I hit send and immediately see the three little dots appear, followed by a ping.
Lexi: Ooh, sexy. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t x
I decide not to give her the satisfaction of a response for that one, so I drop my phone on my pillow, throw on some comfortable clothes and make my way to the living room where Ethan is sitting waiting for me.
Stepping out of the shower onto the floor mat, I towel myself off, wrapping the damp towel around my waist once I'm no longer dripping everywhere. As I step into the corridor, I see Mia walking towards me.
She's wearing a dark blue dress that hugs her body in all the right places and her hair is different. I prefer it when she wears it tied up off her face, but she looks pretty with it hanging straight, spilling over her shoulders.
Shit! Why is she home so early?
My room is directly opposite the bathroom but instead of entering, I find myself walking towards her. I know I should walk away and let her deal with whatever drama is going on in her life, but I can't bring myself to walk away.
What is it about this girl?
“You're home early tonight.” I smile at her, watching her eyes darting over my torso. “I hope it's not because of what happened with Maddie last week.”
“No, just a disappointing night that's all.” She seems upset and I don't want her to be alone if she is.
“Well, you shouldn't be spending a Saturday night alone so, let me throw some clothes on and you can come watch a film with me.”
If she agrees and wants to be stubborn, I'm possibly letting myself in for one of those shitty chick flick movies that she loves so much but hopefully she'll be in the mood for something different.
“It's okay, I'm just going to sit in my room and watch something. Thanks though.”
The company of someone who isn't a team-mate, or my seven-year-old daughter is something I didn't realise I needed until now, so I'm not taking no for an answer. I will literally drag her ass into the lounge if I have to.
“Not a chance. Living room, five minutes.” Without waiting for a response, I turn and walk to my room. "Oh, and Mia, if you're not there, I will come into your room and carry you to the living room myself."
She's not happy, but she agrees to it anyway, so I quickly pull on a pair of sweats and t-shirt before heading to the lounge to wait.
Standing in the living room, I pour two glasses of Whiskey and place them down on the coffee table and drape the throw over the cold leather surface, so the sofa is separated from our skin.
As I sit down, she walks through the door in a cute little matching shorts and t-shirt set. She's wiped her makeup off and for the first time, I notice the spattering of freckles concentrated on her nose and cheeks.
“So, what are we watching then.” She asks as she curls herself up on the opposite end of the sofa.
“Jamison recommended a film called Would You Rather. What do you think?” As soon as the words leave my mouth, she crinkles her nose and pouts her full, pink lips. “Okay, so what do you have in mind?”
I guess it's lady's choice tonight.
“Well, I've been meaning to check out Rebecca if you fancy it? If not, the other one should be okay, but I must warn you. I'm not amazing with blood and guts.” She gazes at me as if she's scared to disappoint.
“Rebecca it is.” I agree as her grin widens. “But next time, I get to choose.”
“You got yourself a deal mister.” She's so fucking adorable when she's excited.
Grabbing the remote, I start the film and pass one of the glasses to her before grabbing mine and taking a swig. I'm not sure what she usually drinks, but she takes a sip without spitting it all over me, so I guess it'll do.
I can't believe she's been living in my house for two weeks and I don't know anything about her.
About forty minutes into the film, I glance over at Mia and she's staring contently at the screen while nursing her first drink. I, on the other hand, am bored — this is no match for the Hitchcock version.
I reach for the remote, stopping the film and looking across to see her glaring at me in protest.
“Sorry Princess. That's about as much as I can take.”
“Fine but, I'm in charge of the remote when it's your pick.” Her face contorts like a petulant little kid and I can't stop myself from chuckling. “So, what do you want to do now?”
It's only ten o'clock and it doesn't look like she's in a rush to go back to her room, so I guess I could use the opportunity to find out a little more about her.
“Okay, since neither of us can agree on what to watch, how about we talk for a bit?” I turn my body to face her, and she contemplates her options.
This is the only proper conversation we've had since that first night when she moved in and even that was mainly superficial subjects like pizza toppings, hobbies, and other general chit chat.
“I guess it would be useful to get to know you a little, rather than just go off all the stuff I've seen on the internet.”
Oh shit, she's looked me up online. That cannot be good.
“What do you want to know?” I ask, immediately regretting it.
“Ooh,” Her eyes widen as she stares at me, “You have loads of photos of Maddie around the house but none of her mother. How come?”
Shit, this girl means business.
I rub the back of my neck nervously as I decide how to tackle this one. “It's... complicated.”
“Sorry, I didn't mean to...” her eyes widen, “I wasn't thinking and that was really insensitive.”
She covers her face with her
