Page 12 of Claimed By my Frenemy

“We need progress, Mia. We need to move forward. This resort would provide not only a place for out-of-towners to stay but for people who live here who want something fun to do for the day without having to drive thirty minutes to Wilmington.”

Her nostrils flare, and I can see she’s ready to snap back. But then, it’s like the fight goes out of her. She looks down at the ground, and her gaze softens just a bit. “Do you remember when we used to sit on the beach and talk about our future? You wanted to build something big even back then. And I... I just wanted a place to call home. I wanted to move out of my parents’ place, but I never wanted to go far.”

I can’t help but smile at the memory. “Yeah, I remember. You said that if you couldn't walk on the beach every day after work, then you lived too far from it.”

“Then I moved to Raleigh.” Mia makes a face, and I wonder how things were for her there. She left it all when she inherited this house, so that says something for it. Maybe she wasn’t happy with her life at all there.

“You always had that sketchbook with you. You were so good at drawing those dream houses.” I smile at Mia as I share the memory.

She looks down, a small smile playing on her lips. “I guess some things don’t change. Now, I have a real house to play around with, and I’m just not willing to give that up. Maybe it would make sense from a money perspective to take your offer, but…from a dream perspective? It wouldn’t.”

We’re both silent for a moment, lost in memories. It’s strange how the past can feel so close, like it was just yesterday. Was it really over ten years ago that we dated?

“Mia, I’m not trying to take away your dreams. I’m just offering a different option. You could build your own place from scratch. Or move somewhere else and buy ahugehouse.”

“Are you trying to get me off Oak Island?” Mia asks.

Her eyes are hard to read. Then, she averts her eyes and brushes her wavy, dark hair away from them. “That’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m just trying to make my dream a reality.”

“And push my dreams away in the process?”

“It’s not that. I’m just saying there are other options. Look, you don’t have to accept my offer right now. You can think about it.”

“I know, Theo. But sometimes dreams are worth fighting for, even if they’re difficult. And right now, you’re being difficult.”

I lean closer. Only a few inches of table are between us. “Well, then, we know much hasn’t changed, isn’t that right?”

Mia smiles again, her eyes dancing with amusement. There are some things about her that are just the same as I rememberthem. “You alwayshavebeen difficult, but usually it was toward the teachers, not me.”

“Oh, no. You had complete control of me back then. I was following you around like a puppy dog on a leash.”

Now, she full-on laughs. “That’s not exactly how I remember it.”

“I remember a lot of things that happened between us.” I know I’m flirting with the line of danger, crossing over from professional into flirtatious, but I can’t help it. Mia was my first girlfriend, and even though we never did anything more than kiss and feel each other up behind the bleachers or on the couch when her mom went into the kitchen, there’s something about being so close to her now that is taking away any form of reason we have.

“We were kids, Theo. Things were different back then.”

“Yeah, but some things haven’t changed. Like the way I feel when I’m around you.”

Her breath catches, and I can see the conflict in her eyes. She rises from her chair and paces to the far side of the dining room. I don’t like the sudden distance between us. “Theo, we can’t just pick up where we left off. Too much has happened. Andthis…” She waves her hands at all the papers I’ve scattered across the dining room table.

I glance at them for a moment before standing up myself. “I’m not asking to pick up where we left off. I’m asking for a chance to see where things could go. You know what? I don’t even need that promise. Maybe we could just kiss again, you and me, no friends watching and cheering, and see what weboththink should come after that.”

I’m not dancing the line anymore. I’ve trampled it underfoot and leaped both feet forward onto the side of flirtatious. I can’t say I don’t care about the resort and buying Mia’s property anymore, but it’s not my main focus. I want to kiss her, to pullher body up against mine, and to recapture the heady feeling she gave me at the tiki bar.

Mia stops her pacing and turns to face me. She’s gripping the back of her dining room chair. Her gaze is steady, and then, she gives a little nod, barely perceptible but there nonetheless.

7

MIA

I don’t knowwhat the hell I’m doing, but I don’t want to run away now. There’s something in the air that makes my stomach feel warm. I haven’t even touched Theo, but since he’s entered my house and talked to me in that tone of voice, since he started talking about the past, I’ve felt myself slowly getting wet.

When he and I used to date, I was a virgin. I hadn’t been sure what I wanted, and I had been scared to do anything my parents wouldn’t approve of. But now, I’m not a virgin. I lost my virginity long ago, and I know exactly what I want.

I am already undressing Theo in my mind. The furthest I got as a kid was seeing him in his boxers, but in my mind, his boxers come off and I take him in my hand, guide him to me, and…

That’s when I nod at Theo. If he wants to kiss me, stoke this fire I have for him, then I’m not going to stop him. I’m not going to prevent him from running his hands up and down my skin and making me feel sexy.

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