She was waiting in the shadows, damp hair combed back from her face.
I stepped aside to let her pass. “Sneaking in?”
“No, I just remembered yourlot had a thing about front doors.”
My lot. As if that explained my batshit family. “That was my dad. My mum uses her front door now.”
“Does she? That’s nice.” Mia spun a slow circle in my kitchen. “This place is spotless. Do you even live here?”
“Defineliving.”
She smirked. “I might not like the answer.”
“Do you want a drink?”
“No.”
I beckoned her out of the kitchenand into the living room. The muted TV was the only light and seemed to soften her sharp edges. Her gaze fell on the couch and the book I’d abandoned to thirst after her.
“Still a nerd? That’s a Daley thing too.”
“If you say so.”
“And you still like sitting around in the dark?”
“I like the quiet. It means a lot when you haven’t had it for a long time.”
“Sailor life not allyou dreamed of?”
I bit my tongue. If she’d come here for a fight, she’d leave disappointed. I’d never escape the guilt that I’d hurt her, but it was too late to fix it. Too late to explain that leaving her behind had almost killed me.
“Come on, son. Back up from the edge. Whatever it is, it ain’t worth drowning yourself over.”
Mia stepped closer to me, her blond hair glittering inthe faint glow from the TV. “Sorry. I didn’t come here to talk.”
“I know. You wanna go upstairs?”
She shrugged. “Whatever.”
I spun around, trusting she’d follow, and jogged upstairs. One of the pros of being a neat freak was that I didn’t have to worry that my bedroom would be a hovel. It was exactly as I’d left it that morning—bed made, clean clothes folded in a basket. Light froma nearby lamppost streamed through the open curtains. The urge to shut them and cloak us in shadows again was strong, but I beat it back and moved the laundry basket to the floor.
Mia appeared behind me and ducked under my arm. She padded silently around the bed—she’d left her shoes downstairs. “Did my brother paint your walls?”
“What makes you ask that?”
She pointed to the windowframe. “He missed the same bit on the window he replaced in the shop.”
“Well, you know Gus. Always in a hurry, except when he’s not.”
Mia shot me a look I couldn’t quite decipher in the dark. Was she gonna push me on this? Because I wasn’t in the mood to admit that the thought of her precious fucking shop being an easy target for even the worst burglars in town had kept me up at nightuntil I’d done something about it. She’d come here to get off, and the longer I watched her prowl around my bedroom, the more eager I was to oblige.
I stepped forward in the same instant she came to a stop. She was so close I could smell her, feel the warmth of her body seeping into mine.
“Don’t kiss me,” she whispered.
I licked my lips. “I won’t.”
A heartbeat passed between us,then she reached for the hem of the worn T-shirt I favoured for slobbing around the house, and lifted it over my head.
