Ethan's POV (Bonus Book)

Chapter Nineteen- Ethan's POV

Gently swallowing, I found my eyes drifting over Mia's face as I patiently awaited her response. At this point, I was conscious of her every last breath as her eyes danced between mine.

 I was half-teasing when I'd asked if she was sure about not wanting to kiss me. But now, with the way she was looking at me, and how reluctant she seemed to untangle, the tightened arms I had around her, it seemed anything but a joke. 

Mother of sweet Jesus, was she actually considering it?

Just as I dared to let my eyes fall down to her lips, Mia's eyes suddenly widened, and she abruptly pulled herself back, so my grip around her fell away.

Then with just one move of her eye, the tension between us faded, and I carefully controlled my face to hide my disappointment. Still blinking herself into composure, she twisted a little in my lap and cleared her throat. 

"Y..yeah, I'm sure," she said, tripping over her words.

At that moment, I was genuinely tempted to laugh at myself for even humoring the idea that she'd ever want to kiss me. God, I was stupid. It was a miracle she even wanted to be my friend.

Realizing she was starting to edge her way to the end of my lap, I frowned. What was she doing? Retightening, my grip around her waist, I pulled her right backward till her back was once again flush up against my chest. 

Perfect.

Just as I was about to resume back in with our friend's conversation, I felt Mia shift as though about to stand. But being the selfish bastard I was, I kept my arms firmly rooted around her waist.

Swinging her head back around to face me, she looked me up and down in confusion. "Let go of me, you idiot. Can't you see there's some free seats over there?"

Turning my head, I saw to my annoyance that she was right. Why did those idiots have to leave the food court early? Couldn't they see they were ruining a great opportunity for me?

Letting out a whiny grunt in response, I wrapped my arms a little tighter before sinking my head back into the crook of her neck.

"You're fine here," I mumbled.

Mia let out a heavy sigh and sank back against me, causing me to smile. And to my surprise, I was just able to catch the corner of her lips twitching up into an amused little smile of her own.

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Speeding through the corridors like my life depended on it, I weaved my way in between the crowds of students that were blocking up the corridor.

 My stupid physics teacher decided to run ten minutes over just because he wanted to go through our damn paper. It was like he knew a hot girl was waiting for me by my car and wanted to do all he could to ruin things for me. And no, I'm not being dramatic.

Mia was supposed to be coming home with me today for another 'tutoring session.' It was debatable whether I could even call it that anymore, considering how little work we did. We mainly just played video games, made something to eat then chatted up in my room. 

So, at this point, I was just praying she didn't care that I was quite obviously looking for more excuses to be alone with her.

Finally making it outside to the parking lot, I walked in fast stride towards my normal parking space. As I rounded the corner, I suddenly came to an abrupt stop as I took in the image before me.