Chapter 46 Blair's demand

Chapter 46 Blair's demand
Mia's POV

I took the phone from her hand.

The screen was bright. Blair Reid's name at the top. The message underneath was three paragraphs long and every word in it made my chest tighter.

Filmed couples interview. National skating publication. Four days.

Not print. Filmed. On camera. Mia and Zack sitting next to each other answering questions about their relationship for a national audience. In four days.

I read it twice. I locked the screen. I looked at Jade.

"Why are you in my room?"

"Because Luca's car was in the driveway and Zack's car was in the driveway and you weren't home." She uncrossed her legs. "And when you got home you went directly to Luca's room. And I thought you might need a sister."

"You thought I might need a sister."

"Yes."

"You went through my phone, Jade."

"It was face up on the bed. It buzzed. I looked."

"You read it."

"I read the first line. The rest was hard to miss."

I pressed my thumb against the edge of the phone case. Hard. Until the plastic dug into my skin.

"Since when do I need a sister."

Her expression flickered. Not a flinch. Something smaller. Something that moved through her face and disappeared before I could name it.

"Since you started forgetting you had one."

"I didn't forget. You made it hard to remember."

She looked at me. Not with the calculated face. Not with the warm performance she used on everyone else.

"That's fair," she said.

"It's not fair. It's the truth. You cornered Zack at the rink this morning. You asked him how serious he is about me. You went through my phone tonight. And now you're sitting on my bed telling me I forgot I have a sister. You don't get to do all of that and then act like you're the one who's been left out."

"I wasn't acting."

"Then what are you doing, Jade. Because from where I'm standing, it looks a lot like you're keeping score."

"I'm not keeping score."

"You asked him if he's serious about me. You brought him coffee. You touched his knee. What is that if it's not keeping score."

"It's me being interested in someone."

"Someone who's with me."

"Are you with him?"

"Yes."

"Since when."

"Since it's none of your damn business."

She pressed her lips together. She nodded once. Like she was filing that away for later use.

"Fine. You're with him. Then be with him. Stop looking at Luca every time he walks into a room. Stop going to his room at night. Stop standing between the two of them like you haven't already made a choice. Because if you have made a choice, Mia, then act like it. And if you haven't, then stop pretending you have, because it's not fair to either of them and it's sure as hell not fair to me."

"Fair to you." I laughed. It came out hard. Ugly. "What does any of this have to do with being fair to you."

"Because I live here too. Because I eat breakfast with these people. Because I hear you through the walls and I see the way they both look at you and I am sitting in the middle of it every single day and nobody has once asked me how that feels."

I stared at her.

"How does it feel, Jade."

"Like shit, Mia. It feels like shit. Thanks for asking."

The room was quiet. I could hear the radiator clicking. I could hear my own breathing.

"I'm trying," she said. Quieter now. "I know I'm doing it wrong. I know you don't trust me right now. But I am trying."

I hated that I believed her.

"Get off my bed."

She stood up. She smoothed her shirt. She walked toward the door. She moved slowly. Not dramatically. Just slowly. Like she was giving me time to say something else if I wanted to.

I didn't.

She stopped at the door. She put her hand on the frame.

"Mia."

"What."

"Whatever you decide between the two of them." She paused. "Pick fast."

"Why."

"Because I'm not the only one watching."

I felt my stomach clench. "What does that mean."

She turned her head. She looked at me over her shoulder. Her face was serious. Not playing. Not performing.

"Ask Portia."

"Portia. Luca's skating partner Portia."

"The one and only."

"Why the hell would Portia care what I do."

Jade tilted her head. "Because everything you do with Luca affects her season. Her ranking. Her future. You think she's just going to stand there and smile while you pull her partner's head in three different directions?"

"I'm not pulling anyone's head anywhere."

"I didn't say you were. I said she's watching. And when Portia watches long enough, she moves. I've seen her at the rink, Mia. I've seen the way she looks at you when you're not paying attention. That woman is keeping a file on you in her head and she is not doing it because she likes your skating."

"I'm not scared of Portia."

"I didn't say be scared. I said be aware. There's a difference."

She held my gaze for one more second. Then she walked out. She pulled the door half shut behind her. Not all the way. Half. Because Jade never fully closed anything.

I stood in the middle of my room with my phone in my hand and Blair Reid's message on the screen and the word Portia sitting in my head like a stone dropped into still water.

I sat down on the bed.

I unlocked the phone. I read the message again.

Filmed. National publication. Four days.

I was going to have to sit next to Zack Mercer on camera and pretend to be in love with him while Luca watched it from somewhere and Portia watched it from somewhere else and my sister watched it from the room next door.

I put the phone face down on the mattress.

I did not sleep for a long time.