Thrive: A Friends-to-Lovers Standalone Romance (Stonewood Billionaire Brothers Series)
Thrive: Chapter 18

Therapist: You’re an addict.

Jay: And I’m not ashamed of that. Not anymore. I’m accepting who I am.

Therapist: Why?

Jay: My town, my people, the ones that matter never stopped accepting me for who I was. So, I’m learning from them.

Jay

Mikka wanted to act like nothing had happened. She passed me in the hall with a look of uncertainty in her eye. I pinned her up against the wall and took her mouth in mine. She relaxed immediately and let me taste her.

“I’m going to be doing that a lot lately,” I said. “Get used to it.”

“Jay, we’re jumping into uncharted waters,” she said, smoothing my t-shirt on my chest.

“That’s where I want to be,” I grumbled and then walked away.

She’d warm to the idea. We had time. Another two weeks in a small town with me pushing her would change her mind. I had no doubt.

I would make sure of it.

Lorraine sent us to the grocery store. I massaged Mikka’s thigh the whole drive. “You game for pulling over and making out on the side of the road, Little One?”

I saw her lick her lips, saw the blush rise to her cheeks. She shook her head, but she was smiling. “Absolutely not, Jay. I’m not doing PDA around here. You know everyone in Greenville will talk.”

I shrugged and pulled over anyway.

Her mouth tasted as good as it had just hours before. I wondered if this was what being committed was. Or being committed to who you were meant to be with.

When we pulled up to the small parking lot, Mikka gasped. “Why is everyone here? There’s no parking spots left.”

I chuckled. “Greenville Village Fest starts tomorrow. Everyone’s buying last minute supplies.”

“Oh my God. We should have come earlier. This is why I need my planner.”

‘How would your planner have helped?’ I asked as I relaxed into the seat, waiting for the ridiculous answer she was about to conjure up.

‘I could have added in the dates, made note of what we needed over the past week.’

‘You wouldn’t have known to get it early. Your planner wouldn’t have told you that.’

‘I need the lesson of the day!’ she countered, grasping for any reason.

‘I’ll give you Jay’s lesson of the day.’

‘Oh God.’ She sighed, pausing for dramatic effect.

‘Don’t overthink it. I got you.’

‘That’s so stupid. You don’t have anything! No groceries whatsoever.’ She yanked open her car door and hopped out on a new mission. “We have to hurry. We aren’t going to get everything for Lorraine’s pie with everyone else buying up all the stock.”

“You don’t think they bought all the pie crust, do you?” I asked with pretend trepidation in my voice.

She didn’t even look back at me. She just grabbed my arm and yanked me toward the shop. “I bet they did. I can’t believe you guys didn’t think of this. We are going to have to drive to the next town or something.”

“Meek, I got it, it’s fine,” I said to her back.

“You don’t have it. I hate when you do this, Jay!” she yelled, frantically grabbing a cart and pushing forward.

I decided she was too cute in her futile pursuit to stop her now.

She power walked through the store, and her face fell every single time an item on her list wasn’t on the shelf. Most of the things we needed for Lorraine’s pie were sold out.

We got to the checkout counter and she grumbled, “How can a store not have any sugar left? I mean, that’s ludicrous. They should have stocked extra, Jay.”

I couldn’t hold in my laugh as we neared the counter.

“You think this is funny? We are going to spend all day chasing down these items, and if you’d planned better, we would have saved hours.”

I’d heard this speech from her before. She was my PA after all. I could admit that there had been a lot of times in LA when I didn’t remember something. My mind would be on a scene or foggy from a night of partying. She’d corrected me more than once, righted the ship when I partied too hard and didn’t show up. I was notorious for flaking on our one-on-one meetings too. It wasn’t something I was proud of.

Before partying, I’d been a stickler for punctuality and found that after rehab, the habit hadn’t died. I knew what we needed and I knew we would be fine.

“Relax. I’ll take care of it.” I patted her back. I had it under control.

Her cheeks reddened, and I knew she was frustrated with my lackadaisical attitude when she stomped a foot. “Are you trying to be patronizing? Because you are. You always say that in LA. ‘I’ll take care of it.’ No. I take care of it. And it won’t be fine if Lorraine doesn’t have the local flour to put in for her pie crusts. When did she ask you to get them?”

So, frustrated was an understatement. She was pissed.

I shrugged because answering her would have raised her blood pressure well beyond what it was now.

She whipped out her phone and started typing.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Finding the nearest grocery store with sugar and pie crust in stock.”

Her brow was furrowed and her onyx hair fell over one shoulder as she clicked away at the speed of light.

I should have stopped her. I should have told her again it was all taken care of, but this was the Meek I knew. The one who barreled through every problem, even ones this small, with a clear plan for how to fix it in mind. I was surprised to replace it was something I’d missed. It was a small victory to see her this way again but a victory nonetheless. She was getting her footing back.

We inched forward in line and, just my luck, Sandy ambled over. The tall blonde from my high school years looked good and yet I had no interest in her. Not even after I’d had dinner with her.

She curved her red lips at me and waved. “You ready for the festival?”

Mikka glanced up, and her eyes narrowed a little. She didn’t engage, though.

“We’re ready. Probably going tomorrow,” I answered, not caring to converse with her.

“I’ll see you there, hopefully? Maybe we can meet up?”

There wasn’t a chance in hell, but I shrugged anyway, not wanting to hurt her feelings. “Yeah, we’ll see.”

As the words left my mouth, I saw Mikka look between the two of us. Sandy walked off and I let the encounter go, sure we didn’t need to discuss it.

Dex, a scraggly-haired kid brother of a friend in town, started to check out our items. “Dex, can you tell Al we need the rest of my order?”

The kid mumbled into the mic that was attached to his headphone. Two seconds later, Al came around the corner with a cart of local flour, along with sugar and every other item we needed.

The old man was smiling under his white beard and started packing the materials into a bag and then into our cart. “Lorraine started the pies?”

I nodded. “She and Delilah are whipping them up over at the bakery. We’re going to take this there and help them.”

“Can’t wait to get my hands on one.”

As we walked to the truck, Mikka punched me hard in my shoulder. “You’re an asshole.”

“I told you it would be fine.”

“I nearly had a heart attack.”

“No, you were nearly just yourself,” I retorted as I pushed our cart to the truck bed and started loading the groceries. “You needed a reminder of who you are. You were about to track down everything missing on that damn list and it would have taken all day, I promise you. But you would’ve done it.”

“Well”—she shrugged, trying to hold onto her anger even with me complimenting her—“Lorraine needs to deliver the best pies.” She grabbed the empty cart as I packed in the last bag. I watched her shove it into a row of others. When it didn’t immediately roll into the other cart, she shoved it harder.

I chuckled as she made her way back. “Sure you can handle the cart?”

“Oh, shut up.” She yanked open the truck door but, before she could hop in, I lifted her by the waist like the tiny little thing she was and set her inside.

I waited for a thank you, but she glared down at me from her seat.

“You’re welcome, Meek.”

“I can climb into a truck by myself.”

“Barely,” I muttered under my breath, but I made sure it was loud enough for her to hear and slammed the door before she could respond. Antagonizing her was becoming a habit of mine. I saw her confidence resurfacing, the fight in her returning. When her eyes sparkled with the drive to put me in my place, she didn’t hesitate. This was the friend I’d missed and the woman I wanted to have in my life forever.

When I jumped in the driver’s side and turned the ignition, she was ready. “I’m not that small, Jay. I’m probably stronger than half the women you’ve met.”

“Hmmm.” I thought about it for point two seconds. “Definitely not.”

“Are you kidding me?” She scrunched her nose in irritation.

“Meek, you haven’t worked out once since you’ve been here. I know you don’t own a gym membership. You’re a tiny little thing. You look good, you know it, and I promise you no guy is complaining. But”—I held my hand up—“you got good genes, not a good exercise drive.”

“You’re so rude. Of course I work out.”

I laughed. “Mikka, an exercise video here and there where they tell you to hold a plank for five seconds doesn’t count.”

Her lips thinned and her eye twitched. I knew that look; it was the one where she was going to prove me wrong. “Pull over.”

“You want to make out again?” I winked at her.

I turned the corner into the village and came to a stop sign.

She opened her door and jumped out. “I’ll bet you whatever you want that I can hold a plank for longer than you.”

“What the hell, woman?” I looked in my rearview mirror and saw none other than Brady in his pick up behind me. “People are waiting for me to drive!”

“Then, turn the corner and pull over.”

I didn’t have much of a choice. And of course, instead of my asshole of a friend driving away, he smiled like a damn kid in a candy store and pulled over right behind me.

“Mikka, this man bothering you?” he asked as he unfolded from his driver’s seat.

Fucking Brady. I wanted to punch him square in the face for even looking at her. He eyed her up and down again right in front of me.

He knew exactly what he was doing. He’d always been one to stir the pot in high school, and he had a thing for women who were taken.

Or near taken.

Damn, I need to make Mikka mine.

“Go home, Brady,” I growled.

Mikka smiled like she’d won the lottery. “Oh, no. We need a witness.” She walked up to Brady and said hi as he leaned in to hug her. The fucker smiled over her shoulder at me.

“Oh, you’re going to get more than one witness.” I waited for her to notice that Lorraine and Delilah had already come out of the bakery to see why we’d parked so far down the street.

And Ray walked out of his bar as if he wanted some fresh air. He waved when Mikka saw him.

She smiled and then turned back to me. “I don’t care who sees that you’re out of shape.”

Her drive to win practically radiated off her. She glowed with it.

“Alright. I’ll play. I’ll bet your festival night with this idiot here.”

“Hey!” Brady said.

Mikka nodded. “It’s okay, Brady. I won’t lose our date. And when I win, we’ll make Jay pay for all our festival food. He and Sandy can follow us around, considering he’ll be with her.”

What the fuck? I hadn’t agreed to…what did she think happened between Sandy and me in that grocery store?

She didn’t even wait for me to agree. She got on her knees right in front of me, baiting me with the look in her eyes. I couldn’t tell if she’d meant to stare up at me from that position or was just showing me how easily she could get up and down, even in stilettos. Even in a tight little black shirt. Even in jeans that molded to her ass.

Either way, I wanted something completely different from a competition in that moment.

“Come on, big boy,” she purred. “Show me what you’re made of.”

She was definitely fucking with me. Maybe because I was fucking with her. But I dropped down next to her and whispered in her ear before we got into our planks. “Don’t think I won’t remember that. You learn that from a video at King Chang?”

She licked her lips slowly. “Maybe.”

My dick twitched, and I considered whether or not I needed to adjust my jeans before we started.

She smirked and then turned to yell at the crowd. “On three, we see who’s in better shape. One. Two. Three.”

We both got into plank position and I was surprised at how languidly she did so, like a kitten just stretching out.

I studied her form and found it was as good as mine, if not better. And she was wearing those heels.

A minute or so passed, and I felt the first bead of sweat form as my stomach started to quiver just a little.

With more of a crowd forming, I wondered how long she would last. I didn’t need all of Greenville knowing I’d beaten her, but I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of a date with Brady.

I had a freaking eight-pack that the world had seen on the big screen, and she never worked out.

Another minute passed and the new chant in my head was that she never fucking worked out.

I glanced at her. She wasn’t shaking at all. She wasn’t even sweating. She smiled sweetly at me, her hair pooled on the ground next to her arms and her shirt dipping low enough that I could see a little more than normal.

“I can see down your shirt,” I whispered, hoping to get a cheap win in.

“Nothing you haven’t seen before,” she shot back.

Fuck.

I was going to lose.

I was going to collapse and she was going to get this damn date with Brady.

“Woman, what type of work outs are you doing in the darkness of the night?” I dropped my head to focus on maintaining my stance.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

I snapped it back up to look at her. Her eyes were shining with mirth, and she looked like a damn yoga goddess. “You do yoga or something, don’t you?”

“Jay, I’ll be happy to give you my workout routine if you ask nicely.” She waited a beat. “After I win this.”

Brady started to chant her name and, as others joined in, I knew I was done for. I whispered one last desperate plea. “Don’t make me lose in front of my entire town.”

“You started this,” she whispered back. “And don’t try to win by guilt-tripping me.”

My stomach muscles surrendered, and I crumbled to the ground, laughing my ass off.

The crowd that had formed cheered. As she folded one leg up to lunge back and stand over me, Ray ran over and patted her on the back. “Good work. I’ll bring you a vodka soda with some lime, my dear. That’s your drink, right?”

She blushed and nodded. My damn town was choosing her over me. I saw it happening plain as day and I couldn’t have been prouder.

Brady stuck his hand out to help me up. I grabbed it as he said, “She must really want to go out with me, huh?”

I pulled him close so that I could pat him on the back and whisper in his ear, “I know where you live, man. You try anything with her, I’m coming to break down your door.”

“I thought you said she’s just your PA,” he remarked snidely.

“She’s definitely something of mine and it isn’t just that.”