The Win: Rebels of Ridgecrest High (Book 4)

Mila’s been back home for two weeks. Her mom and stepbrother have been arrested, and she’s smiling more. Thank fuck, because if the cops didn’t do something about them, I was gonna go to New York and find Junior. But Alessandro’s guy pulled through, and they found where the slimy fucker had been hiding.

“I’m taking her on a date tonight,” I tell Asher as he opens the door for me. He’s dressed in shorts and a blue tee, looking completely normal. Still, it’s weird to see him after watching the four of them together. It’s not every day you see your girl and three other cocks.

“I know.” He gives me a puzzled look. “She’s still getting dressed and asked me to get the door.”

I walk into the house and wave to Madison and her friend in the living room. Madison smiles and gives me a small wave, but the other girl turns beet red and stares at me.

I move onto the kitchen, where I find Kate cooking, and it smells amazing.

“Hi, Kate. Are you baking a cake?” I swear this lady’s a magician when it comes to cakes, and I’m gonna get so fat just hanging around here. And I don’t care; all the extra time in the gym is worth it.

“I’m currently making a chocolate mud cake. I heard you were coming over here tonight to take Mila on a date. Can I ask where you’re taking her?”

I laugh. The guys have hounded me for days over the location, but I won’t tell them. I don’t want to spoil the surprise for Mila. Plus, I don’t want them to steal my idea. Well, okay, it’s my mom’s idea, but still. I put my hand to my mouth and mime zipping my mouth shut.

She chuckles. “Must be somewhere very special.”

I nod, although I’m not too sure Mila will find it special. I hope so, because I want this to be special.

I had asked my mom what kind of date to take Mila on, and she gave me a bunch of different ideas, but the one that stood out the most was taking her on a picnic by the lake we used to swim in. Mom had said dates like that, personal ones, are a lot more romantic than taking her to some fancy restaurant and spending a heap of money. And if I prepare the food myself, that’s even better.

I haven’t taken a girl on a date before. Going to the diner after school doesn’t count. That’s just where everyone hangs out.

I want to make this extraordinary for Mila. Want it to be a memorable night.

Last weekend, we didn’t do anything but kiss, and I want this to be the night we go a little further. I like that we are taking it slow. Yeah, I’m just as surprised by that. But I feel that if we go all the way now, it will feel rushed. I’ve waited my whole life to be with Mila. I don’t need to rush now. I’m taking my time; kissing her and cuddling her is something I’m really enjoying right now. I’m gonna marry this girl one day, and I want to start off our relationship right. I rushed with Britney, and I don’t want to make that mistake again.

“Very special,” I hear Mila say as she enters the room.

Her blonde hair is down and curled at the ends. She’s wearing a pink tee with a pair of blue jeans and white sneakers. Her makeup’s very minimal compared to when she wears a lot of dark around her eyes. I love both looks. She’s always beautiful.

Mila looks like the girl next door, and she is to me. Even with her living over here now, she’ll always be my girl next door.

She reaches out and takes my hand in hers, and I kiss her lips briefly. Don’t want to get carried away in front of Kate. And we have a date that I don’t want to be late for. The sun will set before we even get a chance to put down the blanket, and I don’t want it to get too cold. I have a spare hoodie in my car, just in case she gets cold. I want her to wear mine.

“We better get going. Save me some cake.” I point to the oven, and Kate smiles.

“I’m sure there will be cake when you get back. Asher and Madison are all caked out. They barely eat it anymore.”

My mouth drops in a dramatic way that has Kate laughing. “No way. I volunteer as tribute. I will eat anything you bake, Kate.”

Mila playfully smacks my chest, and I look down but see she’s smiling and shaking her head. “I’ll bake you cakes too,” she says and I kiss her nose. She rolls her eyes.

“Okay, dear. I’ll eat all the cakes you bake,” I tease in an old-man voice. Then I move in and pull her close to whisper, “I wanna eat your muffin.”

Mila gasps and pulls away, smacking me with a shocked look on her face. I grin at her. Yeah, I do wanna eat her muffin . . . later.

“What happened?” Kate asks Mila, and I see that gleam in her eye. Fuck.

“Jace just said he wants to ea—mmm.’ Mila’s eyes widen as my hand holds her mouth closed, and Kate just stares at us.

“I said I would eat anything she bakes. We better go now. Bye.” I don’t let go of Mila’s mouth as I direct her out of the kitchen.

She waves to Kate, and Asher eyes us as we move past him.

“Hey, not so fast.” James’s voice is deep, coming from the living room. Ah, fuck.

She better not be rude to her dad. I stop and look over at him. He eyes my hand and Mila’s eyes, which are smiling. I don’t think he knows what to say. I haven’t taken my hand off her mouth, and after a few seconds, he nods. “Have a good night you two. Don’t be home late.”

“Ah, I was wondering if it was okay with you . . . my mom and dad said it was okay that Mila stays at my house?” I give him my all-American-boy-next-door smile. The one that works on everyone, except James. His eyes narrow, and I take a small step back. Fuck, he knows I hurt her and made her cry. He hasn’t forgiven me yet. She’s allowed to stay at Hunter’s without parents and mine are actually home.

He points at me, and I stand straighter. I’m ready for whatever he’s going to say. “You sleep on the couch,” he states, and I nod and swallow.

Why did that make me so nervous? Maybe because this is our first real date?

“Yes, sir. Of course. I was going to sleep with Grady.”

He eyes me again, and Mila’s shoulders are shaking with laughter. Why?

“Night. Have fun, baby girl.” Then he winks at her.

I take my hand from her mouth, and she giggles before running over and hugging him. “Night, Dad. Come one. Let’s go, Jace.” She takes my hands and drags me out of the house.

Is he playing me? What the hell just happened? I’m so confused.

I glance to Mila, and she has a huge grin on her face. “He was fucking with me. Wasn’t he?”

She gives me a cheeky wink and lets go of my hand as she runs to my car.

My car that was impounded and has acquired an insane number of miles after its trip to New York and back again. It got a scratch and dent, but I never mentioned it. I don’t care about the car, just that it brought two very important people back to me.

I park at the lake and Mila eyes me warily.

“The lake? You’re not gonna push me in, are you?” She cocks a brow at me.

I hadn’t been expecting her to say that. “No?” Her brows rise as she purses her lips—fuck. “Sorry, I mean, no. I won’t push you in. Why would you think I would?”

“You told me that all the time when we were down here as kids. Seeing the rope swing . . . it just reminded me of that. Of the happy times down here when life was less complicated.”

Shit, should I have picked a different spot to take her? I didn’t want her to get upset over the memories. But, shit. They were some of my favorite memories of us.

“If it was warm enough, I might push you in, but it’s not. So, I promise not to push you in.”

She laughs and gets out the car, and I follow her out. The sounds of frogs and the wind blowing through the tress make this spot perfect. We’re away from houses here, so it’s quiet. I round my car and get out the blanket and picnic basket, filled with food I made.

“Oh my god, Jace. A picnic?” she squeals and I smile.

I knew this was the right choice for the date. I walk down to the water’s edge and place the blanket on the ground. Mila finds a few rocks and throws them into the lake, and I take a seat on the blanket.

It’s chilly, but I’ll go back for the hoodie when she needs it. She can come snuggle me for warmth.

“You know what? This place looks so much smaller now. Now that we’re all grown up, everything around us has shrunk. Like all the fun stuff left too. All the things we did as kids. I miss that. Carefree fun. We need to come back here in summer when it’s hot enough to swim.”

I smile over at her as she throws another rock into the murky water. The sun’s setting and is streaking the sky with pink, oranges, and reds. It’s absolutely perfect. Apart from the chill in the air, this is the best date.

“Everyone grew up, and those things were childish, Mila. But I miss them too. Remember when we caught that frog and let it out in my house?”

Mila bursts out laughing, and I do too. “Your mom was so freaked out.”

I snort. Mom was so mad at us.

She comes over and sits beside me. I wrap my arm over her shoulder, and we stare out to the dark lake. The colors in the sky are just perfect as we sit here together and watch the sky.

“Remember that one summer when I said I couldn’t swim because I hurt myself, and you would carry me on your back? I think we were ten?”

I smile and murmur, “Yes.”

“I wasn’t actually injured. I just had a huge crush on you that summer and wanted to be hugging you heaps.” She giggles, and I sit back to look at her. Her skin is so beautiful in the light of the sunset. Her eyes shine bright as she tilts her head slightly. “It was the only excuse I could come up with for hugging you. And it worked.”

“I wish you had told me back then. I loved having to carry you everywhere. You told Roman and Hunter that it had to be me, and I felt so special. Like I was your favorite.”

Her smile falters a little, and I touch her chin with my thumb. “Don’t stop smiling. You chose me, and that’s all that matters. The others feel the same. We all feel like the favorite because you chose us. It was always gonna be this way . . . and, well, Asher.” She rolls her eyes, and I put my hand up. “Hey, I get it. He’s charming . . . bit of a dick. But has his appeal.”

She smacks my chest. “Jace, don’t say mean things about my boyfriend, especially when you’ve also been a bit of a dick in the past. We’re leaving all that shit in the past. So no bringing up dicks. Cause I’ve seen yours and well . . .” She holds her thumb and forefinger up an inch apart.

“No way. You know that’s not true.” I pin her to the blanket and straddle her waist. “Tell me I have the world’s biggest dick.”

She shakes her head and giggles. “It’s tiny. So small, I can’t even see it.”

I take her hand and place it over my cock, which is growing hard from just being around Mila.

“Mmm . . . is that an ant’s dick?”

“Oh, you asked for it.” I tickle her sides like I used to, and her squeal of laugher echoes around us.

But I don’t let up. “Say ‘Jace has a big dick.’”

She squirms under me in a fit of giggles as I get her in all her most ticklish spots. “No,” she giggles. “Stop.” More giggles. “Jace . . .”

I stop, and she lets out a deep breath. I raise my brows, and she gives me that sly grin before rocking her hips. My cock grows harder, and I rock it against her so she can feel it. What she does to me.

“Your tiny ant dick is tickling me,” she says, then she giggles like crazy.

I tickle her until she can’t giggle anymore. I let up, and she lies there, under me, breathing rapidly from all that laughter. So glad to hear it.

Fuck, if we’re out here, being honest, I need to tell her something. “Remember when someone took your teddy . . . the cute one with the moon on its belly that you slept with at night?”

“Yes?” she asks, but I think she knows where I’m going with this.

God, I hope she forgives me. “I want to get this out in the open. And please don’t hate me. But I stole it.”

Her mouth drops open, and she pushes me off me so she can sit up. I miss her touch already. “You stole Bedtime Bear?”

I nod. Her mouth drops open again.

“Why? I loved him, and I slept with him every night. Until he disappeared and my dad said I must have lost him. But I never took him from my bed.”

“I know and I’m sorry.” I feel guilty as hell, but I wanted to tell her my crush story after she told me about her crush story. “I fell in love with you, Mila. From the first day I understood what love meant. And I was so scared to tell you. Scared that you might laugh at me, so I didn’t. Instead, I stole your bear and slept with it every night for months until it stopped smelling like you. And even then . . . I still slept with it.”

She stares at me, dumbfounded. Because, yeah, it was a dick move. Mila even cried when she couldn’t find her bear, and I was going to give it back, but her dad bought her the one with the rainbow on its tummy, and she was happy again.

“You even helped me look for it.”

I nod guiltily. I did that. “I’m not proud of myself. I was young, but it was still a dick move. What I’m trying to say is . . . I have been making dick moves for a long time, and if I make another in the future, please forgive me. You make me crazy, Mila. I love you so much that I stole your teddy.”

“I love you, Jace.”

She kisses me, and I take her hair and gather it up as I kiss her deeper, nipping her lips and chasing her tongue with mine. She pulls away, and my heart races just from that kiss. Fuck. I’m so glad she came back home and that she took us all as hers.

“Do you still have Bedtime Bear? Do you still sleep with him?”

I chuckle. “No, I don’t sleep with him now. But I do have him. As if I could ever let him go. Even when I was mad at you, I kept him. He has a place at the back of my closet. He hides, mostly because my mom looked for him in my room when your dad told her about his disappearance. I guess she suspected me. Hell, I didn’t do that good of a job. I was the only one who had access to your room that weekend. But then your dad got you the rainbow one, and you stopped looking.”

She tilts her head and smiles. Her big blue eyes peer up at me through her lashes, and my heart skips a beat. Gorgeous.

“Your mom bought me the Cheer Bear, Jace. Not my dad.” She shakes her head and grins. “She said she couldn’t find a Bedtime one.”

“Why would my mom do that?” I hid that thing so good so she couldn’t find him, and at night, I would bring him out and sleep with him then hide him in the morning.

“She told me not to tell you she bought it for me. Honestly, at the time, I thought you would be jealous that she got it for me, but . . . oh my god, Jace. She knew. She so knew you stole him.”

My mouth drops open. She knew? And she didn’t tell James or Mila. She let me have the silly bear, anyway. My mom must really love me, because it seriously was a dick move. Mila cried that first night. I felt so bad.

“Let’s eat. I’m hungry.” Mila opens the picnic basket, and my stomach drops when I see I didn’t have the lid completely on the water bottle and the whole inside of the basket—well, the plastic bucket I used as a basket—is all wet and so are the sandwiches.

“Fuck.” Worst date ever. How did I not see that wasn’t on properly? I spent so long making those sandwiches.

She runs her hand over my cheek, and I look into her eyes. “It’s okay, I love it. You made me a picnic. We can just lay here a while and then go get some burgers on the way home.”

I nod, still upset with myself for ruining the picnic. A little ant walks over Mila’s finger, and she giggles, holding it up to me.

“Look, I found your dick.”