More to You ✔

Chapter 42 - Pool Party (Maria)

Tom stared at Mitch, Shawn, and Prae with a glower on his face that Maria was still processing. He was always antagonistic toward the guy when Maria was around, but she assumed it was jealousy. Now she and Tom were sitting together as she attempted to make conversation, and he hardly responded to her questions. Either he had an insatiable hate crush on Mitch, or Mitch was onto something in accusing Tom of paying too much attention to Prae.

Maria couldn't decide how she felt about the latter. It diminished her guilt over her feelings for Mitch and for sleeping in his bed last night but also left her worried she might never be enough for the men she liked. No sense dwelling on it when there was a party to enjoy.

"The pierogies are tasty." She took another bite of the doughy, pork and cheese flavoured creations with gooey potato in the center. "Good call on the bacon."

"Mhm." Tom's eyes were glued to the trio, who were laughing together and clinking glasses.

She was trying to be an attentive date and not focus on Mitch, but Tom wasn't making this easy. After finishing her salad, she figured she might as well test Tom's distracted state if for nothing more than her amusement. "I'm going to do a few laps topless to work on my tan. You're okay with that, right?"

"Mmhm."

What would happen if she pulled Mitch over, climbed on his lap, and made out with him? Would Tom notice if Prae was still over there? As horribly cruel of an idea it was, it thrilled her. If the goal was to screw with Tom, Mitch might even be down for it.

She shook her head. After yesterday, she knew Mitch needed her in more than a physical way. She was one of few people he shared his past with, and she didn't want to ruin that by driving him away again. Plus, that would devastate Tom, which should have been her first reaction. The sangria was inspiring many terrible ideas.

Instead, she placed her hand on Tom's arm. "You've hardly touched your food."

"Sorry, I'm worried about what Mitch might do around Prae. Was it his idea to throw this party for her?"

"It was mine and Emma's. We thought the food, drinks, and fun people would get her mind off Sakda."

"That's asking a man like Mitch to take advantage of her. Look at the shots and sangria they keep giving her."

Maria didn't want to see Mitch enjoying another woman's attention. "Maybe she's bummed out and wants to take the edge off, or she's trying to enjoy the evening. Perhaps she's onto something, and I should grab more wine."

Tom turned back toward Maria. "Sorry, I'm not the best date."

"I'm not judging; although I did just say I was going to walk around topless and you told me 'mhm', so either you're very progressive or a bit inattentive."

His eyebrows rose to his ginger hairline. "Were you joking?"

Maria laughed, "Of course I was." Although if she'd done the same to Mitch, he would have half teased her until she did it then pulled her onto his lap to... She didn't know if the wine or two days of seeing Mitch shirtless, but these thoughts had to stop.

Before she checked the man out again, she kissed Tom and ran her hands through his soft hair. He returned the kiss with a passion she appreciated.

He pulled away and grazed his thumb over her lower lip. "You are very affectionate. I'm a lucky guy." He pushed her bangs to the side and kissed her again with similar intensity.

"I missed you yesterday," he whispered as they broke apart to catch their breath.

"Sorry, I wanted to help."