Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Fifty-Five

    Drake gently touched Mia's cheekbone while she slept. Then he cradled her with one arm and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He was still enraged at the thought of Trevor raising a hand to her. The minute she'd told him what happened, he had wanted to pay a visit to Trevor's house to deliver the only type of message someone like Trevor would understand.

    He hadn't chosen this approach for many reasons. Doing so would cause a blow to his public image, something that he couldn't risk when he'd spent so much time and so much effort in getting to where he was. He also felt that if he had hunted Trevor down and caused him bodily harm, for the sake of pride alone, Trevor would take action against him. Something else that he couldn't risk. Not that Drake feared for himself. If Trevor wanted to come at him, he was more than prepared to defend himself. But when it came to retaliation, innocent people often got caught in the crossfire. And Drake had too many people around him that he loved and didn't want to see harm come to.

    Mia's eyes fluttered open. She stared up at him quietly.

    "Good morning," he greeted.

    "Good morning," she returned, lowering her eyes.

    "How do you feel?"

    "Horrible. Shitty."

    "You had a rough night."

    She closed her eyes. "I was hoping it was a nightmare."

    He continued stroking her cheek.

    She flinched. "How bad does it look?"

    "It's pretty noticeable," he told her honestly. "But makeup would cover it up."

    "Ugh."

    "The entire time you were with him...I was so angry."

    She looked back up at him.

    "I didn't want you to go out with him," he went on. "And when you did...I was angry. I was angry at him for asking you out. I was angry at you for saying yes. For texting him after I took his number out of your phone."

    "You had no right to do that," she said flatly.

    "I know I didn't," he agreed. "I can admit that. I was still mad at you."

    She looked away from him, not knowing what to say.

    He sighed and rolled over onto his back. "I had everything planned out. My career, the goals I wanted to reach. In my mind, I wasn't going to get involved in a serious relationship. It doesn't make sense for me to do that, not right now."

    She remained quiet.

    "But there are those who would argue that love doesn't make sense," he said softly, staring up at the ceiling with a hand resting on his chest.

    "I don't know what you want me to say," she said finally.

    "I don't want you to go out on dates with other men," he told her. "I want to be the only one you're seeing."

    "We've already had this conversation," she pointed out. "You will be the only one I see if you're in a relationship with me. Otherwise, I'm free to date other people. The same way you are."

    A muscle in his jaw twitched. "Mia."

    "Aubrey," she mocked.

    He took a deep breath and looked towards the balcony window. "How about...how about you wait for me?"

    Her brows drew together as she stared at his back. "Wait for what?"

    "For now, you see me and only me. And once I accomplish the things I want to, we make it official." He turned and looked at her.