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“Fine,” came the muttered response as Mikey shoved the comforter away with a soft sigh and an impatient gesture for him to get on with it as Jonathan dragged himself off the floor and walked the short distance back to his bed where he dropped down on his mattress with a groan and promptly began snoring.

“You’re too kind,” Sebastian drawled as he returned his attention to the iPad, noting that they were only forty percent through the book.

Damn.

At this rate, she was going to have to read all day, most of the night and all day tomorrow if she had any hope of finishing the book on time. For a moment, he considered writing the book report for her and breaking down the book for her in case her teacher asked questions, but she would probably throw something at his head if he even suggested it, Sebastian thought, unable to help but smile as he thought about the real reason that he liked her so much.

She was…different.

There was really no other way to put it. She was also funny, kind, smart, determined, too damn adorable for words, and one of a kind. Most of the kids their age were concerned with what everyone else thought of them, but Mikey didn’t give a damn. She never bothered to pretend to be anything else but herself. She knew what she wanted and who she was and didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought, which was the first thing that he’d noticed about her the first time that he’d laid eyes on her.

After spending four hours in the car with his family, he’d needed some time to himself. So, while everyone else had been fighting over who was sleeping where, he’d been sneaking out the back of the cottage that his family had rented for the summer and found himself watching her. She’d been the cutest damn thing that he’d ever seen with her long hair in matching braids, wearing a baseball cap backwards and a baseball jersey at least two sizes too big for her as she yelled at her uncle for throwing like a girl and he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her.

Whenever Mikey was around, he’d found himself watching her, wondering what it was about her that drew him in. She was definitely the strangest girl that he’d ever met, but that hadn’t been the reason why he hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off her. It wasn’t until he’d gone with her to pick up tools for the renovation on her house that he’d figured it out and once he did…

He’d panicked.

The way that she’d made him feel…

God, it had been addicting. She just made everything better and that terrified him because he knew that it couldn’t last. He’d been tempted, more than a little tempted, to allow himself to let go of everything and just enjoy it while it lasted, but the thought of having to say goodbye to her had been enough for him to pretend that she didn’t make him want more.

He’d tried to fight it, tried to tell himself that it was for the best even after he found out that Reese had married her mother and were moving in across the street from him, but he hadn’t been able to fight it any longer. He’d needed to be near her,

needed to find out if he’d imagined it, and needed…

God, he’d just needed her.

“I know,” Mikey said, nodding against his chest. “That’s why you adore me.”

“I don’t remember saying that I adore you,” Sebastian murmured, unable to help but smile because they both knew that he adored everything about her.

“You didn’t have to say it,” she said, snuggling in closer to him.

“And why’s that?” he couldn’t help but wonder as he found the spot where they’d left off.

“Because I know,” Mikey said, nodding solemnly even as he couldn’t help but wonder if she really knew just how much she meant to him.

Chapter 10

The good news was that she probably didn’t have to worry about writing that book report anymore, Mikey thought as she took in the large man glaring down at her.

“Start talking,” Uncle Trevor said, not really looking all that happy to find her curled up in his son’s bed, which was understandable since she wasn’t exactly supposed to be here.

“I missed you?” she said with a hopeful smile only to add, “so much,” when he narrowed his eyes on her.

“What did we talk about, Mikey?” Uncle Trevor asked, sighing heavily as he folded his insanely large arms over his chest while he waited for an answer.

“That making Jonathan cry for my own amusement is wrong?” she said, ignoring the gasp of outrage from the other side of the room.

“For the last time, little girl,” Jonathan snapped as he shoved his blankets aside and got to his feet, “I had something in my eye!”

“No, he didn’t,” she mouthed, shaking her head as Uncle Trevor tried to bite back a smile only to end up clearing his throat and turning his head with a small cough to cover the chuckle that escaped.

“You know what? We’re over!” Jonathan bit out as he grabbed a change of clothes from his bureau and stormed off toward the door only to add, “Over!” once again as he slammed the door shut behind him.

At Uncle Trevor’s questioning look, Mikey said, “He’ll be back,” with a firm nod that had him opening his mouth to say something only to close it when Jonathan walked back into the room, looking calmer than he had a few seconds ago. With a helpless shrug, Jonathan said, “I forgive you.”

“For getting you stuck at the top of the Ferris wheel or for making you cry because I was bored?” Mikey asked, mostly because she liked clarification. She didn’t bother asking him if he forgave her for making that video since she doubted that he would ever forgive her for doing that.