"Here, let me help you." I put Mia's foot up onto the ottoman and placed a bag of ice on top of it.

Mia sighed with relief. Her toe was slightly bruised and a little red. It probably wouldn't have gotten to this if she hadn't insisted on walking on it all day.

"Thanks," she said, leaning back onto the couch cushions. "You know, I didn't do a ton of walking today. I was mostly working the bakery alongside Freya. She's pretty cool and super funny." She giggled.

"I bet." I smiled. "Now, back to the topic of my performance." I took a seat next to her.

"Hmmm... Performance?" Mia tapped her pointer finger on her chin. "There was only one band on stage tonight. I don't think anybody memorable came on after them," she teased.

My eyes narrowed into slits. "Hahaha. Not only was the second act so utterly fantastic that the audience asked for multiple encores. But he was so memorable that he had that same instrumental band ask him to join them."

Mia's jaw dropped. "What! OHMYGOSH! THEY DID NOT !" she slapped her hands onto her cheeks.

I chuckled at her reaction. "They did. Their singer-less, and they need a temporary fill-in. So I'm joining the band for the summer, and we'll see where it goes from there."

"Wow. You picked up your guitar again for the first time in forever, performed in front of a large crowd, and got yourself into a band? You're seriously overachieving this week, don't you think?" She bumped her shoulder into mine.

I smirked, shaking my head. "Not even close."

"I'm surprised, though." Mia carefully angled her body towards mine, making sure not to move her injured foot around too much. "I didn't think you wanted to live that kind of life. Even if it's only for a little while."

She wasn't wrong.

Being in a band and performing was my dad's thing. I never thought I would be able to follow in his footsteps.

I shrugged, placing both arms behind my head.

"Let me guess. It's one of the many things Greyson McNamara has to try just for the sake of trying because he lives for the thrill of jumping from one hobby to the next." Mia said, accurately describing what could be my worst but yet most fun personality trait.

She might be the only person who can list all the hobbies and activities that I've gotten into over the years.

I think even I might have forgotten all of them.

Mia continued, "I swear that's like your special skill. Now you've gone from street racing to singing. At least this hobby is legal," she jested, aiming straight for my heart.

I poked her ribs, causing her to flinch. "You're just full of jokes this week, aren't you?"

"Maybe," she replied playfully, drawing out the syllables.

I hung my head. What am I going to do with her?

"Anyways, I'm going to hop in the shower first." I stood up from my comfy position. I pointed to her foot. "Don't keep that ice pack on for more than 15 minutes. Okay?"

She gave me the universal "OK" sign with her hand.

I took about a ten-minute shower. I didn't bring any extra clothes in the bathroom but a fresh pair of boxers, which wasn't a big deal since Mia has seen me like this before plenty of times. I wrapped my towel around my neck and walked out.

I was going to ask Mia if she wanted to have a movie night, but when I approached her, she didn't even hear me walk up behind her. She was too busy, furiously texting someone.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't occasionally become curious about stuff that didn't concern me. And I may or may not be tempted to spy. Like I was right now.

I peeked over Mia's shoulder at her texts.

Mia: Listen, the way things ended, they sucked. But I don't believe that it's my fault. It's yours.

She couldn't be talking to who I thought she was.

I looked up at the name on top of the screen. JAMES.

What the actual hell?

He texted her back a few seconds later.

James: Can we talk about it? I feel like crap, and I haven't stopped thinking about you. I want to apologize in person. Can we meet up? Please.

Mia started down at the screen. Everything she started to type, she erased. I had no idea what she was thinking, but I've been nosy long enough.

"HEY!" I shouted, stepping into her line of vision.

Mia jumped, clutching her phone to her chest and giving me a deadly glare.

She opened her mouth to yell at me or something, probably, but I beat her to the punch.

"What are you doing texting that cheating asshole?" I gritted through my teeth. The mere thought of him had my blood boiling.

She frowned. "Why were you spying on me?"

I ignored her question. "How long have you been talking to him?"

Mia stayed silent.

"Mia?" I practically growled her name.

She averted her eyes from mine. "He reached out a few days ago," she said quietly.

"Why didn't you say anything before? Is this why you've been acting so weird?" I asked, trying to get to the bottom of this.

Her eyes went wide, and she shook her head rapidly. "No, no, no." She started to make an "X" gesture with her arms, wildly waving them in the air.

I crossed my arms against my chest. "Either way, I hope you're not considering meeting up with him. He's not good enough for you, and he never was." I hoped my words stuck. I wanted to talk her out of making another mistake.

"He doesn't deserve your forgiveness, and you don't need to meet up with him so his conscience can be cleared. He was wrong. Let him live with that. He'll be fine," I added.

I expected Mia to agree with me. I didn't know what to make of her silence when she didn't reply. "You can't seriously be thinking about this Mia." My voice rose higher than I intended.

"So what if I was Grey? It's my decision," she shot back.

The hell it was!

I walked around the couch and stood in front of her.

I saw she still had the ice pack on her foot after telling her when to take it off. I picked it up and put it aside.

"See, it's responses like that make me hyperaware of your inability to find a decent guy in this world. I mean, come on, Mia. You're not stupid or blind," I said sharply.

She let out a humorless laugh. "That's rich coming from a guy that's had how many girlfriends in High school? If I have an inability to spot good guys, then what's the thing that you have called?"

Commitment issues, possibly. Or maybe I wasn't sure what I want.

But we didn't have to talk about that.

"OH! Don't turn this around me!"

"Why the hell not, Grey? You always think you know everything..."

I laughed obnoxiously at that statement. "I think we can both agree that that's a common trait we share."

"Fine, sure, or whatever." Mia flicked her wrist dismissively through the air.

I sat across from her on the ottoman. I needed to try a different approach.

I sighed. Biting each other's heads off like this for something so silly wasn't worth it. I lowered my voice and tried to calm myself. "Promise me you won't go see him, Mia. Promise me you won't waste any more time on guys that are just not right for you?" I said softly.

My eyes pleaded with hers, hoping that she would listen.

Something about her potentially being in his presence again was rubbing me the wrong way. I didn't like him from the very beginning. Then again, I was not too fond of a lot of the guys that approached Mia.

None of them seemed right for her.

Mia leaned forward with her face just a foot away from mine. "And what kind of guys are right for me? Who should I date?" she whispered the last bit, staring intensely into my eyes.

I looked away. My palms felt sweaty suddenly, and I tried to wipe them in the towel covertly.

How could she ask me that?

I licked my lips nervously and thought about what she said. A million different responses flooded my head. But what came out of my mouth was the most cliché line ever. "You should date the guy that sees you as his entire world."

There! I said, what I said!

And I was leaving no room for regrets.

Mia's eyes were glued to me, but she didn't utter a word in response. I could only imagine what she could be thinking and... Crap!

Never mind. Never mind.

I'd take it all back. I started to send a prayer out to the universe.

Dear whoever was listening, please grant me the power to turn back time to five minutes ago.

"Do you know any guys like that?" Mia finally spoke, breaking the silence between us.

No.

And if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't tell her about them. I was tired of pretending to be okay with every guy being exactly where I wanted to be.

I paused. Did I really just think that?

Eliminating most of the distance between us, I rested my elbows on my knees. I gazed into Mia's warm irises so profoundly that I could see my reflection.

Where did I want to be with Mia? I had to ask myself.

I've spent almost a year trying not to dwell on last summer. I've tried not to think about the "what ifs" and the "maybes." But that was hard when I didn't know the truth.

What if the moment that had the potential to change our lives was just a mistake? What if Mia hadn't seen it the way I had? The way I still did?

Because it wasn't a mistake for me. It was a decision, and I used the excuse of being slightly intoxicated as the logical reason behind my actions, but that's not true.

I didn't know if it'll break me to hear the truth, but I also knew there's no one to me like Mia. I couldn't admit that before, but now, things had changed.

I got nothing to lose, right? I meant, it wasn't like Mia's going to turn around and hate my guts.

I gulped. My throat felt dry, and my heart was galloping out of my chest.

"Me," I whispered it so quietly. Who knew if Mia heard it. I tried to speak louder the second time, feigning cool and confidence with my words, but instead, what I said next came out a little deep and breathy. "You should date me."

A/N

Dedication= @livindaybyday.