Mia's Heart (The Paradise Diaries) (27 page)

Thank
god I have my memories back and know otherwise.

Because
this would have crushed my heart. 

“What’s
going on?” I murmur.  I can’t tear my eyes away from Gavin’s.  His
are troubled. He didn’t want me to see this.  That much is apparent.

“What’s
it look like, Mia?  God!” Elena snaps. 

And
we’re clearly back to normal now.  Ice Bitch is back to being
bitchy.  Only now, I’ve got the upper-hand.  I realize that in a
rush.  They won’t want anyone to know about this, so they’re at a huge
disadvantage.  I hate to play hardball with Gavin but the fate of my
happiness hangs in the balance.

“Gavin,
seriously!  Here?  On Dimitri’s new boat?  What the hell do you
think he’d say if he knew?” I snap.  Gavin looks a bit dismayed.

As
he should.

“He
won’t find out,” Gavin says slowly.  “And Dante won’t either. 
Will
he
, Mia?”

He
looks at me pointedly. 

My
heart clenches a little.  I do love Gavin, even if it is only like a
brother or a best friend.  I look at Elena. 

“Get
dressed and get out.  I need to talk to Gavin.”

She
practically snarls at me, but she does pull her clothes on.  She flounces
past me in a huff.  “I’d better not hear people talking about this,
Mia.  Or there will be hell to pay!”

I
don’t even bother to answer her.  I wait until she’s gone and then I close
the door. And then I sit next to Gavin.

“Gav,
seriously.  What are you doing?”

He
sighs. 

“I
don’t know.  I don’t know what I’m doing, apparently.  She was rubbing
herself on me like she always does and I felt rejected by you and it seemed
like a good idea at the time.  Obviously, it wasn’t.  Please tell me
you aren’t going to tell anyone, Mi.”

I
reach up and touch his face.  His eye is still swollen and black from
where Quinn punched him. 

“I’m
sorry all of this happened,” I tell him softly.  “I’m sorry that you and
Quinn fought.  I’m sorry that I drove you to that.  I’m sorry that I
didn’t know what I wanted- and that I led you on, I guess.  I didn’t mean
to, but I did.  And I hate that I hurt you, Gav.  I love you like a
brother- like a best friend.  Because you
are
my best friend, and
I’m so worried that I’ve lost you.”

I’m
crying now.  All of a sudden.  The tears just start streaking down my
face and I wipe at them. 

Gavin
pulls me to him.  He smells like sex, but I ignore that part.  I
focus instead on the comforting way that he’s patting my back. 

“Mia,
don’t cry,” he whispers into my hair.  “I love you too. And you know
what?  It’s okay.  You and I weren’t meant to be.  We
weren’t.  If we were, we would have realized it a long time ago. 
You’re my best friend, too.  And I’m sorry about everything.”

I
pull away and look at him. 

“So,
we’re good?” 

He
nods. 

“We’ll
always be good.”

I
exhale slowly.  Knowing that I haven’t lost him is the biggest sense of
relief I’ve ever felt.  But then I remember why I’m here. 

I
stare into his eyes.   

“Gav,
you’ve got to talk to your dad.  It’s not right that he’s pressing charges
against Quinn.  Quinn was only protecting himself and you know it.”

Gavin
looks uncomfortable and fidgets a bit. 

“I
can’t control my dad,” he finally says. “You know that.  You know how he
is.”

I
nod.

“I
do. But in this instance, you’ve got to.  It’s not fair to send Quinn back
to America now. Not for something that wasn’t his fault.  You were mad at
me, at the situation and you took it out on Quinn.  He shouldn’t have to
pay the price for that.”

Gavin
is still hesitating, so I have to use my leverage.  The leverage that I
don’t want to use. 

“Gav,
if you make your father drop the charges, I will never breathe a word of what I
saw here today.  Ever. Not to anyone. Not to Reece, not to Dante, not to
Dante’s father.”

Gavin
stares at me, his gaze a bit cool. 

“And
if I don’t?”

I
shrug.  “Let’s not worry about that, okay?  Because I know you’ll do
the right thing and make your father drop this.”

The
moment is charged.  Gavin’s eyes are pissed.  I can see that. 
But he has to know that I’m right.  And the fact that I even had to use
this situation as leverage make me angry too.

“Gavin,
this is ridiculous.  You’re a better person than this.  You know what
the right thing to do is.  You’re a good person—just do the right thing.”

We’re
having a stare-down.  His dark gaze meets mine.  And holds.

And
holds.

And
holds until I grow fidgety and uncomfortable. 

And
then finally he sighs. 

“Fine. 
You’re right.  I was pissed because things didn’t turn out the way I’d
hoped.  I’ll talk to my father tonight.  We’ll get it straightened
out.  You’re right.  Quinn doesn’t deserve this.”

A
rush of relief floods through me.

“Thank
you,” I murmur.   I reach over and grab his hand.  “Thank
you.  I appreciate this so much.”

He
nods.  “I know.  And it’s the right thing to do.  I’m sorry that
he was arrested in the first place.  My dad was angry and I couldn’t talk
him out of it.”

“I
know,” I tell him.  “That’s exactly what we thought happened.”

Gavin
gets dressed and we find Dante, Reece and Quinn.  Before anyone can say
anything, Gavin steps forward and holds his hand out to Quinn. 

Quinn
shakes it without hesitation. 

“I’m
sorry,” Gavin tells him.  “I shouldn’t have punched you.  Or shoved
you.  It wasn’t your fault that the situation frustrated me.  I hope
you can forgive me.  I’m going to talk to my dad tonight and convince him
to drop the charges.”

Quinn
nods and accepts his apology.  And then we all sit and chat for another
hour.  It’s so surreal that I can’t even believe that it’s happening.

But
it is.

And
we actually have fun, all curled up on the stern of
The Sunflower
,
sipping at champagne and eating appetizers.  We laugh, we joke, and things
almost seem normal.  I don’t say a word about finding Gavin with Elena and
I don’t see her again all evening.  Gavin doesn’t even seem to notice her
absence. 

Later
in the night, after we go back to Giliberti House, Gavin calls and tells me
that his father agreed to let the whole thing go. 

I
exhale a long sigh of relief and I feel like the weight of the world has slipped
from my shoulders.  I didn’t even realize how uptight I was about it until
this moment.  And in this moment, I feel like I could fly. 

So
I fly down the hall and tell Quinn the good news. 

It
is morning before I creep quietly back to my own room.

Apparently,
New Mia’s boyfriend is sexy as hell and has mad-bedroom-skills. 

I
smile as I close my bedroom door softly behind me.  My knees are still
weak, but I don’t meow at myself this time.  Anyone’s knees would be weak
after the night that I had. 

Chapter
Twenty-Three

Two Months
Later

Reece
and I are meowing at Quinn. 

This
is not unusual.  Every chance we get, we do it.  It’s
hilarious.  Or we’re just easily entertained.  One or the
other. 

This
time, it is because Quinn is refusing to wear a speedo in the normal European
fashion.  He insists on sticking to swim trunks.  Although the point
of him wearing a suit at all is sort of moot. He still can’t swim. 

We’re
at the beach today.  Dante and Reece stayed in Caberra and school finally
resumed after construction was complete, but we’re out for Christmas break
now.  It’s been a hectic and stressful past couple of months. 

We’ve
worked our tails off, volunteering on different clean-up committees, to get
Valese back to the beautiful, pristine city that it should be.  And we’ve
succeeded.  You almost can’t tell that an earthquake ever hit. 

Sadly,
the construction on my own home is almost finished and I’ll be moving back home
within the month.  I say sadly because I love being out at Giliberti House
with Quinn, Dante and Reece.  But I’ll just have to make the drive to
visit them after I move. 

Every
day.

Maybe
even twice a day.

“Quinn,
just grow a pair and wear the speedo,” Gavin shouts from down the beach. 
He and Quinn have patched up their differences in the way that only boys can
and even consider each other a friend again.  It will never cease to amaze
me how boys can get mad, get in a physical fight and then get over it. 
The male species is truly weird. 

Gavin
shouts again, louder this time for effect.  “Just grow a set!”

Quinn
runs him down, then tackles him to the ground and they roll in the sand for a
bit.  Somehow, and I don’t exactly know how, Gavin’s speedos end up
floating on the waves of the sea. 

Reece
and I look at each other and laugh before we resume looking at our magazines
from the safety of our beach chairs.  The boys rough-house for a while
longer and then Dante joins them to throw a Frisbee around. 

As
I look around, at my laughing friends, at the beautiful sea, at my BFF next to
me, I can’t believe how lucky I am.  Life really does seem like a fairy
tale. 

But
even fairy tales come to an end.  I swallow hard as I remember that sad
fact.  We’re all looking at colleges now though and I know that our happy
little group will split apart next year.  Gavin and I are looking at
Cambridge, while Dante and Reece are looking at colleges in the States. 
Quinn hasn’t decided yet what he’d like to do. I’m hoping that he will come
with me, though. 

Yes,
that is selfish.

But
honestly, Cambridge?  It’s not exactly like it’s a hardship.

And
even though some things end, endings are just doors closing so that new doors
can open, right?

I
watch Quinn now, his muscles flexing and moving as he dives to catch the Frisbee. 
He holds it up, showing the others that he did, in fact, catch it before it hit
the ground.  Then he crows because he won. 

He
makes his way over to me and with the sunlight shining from behind him, he is
heart-stoppingly gorgeous. 

Seriously. 

I
squint up at him as he holds a hand out.

“Yes?”
I ask him, then grin. 

“Come
on,” he tells me.  “You’ve got a deal to uphold.”

I’m
confused and I tell him that.  He smiles. 

“You
were supposed to teach me to swim months ago.  And you haven’t yet.”

I
consider that. 

“True,”
I tell him. “But we’ve been busy with other things.  Like, you know,
rebuilding a city.”

He
laughs and pulls me to my feet. 

“Excuses,
excuses,” he chuckles.  “I don’t see a hammer in your hand right
now.  I think you can fit me in.”

He
wraps his arm around my waist and I tuck myself into his side.  We walk
leisurely down the beach and I stare up at him.

“I’m
lucky,” I tell him suddenly. And he looks down at me in surprise. 

“Why
is that?”

“Because
I’ve got my very own American Cowboy.”

He
smiles and shakes his head.  “I’ve told you.  You don’t have to keep
calling me that.  Awesome One will do.”

I
roll my eyes. 

But
he
is
awesome.  I’m just never going to admit that to him. He’s
cocky enough as it is… but that’s just the way I like him.

The
sun beats down on our shoulders as we walk down to a pier.  The sea laps
softly at the wood and I stare down at the clear water. 

I
tell him again the mechanics of swimming. 

And
he nods. 

“Got
it,” he tells me.  “Keep my head up, relax and float.  I can do it.”

I
nod.  “Yes, you can.  And I’ll be right there with you.”

He
laughs.  “I think we’ve established this, Mi.  You can’t save
me.  You’re half my size.”

I
roll my eyes. 

“I’ve
saved you already,” I tell him. “I’ve saved you from an empty life without me
in it.”

I’m
totally joking, of course, but he nods.  He seems thoughtful. 

“Mia,”
he says huskily, as he pulls me to him.  “I was just wondering about
something.  Remember a couple of months ago…you said you were falling for
me.  Then you said you weren’t quite there.  You were going to let me
know when you were, but you’ve never said anything.”