Page 80 of Rules Of Our Own

There’s a rustling sound, and then the doors swing open and she’s standing there like she has no idea how fucking beautiful she is. Mia’s wearing these fucking tiny sleep shorts that have…ducks on them and a thin white tank top.

My jaw snaps shut when I realize it’s dropped open, and I hold up the bag of Chinese food we’d grabbed on our way here. “You hungry?”

She looks ruffled, her hair twisted up with a pencil, a chaos of loose strands framing her face. The setting sun illuminates her from behind, giving her an almost ethereal look that feels perfectly fitting.

“You got me food?” she asks.

I look around her and see the floor is covered in a sea of multicolored sticky notes, and there are highlighters and pens everywhere. It looks like she’s been in some kind of mad scientist zone for a while. “When’s the last time you ate?”

She looks away. “Um…I ate.”

I gently hold her chin between my finger and thumb, tilting her head up so she meets my eyes. “Don’t lie to me, Mia.”

“Okay, I had some cheese slices a few hours ago. I’m fine.”

Alex squeezes by me, wraps his arms around her waist, and hauls her into his chest. “Kitten, eat with us, please?” He looks at her with sad, round eyes, and she caves.

“Okay, but then you have to go. I’ve almost got it figured out.”

“Figured what out, Love?” I divide the food onto a few plates and bring them to the living area, passing one to her and the other to Alex before going back for my own.

“The main financial backer for Prosthetics For Kids is coming to town this week and wants to go over my plans for the charity.” She takes a bite and hums in the back of her throat. I have to adjust my spot on the chair across from them.

Once she clears half her plate, I ask, “How can we help?”

“You really want to help?”

How can she not know? “I always want to help.”

She lets out a long breath, and her shoulders relax a little. I want to go over there and pull her into my arms, but I stay where I am, knowing that’s not what she needs from us right now. Now, she needs our support.

She looks over the stickies and opens and closes her mouth a few times before giving us a sheepish smile. “I’m not exactly sure where to start.”

Alex nudges his shoulder into hers and grabs her plate before standing. “Misty told us a bit about your idea today. Ice water. Nice.”

I gesture toward the array of sticky notes. “Why don’t you tell us what you’re working through.”

CHAPTER38

MIA

Both guys are lookingat me with eager eyes, like they’re honestly interested in what I’m doing. Not once had Jason cared about any of this, and here they are acting like it’s no big deal to want to help. I ignore the slight stinging in the back of my eyes. If I pay attention to it too much, I may start crying, and how mortifying would that be?

“Really?” I ask them. We’ve moved into the living area, Alex taking the spot next to me on the couch, and River’s sitting cross-legged on the floor, flicking through my notes.

Alex lays his head in my lap and smiles up at me. “Really, really, Kitten.” He tucks a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. “Show us what that smart brain of yours is working on.”

“Alright…hmmm… Okay. So Misty told you about the concept, but now I’m trying to figure out how to raise money off of it. It’s one thing to get something to trend; it’s a whole other to get people to give up their hard-earned money.”

“So what’s your plan?” Alex’s fingers trail over my jaw, and I fight back a shiver.

“I’m going to make them feel good about it. I’m going to make it so that when they donate, they get to brag about it. People like to show off when they’ve done something good.”

River looks up from the pages in his hands. “How are you going to do that?”

“Well, first, there’s the challenge itself. You’ve got to state your donation before you can challenge the next person. So bragging rights and all that, but I want to go further than that, and that’s how we got…” I gesture over my mess with both hands. “…here. I thought, well, maybe we could offer different tiers? Like if you donate this much, you’ve sponsored one prosthetic, or a different tier could be sponsoring a kid through certain ages. I don’t know. It’s just an idea.”

“You’re fucking brilliant, Kitten.”

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