The crowd began to cheer.
The drummer started the beat, followed by the two other guitarists. Chantal kept her eyes closed and joined in, strumming to the rhythm—and on key. Maya lifted an eyebrow and she and Warren exchanged smiles.
Guests began to dance as fog poured onto the dance floor from under the ship. Warren's eyes were glued to Chantal. "I don't remember her ever practicing guitar."
Maya tried to cover for her. "She's a musical prodigy. It's not that far of a stretch."
He raised his eyebrows and repeated, "Not that far of a–"
"C'mon, dance with me," she interrupted, taking their drinks and laying them on a nearby table. The beat of the music began to pump and the guests began dancing. Maya started to pop, lock, and drop, the way she had learned at Marshal's parties. Warren kept to the hip-hop beat. Some of his moves she recognized while others seemed to be his own native steps that he mixed in. Their moves took them a few feet apart. Maya turned the other direction, and when she twirled back around Paris slipped between them and started dancing with Warren. Maya was enraged at the sight of them. She stopped for a moment as a wave of shock washed over her. Paris knew the same dance moves as Warren, as if they had practiced together. Just as Maya opened her mouth to tell her off, people in the crowd began to cheer for them. Maya held her tongue. If she got herself kicked out of the Brown Manor she would never have the chance to snoop.
She stayed quiet and continued to dance, glaring at her. She felt the heat around her from the energized circle of people that crowded around.
Towards the end of the song, Paris turned her back to him, bent over, and twerked. She looked over her shoulder at him. He tried to play cool, as if Paris were invisible. Maya imagined jumping on her, and what the surprise on Paris’s face would be like, but she refrained. By the end of the song, Paris winked at Maya and left to join her friends.
Maya scowled at Warren and turned on her heel.
"Maya, wait!" Warren said, reaching for her arm.
She twisted out of his grasp.
"Maya!"
She pushed her way through the thick crowd, looking around for a bathroom she could hide in. She found the deserted hallway with several closed doors, but she wasn't fast enough to duck in. Warren cornered her, putting his hands on either side of her against the wall. He wrinkled his brow. "It was just a dance."
She narrowed her eyes at him. She had thought he was different than the other boys that played games. "How could you let her twerk on you like that?" she tried pushing him away, but he was like a giant boulder.
He stuttered. "I-I didn't want her to. She just cut in, I–" his eyes begged for forgiveness.
She wanted to believe him. "But you didn't stop her!"
"No, I didn't. It's her party." The tone of his voice was higher as he pleaded with her, almost cracking the way it did when boys went through puberty.
"Really? What else would you let her do to you?"
His mouth hung open but nothing came out. Her words pierced him, she could see it in the way his shoulders slumped and his eyebrows knitted together like he was in pain. They stared into each other’s eyes, trying to find words.
His voice was a whisper. "I don't care about her, Maya. She and I were over a long time ago." He rested his forehead on hers. "I just want to move on from her. I... I love you.”
Her heart soared at his words as her anger melted away. Her emotions flipped like a double-sided coin. She was compelled to be near to him, like the gravitational pull of a falling star to the crust of the earth. She was at a loss for words. He made her feel that way so often. She wished she could show him what he meant to her instead of trying to explain it. He was always better at expressing his feelings than she was.
“Do you know how hard it's going to be for me when you leave?" His face was perfect, the way the light cascaded over his cheeks and his jaw curved into his chiseled chin. His lips were full, beckoning her.
She hungrily pulled him in for a kiss and the folds in his face melted away in surprise. She tasted his lips over and over, listening to him draw in quick breaths between each kiss. As he began kissing towards her ear, she noticed the people getting crazy on the dance floor.
One guy had his hands all the way up a girl’s midriff, caressing her breasts. Her skirt was so short it came up to her butt cheeks. Some girls were laughing and splashing drinks at one another. By the ship, another girl was letting a boy lick whipped cream from her cleavage.
All of a sudden, a group of four people, girls and guys, ran out of one of the doors in the hallway naked through the crowd with paper bags over their heads. Maya gasped, then laughed in disbelief. Warren looked up just in time to see them run up the staircase.
He chuckled. "There's never any supervision.” He ran his hand over her cheek. “Are you going to be ok?"
"I just wish I could watch Paris do the hot pepper challenge without any water, but you know...” she said, sarcastically. “I'll be fine. Let's finish our punch."
Warren smirked.
They found their cups and downed them. Maya threw her arms around his neck. They swayed to the music. "Close your eyes with me." Her head nestled on his shoulder and his face rested on her head.
Maybe it was being in his arms, or the beat of the music, but in that moment she was enveloped in his tenderness. It was like nothing could go wrong and the world felt like it was turning faster. "What was in the punch?" she asked.
"I think someone spiked it while it was on the table," Warren said.
"It had a little bite, but I'm feeling too good to care."
Their lips met again, aggressively kissing. She rubbed her hand up the front of his pirate shirt, over his six-pack, his scent driving her wild. She kissed his neck and listened to him breathe heavily. "I need you," she whispered.
24. Passion and Ridicule
Maya gasped as Warren's lips left a trail down her neck. "Why do you have to be so perfect?" he asked between kisses.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Your skin, your hair, your eyes, always drawing me in." He breathed in deeply as he smelled her hair.
"I'm nowhere near as perfect as you." She ran her fingers over his lips then whispered. "If there's a beast somewhere inside of you, unleash it."
"Oh,” he let out a breath with lust-filled eyes and whispered, “don’t say that." He closed his eyes for a moment, as if trying to control his urges as she kissed a trail from his lips to his ear.
"Don't do this to me," he pleaded, but his words were weak like he didn’t mean them.
She arched her back, pressing her body into him and grazing on his neck. "Why not?"
"Because..." His shoulders dropped as her hands ran over them and their cheeks touched. "You don't understand how hard this is for me."
Her blood pumped faster with his breath in her ear. She rubbed her hands down the top of his six-pack until the tips of her fingers entered the top of his pants.
His eyes popped open, then guilt washed over his face. "You're drunk.” He grabbed her hands.
"You think that because I want you I must be drunk?"
“This isn’t you.”
She tightened her grip around his middle, insisting. "I'm a little buzzed, but even if I wasn’t I would still want you right now." She kissed down his neck and he threw his head back, letting his guard down. He slid back against the wall, slightly towards the floor, and held her tightly. Their eyes were at the same level, holding each other's gaze. The tops of their foreheads touched.
"The beast has been awakened." She smiled and kissed him again.
He stood up, holding her hand and leading her down the hallway.
Maya looked over her shoulder, making sure nobody was watching.
Warren opened the first door to find a bathroom. The second door was a bedroom. He pulled her in and closed the door behind them. The bed in the room was a canopy with a beautiful pale blue duvet and curtains to match. This had to be Paris's room. It was lived in, and girly.
For a moment she put her desires for Warren on hold as she remembered the dream catcher. She went to the window and grabbed the curtains on each side. A burst of adrenaline coursed through her as she readied herself for the moment she had been waiting for. She pulled them apart. A wave of disappointed flushed through her chest when she found nothing hanging in front of the square pane. She frowned. She had been so sure it would be there.
"There's no lock on the door," Warren said, twisting the doorknob.
Maya turned from the window to face him, putting the dream catcher out of her mind. She approached him and they continued kissing. He picked her up and threw her on the bed. She laughed at his primitive nature as he crawled on his hands and knees over her. He pressed his body against hers, her dress came falling up to her thighs as she wrapped her legs around him.
They drank in each other’s' tenderness.
"I’ll hold on to this moment the rest of my life," Maya whispered. She meant it. She never wanted to forget how much she needed him right now.
Their lips mingled while she raked her fingers over the back of his pirate shirt, tickling him as he pressed his hips into her. He combed his fingers through her hair, but then they heard voices at the door.
Warren pushed himself up and rolled off the bed onto his feet, pointing under the bed. Maya jumped to the floor and rolled under. Warren squeezed in beside her. His back pushed against the box-spring, hoisting it up.
The door swung open and the light flipped on. They could see the high heels the Brat Pack wore as they entered the room and went to stand in front of the dresser mirror.
"I didn't think Maya would actually come," Paris said, with a lilt.
Maya’s ears perked up at the sound of her name.
"Why did you invite Chantal, anyway?" Mindy asked.
"Well, I get discounts on horseback riding, not that I couldn't pay full price, but because I am one of their best customers I get in whenever I want. They do have the best horses and trails. Besides, I like to play with the boy toys. It's fun."
Maya’s heart jumped as she considered that she was not only talking about her brother but about Warren as well.
"I thought you were only into Roy now," Kira said.
"Well yeah, but he's leaving soon and Warren is always there to fall back on when I get lonely. And Maya will be gone too, so we'll both need each other."
Maya's heart sank. She narrowed her eyes at Warren. He gaped at her, shaking his head and mouthed the words it's over.
"Chantal's mom is dating this weird guy, though," Paris continued. "When I came to drop off Chantal's invitation, he was standing outside her room. He saw me about to knock and wanted to know what I was doing there. Then when I told him I was dropping off an invitation to my party, he grabbed it out of my hand and said she was busy at the moment and that he would give it to her later.
Maya thought back to the moment when Dr. Parker had given the invitation to Chantal, suggesting that Paris had been the one to ransack their room. If it hadn’t been her it must have been another guest staying at the hotel.
"I got the heebee jeebees from him too," Mindy said.
The smell of perfume overpowered the room as the three spritzed themselves. Warren and Maya covered their faces as they tried not to cough.
"I guess Roslyn was originally married to some Indian guy that tried to take her family fortune until he realized it all belonged to her mother, Oriel," Paris said. "Chantal told me the hotel was built by a famous European explorer who married a Hopi woman hundreds of years ago- her great great great grandparents, or something like that.”
“Wow, I didn’t know it was that old,” Kira said, “and all Roslyn does is work herself to death. She never goes anywhere, not even Chantal’s recitals. It’s a wonder she has time for a boyfriend, and everyone she dates is a hotel guest.”
Paris chuckled. “She always finds a new nut job."
"Her family is weird, for sure,” Mindy said. “I mean, what family lives in a hotel?"
Maya was enraged. She wanted to jump out from under the bed and pounce on them, but she laid there, disgusted by their gossip. They sat through the rest of the Brat Pack's conversation until Paris turned around.
"What the hell?” Paris said. “Someone has been in my room. The curtains are open and the duvet is wrinkled up." She leaned over the bed, her fancy black heels came up next to Maya’s face as she smoothed out the covers. Then Paris crouched down to look under the bed.
Maya thought her heart would stop as she met eyes with Paris.
"GET OUT!" Paris shouted.
Warren crawled out, snagging his shirt on the box-spring. It tore a hole in the back. Maya followed him out.
"Maya, you little tramp,” Paris said, sarcastically, “getting your hands dirty. I never thought you were the type. I hope you like my leftovers. Get out of my house!" She pointed to the door.
Warren grabbed Maya’s hand.
“Just to be clear, you and I are over,” he told Paris. “I’m not your fallback.”
Paris’s cheeks burned. She took a bold step in front of them. “You’ll change your tune when you’re alone.” She rubbed her hand down his chest. He grabbed it and pushed it away. She clenched her jaw. “Get out!” she shouted.
“I’d be glad to,” he said, leading Maya into the hallway.
Roy was coming down the hallway and stopped when he saw them holding hands and coming out of the bedroom. He stood up straight. “I've been looking all over for you two."
Paris stepped out of her room. "Nobody makes out with my ex on my bed, Maya. Don't ever come back!"
Roy clenched his fist, turning red in the face. “I warned you to stay away from my sister.”
Warren stood there unable to utter a word.
“Mind your own business, Roy,” Maya said, putting her arm around Warren’s back.
Roy stepped in front of Warren and socked a punch into his jaw. Warren tried to shield himself as Roy came at him again.
“Stop it, Roy!” Maya yelled, pushing her brother, but it didn’t do any good. Roy ignored her. His neck flushed as he tried to grab at Warren, but Warren had both of his wrists as they struggled.
Roy twisted his arms from Warren’s grasp, then he glared at Maya and walked back to the dance floor.
Warren and Maya continued their way through the foyer and out the front door.
"Are you ok?" Maya asked, looking at the red knot that was forming on his jaw.
He put his arm around her. "Yeah, I'm ok."
A crowd of boys was in high spirits in the driveway, drinking punch and singing "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me…"
"Should one of us get Chantal and leave?" Warren asked.
"She's playing on stage and I'm not climbing that net to get her," Maya said. "Let's wait until the party's over. Roy needs time to cool off."
They sat on the stoop and looked up at the stars. He leaned into her, rubbing her shoulder.
The front yard was serene, but Paris’s words hung in Maya’s thoughts. "Is it true you hook up with Paris when you’re lonely?"
He let out a breath. "It happened a couple of times, but after you came this summer, never again."
Secrets of the Anasazi Page 22