Page 40 of Claimed By my Frenemy

“Let’s move all the junk first, then we can tackle the windows.” Mia starts combing her dark, wavy hair into a ponytail, and I watch, mesmerized for a moment before I realize that I’m staring.

Shaking my head, I grab a couple of pots off a nearby shelf. “Out in the yard or in the house?”

Mia makes a face as she finishes tying her hair back. “In the yard, I guess. I’m going to have to take most of it to the dump, but I’ll worry about that later.”

“If you let me back my truck into the yard, we can dump things in there. I’ll take care of getting rid of it.”

Mia pauses as she’s patting her hair, studying me like she doesn’t believe I actually mean what I say.

“What?”

“I’m just… It’s… You’re being nice.”

“Am I not allowed to be nice?”

“No, you’re not. I mean, I kind of know what to expect from you. And offering to help me for free was not…well, on the list.”

I shrug and nod in the direction of my truck. “So, yes? No?”

“Sure.” Mia shrugs, and I set the pots back down, heading for my truck instead.

It takes a while to move all the junk out of the room, but it feels a whole lot bigger by the time we are done. I can feel sweatpouring down my back. A couple of times, I reach for the hem of my shirt to pull it up and off, but then, I think about Mia’s comment about me working with my shirt on, and I decide to leave it on a little while longer.

Finally, though, I’m too hot. I have to take it off. I sling it onto the ground just outside the sunroom and survey the empty space.

I can feel Mia surveyingme.

“That windowpane needs to be replaced,” I point out, eyeing one that has a long crack down it. “There’s no point in putting the window film on a window that’s not going to hold out much longer.”

Mia purses her lips, and I can tell that she doesn’t want to take my advice on anything. We had been falling into an easy rhythm, but now, she seems frustrated.

“Fine, you can take it out. I’ve ordered one pane, but I thought I would use it to replace that one over there. Look at how bad that one is.”

I examine the pane that Mia is pointing at. It has a very clear hole in the corner, one that could allow rain inside. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s take this one out. You can replace the other one later.”

I reach for it and slide it out of its frame, lifting it above my head.

“Careful with that!” Mia snaps as it shifts unexpectedly in my hands.

“Relax, I’ve got it. I’m not going to break anything.” But there’s something about the panic in her voice that annoys me. It’s like she doesn’t trust me…with anything.

She mutters something under her breath, and I can tell she’s annoyed, too. We continue working in silence for a while, each of us focused on our task.

By the time I get back from discarding the broken window, Mia is already pulling out the window film and taking measurements. I suggest a break.

Mia heads inside, and I follow her into the a/c. She hands me a glass of water, and I down it in a few gulps. “This is more work than I thought it would be. I thought we would be done in an hour or two,” I admit.

“Yeah, it is.” Mia takes a moment to drink her water as she leans against the counter. “But it’s going to be worth it.”

“Definitely. This place is going to look amazing when it’s done.”

We share a brief smile, and for a moment, the tension eases. I want to step toward Mia, wrap my arm around her shoulders and tell her that I admire how hard she works. But it’s not long before we’re back to work, and I start to feel frustrated again.

“I think we should paint the walls first before installing the new window,” Mia says, looking at the peeling paint. “I mean, I don’t even have that second pane of glass, so I couldn’t finish the job right now anyway.”

“We should go ahead and install the one you have. You can paint if you want, and I’ll install the glass. That way, you can put the window film on the windows and work in a relatively cool room.”

Mia crosses her arms, glaring at me. “Why do you always have to be right?”

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