Ethan's POV (Bonus Book)

Chapter Twenty-Two - Ethan's POV

Mia looked absolutely stunned. Her lips kept lightly parting and closing while her eyes mercilessly scanned over my face as though lost for words.

I tried in vain to control the corners of my mouth from twitching upward, but they just kept fighting their way through as I stared at a still startled Mia. It was horrible of me how much I was enjoying this.

The noise of others in the circle still continued all around us as we engaged in our mini little stare-off. From the corner of my eye, I could see a few of my teammates rolling themselves with laughter as they made rather knowing looks my way. It was clear that everyone in the circle knew I was getting exactly what I wanted. Well, everyone except for Mia, of course.

The shock briefly left Mia's eyes, and her beautiful brown eyes slowly narrowed themselves in on me. Littered with disbelief, her eyes rocked themselves back and forth between my own. 

"You're such a liar; give me the paper," she scoffed as she held out an expectant hand.

 She clearly thought I called out her name as a joke to wind her up, but this was far from a joke. I had every intention of leading her into that cupboard with me.

Knowing I had nothing to worry about regarding the paper, I lightly chuckled before rising to my feet. Slowly sauntering across the circle, I crouched down to Mia's level on the floor. Then maintaining eye contact with her, I confidently placed the piece of paper into her awaiting hand with what I knew must have looked like an arrogant grin.

Mia immediately dropped her gaze down to read it, and the second she saw it, she froze. The light confidence that was starting to build in her eyes faded away into nothing. Then slowly, she lifted her head, and the moment our eyes met, her throat wobbled as she swallowed. 

"So, erm...seven minutes, huh?" she mumbled with a slightly nervous laugh.

My smile widened further. "That's right, seven wonderful minutes," I repeated, holding out a hand for her to take.

She looked down at my hand, then back at me before hesitantly placing her hand in mine. Smiling as I closed my hand around her smooth one, I wasted no time before pulling her up to her feet. Then in a confident path, I led her over to the closet before opening the door. 

"After you, Chubs," I smirked, gesturing ahead with the nod of my head. Mia's eyes narrowed a little, clearly pissed at my level of excitement.

"Remember no evidence, no eyebrows," Lucas called out from behind us with a laugh. 

Mia immediately swerved her head around to face him and shot Lucas a vicious glare. As Lucas started to cackle, Mia just shook her head before turning back around and storming her way past me and into the closet.

Before turning, I caught Lucas's eye just in time to see him wink at me while mouthing, 'you're welcome.'

Smiling even wider, I wasted no time before turning around and climbing into the closet after Mia. My eyes immediately found hers from where she stood; leaned all irresistibly against the dimly lit wall. And at that moment, I knew Lucas was absolutely fucking right. I had everything to thank him for.

 In normal circumstances, being locked in a confined space with someone for however long, would seem kind of unpleasant but not when that person was Mia. When that person involved Mia, the tinier the space, the better. 

Or better yet, if there was no space or clothes between us at all...

I'd barely stepped both feet through the door before a door was slammed loudly behind me, followed by a lock sliding cleanly into place.