Page 3 of Girl Code
They’d been inseparable. Nothing could come between them, at least that’s what he’d thought when they both headed off to the same university five years later. He hadn’t known then just how young and naïve and stupid he was for thinking nothing would change between them.
College had changed everything. Of course it had. They’d drifted apart. Their classes had taken up so much time and they’d been on different tracks. Mickey had gone the computer science route. Dante had chosen to major in engineering. They hadn’t been on the same schedule and they hadn’t seen each other much that first year.
They’d made new friends. They’d started new relationships. They’d never had a problem dating other people before but it had been different when they were on their own, as adults for the first time.
Of course, he’d never dated one of Mickey’s friends before either. Then, he’d met Tiffani. He’d asked her out. They’d started dating. And he’d felt Mickey pulling away from him even more.
It was during those first few months of his new relationship that he’d realized he wasn’t the only one with feelings, only those feelings weren’t for Tiffani. They were for Mickey. It was Mickey he wanted, who he’d always wanted, but he’d been too scared to ruin their relationship to make his feelings known, even when he’d become more certain by the day that Mickey felt the same way.
Then had come the party after they completed finals. There had been alcohol and drinking and dancing and he’d kissed Mickey. He’d kissed his best friend and she’d kissed him back.
They’d been desperate for each other then, clinging, unable to part even as they ripped at the clothes between them, tearing away every layer until they were one person, one heart, one soul. He’d loved her for as long as he could remember. Making love to her had seemed like finally completing the most difficult puzzle he’d ever attempted.
He’d thought it was perfect. He’d thought it would change everything. And it had, just not the way he wanted it to.
Mickey had run away from him in the middle of the night while he slept. She’d shut down, refusing to talk about it and then refusing to talk to him about anything. She’d shut him out of her heart and her life as easily as if she’d simply locked a door with him firmly on the other side.
That night, that beautiful, amazing, perfect night, had been the end of their friendship, just as he’d known it would be if he ever gave in to how he felt. Even if Mickey had felt the same way he did, kissing her while he was drunk had been a bad idea. Making love to her while he was still dating her best friend had been unforgiveable.
It was a mistake that had ruined everything and sent him into a tailspin. He’d ended up taking a break from college the next semester just to get some space from everyone and everything tied to Mickey and the life they’d all but shared. He’d needed to get away and that break had changed the course of his entire life.
Of course, Mickey didn’t know that.
He hadn’t seen Mickey in more than three years. He hadn’t spoken to her. He was a completely different person than he’d been the last time he was in the same room with her. He’d imagined this moment a hundred times, a million even, but never, not once, had he pictured Mickey coming back into his life like this.
As someone he should be putting in cuffs and hauling down to the police station… even if he’d never be able to go through with it.
Mickey crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, one toe tapping in what he would have thought was impatience if he didn’t know her so well. She was nervous. He might not have seen her in years but she was still Mickey, the woman he’d known better than anyone. The crossed arms and tapping foot was a tic he’d learned early on and something about it made him relax a little despite his reason for being here.
Maybe it was just the reminder that even though things had changed between them, that they had changed, that some things were still the same.
She was definitely still gorgeous. Her dark mocha skin glowed and he knew enough to know she wasn’t wearing a drop of makeup. Her hair was just as wild, a big curly mess that haloed her beautiful face. She was small. She always had been. Short and thin in a way that should’ve been boyish but wasn’t, not on her. In her oversized slacks and prim blouse and high heels, she was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen.
Her dark eyes narrowed, “Try again. Why are you here?”
He opened his mouth and then closed it again, unsure of how to answer that question. He wasn’t here because Mickey was his ex-best friend or because she was still the most gorgeous woman he’d ever known. He supposed he could tell her that he was here because Mickey was a hacker and he was a cop and he’d traced her code and figured out she was the one who hacked Keating and all but ruined his investigation into the politician and a corrupt organization.
Only, even that felt like a lie, because it was.
He was here for one reason and one reason only. As soon as he’d noticed that secret line Mickey put into all of her code, he’d known she was responsible for hacking Keating. He didn’t know yet why she’d done it, what she’d hoped to gain from it, or if she’d been paid for it, but he’d known she was the hacker responsible for outing Keating’s dirty laundry and right along with it, a whole shit-ton of data that the National Association for Gun Owners Rights did not want going public. He’d also known that if he could figure it out, so could others.
The truth was, Mickey was in danger and his first and only thought had been that he needed to get to her before someone else did.
Dante cleared his throat, “We need to talk.”
“We don’t have anything to talk about.” Mickey narrowed her dark eyes at him.
“Sure we do.”
Dante frowned at the handsome man sitting on the desk that must have been Mickey’s. He’d propped his feet up on the chair she’d vacated and had his elbows on his knees. His chin was on his clasped hands and his eyes were darting between them, amusement and excitement apparent on every one of his features. Dante hated him instantly.
Mickey opened her mouth, no doubt to tell him once again that they had nothing to talk about but he cut her off with a low growl.
“We need to talk, Mick. Now. Somewhere private.”
Her head tilted slightly, “Why?”
“You know exactly why.” He grit his teeth, his jaw starting to ache when she only shrugged defiantly. “How about we start with what you’ve been up to online lately?”
