Old Me

Mikey POV Ch 7/16/17

CH 7

I was fucking nervous as hell. I don't know why, but when she showed up looking so good I started to question why the hell she had agreed to go on a date with me. I noticed her adjusting the aircon vent so I turned it up a notch. 

"What do you prefer I call you?" she asked me.

I pulled up to a red light and smirked as I turned to her. I already knew what to say to push her buttons.

"I can think of a few things," I said raising my brow, "but how about we start with Mikey or Michael."

I got the exact reaction I was hoping for and my heart jumped as she bit her lip and rolled her eyes.

"Oh gosh. Was that supposed to turn me on or something, Mikey?" she asked, pretending to be unimpressed.

"Did it work?" I chuckled as I focused on the road.

"No," she chuckled.

I could tell in my peripheral vision that she was looking at me, but I bit my lip and pretended not to notice. 

At dinner, I couldn't help but watch her every move. She was careful as she ate, probably nervous about making a mess like I was. Her fucking smile did things to me. I didn't want the night to end. I just wanted to keep talking and listen to her tell me about her life.

The more she revealed about herself, the more she asked me questions. I wasn't used to this. Any girl I'd gone out with in the past was just to fuck. We didn't really spend time getting to know each other. Not even Chelsea, who I dated for six months. I politely deflected when she asked something that would reveal anything bad about me. I'm not ready to share any of that with her. Not when she was so out of my league. I don't want to fuck it up on just the first date. I want to take it slow, get to know her before I take it farther.

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CH 16

I looked back over my shoulder and saw that Bea had fallen behind. I turned my bike around and when I reached her my breath caught in my chest. She was climbing off of her bike and looked as pale as a sheet. 

"Hey, everything okay?" I asked as I put my bike stand down and approached her.

"Bea," I said as she took off her jacket, "you don't look good. Your face is really pale. What's wrong?"

"I," she stuttered and put her hand over her mouth, "I--"

Her body started to sway, so I gripped her arms and helped her sit on the curb. 

I was trying hard not to panic as I called her name again, "Bea! Tell me what's wrong?"

I scanned her body, looking for some physical injury but my brain kept going back to the conversation that Siena and I had at her party. She had told me about Bea being in remission from cancer, but that it could come back. She warned me that Bea had been through enough and that if I did anything to hurt her I would be sorry.

Bea finally spoke, "I think I'm just dehydrated. I just need to sit here for a minute. I'll be fine."

She forced a smile but I didn't believe her.

"You don't look fine. Should I call an ambulance?" I asked.

"What? No! I'll be fine, I just need to cool off."

"Okay, um, I'll go get the car, yeah?" I looked around to see where the hell we were.

"I really don't think I should leave you here alone," I said as I scanned the empty road again.