Head Over Leather #Wattys2017

XXVII. My best friend's brother

Guest starring this chapter:

Scott Eastwood (my baby😍😍😍😍) as Theo

***

"This is cute." Jess holds up a frilly top from the sale rack and I make a face, shaking my head. She rolls her eyes, but lets out a laugh nonetheless and puts it back, hands flipping through the clothes like pages of a magazine. I spin back around, leaning against the wall, watching as Mia whips open the changing room curtain and steps out with a handful of clothes.

"I'm ready." She grins excitedly, before rushing off to the cashier, a rush of long blonde hair railing behind her. If anyone had asked me what some of Mia's hobbies were, shopping would not have been on the list. Turns out, it's her weak spot, I mean what girl can resist seventy percent off clothing items?

Waking up this morning in Jess's lap felt like old times and with Mia's chocolate chip pancakes, I was ready to leave yesterday behind. Granted, I let my mind drift to Ethan every so often, but I figure that that's just the way it is for now. After Mia pays and collects her large shopping bag, we head to the food court, because she claimed that our energy needed to be preserved if we were going to run into any more sales.

"How are you feeling?" Jess asks, glancing at me as she picks up her burger, frowning as her eyes settle on a pickle sticking out from the side. I smile softly, picking up a fry from my tray and popping it in my mouth, relishing in the saltiness that glazed over my tongue.

"Well I'm not dying emotionally if that's what you're worried about." They both let out a laugh and Mia tosses a fry at me, sticking her tongue out in the process.

"You guys wanna come to my house? I've got a great couch." Mia offers, watching Jess and I with a blank expression, as if it was the most plausible thing to say. Despite my own inner turmoil and desire to climb into bed and wallow, I find myself nodding in response to her invitation.

***
"Come on in. Let me just put this stuff in my room. You guys can come see it, I've got these sick posters..." Mia's voice trails off up the stairs, as Jess follows her. I, on the other hand, take some time to observe her house. My eye catches a few picture frames and although Mia's the only child or at least I think so, there's three other people in the picture, two her parents and the other unknown. It's clear that Mia's wild blonde locks were inherited from her mother, while the blue eyes seem to be a norm in the family. The boy in the photograph is noticeably attractive, with broad shoulders and a knee-buckling smile, with hair such a dirty blonde that I wonder if he really is related to Mia.

Shrugging, I back away and find my way up the stairs, ready to question Mia on her family that she fails to ever mention.

As I reach the top of the staircase, I'm faced with various doors, each painted the same mahogany color. Biting my lip, I figure that Mia's room is the one that is slightly further down the corridor, wood plastered with stickers featuring various band names.

"Mia, I didn't know you had a brothe-" I remark in a curious tone, as I push open the door, but I cut myself off when my eyes settle on a guy that is definitely not Mia. He pushes himself up on his bed with his elbows, eyebrows raised in my direction and I find myself flushing under his gaze. It's the guy from the photographs.

"Hi, I'm a friend of Mia's. You wouldn't happen to know where her room is would you?" I mentally face palm myself at my stupid question, but her brother, I assume, lets out a throaty chuckle, before sliding off the bed and stalking towards me.

"Opposite end of the hall. I'm Mia's brother, Theo." Now that's he closer, I can't help myself but let my eyes take in his features. The skin around his eyes crinkle when he shoots me a small smile, with pale blue eyes focused directly on my green ones and he's kind of got a smoldering gaze that only a handful of guys could pull off. Damn, how could Mia not inform me about this fine specimen in her life?

"Oh there you are. I see you've met my brother." Mia interrupts, leaning against the doorframe with a smirk. I blush slightly, backing away from Theo, realizing just how close we were.

"I got lost, sorry. Let's go." I brush past Mia hastily and head to room at the opposite end of the hallway just as Theo informed me. I can hear him and Mia arguing in hushed tones, but I force myself to ignore it, instead positioning myself on Mia's bed next to Jess.

"He's hot, right?" Jess grins, playfully winking at me, before turning her attention back to the vinyl in her hands. I give her a confused look which she doesn't notice of course and turn my body fully towards her. "Wait you knew she had a brother? Why didn't you guys..." I trail off, suddenly understanding why Mia suggested going to her house. They were trying to set me up. With her brother.

"Seriously? You're trying to set me up? With her brother?" I demand accusingly with a shake of my head in disbelief, slightly upset that they tried to keep this from me. At this point, Mia enters the room, shutting the door behind her, face feigning innocence. I stare directly at her and fold my arms across my chest for good measure, hoping that she'll crack before I have the chance to interrogate her.

"Okay, okay! We're meddling. But come on, Theo's a great guy. Kind of a playboy, but with a heart of gold." She reasons, folding her arms in the same fashion as me in defense.

"Mia, I don't want to date your brother or anyone for that matter. How old is he anyway? I'm still jailbait, y'know."

"Relax, he's like two years older than me. He seemed to like you." At this, Mia smirks and Jess nudges me with a grin, both painfully oblivious at my obvious distain for their meddling.

"No. And I'm not gonna discuss this further so let's go watch a movie or something." I mumble with a blank expression, before pushing myself off the bed and heading to the stairs, not bothering to see if they were following after me.

It was way too soon and I wasn't the type to rebound, unlike Ethan. Sure, Theo was crazy attractive, but he's an older guy and Mia's brother for gods sake. I couldn't go there and I wasn't planning to. Sighing, I shake my head to rid of my thoughts and glance forward only to literally collide with a hard surface. I blow my bangs out of my eyes, tilting my head up to catch a glimpse of Theo peering down at me with a smirk, hands gripping my waist to steady me.

"Careful there. Never know what you might run into if you don't watch where you're going little red." He teases lightly with a wink, before releasing me and bounding down the stairs, leaving me standing there with a dumbfounded expression.

Before I have the opportunity to regain my composure, I hear a few coughs behind me and I turn to find Jess and Mia watching my embarrassing encounter.

"On second thought, let's stay up here." I nod, ignoring the mischievous glints in their eyes as I give them an awkward tight lipped smile.

As if my life couldn't get any more dramatic.

***

Sooo...introducing Theo Carson, Mia's hot, single, playboy older brother. Now I wasn't actually planning on including him at all but I decided what the hell, let's make more drama. But really it helps with the timeline of the story because I have it all planned out but I really hate skipping so much so this helps me to span it out a bit more.

For the upcoming chapters, here a few little spoilers:

-birthday parties for members of the squad
-awkward #ethaya encounter
-messy love
-spring break bitchessss (is the gang going somewhere wink wink)
-LOVEEEE AND DRAMA AND HEARTBREAK the whole shebang basically

SO KEEP READING AND VOTING AND COMMENTING MY BABES LOVE YAAA💓💓💓💓