The Flirt vs. The Player [Editing] (Overall Winner of the Wattpad Story Contest)

Chapter 11

Recap:

Mia fell to the ground. For the first time, I saw the true nature of this girl. She wasn’t really a flirt at heart. She had always just been trying to forget.

Just like me.

I knelt down and wrapped my arms around her. “It’s okay,” I said softly, “you can cry.”

And that’s what she did.

Chapter 11

Mia’s P.O.V.

After sobbing into Nate’s shoulder like an idiot in the middle of the mall with everyone staring for a good five minutes, I finally stood up. I quickly wiped the extra tears from my eyes and turned away from Nate so he wouldn’t see my puffy eyes and red nose.

He slowly stood up and cautiously put his hand on my shoulder, gently patting it comfortingly, “Are you okay now?”

I swallowed and took a deep breath, “Yeah, I’m good.” I turned back around to see Nate looking at me with a concerned look.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Gosh, yes.

“No, not-not yet.” I replied slowly, silently scolding my inner self who wanted to reveal everything and all things to this beautiful worried boy in front of me.

He smiled weakly, “Okay.?” He gestured his arm towards me, “Shall we move on then?”

I tried to smile back as best as I could and accepted the arm he offered, “Let’s go.”

For the next two and a half hours, I felt like the incident with Carter had never happened. We walked around, going into some stores, laughing at Nate’s awful jokes, and simply had a grand time.

I didn’t want it to ever end.

For the first time, I felt as if a burden had been lifted off of my chest and I could really be myself with Nate. For the first time, I let my feelings for him free and never let go of the arm that I was holding.

When we walked into Victoria’s Secret, Nate looked quizzically at the fancy lace bras and other undergarments and raised his eyebrows, “Why is it so important to girls to have fancy underwear?”

I giggled at his seemingly innocent question as he looked towards me for an answer.

“No, seriously, though. I just don’t get it,” he shuffled his feet with his hands in his pockets. I loved the way he looked at me with those dark eyes, the way his muscles rippled through his tight t-shirt, I just—loved him.

“Mia? Mia?” I shook myself out of my trance. He smirked, obviously amused, “Were you daydreaming about me?” He teased.

“Me? Daydreaming about you? Oh please,” I scoffed.

Yes, yes, I was daydreaming about you. I shook my head not exactly believing my own feelings, unknowing of how my heart beat faster when he was around me, and not wanting to admit the sore truth.

The Queen Flirt had just fallen for the player.

Nate’s P.O.V.

I decided not to push Mia to tell me about Carter. She looked like she wanted to open up to me, but then, she just—didn’t. Yeah, I was pretty disappointed, I felt the need to help her. She looked so—hurt, lost, in need of someone to talk to.  

I knew how she felt. I knew what it was like to be betrayed.

For some reason, I didn’t know why, but I felt as if I’ve seen Carter somewhere. He looked familiar to me. Probably just some guy at one of the games I’ve played in, I thought, pushing the idea way.

After the run in with Carter, Mia began to loosen up. As we walked around the mall, she looked so free and happy. Since she was happy, I couldn’t help but to be happy too. My arm tingled at her touch, and I prayed that she couldn’t hear my heart thumping as loudly as it was.

We walked into Victoria’s Secret and instantly, I was hit with the strong scent of perfume. I glanced around—it’s so lovely to see the female undergarments all fancily arranged. I felt awkward standing in a ‘girl store’, like when I was five years old in the women’s restroom with my mom because I was too scared to go by myself.

I picked up a pair of underwear and turned to Mia, hoping to get a laugh out of her, “Why is it so important to girls to have fancy underwear?”

To my delight, she giggled and looked at me with laughing eyes. I did a mental back flip of joy and said, “No seriously, I don’t get it.” I didn’t want her to see me blushing, so I looked down at my feet and began to shuffle my shoes.

I looked up slightly to see her reaction and found her staring at me with dreamy eyes. She looked—in love. Her lips turned up in a small smile and her eyes, blinking slowly, focused on me—where they belong.

I smirked and said, “Mia? Mia? Were you daydreaming about me?”

She was shaken out of her trance and recollected herself before saying, “Me? Daydreaming about you? Oh please, Nate.” I could tell she was flustered but didn’t push her further.

Before I could stop myself, I walked towards her and wrapped my arms around her from behind. She tensed up and grabbed my arms, “Nate, what are you doing?”

“Just for a minute,” I said, “Please, just stay like this for a minute.”

She slowly loosened her grip and let her arms fall to her sides. I buried my nose in her fresh strawberry-scented blonde hair and kept my arms around her. For those 60 seconds, I forgot all about the bet. I forgot that I was dating Mia simply to prove that the flirt and the player could have a relationship. I forgot about Alyssa. I forgot about my parents’ divorce.

I just thought about this beautiful girl in front of me, this beautiful girl that I had just fallen in love with, this beautiful girl—that loved me back.

Slowly, I let go of her, and she turned around to face me. She looked into my eyes, searching for something as if, for that brief moment, she felt that same feeling between us. Mia wrapped her arms around my neck and stood up on her tippy toes.

Her lips inched closer to mine. I couldn’t move, unable to think, only focused on those rosy red lips that were soon to touch my own.

Our lips met and I found myself wrapping my arms around her waist. I could feel her soft lips moving against mine as I kissed her back, wanting more. Suddenly, she pulled away and looked down at her feet, as if she had been in a trance and the spell had broken, “Look, I didn’t mean-“

Before she could finish, I grabbed her face.

I brought her lips back to mine.

And I knew then—I had fallen completely in love with Mia Hart.