Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Eighty-Six

    "There haven't been many times in my life when I was completely scared to death," Drake told her later, lying on his stomach and dipping his fingers into the pool. He'd thrown his swimming trunks back on after they emerged from the water.

    Mia, lying beside him on her back, listened quietly. She had expected the rocky flooring to feel uncomfortable, but most areas were surprisingly smooth. The cold stone felt good against her naked skin.

    "But last night...seeing him holding you up like that...and not knowing if you would be okay...I was scared to death."

    She turned her head and looked at him, but he kept his focus on the pool water. He has no problem looking me in the eyes any other time, except when he's talking about his feelings, she realized. Many women could take that the wrong way by assuming it meant that the man was lying. But Mia knew better. She knew he was being honest. Most likely, he had a hard time looking at her while confessing his feelings because he was fearing her reaction. He called me adorable, but every time I turn around, he's doing something that is positively adorable.

    He lapsed into silence while staring down at the pool water. Seemingly for the longest time, the only sound there was, was the sound of the splashing waterfall fifty feet away from them.

    She took a deep breath and said, "I was definitely scared, most of the time."

    "Most of the time?" he echoed, turning his head and looking at her.

    She shrugged. "At first, I was very scared. But after being hit so many times, I started to lose sense of what was even happening. I got very disoriented. It's hard to explain. I just...got really dizzy, and I couldn't even remember where I was or who Trevor was. My survival instincts kicked in and I knew I needed to get away from him, that I couldn't get in the car with him. But it almost seemed like it was all happening to someone else."

    "I should have never let you leave," he muttered.

    "You didn't really have a choice," she reminded him. "I'm a grown ass woman, remember?"

    He turned his head and returned his focus to the rippling water splashing lightly against the pool's edge.

    She chewed on her bottom lip in thought. "Speaking of that, though...we still haven't really talked about it."

    He remained quiet.

    "So...what happened? Between you and Free?"

    At first, she thought he wasn't going to answer. He stayed quiet for so long. But then he turned on his side, propping himself up with an elbow. He stared at her for a long moment before asking, "Are you sure you want to talk about this now?"

    Impulse almost made her rush to say "Yes," but she paused and gave real thought to his question. They'd just shared an incredibly romantic and beautiful experience. Did she want to ruin that memory by having a conversation about the woman he was engaged to less than a half a year ago? After mulling it over, she sighed and told him, "We might as well get it out of the way."

    He lowered his eyes. "I knew her for a long time. A very long time. I knew her before I was this larger-than-life Drake brand. I was just...Aubrey Graham. We clicked. In a major way. And she was just...an all- around good person. She was good for me. Most of the time." He paused, laughed dryly, and went on. "We were off and on so many times. When I started to blow up, the fame hit me hard. I handled it well at first, I did. I told myself I was going to just stay the same. I wasn't going to let the fame and money change me. I wasn't going to let it change my relationships. And I stuck to that, man." His voice trailed off. Memories came to life and died behind his eyes.