. He’s seated at the bar, on a stool, facing…wait. I march a little closer, and my heart drops.
He’s facing a gorgeous blonde woman. I stop my stupid Hot Girl march, right there in the middle of the lobby. They’re so close together that she’s practically standing in between his spread knees. He’s grinning that panty-melting grin of his, Dimple and all, beautiful green eyes laser-focused on her, like she’s the only person in the room. I feel myself shrinking, chin moving down, shoulders slumping.Why are you surprised?a tiny voice in my head asks.
A cough from somewhere next to me. I turn my head. It’s the guy from the elevator. “Hey,” he says again, and a part of me is irritated that he doesn’t have a broader vocabulary.
I take a deep breath.What are youdoing? You can’t expect anything from Elias. He’s your older brother’s best friend, you’ve known him your entire life, and he’s never going to cross that line, even if it may seem like he wants to. Even so, he’s just going to jump happily from blonde to blonde for the rest of his life, and that is not your fucking problem, and it has nothing to do with you. Take the help he’s giving you and get over it.
Fine.
With that, I pull my shoulders back, and I push my chin up again.
I smile at Cute Elevator Guy. “Hey,” I reply. “It’s you again.”
He smiles back. His eyes are a pretty hazel. “What are you up to tonight?”
I shrug, pretending to be cool and coy and nonchalant. “Hopping around. Why?”
“Can I buy you a drink on one of those hops?” he asks.
I attempt an approximation of the Elias grin, hoping I don’t look deranged. “Absolutely. Give me your number.”
He grins back. He really is cute. “You’re not on your way to meet anyone, are you?” he asks me, as he pulls out his phone.
I have the urge to look back at Elias. And well, well, well. What do you know? Elias is looking directly at me, and he isdestroyed. He is fuckingwrecked, like he wants to devour me whole and is miserable about it, and I let myself preen for the moment I deserve, before I squash it all down.
“Nope,” I tell Cute Elevator Man, popping thepsound, like Elias does. “No one.”
We exchange numbers. I learn his name is Ben. He has dinner plans with a friend, but would love to meet me for a drink after. I put him in my phone as Cute Elevator Ben, promising to text him later. He winks at me as he walks out of the lobby.
I begin my little Hot Girl march all over again, this time beelining directly to the blonde who’s all but ready to suck Elias’s dick.Not that you’re much better, Mia, but whatever. We’re over it, remember?
“Hey,” I say brightly. “I’m Mia,” I tell her.
Elias’s stupid green eyes are bouncing back and forth between the two of us. “Mia—” he begins.
“Hey,” the woman says tentatively. “Sorry, are you two?—”
I bark an obnoxious laugh. “No way. I’m basically his little sister,” I sneer towards Elias. Oh, how good it feels to be petty.
She relaxes. “Cool. I’m Lana. Nice to meet you,” she says, and she sounds very nice. I feel bad for being all judgy-pants. Elias is the only one who sucks here.
