Page 36 of Prove Me Wrong (The Sunburnt Hearts #5)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

NOAH

T his past week with Mia has been like a breath of fresh air, something I haven't felt in a long time. I start my day by waking to thoughts of her, wondering if she’s awake or still sleeping.

If she’s making her coffee, reading her book, reading something on her phone or showering.

I have to scour those images away before I start to lose focus and my blood flows south.

Since coming home from Newcastle and finding a plate of fresh lemon squares and another small painting of me standing on my car from Mia, waving to the crowd, my heart has fallen further for this woman.

She somehow knows exactly what I need, leaving me things that she knows I will cherish forever.

It’s as if she’s known me forever. I don’t want to let her go, greedily wanting her to be with me forever, but I have to wait to know if she feels the same way about me.

I haven’t shared my feelings with her yet, but I am waiting for the right moment.

Call me old fashioned, but I think the timing is important, not something you blurt out when you’re drunk or wanting to cover something up.

I like to think of myself as a good man—a gentleman—and I want to do everything right by my neighbour who has stolen my whole heart, or whatever part isn’t already taken up by Jade .

On Tuesday, I brought Mia home some flowers—green daylilies—because I know that she loves green just as much as I do.

Thursday, I found some of my old band records and left them for her on my bench, along with my record player that was collecting dust in my garage.

I loved it when I was a teenager but haven’t had the chance to use it in years.

I know Mia has some of her own records, so I thought she could add them to her collection instead of sitting in a dark cardboard box.

Seeing her face light up was one thing. Her kisses were another, trying to give them back to me, but I insisted on letting her take them. I love seeing her so happy, and I wish I could give her that feeling every day when I see her.

The thought still lingers in my mind, of asking her to look after Jade every day and not having to drop her off at Jump Start three mornings a week.

Jade never cries when Mia comes over; in fact, she’s become so used to it that when she hears Mia coming in, Jade squeals with excitement, and it makes my heart flip.

If she came over every day, it would make Jade and my life so much better, but I also feel funny about asking her.

I am beginning to feel awkward about paying her and still acknowledging her as my babysitter and not anything more, because anything more seems wrong.

I did ask Mia if she was able to watch Jade tonight when Nathan convinced me to go to a gig at the Barrenridge Pub. She told me that she has a friend visiting from the city, and I didn’t want to ruin their plans, so June agreed to take her for the few hours I’d be out with Nathan, Caleb and Jason.

“Sterling, get in the car,” Nathan grumbles at me from the passenger seat of my ute when I come out of June’s house.

I slip into the driver’s seat and look in the mirror to see Ivy in the back. Dark eyes stare back into mine. Her makeup is bold and dark, with deep red lips and thick black liner. I also see a lot more of her cleavage than I wanted, so my eyes don’t budge from hers.

“Looking to score tonight?” I ask. Her painted red lip quirks to one side.

“We’ll see. The field is quite dry in Barrenridge. And yes, pun intended.” She winks at me through the mirror.

I scoff. Nathan tosses his phone and wallet in the middle console. “Let’s go then. Caleb and Jason will be there soon.”

“Yeah. I need a drink,” Ivy mutters, going back on her phone. “Or five.”

“You’re not having five drinks,” Nathan snips back, and Ivy’s eyes roll magnificently.

“Maybe I can go home with a band member. Drummers are hot, and don’t even get me started on guitarists.”

Nathan glares at his sister over his shoulder. “Definitely not. No band members.”

Ivy pouts. “But I want a musician man.”

“Then go to the orchestra,” Nathan supplies as I reverse out of the driveway. “They’re nice guys.”

“You mean boring, virgin guys,” Ivy groans.

I shake my head, smothering my amused smile.

Nathan’s eyes slide to mine, narrowing. “Don’t encourage her. You’re only twenty-one, Ivy. I’m not letting you waste your life on a guy who won’t stick around.”

“Why not? You sleep around, too, Nate.” Her arms fold tightly over her chest.

I glance at my best friend. “She has a point there.”

His jaw clenches, but Nathan remains silent beside me as I drive us to the pub .

It’s rowdier than a normal Saturday night. Then again, we are usually here before Jade falls asleep. I haven’t been out this late in a very long time.

The room, while large, is stuffy and swarming with all sorts of people. I’m pretty sure most of Barrenridge is packed in here tonight.

Pushing through the group of people waiting for the gig to begin, Ivy immediately ditches us for her friends, but I don’t really mind. She is old enough to look after herself. Nate is just overprotective.

“You want a drink?” I ask loudly over all the noise echoing through the room.

“Yep,” Nathan huffs out and pushes me towards the bar.

Ordering a beer each, we stand near the corner, giving ourselves a bit of room compared to the ones crowding the makeshift stage. We don’t normally have a lot of gigs in town, so when there is one, people get overly excited.

I look at Nathan who has already drunk half his glass, glancing around aimlessly. “How do you know this band?”

He shrugs, licking froth from his upper lip. “The bass player is hot. Met her once in Rafters Falls.”

My eyebrows flick up as he smiles deviously. “Did she sleep with you already?”

Nate shakes his head. “Nah. She said she would if I came along to see her play.” Grinning, he leans closer to me. “And then I can play with her afterwards.” He elbows my side and winks at me.

I shove him away gently. “I sometimes wonder how I’m still friends with you.”

Nathan snickers. “Please, you love me.”

“Yeah…” I groan, and he flicks the back of my neck.

We’ve been like this since we were kids. If we didn’t look so different, people would have assumed we were brothers with how much we pick on each other.

“So, how come your girl didn’t come out tonight?” Nathan wriggles his brows at me.

I groan and sip on the bitter tasting beer. “She’s not my girl yet, and she’s busy with a friend.”

Nathan’s dark eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Not your girl? Wait, I thought you two kissed?”

“You kiss girls all the time. Does that make them all yours?” I deadpan.

“Well, no. But you like her, she likes you, so get it on already.”

My head tilts back, and I stifle a grunt. “We aren’t getting it on, Nate. She’s not ready for that.”

“Is that what she told you?”

I shrug a shoulder lightly.

Nathan hums gruffly. “Interesting. You should have seen her face when she saw you on TV. She looked like a tomato .”

I freeze and stare at him, wide eyed with realisation. “You were at mine?”

“Yeah, I wanted to watch the race.”

All I can do is blink at him. “You watched the race with her?”

"Yeah. Ivy was using our TV, and I wanted to meet Mia while you were out of town.”

My hand runs down my face, grumbling, “Of course you did.”

He chuckles throatily. “And from what I saw, she likes you, even if she can’t admit that just yet.”

Shaking my head, I sip on my drink. “I’m surprised she let you in. Mia isn’t entirely comfortable around people, especially men.”

His frown matches mine. “You think something happened to her? ”

I bite down on the inside of my cheek and nod. “I’m not sure. She’s just very quiet,” is all I answer with, not wanting to dive deeper into all her anxious tendencies I’ve seen. If something did happen to make her this hesitant and shy, then she’ll tell me when she’s ready—I hope.

“So you haven’t done anything more with her yet?” he questions with raised brows.

I shake my head.

“Wow, you must really like her then if you’re willing to wait to make a move.”

That makes me huff out a breath. “It’s not that, Nate. You remember how I was after Jade was born. I know how it is to be anxious and not wanting to socialise. You never forced me to do anything until I was ready, and I want to make sure she feels the same way around me.”

Nathan pats my back, giving me a small smile. “Wow. You know, if you weren’t already taken by her, I think I’d fall for you.”

My eyes roll again as I shove him harder. Nathan laughs at my unimpressed grin.

MIA

“Should we get something?” Lila asks. I grip her hand tightly, not daring to let go in this sea of people.

This is not what I expected when she said that we should go out. Of course, we weren’t going to sit with Gran and Jade all night—although I wouldn’t have minded—but I never imagined the local pub would be this busy.

Lila drove from Sydney last night to visit me for the weekend.

I have missed living with her. We were roommates all through university, and when I fled to Sinnett’s after Ryan’s assault, she helped us find another apartment closer to my brother where I’d feel a lot more comfortable.

As much as I’d have liked to stay with Sinnett and Khai, I also couldn’t live long term with those two.

So, Lila was the next best option, since I couldn’t face my parents properly after everything.

Despite our differences in how we see men, Lila has been there for me when I needed a friend. She’s also never shy around them like I am, and she did try to get me back into the dating game, even though it’s the last thing I’ve wanted since running from my ex.