Under My Thumb // Mick Jagger

013

I wake up to the worst headache of my life and groan. "Ow," I mumble, rolling back over under the covers again.

"Heard you were awake," I hear Mick's voice speak.

"Not yet," I grumble. I know he said he was going to talk to me once I woke up, but I didn't think he literally meant right when I woke up. And I definitely didn't think I'd have a massive headache.

"Right now," he demands. "Sit up."

I stay in the same position. "I'm not asking you again, Ria. You're going to sit up right now," he says. "I don't know what's gotten into you."

"It's because you're being annoying," I mumble and sit up, resting my head on the wall of the bus.

Mick sits right across from me on the bed. "What was that?" His eyebrows were raised and he was waiting for an answer. "Go on and tell me."

"Nothing, I didn't say anything," I say. You can't really blame me for being in a sour mood.

"Fine," Mick says. "If you want to disobey me, I'll just add it to your punishment."

I glance over at Mick to see if he was joking. "For what? I didn't even do anything wrong," I say, frustrated. I cross my arms and look away from him.

"Didn't do anything wrong? Are you kidding, Ria?" He says in a raised voice. "I told you you couldn't drink, and what did you do?"

I remain quiet. "Answer my question. What did you do?" He repeats the question.

"I drank," I say, my voice also raised. "You're acting like it's the worst thing in the world. You need to learn how to have fun like Jimmy." Right now, I wish it was Jimmy who I stumbled upon when I was leaving my hometown.

"You are being so stupid for thinking Jimmy wants to just hang out with you just to get drunk! He wants to sleep with you, Ria. Jimmy is exactly the kind of man I'm trying to protect you from," he explains, frustrated.

I roll my eyes. "I never asked for your protection, Mick," I say quietly.

I knew Jimmy didn't just want to sleep with me, I think. But Mick saying that made me lose some of my confidence for some reason.

"I don't really care. I'm protecting you because you need it. Whether you want my protection or not means nothing to me," he says. His voice was slightly softer, but there was still anger laced within his words.

I wish I knew what it is about me that made Mick so protective over me. Even Keith said he never had seen Mick act this way before.

"Why did Jimmy want to drink with you? If it wasn't to take advantage of you, then explain to me what it was," Mick continues with his interrogation.

"We just wanted to see who could drink the most," I say. It sounded stupid when I said it now. "Because he didn't believe I drank before."

"He was right, though, and you're not supposed to be drinking until you're 21. I know you know that," he says.

"Yeah, but I don't want him to think I'm not cool," I say. "I like Jimmy." I play with my fingers anxiously.

"You don't like Jimmy," Mick scoffs.

"Yes I do. He doesn't yell at me for everything like you do," I say, getting defensive once again. I don't like how Mick thinks he knows exactly how I am feeling all the time.

"I'm sleeping with Jimmy tonight, by the way. That was our deal," I say, hoping to make Mick a little more angry.

"Christ, Ria," Mick breathes out. "You're absolutely not doing that."