DELETED SCENE
[In the story, this scene would take place the morning after Meg and Mia had a girls’ night and passed out in Mateo’s bed, before Meg woke up in bed alone….]
Mia
As soon as my eyes open, pain pierces my skull and I squeeze them shut again. Oh, God, why did I drink so much?
Meg. This is Meg’s fault.
I open my eyes again, remembering that I fell asleep in bed with her.
I do not expect to meet the brown-eyed gaze of Mateo Morelli. My eyes widen, increasing the shot of pain in my head, and I sink deeper into the bed.
“Oh, good,” I mutter.
Meg is still asleep, curled up against his half-naked body. I’m not sure if he’s still in bed because he doesn’t want to wake her up, or just because he lives to torment and he wanted me to wake up and realize I shared his bed again—even if innocently and without knowing.
“Good morning,” he murmurs amiably.
“This is weird,” I state, pulling the blanket up to cover myself.
Mateo rolls his eyes at me. “I’ve already seen your body, Mia.”
“Yes, I remember,” I respond dryly. “Last time I woke up in this bed with you, naked and traumatized. Good times.”
He flicks a glance at Meg, making sure she’s still asleep. Then his gaze returns to me, expression dry. “You survived.”
“Didn’t think I’d be back,” I inform him, though it’s not 100% true. All things considered, I spent less time in his bed than I probably could have, if Vince wouldn’t have come around.
“They always come back,” he says with a faint smirk.
I roll my eyes at his arrogance. “Because they have no choice.”
He shrugs, as if that doesn’t matter.
“Please don’t tell Vince I slept in your bed last night,” I say, already anticipating him making waves at dinner.
“I won’t.”
I’m obviously not convinced, and the look I shoot back conveys as much.
“I already promised Meg I wouldn’t,” he adds.
My gaze falls to Meg, nestled against him. I smile faintly. I never thought we’d like each other, but I really do kinda love this crazy chick. Lack of friendship is one of the hardest parts of Morelli life so far; the friends you had before don’t understand, and you can’t really be honest with any new ones. Now that Meg’s here, I have a friend, and Mateo has someone who only belongs to him. “You seem happy with her,” I tell him.
“I am.”
“Good.”
It’s the last thing I expect to happen, literally ever, but after a few seconds, Mateo says, “Thank you.”
Shaking my head a bit in confusion, I blink a few times before saying, “For what?”
Mateo looks down at her again, studying her eyes, her breathing pattern. I think he’s making sure she’s really asleep and not playing possum. Once he’s satisfied, he says, “You could’ve made her hate me with the truth.”
Smiling, I stare up at the ceiling. “A brilliant man once advised me to lie, said people would love me for it.”
“He was right,” Mateo says lightly.
“She might still love you, if she knew,” I offer, though I can’t say for sure. Maybe Meg isn’t a jealous woman, but that wouldn’t have anything to do with jealousy. Perhaps seeing that I’m obviously not broken because of it would allow her to move past it, but maybe not.
“I doubt it,” he returns. “But she never will, so that’s irrelevant.”
I nod, thinking of the gifts he’s showered down on me ever since I lied to Meg. Not that he needed to, but the obvious tokens of gratitude are nice. “Nope, she never will.”
“I appreciate that.”
I glance over at him, smiling faintly. “My loyalty’s yours, remember?”
His gaze warms, but it makes my stomach feel weird, so I avert my gaze.
“I’m going to go get breakfast,” I tell him, pushing the covers off and climbing from his bed. Before I can escape his company, I need to find my phone. I know I had it in the bed last night, and although the latter part of the evening is a bit fuzzy, I don’t recall getting up to put it away. Leaning over, I pat down the bed, feeling around for something hard. My gaze drifts across the bed to Meg again, to Mateo’s arm curled possessively around her. I remember he used to hold me the same way, though obviously there was no real tenderness behind the embrace when it was me in her place.
He notices me watching, so I go ahead and voice my thoughts, “Would you have been like that with me?”
I can’t believe I asked. I remain calm on the outside, but there’s a stampede going in my stomach right about now.
Mateo doesn’t even need time to consider it. “Yes.”
That shouldn’t tug at my heart, but it does—just a little.
Instead of betraying that, I smile. “I guess it’s a good thing we moved out then.”
The corners of Mateo’s mouth tug upward as well. “Yes, I suppose it is.”
My fingers finally curl around the hard surface of my cell phone and I straighten, glancing at the display. Three missed texts from Vince. I should probably call him and let him know everything’s okay. Poor guy. He was not excited about this girls’ night plan.
Sparing Mateo one last glance, I tell him, “Well, I’ll see you at dinner.”
“Tell Vince I said hi,” he says, his tone laced with mischief.
I turn back just long enough to give him a playfully narrowed glare, but I know he’s just teasing. Not because he wouldn’t torment me—obviously he would—but because he promised Meg, and I don’t care what she says, she’s harnessed him.
His playful little smirk makes me sigh, so I shake my head and leave Mateo’s bedroom, pulling the door shut behind me.