Page 84 of Totally Off Limits

She would be a fool to say no.

She simply had to convince her heart now.

CHAPTER27

Tuesday evening, Sierra put Mia to bed, ready to study for an upcoming exam. As she walked through the kitchen, she looked at the vase full of a dozen red roses. Austin was trying damn hard to seal the deal, and she smiled at his efforts.

Maybe love was overrated. Even happiness. Avoiding the opposite was, perhaps, good enough.

Of course, Mickey was making several last attempts.

Finally. When it was too late.

He’d finally started texting—and then calling—beginning Sunday afternoon. He simply wanted her to call him back and, when she didn’t respond, he began to grow impatient.

But she knew that if she ignored him long enough, he’d stop. After all, didn’t he say the band was leaving the first week in July? So she just had to tolerate a few more days of texts and then he’d stop, because he’d be living his rock star life again.

Without her. Without Mia. Without the entire Hayden clan.

Just as it should be.

Unfortunately, Mickey had other ideas.

That Tuesday night, half an hour after she’d put Mia to bed and had settled in with study material, she heard a knock on her door. She wasn’t expecting anyone—but when she peeked through the peephole and saw Mickey, she knew she couldn’t pretend like she hadn’t heard him. And, because the lights were on, she couldn’t act like she wasn’t home, either.

He’d probably start banging on the door and wake Mia up.

So she opened it and tried not to think about what a sight for sore eyes he was.

“Old habits are hard to break, huh?”

“What does that even mean?”

“Mind if I come in?” he asked, holding up a six pack of Bud Light.

“I’m not drinking with you if that’s what you’re asking…but you can come in for a minute.”

After unlocking the screen door, she pushed it until he grabbed the handle, sauntering in like the rock star he was. “Suit yourself. I started without you anyway.”

Without a word, Sierra walked to the kitchen after closing the door. If things got noisy, at least their voices would be muted at the back of the house. In the living room, the sound could easily shoot up the stairwell.

And she had no idea what to expect from this man after the other night.

“What were you saying about habits?”

Placing the cardboard container of beer on the table, Mickey removed a bottle, and Sierra noticed that two were already missing. As he twisted the cap off, he continued speaking. “It just seems like you make it a habit of running from my bed without saying goodbye.”

She could feel the blood draining from her cheeks. “I—”

“Save your breath, Sierra. I get it, okay. You’re either commitment-phobic…” he paused, taking a long swig from the bottle, “or it’s me.”

“Mickey—”

“Let me finish.” The way his words came out made it obvious hehadbeen drinking, but she had no way of knowing how much. And had he driven here?

But she couldn’t worry about that now.

“Here’s the thing,” he said, getting closer to where she stood by the refrigerator. “I already figured it out and then I waited for you to say something. You must think I’m the biggest fucking idiot—and maybe I am. But there’s no reason to pussyfoot around it anymore.” As he took another step, the reverberation of his boot on the floor caused a shiver to dart up Sierra’s spine, punctuating his next words.

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