“The girl who left me. Would you leave me? I bet you wouldn’t leave me. SHOTS!’’ I shout across the bar and Jax, the bartender, rolls his eyes looking like he wants to refuse. Still, it doesn’t stop that fucker from making me my drinks. “Don’t forget one for these young ladies.’’
The girls giggle and I give them a drunken grin. I can do this. I’ve got the charm. I’ve got the love. I can rock their world.
“I’m Em and this is Kim,’’ Blondie tells me.
“Max,’’ I grin but a frown soon replaces it.
“So who put a frown on your face?’’ Kim asks, still trying to be seductive, bless her heart.
“Lake. Can you believe she put shit in my boxers?’’ I tell them, both girls looking thoroughly disgusted.
“Not real shit,’’ I slur, rolling my eyes. “She left mousse in my boxers. Not just one pair but every fucking pair. Everyone thought I had the runs. Couldn’t even get the stains out,’’ I chuckle, remembering when I got home the day Lake left.
I’d gone straight to my room after getting my ass handed to me from everyone. Literally. They all took turns getting their anger and frustration out on me. Harlow even got physical before she suddenly burst into tears. Don’t even get me started on Maverick. He’s been giving me the eye all week and I know he’s itching to kick my ass. Not that I blame him.
Anyway, I’d gone to my room, showered and headed back to my room. When I went to grab a fresh pair of boxers, I found out the hard way just how much I hurt Lake.
After taking a second shower, rinsing chocolate mousse from my ass crack and balls, I headed back into my room for another pair. Only, the sneaky bitch ruined every single pair in my drawers.
Everyone had thought I’d shit myself. It took me shoving a pair in my brother’s face to prove I wasn’t having bowel problems. Of course, I’d already tasted the offending mess; it’s how I found out it was Joan’s famous mousse recipe.
Crazy bitch.
“You know how to get over someone?’’ gap girl flirts, her finger running up and down my arm.
“Fuck two girls senseless at the same time?’’ I ask, but there’s no heat in my words. I probably wouldn’t be able to get it up for them and not just because I’m two sheets to the wind. Doesn’t mean I won’t make a fool of myself trying.
The girls giggle and I fight hard not to roll my eyes at them. Movement on the DJ stage catches my eye and I notice some blokes setting something up.
“What’s going on?’’ I shout over to Jax who’s walking over with our drinks.
“It’s karaoke,’’ he rumbles, not seeming impressed with me.
Neyo’s, So Sick starts playing over the speakers, grabbing my attention. Jax huffs seeming pissed at my sudden dismissal. Fuck, if only he knew how heartbroken I am.
Neyo starts babbling over the speakers about not being able to move on, feeling ridiculous about not getting over her even though it’s been months. Then he mentions being stronger, not wanting to walk around being blue and it hits me. I have to sing a hate song or something powering to help me move on. The more the idea swirls in my head the more sure I am it will work.
“I need to sing a hate song. It will help me move on from her,’’ I tell the girls, but they’re too busy chatting to each other. I fall in a heap on the floor, bruising my ass, and the girls look over the table at me seeming amused.
“I need to sing. I’m good. I’m good,’’ I slur, getting up and moving over towards the stage. I nearly knock over a few chairs on my way but luckily people were sitting in them, stopping them from going down.
“Mate, I think you need to go home and sleep it off,’’ Jax tells me and I look at him like he’s got two heads.
“Why don’t you sleep it off,’’ I snap, pointing my finger at his chest.
“Because I’m not drunk or falling over customers. You just groped a lady’s chest,’’ he tells me, rolling his eyes.
“Pft, please,’’ I roll my eyes. “I landed on them, not like I did it on purpose.’’
“You gave them a squeeze.’’
“They felt soft,’’ I defend.
“She’s in her sixties,’’ Jax tells me dryly.
“Then she just got the thrill of her life.’’
“What are you doing?’’ he asks, sighing.
“Singing. I need to sing Lake a hate song so I can get over her for leaving. She left. Just left. Everyone leaves. Did you know…’’
“Mate, just sing your song,’’ he tells me, moving out of my way. Well, isn’t he a chatty chappy.
Grinning in triumph I make my way up the stage and flick through the song book until I come across the perfect one. I take the book over to the DJ and he looks at me like I’ve lost it. Maybe I have.
“This one?’’ he double checks, looking uncertain with my awesome song choice.
“Yeppers,’’ I grin, feeling happy about my decision. I needed this. To get her out of my mind once and for all. Shit, maybe I can sing Kylie Minogue’s, I Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.
“Alrighty then,’’ he chuckles, before handing me a mic.
Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive starts blasting from the speakers and everyone in the bar turns to me.
Some laugh when I start singing but I don’t give a shit. I need to feel empowered, strong and what better way than Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive? I just hope I don’t fuck up when I get to the chorus and sing ‘I will survive, as long as I’ve had Weetabix, I know I’ll stay alive’ from the Weetabix advert years ago.
My voice is high as I sing the lyrics, demanding someone to walk out the door, to not turn around, that I don’t need them anymore.
It feels good, refreshing, and I start to get carried away, pointing to people in the bar, singing louder as I stare at them. My hips start jiggling and I find myself moving across the stage, nearly flying backwards when the wire of the mic stops me short.
The song comes to an end and everyone cheers. I take a dramatic bow, nearly falling face first off the stage. Luckily, I manage to catch my footing.
Jumping down from the stage, I grin big as I make my way back to the table, to the two girls sitting with a fresh round of drinks. I smirk as I arrive, downing the drink in one go.
“What shall we sing next? I reckon we should sing some Taylor, or hell, maybe some Bruno Mars and Celine Dion. Come on, I’m feeling energetic,’’ I rant, feeling excitement bubble inside me for the first time since Lake left.
“Maybe we could go do something else?’’ she suggests, waggling her eyebrows at me. I laugh at the two caterpillars before leaning over the table like I’m going to tell them a big secret.
“What you thinking? My Heart Will Go On? We’re Never Getting Back Together?’’
“I was thinking more along the lines of being naked,’’ Kim flirts, giggling.
I look between the two, weighing my options. I’ve been in this situation before and it didn’t end well for me.
“Few questions first,’’ I tell them, watching their eyes light up. “You into threesomes? Spanking?’’
The girls nod, looking at each with a scrunched up face. I ignore it, carrying on. After all, we’re talking about my safety here.
“What about fisting, soiling on each other? Anal?’’ I ramble, taking another gulp of my drink. When I open my eyes the girls are rushing away.
“Well, shit,’’ I chuckle and then look around the room, looking for someone to help sing my problems away with. When I see another group of girls, I smack my glass down on the table.
Sha-tttting!
Staggering over to the group of four girls I put a wide grin on my face. They see me approach and a few run an appreciative eye over me.
Well, look at that, I’m in, I grin, tripping over my own feet and bumping into two of the four girls.
“Shit, ladies, I’m sorry. Bartender spiked my drink,’’ I joke. The two I bumped into don’t look too pleased and start to move away from me. The other two are giggling, looking amus
ed. At least someone appreciates my moves.
“Hey, I’m Amber,’’ the chick with brown hair, blue eyes and a rack to drool over greets.
“Well, hellooooo, Amber,’’ I smirk, my eyes zeroing on her two beauties. “Want to go and sing with me? We could rock this place.’’
“What were you thinking?’’ Amber asks seeming into the idea.
“Maybe Taylor Swift, One Direction, or maybe some Celine Dion, ‘My Heart Will Go On’, what do you think?’’
“Who’s Celine Dion?’’ she asks and I look at her appalled.
“Are you fucking with me? I’m only eighteen and even I know who Celine Dion is,’’ I tell her, eyes wide. I don’t bother to mention my nan listened to her constantly and that the chick kind of grew on me. I could sing a bit of Celine better than most people.
But seriously, has this chick been living under a rock?
“You been living under a rock?’’
“No,’’ she snaps dryly, the seductive look she was giving me now wiped from her face. Well, shit. Maybe the other chick will be game. When my eyes turn to the side my body sways and I think I’ve drunk more than I realised because all three of the other girls have disappeared.
“Magic,’’ I whisper, rubbing furiously at my eyes. Nope, still gone.
“What?’’
“Nothing, so… Taylor? One D?’’
“Um…’’ she starts, but something behind me catches her eye and I watch them widen before dilating into lust.
What crab ass is trying to steal my singing partner? Turning, I watch as Maverick struts over, an angry glare in his eyes.
Jesus, he’s acting like he owns the place. That’s because he does, fuckhead.
I chuckle before turning to greet my brother full on, my arms open wide for a hug. He doesn’t even blink at my hug offer. He just nods to the girl behind me with disinterest, making my earlier gay comment fitting.
“Max,’’ he snaps. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home doing chores for Joan?’’
“Bro,’’ I call excitedly, throwing my hands around the girl beside me. “Didn’t you hear? I’m a free elf. Master presented Dobby with a sock, Dobby free,’’ I laugh, the girl laughing beside me.
“Can you give us a minute?’’ Maverick asks the girl, and the look he gives her doesn’t leave any room for an argument. She disappears and I watch her walk away pouting. That is until she sits at a table with a bunch of other girls, one looking familiar.
“Hey, doesn’t she look like a rougher version of Kayla?’’ I whisper like it’s a conspiracy, whilst looking over at Kayla’s rougher looking doppelgänger. I even point in her direction in case Maverick missed her while he was doing a cat walk over here, but he slaps my hand down looking embarrassed.
“Pack it in,’’ he hisses, looking unamused. Leaning forward he grabs my arm, pulling me through the bar towards the back.
“Hey, I was trying to find my score for the night,’’ I snap, my words slurred and honestly? Uncaring. “Hey, are you drunk?’’ I ask, wondering why he’s zigzagging me through the bar.
Maverick whirls on me, his face thunderous. “Shut the fuck up. We need to talk,’’ he booms, shoving me into the unoccupied booths.
“I’m not a fucking rag doll,’’ I snap, rolling my eyes dramatically. “If you’re here to give me the lecture on the usage of protection, I got it covered. If you want to give me some sexual pointers, one ewwww, and two, I don’t need any. This bad boy can go all night,’’ I grin, thrusting my hips, managing to catch my groin on the table. “Fuck.’’
“What the fuck is going on with you? First you’re a jerk to Lake, embarrassing her in front of everyone and her family…’’ he starts, making my hands fist together under the table.
“WE were her family too,’’ I shout, my blood raging. How dare he bring her up, how fucking dare he? He doesn’t know fucking shit. He doesn’t know that I acted like a dick to protect her, to give her what she wanted, what she needed.
My brother sighs, his eyes softening for a moment before looking at me with a pitiful look.
“Don’t do that,’’ I warn him, not needing him to take pity on me. After a second I plaster on a fake smile, looking at him like nothing ever happened. “Want to sing a song? We could duet you know. Maybe some breakaway pop hit,’’ I tell him seriously, wondering if it will be okay for men to sing together.
He ignores me, a sad sigh escaping. “If you didn’t want her to leave why did you push her away?’’
“As riveting as this conversation is, I’d rather be getting another drink and getting into that one’s pants,’’ I tell him, pointing to the hot blonde that has been eye fucking me from across the room. She winks when she sees me pointing, so I return it with a wink of my own.
Maverick turns to look: hey, he’s male, don’t judge him. His eyes widen before snapping back to me with an expression I can’t decipher.
“That sixty year old woman?’’ he asks, with a slight squeak to his voice.
“What?’’ I ask confused, shaking my alcohol induced head. That’s when I see her, the old lady whose chest kept me standing earlier on my way to the stage. “Nah, not her,’’ I chuckle, amused. “Already felt that up.’’
Maverick doesn’t seem too impressed, in fact, he looks down right horrified and if I’m right, a little pissed.
“Why are you doing this?’’ he asks, looking defeated and older than his twenty-six years.
“’Cause I need to get laid? ’Cause I need someone to fuck Lake out of my fucking mind?’’
“For fuck’s sake, Max,’’ he roars, slamming his fist on the table. “For once in your fucking life be honest. Tell me what’s going on in that warped ass, crazy mind of yours. One thing I never pictured you as and that’s a coward.’’
Anger fills my veins, fuelling my temper which I don’t lose often. It takes a lot for me to get angry, but he’s going too far. I’m no fucking coward. I stand up suddenly, leaning menacingly over the table, getting in his face.
“Don’t you fucking dare, Mav. If anyone’s a coward it’s you,’’ I snarl, bringing up the time he left when we were younger.
His short fuse blows and he pushes me back down, taking his turn to get in my face before sitting back down. “That’s unfair and you fucking know it,’’ he snarls and the dark look that crosses his face has me sobering, sitting back in the leather booth. I’ve seen him angry but I’ve never seen him like this. His eyes are completely void of any emotion, a dark, cold look smothering his features. His eyes have turned completely black, scaring the shit out of me. “You have no idea, no fucking idea what I went through living in that house. You think you guys had it bad? I had it ten times worse, Max. But that’s not why you’re pissed is it? No, it’s about Lake leaving, not me. Now fucking admit why you’re so worked up over her leaving.’’
“Because I fucking love her,’’ I roar, and everyone’s eyes fall on me. Ducking my head, I lower my tone to just above a whisper. “I love her,’’ I finally admit, feeling deflated. I’ve never loved anyone as much as I’ve loved her. I might have pushed her away for her own good but in the end she would have made the same choice, leaving me anyway. I just made it easier for her, even if it killed me inside.
I’ve come to blows with Mav before, but nothing compared to this. Ever. He’s also never talked about his childhood before either which is shocking. He might not have revealed much to some people, but to me, it’s more than he’s ever shared before. He, Mason and Malik stay closed off when it comes to growing up, but Maverick, he shuts down anything to do with him and his upbringing. So knowing I’ve caused him to blow up like this, to talk about his past, makes me realise how much I’ve really fucked up this past week.
“So go get her back,’’ he tells me after a few minutes, only our heavy breathing filling the silence.
His complete one-eighty personality change causes a wave of dizziness to hit me. He’s acting like we didn’t just hit each other with e
motional abuse. My eyes warily watch him, trying to see if he’s going to jump me the minute I step out of the booth, but all I see is concern and worry, looking at me like I’m going to break at any second.
“How?’’ I ask, my voice weak. I don’t have the energy to fight with him anymore; it’s exhausting. That and all the alcohol consumption hasn’t helped my energy levels.
“It’s not going to be easy. First you need to sober up.’’
I was afraid he was going to say that.
“Okay, but first, stop spinning the room, it’s making me feel sick.’’
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
LAKE
I wake up with red puffy eyes from crying all night. I’d literally fallen asleep sobbing my eyes out.
When we arrived home yesterday my stomach was still tied up in knots. I felt so sick and it wasn’t from the car ride. It only got worse the second we pulled up to my childhood home.
My mum and dad neglected to tell me they had organised a surprise ‘welcome home’ party. I knew they planned it out of love and wanted me to feel welcome but it just felt like an ambush, one that suffocated me from the second I walked through the door.
Family and friends passed me around like some rare antique. They asked me question after question, some even going as far as to send me disapproving looks. After listening to my uncle Ian give me what for, reminding me how much I put my family through running away, I kindly excused myself and rushed up to my old bedroom.
I fell apart as soon as I opened the door. It’s like everything hits me at once seeing my old room. Mum and Dad hadn’t moved or changed a thing. Not one thing. Everything is how I remembered it to be from the night we left to pick Cowen up from that dreadful party.
My prom dress was still hanging up on the wardrobe door, my school uniform folded on my chair and even my mobile phone, nail polish and magazine was still lying on my bed like I had only been gone away a day and not a year.
Max (A Carter Brother series Book 4) Page 38