Page 32 of Stuck With Mr. Frosty

I sigh and get out of bed, pulling some clothing out of my dresser and tossing it onto the bed.

Mia comes back from her shower a few minutes later, her hair wavy and her skin flushed. She eyes the clothing on the bed. “That doesn’t look like you’re getting ready to spend the rest of the night in bed.”

“Thought about it and decided that going to a party with you does sound like a better time than sitting here and reading.”

She laughs and pulls an oatmeal-colored knit dress out of the closet. “You’re going to have fun, and if you’re not, we could always come back here and have some fun of our own.”

“Gonna take a shower before we head out, then.”

Mia hums to herself, moving around the room, already hauling out her makeup while I pull on some shorts and head to the shower.

“I told you the party was going to be a good time.” Mia smiles up at me like she’s having the time of her life, though maybe it’s more so the two cans of beer she’s had in the last hour.

“Sure you did.” I reach down long enough to pet Honey as she comes wandering over for some attention before taking off the other way.

“I did. It’s good for you to get out and have people to talk to. I mean, I know you talk to them and sometimes you’ve been at the parties, but this is different. This is just relaxing and going out and probably having a little too much to drink.”

“You’ve definitely had too much to drink.” The corner of my mouth twitches as I band my arms tighter around her waist, holding on while she leans harder into me. “You want to go back to the cabin yet?”

She shakes her head and pulls away as the song comes to an end, a faster one playing. “No. I want to keep having fun with you, and I love this song, which means that you need to dance with me.”

“Oh, do I?” I smirk and lean in, teeth grazing her earlobe.

She shivers and looks at me with wide eyes. “That’s if you know how to dance. I don’t know if you know how or not.”

“I can dance.”

“I don’t think you do.” Her lips purse, her gaze roaming up and down my body, suggesting that there’s something other than just dancing on her mind. “I think you only know how to stand there and drink.”

“Even though I was just dancing with you?”

She shrugs, starting to move her hips to the beat of the music. “I don’t see you do anything more than swaying.”

“That’s all dancing to music is anyway.”

Mia turns and presses her back against my chest, grinding into me as she moves with the beat of the music before pushing away with a laugh. She continues to dance, looking effortlessly happy.

And it’s when she looks that happy that I remember she’s here searching for the ghost of her mother. That this isn’t just some job for her; it’s a chance to feel whole again.

Maybe, just maybe, we might be able to fit our broken pieces together.

So I follow her, giving into her desire to spend the rest of the night dancing, losing the parts of myself that I don’t like in the parts of her that make me feel like a better man. Like I might be capable of finding someone to spend the rest of my life with.

I feel like that person one day could be her.

CHAPTER 13

MIA

“Idon’t know if I should talk to him about what we are or not.” I glance at Rosie as we finish stacking up the pylons and take them to the supply shed.

Rosie takes the stack from me and sets it inside on a shelf. “I don’t know what it could hurt. I know it’s been, what, a month? He’s gotta have some ideas about what’s going to come of this by now.”

As I shut the door and lock it, I bite my bottom lip. “Yeah, but on the other hand, I don’t know if I want to get that deep with him yet. It’s a lot of pressure to put on someone. Besides, I don’t know what school I’m going to end up teaching at next year, and then there’s the whole he likes-to-be-alone thing.”

“I don’t think he likes to be alone anymore.” Rosie grabs her skis. “I don’t think you like being alone much either, so maybe it’s good that the two of you think about what’s happening between you.”

I sigh and take off my ski boots, swapping them for hiking boots lined with faux fur. “And then there’s the risk that we want different things.”

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