Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Fifty-Three

    "I wasn't satisfied with that, though. I wanted to win a championship. So I had a long talk with my team, you know? Tried to motivate them, get them up. That was all me. Before you know it, bam. We won the Superbowl." Trevor kissed the bulky gold ring on his ring finger.

    Mia had to keep reminding herself to look like she was paying attention. She had to resist the urge to yawn. The minute they'd stepped inside of the upscale urban lounge, Trevor had talked about one topic: Trevor. Trevor grew up in Louisiana. Trevor always knew he wanted to be an athlete. Trevor had parents who were strict. Trevor himself would be a strict parent once he had children. By the way, did Mia have any children? No? Okay, back to Trevor. If Trevor wasn't playing football, he'd probably be a teacher. Or he would have his own startup. Trevor, Trevor, Trevor.

    "Are you listening?" he asked, interrupting himself in mid-sentence.

    Are you listening to Trevor? she thought, trying not to giggle. "Yeah, I'm all ears," she lied.

    He smiled and went back to talking about Trevor.

    Kill me now, she thought just as her cell phone started trembling on the top of the table. They were seated in a secluded corner booth while watching a live contemporary jazz band play on the front stage. When Aubrey deleted his number from my phone, I should have just left the number deleted. I should have just forgotten about this guy. Her phone vibrated again. She sighed and picked up her phone.

    Trevor stopped talking and his brows furrowed.

    "I'm sorry," she apologized. "Just a quick check to see who it is." She accessed her text messages.

TEXT FROM: Aubrey Graham

MESSAGE: How is your date going?

TEXT FROM: Aubrey Graham

MESSAGE: It's going that well, huh?

    Mia almost laughed out loud. Is this dude for real? This nigga cannot be this petty!

    Trevor stretched his neck so he could see her cell phone screen. "That's Drake texting you?"

    She placed her phone face-down on the table and looked at Trevor.

    "What is it with you and him?" Trevor asked her. "I don't want to step on another man's toes. Do you have something going on with him?"

    "You mean, you're asking something about me?" she asked, smiling and smoothing out her hair.

    His brows furrowed in confusion.

    "Don't think about it too hard," she said. "He and I are working on an album together. That's all. Go on with what you're saying."

    He stared down at her phone for another moment, then lifted his eyes back to her face. He shrugged and launched back into the story he was telling

    This time, Mia gave him all of the attention in the world.

                                                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Trevor parked his pearl white Range Rover in front of the gates to Drake's estate.

    "So, I had a great time."

    "So did I," Mia said, checking to make sure her purse was still strapped to her shoulder.

    "Hey."

    She took a deep breath, her gaze not quite meeting his eyes. Granted, he did look especially attractive in his royal blue button-down dress shirt, dark designer jeans, and dress shoes. He knew how to combine elegant looks with casual to create a nice, laid-back outfit. She had to appreciate that. "Yes?"

    "Come here," he commanded softly.

    She leaned closer to him. "What?"

    He smiled and tipped her chin up. Then he kissed her.

    The first thought that ran through her head was, Aubrey is a better kisser.
Trevor's kiss was too demanding right off the bat, too rough. It wasn't the type of first kiss with someone that you wanted to remember.

    She started to pull back, but he placed his hand at the back of her head to hold it in place. She protested against his lips and pushed at his chest, but pushing at him was like pushing a brick wall. She did the only thing she could think of, which was bite his lip.

    He yanked back with his eyes wide, furious. He raised his hand and smacked her on the cheek, hard. Then, he tentatively touched fingers to his bottom lip. He flipped the visor down and inspected the broken skin on his lip.

    Mia turned towards the window with a hand covering her cheek, reeling with shock. Did this man really just hit her? Tears welled up in her eyes. She fumbled for the door handle.

    "Mia, wait," he said, his speech slurred due to the bite mark on his lip.

    She pulled the door handle and pushed the car door open.

    "Mia!" he shouted.

    She walked around the car and punched the button for the gate intercom. "Spoons!" she shouted into the speaker, with the button held down. "Spoons, it's me! Mia!"

    Trevor rolled down his car window. The anger that was previously in his eyes was now replaced with fear. "Mia. Wait, let's talk about this."

    "I don't have anything to say to you," she said through clenched teeth. "Get the fuck out of here. And lose my number while you're at it."

    He didn't heed her words right away. He stared at her. "Mia, I'm sorry."

    She flipped open her purse and pulled out her cell phone just as the large, iron gates started to swing open. "9-1-1 is a very short number, and I'm prepared to dial it."

    He shook his head, rolled up his window, and pulled off, leaving only a cloud of exhaust pipe smoke.

    She walked through the gates and up the driveway, until she reached the front door. Tears blended with mascara and eyeliner, streaming down her cheeks in twin trails. She sniffled and drew her arm across her nose. Her heels clicked on the stone as she slowly walked up the porch steps, trying in vain to regain her composure.

    She expected Spoons to answer the door, but when the front door swung open, Drake stood there. He had an expression on his face that looked like he was ready to taunt her, tease her about her date and possibly get on her case for not responding to his text messages. But the minute he saw her tears, he frowned.

    She stared up at him, looking vulnerable and helpless.

    He didn't hesitate in wrapping his arms around her. "What happened?"

    She shook her head, blubbering incoherent words into his shoulder.

    He held her for several moments, staring off in the direction of the gates to his property. "Was this Trevor? Did he do something to you?"

    Instead of responding to his question, she cried.

    He held her tighter to him. "It's going to be okay," he promised. "It's going to be okay. Here... come inside. Come inside with me, okay?"

    She nodded, wiping at her tears and letting out a shuddering breath.

    He kept an arm around her as he led her inside the house.