Tessa held out her hand to the sandy-blond hunk with the bluest eyes on the planet. “Hi, I’m Tessa. And you are?”
Celia huffed. “There went our chances.”
“You know he’s probably like every other guy in this school who wants one thing,” I said under my breath.
Celia didn’t take her attention off of Tessa. “Who cares if he wants sex?”
I wanted to say I did. Instead, I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to argue with Celia about how girls should carry themselves around boys and not be so easy or forward like she’d been with Liam.
Emma pushed her way in between Tessa and Maiken. “He’s my brother, and I would highly suggest you keep your claws off him.”
Tessa snarled.
The warning bell rang. That was my cue to duck out of the crowd. The last thing I wanted was to bring attention to myself, and I could do that easily if Tessa noticed me. She would do something to embarrass me in front of Maiken, and I wasn’t as bold as Emma. I couldn’t tell Tessa to stick it where the sun didn’t shine.
Momma had taught me to mind my manners and ignore comments and rumors that were directed at me. “Be better than Tessa. She wants you to fight back. So don’t give into her.” Momma’s advice was hard to adhere to. Sometimes I had to hold back tears or my fists or the urge to run and hide.
I hiked my backpack over my shoulder. “I’ll meet you in class,” I said to Celia. Then I made my way around students who were going to their first-period class like me.
As I approached my classroom, which was close to where Tessa and Maiken were standing, Maiken swung his gaze toward me.
Tessa turned. Then as if the world wanted to make my life miserable, Tessa sized me up and opened her mouth. “Quinn, you’re looking rather ratty today.” Her sweet voice felt like acid burning my skin. “Did you step in pig shit before coming to school?”
Maiken had a blank expression as he considered me, much like he’d had when he was at the store. Regardless, my face had to be as red as a ripe homegrown tomato. I didn’t dress in designer clothes like Tessa. I didn’t own fancy leather boots. My boots were made for working. But I wasn’t wearing my work boots. I had on nice suede boots that I’d gotten for Christmas the previous year. They had fur around the edges, a zipper on the sides, and covered my calves almost up to my knees. Momma called them practical. Sure, I had some dirt on my jeans from when I’d brushed against Apple’s stall that morning, but I certainly didn’t look ratty.
Celia came up behind me. “Shut up, Tessa.”
Maybe Celia’s friendship was worth saving after all, although she would get mad at me for not telling Tessa off.
“Why fuel her fire?” I’d always said to Celia.
Maybe I would give Tessa a taste of her own medicine. Everyone had a breaking point. Tessa just hadn’t found mine yet. Actually, I didn’t know what would send me over the edge and make me finally put Tessa in her place.
Emma bumped Tessa with her shoulder before she came up to me. “Don’t let her rattle your cage. You’re beautiful.”
Now I was even redder.
Celia sneered at Tessa, who narrowed her dark-as-night eyes before she flipped her hair over her shoulder, poked out her small breasts, and pushed them into Maiken’s arm.
He didn’t move or give any indication that he was happy with the way Tessa was acting. Ethan sure was, though, which was evident by his shocked expression. Then Maiken lowered his gaze to Tessa and smiled. He actually smiled at her. He couldn’t be cordial and nice when Mrs. Maxwell had introduced us. Instead, he’d fixated on my chest before he’d stormed out of the store. But he could chummy up to Tessa.
Suddenly, my stomach was ready to lose the bagel I’d eaten for breakfast.
“My brother is just being nice,” Emma said at my side as though she knew what I was thinking.
Despite my irritation, my body was tingly. I would bet every girl in school would be drooling at Maiken’s feet. He had an aura about him like Alex had had—tough, quiet in some ways, and vocal in others. In the looks department, though, Maiken had Alex beat by a long shot, at least in my eyes.
I was digging Maiken’s bad-boy persona, including his unlaced army boots instead of the Chucks Alex had always worn. I preferred Maiken’s blue eyes, which reminded me of the deepest part of the ocean, instead of Alex’s green orbs. Above all else, Maiken’s hair was thick on top, shaven on the sides, and a few strands flopped over his forehead.
Sigh!
Regardless of their differences, one thing was certain. Whether Maiken was being nice or not, I had no chance with him.
I navigated the empty halls of the school on my way to the gymnasium. Coach Dean wanted to chat with me. I imagined about basketball. Quiet conversations around school that day had surrounded a student who had died in a car accident recently. Apparently, he’d been a senior and a star basketball player.
Once inside the sports complex, I took a sharp right, headed down the hall, through the double doors, and into the gym. The basketball team was running suicides, their sneakers squeaking on the wood floor.
The cheerleaders were huddled at the far end of the gym, talking.
I threaded my fingers through my hair as I wound my way around the perimeter, skirting in front of the bleachers until I was standing next to an average-height bald man with a whistle hanging around his neck. I assumed he was Coach Dean.
He blew his whistle. “Take five.”
The team stopped. Some bent over, breathing heavily, while others darted for their water bottles. The cheerleaders glanced toward me, but I couldn’t tell whether their attention was on the team or me.
Nevertheless, by the time the last bell of the day had chimed, I’d wanted to pull out every strand of my hair. Girls in the halls, in class, and in the cafeteria had stared at me as if I were part of a buffet line. Maybe I was hyperaware of the opposite sex now that Emma had not so politely thrown out, “I told you so,” when I’d seen her during lunch.
I held out the note I’d gotten from the admin office. “Coach Dean, you wanted to see me.”
He took the note. “You must be Maiken Maxwell. Thank you for showing up. I hear you’re quite the basketball player. Or I should say I read your file. Is it your plan to play for Kensington?”
I regarded Coach, who was almost a head shorter than me. “With all due respect, I’m not stepping into a dead person’s shoes.” I didn’t need the headache or attention or comparison. “Aren’t tryouts over with?” Every high school had tryouts that time of year with the first game usually starting in early December. If I were going to play, then I had to at least try out. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been fair to those who had and didn’t make the team.
“I guess you heard, then. Alex was a great player.” Coach glanced up at the ceiling then blessed himself with the sign of the cross. “But you wouldn’t be stepping into his shoes. I read that you’re a shooting guard.”
“Are you looking for a shooting guard?”
Coach Dean looked out at the center court at the same time a boy as tall as me walked up with a basketball underneath his arm. His hair was sweaty, and his pimples glowed as he snarled at me. “Coach, we have others in this school who want to play. The new boy doesn’t belong on our team.”
It was my turn to snarl, and the words piss off were on the tip of my tongue. If anything got my temper going, it was assholes like this kid who felt threatened by a newcomer. I’d dealt with plenty of people like that while moving from school to school. I should have been immune to guys like him, but I wasn’t in the mood. I certainly wasn’t going to stand there and let him throw barbs at me.
Coach crossed his bulky arms over his Kensington High golf shirt. “Chase, I’m the coach of this team, and you don’t have a say in who plays or doesn’t.”
Chase narrowed his dirt-colored eyes at Coach. Then he turned on his heel and went back to the team. All but one guy started whispering. The lone ranger seemed familiar to me, but I couldn’t place the dud
e.
Coach addressed me. “If you want to play, be here tomorrow to practice with the team and show us what you can do.” Then he trotted to center court, where he gathered the team.
Chase cornered him and started to open his mouth, but Coach raised his hand. If I played, Chase would be a problem, and I didn’t need problems. You’re not a shoo-in yet. You have to show Coach what you got.
I was about to leave when Tessa Stevens bounced up, bubbly and licking her lips. “Maiken,” she said in a sweet voice.
I knew better than to think she was sweet. I’d gotten a glimpse of how she had interacted with Emma in the hall before school. She was the type of girl I didn’t pay much attention to—crass, snappy, and bitchy. More than that, I despised the way Tessa had bullied Quinn that morning. I’d wanted to shout at Quinn to stand up for herself, but I hadn’t wanted to bring more attention to her. It had been evident by the way she’d cowered that she’d wanted to hide.
Tessa flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. “Some of us are going over to Shaker’s, a new burger-and-shake place in town. Do you want to join us?”
The need to pull out my hair increased tenfold. Be polite. Be a gentleman. “I can’t.” I pivoted on my heel.
In a flash, she was in front of me. “Did I do something to make you mad?” She pouted, and her dark eyes became pinpricks.
“I need to help my mom. Sorry.” I hurried out of the gym as if a bear were chasing me.
Before I knew what was happening, something hard slammed into my chest. I barely had time to grip the sides of the girl’s arms to catch her from falling.
Once she was steady, she clasped a hand over her nose. “Ow.” Tears floated in her amber eyes.
It took me a second to orient my vision, and when I did, I was looking at the girl with butterscotch hair who suddenly made my stomach flutter. “Quinn, right?” I knew who she was, but her sweet-scented shampoo was making my brain turn into a pile of mush.
She nodded as she sank her teeth into her bottom lip, an act that seemed to do something to my insides in a good way.
Holy cow! A girl had never caused me to get all giddy.
“Sorry,” I said. “Can I see your nose?” As hard as we’d collided, I suspected she would have a black eye or two.
When she dropped her tiny hand, I noticed a smattering of freckles around her small nose. But the freckles weren’t what had me touching her nose or had my finger traveling up toward her eyes. She had the thickest lashes I’d ever seen on a girl. Then again, I hadn’t been physically close to many girls other than my sisters, and maybe Sarah in the fourth grade. She’d played football on the opposite team and was the person I’d had to block. But we’d worn helmets, and I had never examined her features like I suddenly was Quinn’s.
My finger had just reached the beauty mark high on her left cheek when a loud male voice called Quinn’s name.
She jumped back as if I had the plague.
“Are you touching my sister?” the dude asked.
I hadn’t seen him yet, and I knew from his higher tone that he wasn’t that Chase fellow.
Quinn ran around me like a tornado rushing across the Great Plains. She held up her hands, trying to block a guy twice her size. “Liam, I ran into him. He was only making sure I was okay.”
So Liam was the lone ranger—the one who hadn’t followed Chase like a cub following his momma bear. I realized in that instant why Liam looked familiar. He looked like Quinn.
Liam was breathing fire over Quinn’s head.
I ambled over with my arm outstretched. “I’m Maiken.”
“The whole school knows who you are,” Liam said kind of snidely.
“Quinn and I bumped into each other. It was my fault. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”
Quinn planted her hands on her hips. “Liam, where are your manners?”
I held back a laugh. She sounded like she was his mother.
Liam finally shook my hand. “My brother, Carter, and I are very protective over our sister.”
I grinned. “I have three sisters. So I get you.”
As if that were all he needed to hear, the anger on his face washed away. “I saw you talking to Coach. We could use a tall guy like you on the team. That is if you’re any good.”
Quinn reared back. “You play basketball?”
I mentally scratched my head as to why she was shocked that I played ball. Does she like that I play? Or maybe she doesn’t. Then again, why do I care what she thinks? I didn’t get a chance to ponder that question before my cell phone rang.
“Sorry again. I got to run.” I fished out my phone from my jacket pocket. “I’m on my way,” I said to Ethan.
Emma and Ethan were waiting for me at the car.
“Maiken,” Liam called. “Think about basketball.”
I blew out air as I walked out in the frigid cold. Maybe playing and expending some bottled-up energy would be good for me. Otherwise, I might do something I would regret, and that something was ramming my fists into Chase.
I walked into the farm store, and Momma almost dropped the vase of flowers she was holding. “What in the world happened to you? Don’t tell me you and Tessa got into a fight.”
Tessa didn’t fight with her fists. Her way of scratching her claws was finding ways to embarrass me like she had that morning in front of Maiken.
Liam barreled in behind me. “Chill, Mom. Seems Quinn is all feet.”
“Hey, Maiken bumped into me. So it’s partly his fault. Besides, you were ready to beat him up.”
“No, sis,” Liam said so innocently. “I was ready to send him through the glass doors when I saw his hands on you.”
I rolled my eyes. My brothers talked with their fists.
Momma set down the bouquet of roses then darted into the storeroom and came out with a bag of frozen carrots. “Here, put this on your eyes. It will cut down on the swelling.”
I’d been examining myself in the car mirror while Liam drove us home. It seemed I was beginning to resemble a raccoon. I could only imagine what Tessa would do when she saw me or the rumors that would spread like wildfire around school. I could sulk about it, stay home until the bruises faded, or use tons of makeup. The last thing I wanted was to be called names or picked on, and Tessa wasn’t the only evil person in school. The problem was I couldn’t miss classes. It was hard to catch up, especially in my AP classes.
I held the frozen bag of carrots in one hand as I felt around my nose.
Momma tipped up my chin. “It’s not broken, is it?”
God, I prayed not. I wiggled my nose around. “I don’t think so.”
Momma moved hair off my forehead. “So you mean that handsome nephew of Eleanor’s?”
All I could do was smile as I thought about how hard his chest had been.
My brother Carter blew into the store. He had a way of making an entrance. Then again, he was a big boy, super muscular, more so than Liam. He also towered over Momma and me. “Are you okay, Quinn? Who did this to you?” His brown hair toppled over into his eyes.
“You called him?” I snapped at Liam, who was eating a pastry from the cake dish that was on the counter alongside the register.
I didn’t need Carter to scare Maiken for no reason. Carter was exactly like my dad. He would get the shotgun out if he so much as saw a boy approaching me. Nevertheless, Maiken wouldn’t even look at me if Carter started trouble.
I loved my brothers, but they could be so overprotective that I might never date. Come to think of it, I didn’t know of any boy who was interested in me or would be, for that matter. Or maybe some were interested but just frightened of my brothers.
Liam shook his shaggy head. “No, I texted him.” He looked at Carter. “We need to have a talk with Maiken. I think he and Chase are going to throw down, and we can’t have that. With Alex gone, we need a shooting guard, a good one, and I heard Coach talking about how Maiken is a great shooting guard.”
I placed the frozen bag on one
eye, the cold sting making me wince. “But Alex wasn’t a shooting guard.” I might have been a bookworm, but I knew the game of basketball, thanks to my brothers and my dad.
“No,” Liam said in between chewing. “But Chase isn’t great at that position. He can move to point guard.”
Knowing Tessa’s brother, Chase, he wouldn’t like giving up his position no matter if he did or didn’t excel as a shooting guard.
“Or maybe Chase can be a small forward, and Coach can move Phil to point guard,” Carter added. “Phil has the skills for point guard, and he’s also the shortest of players, which suits that position.”
Liam was a center for the team, so it didn’t make sense for him to change positions. He had the height for a center too.
Momma resumed arranging her flowers. “Why don’t you boys ask Maiken if he would like to help out with the Christmas trees? We could use a strong person like him. Maybe then you could convince him to play basketball.”
I wanted to hug Momma but also scream at her. I couldn’t have Maiken working on the farm. I wouldn’t get my chores done. Instead, I would be watching him every second. I shivered in delight at the way he had saved me from falling, or more like saved himself from falling on top of me. My cheeks heated even with the frozen bag on my eye.
Oh my. If Father Thomas knew what I was thinking, he would add ten Our Fathers and Hail Marys to my penance.
“Don’t force Maiken into playing,” I said. “His father recently died. He’s probably mourning right now.” Momma had shared that info with me after Maiken and Eleanor had left the store.
Our family had experienced the death of our grandfather, but we’d been prepared since Grandpa had battled colon cancer, and we’d known what the end result would be.
“How?” Liam asked, still stuffing his face and drinking out of a gallon of milk.
Momma went over to Liam and snagged the carton. “Young man, where are your manners? This milk is for sale, not for you to open and drink the whole gallon.”
Liam wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Sorry, ma’am.”
My Heart To Touch: A Maxwell Family Saga - Book One Page 4