Page 106 of Faking it For Summer

“I’m just saying, I know he’s the consolation prize.”

“What?”

“You wanted me. You couldn’t get me, so you got the second-best Haverbrook brother.” He shrugs. “Look, you know you would’ve done anything to be with me. Well, now’s your chance. Don’t you want a chance with the best Haverbrook brother?”

“I think you’re fucking rude as hell, Rex,” Mia says.

I smile at her response to him. I know I should step forward and let them know that I’ve witnessed the conversation, but for some reason, I want to see how Mia handles it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rex says.

“You think I give a shit about you? You think that you’re going to send me some wedding invite with a note and be like,Mia’s a loser, and she can’t get a date, and I’m just going to take it, lying down?”

“Look, Mia, our families are close. Of course, you were going to get an invitation. Everyone got the same note.”

“Everyone did not get the same note,” she says. “Juniper didn’t get the note. Wendy didn’t get the note. Louisa didn’t get the note. Josie didn’t get the note. Gigi didn’t get the note.”

“To be quite honest with you, you’re listing a bunch of names, and I don’t know half of these people, and I don’t care about them. I don’t even know what was written on the invitation.”

“You’re telling me you don’t know what was written on the invitation?” She glares at him. “You’re such a pig to think that I ever thought you were cute.”

“You thought I was cute. You thought I was sexy. You wanted me to be your first. Remember?”

“Thank God that never happened,” she says, shaking her head.

Rex steps forward and grabs her by the hand. “We can still make something happen.”

“You’re getting married, Rex!” She’s practically screaming at him. “You’re such a jerk.”

“Maybe I want to sample some other pieces of meat before I finally decide which cut I want.”

It’s then that I have to step forward.

“Excuse me, what’s going on here?” I ask.

Both Rex and Mia turn to me with shock in their eyes. She runs over to me, jumps up into my arms, grabs my face, and kisses me hard and passionately. Her tongue slides into my mouth, and I run my fingers through her hair. She’s breathing heavily, and I can’t stop myself from kissing her back passionately. Our tongues twist together, and her fingers run down my shoulders. She presses herself against me, and I wrap my arms around her waist and squeeze her ass. She’s wearing a pair of shorts, and I slide my fingers up her inner thigh. She giggles slightly as she steps back.

“There you are, my knight in shining armor yet again,” she says.

I kiss her on the lips and turn to Rex, giving him the most disdainful glance I can muster. “Don’t you ever hit on my girlfriend again. Do you hear me?”

Rex stares at me in shock, saying nothing.

“She’s mine.”

Rex turns and walks away.

Mia looks up at me and takes a deep breath. “I can’t believe I ever thought he was cute. Why was I such a fucking fool? He’s horrible. I’m sorry. He’s really, really horrible.”

“I know. I really do. Did you kiss me because he was there and you wanted to prove to him that we were together, or?—”

“I kissed you because, as I was speaking to him, all I could think was that Luke would never talk to me like this. He would never shame me like this. And then you were there, and you were coming toward me, and I could see the anger in your eyes, and, yeah, maybe I thought you were going to hit him—but when I ran up into your arms and kissed you, it was because I wanted to feelyour lips against mine.” Her voice lowers. “I wanted to be in your arms. You’re so much better than he is.”

At this moment, I feel chosen. I feel validated. I feel hope. Maybe this can actually go somewhere for real.

“There’s something I want to tell you, Mia, something you need to know.”

“What is it?” she asks. “Oh shit. I need to go, because I need to take the photos.”