Stitch by Jaime Lewis (ebook reader online .txt) 📗

a damper on her mood, and she was now ready to call it a night. It pissed her off that his presence had ruined an enjoyable evening. The bartender handed her the glass, and she took a big gulp, feeling the burn of the alcohol down her throat.

“Did we bore you?” Elijah whispered in her ear.

She jerked her head around and found Elijah grinning at her. “What?”

His smile grew, and his eyes held a wicked gleam. “I thought we might have bored you.”

“Oh. No. I just didn’t really have anything to contribute to the conversation, so I got myself a drink.” She grinned and held up her drink before downing the rest of it. As she lowered her hand, Elijah took the glass from her and placed it on the bar.

“Well, I didn’t bring you here so you could feel ignored. Come.” He commanded, taking her hand and leading her away from the group. Sensing eyes on her, Mia took a quick look over her shoulder. Terek was leaning against the bar staring directly at her. He wasn’t happy, and she couldn’t understand what his deal was.  Was he jealous? The thought of it made her smile. She could easily act like she and Elijah were an item, but she quickly dismissed the idea. It wasn’t fair to put Elijah in the middle of her personal issues.  Nor was she one to play games. For now, she would just go with the flow and smile like she’d done all evening and hope she’d seen the last of Terek.

Chapter Three

“Stitch!”

Stitch looked up from where he was standing with his hip leaning against the pool table. Ace and Potter stared at him. “Are you going to play or what?”

Damn, he hadn’t realized he had zoned out. Ever since Alex and Tenley had shown him Mia’s picture, he couldn’t get the image of her in that fucking dress out of his head. She looked like she had just stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine, and knowing she’d be in a room filled with wealthy businessmen who probably used their manipulative boardroom ways to get a woman into bed had his head spinning. If she was going to sleep in anyone’s bed, he wanted it to be his.

Before his dick got any harder and made a fool of himself, he stood and pointed to the corner, right pocket, and lined up the easy shot.  He cursed when the ball went wide to the left. Christ, he was definitely off his game.

“Dude, what is with you tonight?” Ace snickered, then grabbed another handful of peanuts and shoved them into his mouth.

“He needs to get laid,” Potter said, leaning on his pool stick. “Oh, but she isn’t around, is she?”

Stitch shot Potter a look that told him to shut the fuck up. When Potter grinned, Stitch knew the giant got what he intended. And that got him riled up.

“What? Are you dating someone?” Ace questioned, looking confused.  The team shared pretty much everything with one another. But he couldn’t very well tell Ace that the woman Potter was referring to was Ace’s baby sister. Stitch was pretty confident that wouldn’t bode well for him. And it was a huge problem because he not only was interested in Mia, but he was already in love with her. Ever since Christmas of last year, the two of them started talking more and really got to know each other. Even when she was back up in New York, they kept in contact. They both knew they were walking a slippery slope keeping their “friendship” a secret from Ace.

Stitch glanced back at Potter, who suddenly found something to entertain himself with so he wouldn’t have to endure Stitch’s death stare.  Looking back at Ace, he waved him off.

“No. Potter’s just messing around.”

Just then, Alex made her entrance bouncing her way over to Ace. He opened his arms, and she walked right into them. That right there was what Stitch wanted. He wanted a woman who knew they were loved by their man, just like Alex knew that Ace would move heaven on earth for her.

“You okay?” Ace asked her. Stitch grinned, knowing Alex had a little too much to drink and was currently in her happy place, as she called it.

She scrunched her nose up at Ace. “Yeah, but you need to convince your sister to find a job here in Virginia Beach or close by.”

Ace chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. The man was so pussy whipped it was hilarious, but equally humbling to watch a man like Ace, who was fierce and commanding, not to mention so set in his ways as a SEAL, fall so hard for a woman. He couldn’t be any happier for his team leader and his best friend.

“Why’s that? She seems happy in New York.” Ace replied.

Oh, big brother. You are clearly mistaken, Stitch thought to himself. If Ace had been within an earshot of Mia during her last visit, he would have heard the somberness when she spoke about New York. Just because she didn’t come right out and say she was unhappy, didn’t mean she wasn’t. A person’s body language could give away many clues.

Alex wrinkled her nose up again and Ace’s intense expression softened a smidge, and Stitch thought it was hilarious.

“She would be happier here with all of us,” she said, pinning her gaze on Stitch, and Stitch squinted his eyes at her. He just shook his head when she grinned. He got her message loud and clear.

“You think so?” Ace asked, seeming utterly oblivious to Stitch and Alex's silent conversation, which was a good thing for Stitch.

“I know so because Tenley and I just talked to her.”

Ace furrowed his eyebrows. “I thought she was at that fancy event.”

“She is, but Tenley and I were bored since y’all wouldn’t let us watch our movie, so we called her to see how things were going.”

“And…?”  Ace asked, raising an eyebrow.

Alex shrugged her shoulders. “She said