“And reality comes knocking at the door. Literally,’’ I muttered, pouting at his chest.
“I fucking hate them all right now, whoever they are.’’ He shook his head, quickly placed a kiss on top of my head and left the bed. He scanned the room and located his jeans thrown on the floor in a wrinkled heap. He shook them once and glared at the other part of the suite when the person knocked again. “Asshole doesn’t have a damn minute,’’ he complained under his breath, but I heard him without straining.
I leaned on my elbows as I watched him put on the jeans. I bit my lip when his strong thighs disappeared under the well-worn denim, but I silently applauded when I realized he didn’t plan on putting on a shirt. With his tattoos, his broad chest and shoulders, his thick arms and well-defined abs, I was happy to have a bit more time to enjoy the view. Considering his jeans were sitting very low on his hips and that the button wasn’t closed, I had a hard time tearing my eyes off the hair I saw leading to a place I would have loved to explore a bit more this morning.
I couldn’t remember ever being so attracted to a man’s body before. I’ve dated good-looking men and Caleb wasn’t an ugly duckling either, but there’s something about Maxen that screamed sex. It’s potent. It’s heady.
It’s irresistible.
“You make this very difficult, babe.’’
My eyes glided over his chest and stopped on the barbell going through his nipple. “You make it very difficult too, Maxen. You should go before they break down the door,’’ I nodded at where we could hear the person knocking louder.
He swore again and stalked to the door. I strained to listen and immediately recognized Dex’s voice. “What were you doing, fucker? I’ve been at the door for the past five fucking minutes!’’
“Keep it down! The other rooms don’t need to hear ya.’’
“All right. Go get dressed. Harley got you an interview with that journalist. You’re supposed to meet her in an hour. Is Lark still asleep?’’
“Uh, no, she’s…huh…’’
I cringed at hearing Maxen stuttering. He couldn’t be more obvious if he tried. I quickly got up and put on my clothes. I glared at the wrinkled fabric of my dress while I listened to the heavy silence that fell between the two men. Shit, this was so embarrassing.
“No, you didn’t.’’
“What are you talking about?’’ Maxen asked, and from here the fake confusion didn’t sound very convincing. I rolled my eyes.
“You and Lark… you two fucked?’’
“Damn it,’’ Maxen growled, and I decided it was time I walked out. I ran my fingers through my hair, hoping it’d tame it enough to pass as semi-decent, and located the two men near the door of the suite.
When Maxen turned to look at me, I couldn’t overlook the hunger in his green eyes, and I smiled at him. But when I glanced at Dex, I blushed with embarrassment. His dark eyes were almost bugging out of his head as he took a good look at me and then at his best friend.
“That’s…unexpected.’’ He blinked and suddenly, chuckled.
I frowned at him, surprised by his reaction and even more when both men exchanged a long look, as if they were communicating something in silence. “A part of me really wants to know what that look is all about, but the biggest part thinks it’s best if I don’t.’’
Maxen laughed his booming laugh, and I smiled at him, unable to keep my frown up. Dex loosened up a little too at seeing his friend like this. Now I knew why Dex had been so careful, so attentive of Maxen and his mood. With Maxen’s drug issues, it’s understandable that Dex felt like he had a duty to be there for his best friend and catch him before he fell again.
“I’ll go and get dressed. Dex, ask your girl to send me info about that journal. I don’t want to be taken by surprise. It’s my one chance to make things right.’’ He turned around to go back to his bedroom.
“Harley is writing you an email right now. You should get it anytime, and she told me that she negotiated for a ten-minute interview, nothing more and nothing will be recorded,’’ Dex said right as Maxen walked in his room and closed the door with a kick. “Ten bucks he’ll lose his shit with the journalist.’’
I pursed my lips at Dex and shook my head. “He better not. Are you going with him?’’
“Nah. I’m supposed to record an acoustic version of our new song for a YouTube channel. Otis and Beckett should be with Floyd waiting for Maxen’s return with the ID of the person who leaked the info and depending on who it is, they’ll have PR stunts to put in action.’’ He crossed his arms and glared over my shoulder, his dark eyes lost in thoughts. “I’d rather be with Maxen.’’
“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.’’
He frowned at me and smirked his trademark smirk that’s so different from the softy he really was. His smirk was sending a bad boy image when he’s probably the guy who’s the least bad of the band. “He told you where he was this summer.’’
I nodded and glanced at his room, but we didn’t hear anything. He’s probably still in his shower. “He’s not going to take drugs because of this. Stop worrying.’’
“Lark, you don’t know him like I do. With you caught up in this fucking mess? Anything could happen.’’
“What does that mean?’’
He shrugged and uncrossed his arms. “Just… Just keep in mind that Maxen is good at hiding what he feels. Behind his laugh? There’s a lot you don’t suspect. A lot.’’ He came to me, squeezed my shoulder and left the room without looking back while I had many questions running through my head.
MAXEN
I pushed open the door of the small hole-in-a-wall cafe and immediately located the journalist. It wasn’t because there were only five customers here, two of which were a couple sucking faces. No, I could almost always spot a journalist with the look for that one thing to break or make their career.
This one wasn’t too obvious about it, I’d give her that, but there’s just something in the way she kept on scanning her notes in front of her on the small table, right next to her mug of some girly coffee.
I took in her curly red hair tucked in a tight ponytail, her light makeup and tight suit and I walked up to her. If I wasn’t so pissed by the media mess and if I didn’t have Lark in my life right now, I would have been quite ready to shoot her my killer smile, hoping to get the chance to pull down her panties soon enough. But right now, all I wanted was to get this over with, get the name of the fucker who outed my marriage and the ID of my wife and then go back to Lark.
“You must be Casey Olson,’’ I said, startling the redhead.
Her head snapped up, and she quickly stood to shake my hand. Her palm was clammy, and I noticed the slight tremble when she pulled back. Harley was right, she’s new to this, and she’s desperate to get that raise at her job. Hopefully, I could play it to my advantage.
“Mr. Walton. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me.’’
I arched an eyebrow at her and scoffed. “Let’s get real here. You know why I’m here and I know why you jumped on the opportunity to interview me. It’s a win-win situation.’’
She reluctantly nodded and grabbed her notes. Her light brown eyes went to and from the notes and my face. Her cheeks started to redden when she realized I’ve been fixing her all this time without moving or blinking. I had all my attention on this woman, foregoing checking if someone here had their phone out and trained on me to get my mug on some pic to be posted on Facebook or Twitter. I didn’t give a damn if paparazzi found me anyway. Lark was still at the hotel, safe.
“I agreed with Harley Floyd to give the name of our informant once we’re finished with this interview.’’
“I know, and I’m also aware that you agreed to a ten-minute interview. You better start now, sweetheart, because the clock’s ticking.’’ I pointed at my left wrist where I didn’t have a watch, but she got me.
She nodded, took a deep breath and then I finally saw a professional in front of me. She straightened, and the flush slowl
y receded from her heart-shaped face. I bet one day she’d have the recognition at her job she desperately wanted.
“Maxen, you must know that the news about your marital status is a bomb for everybody. I don’t think we’ve ever seen you photographed with your wife, Lark Hardin, before last night. How long have you known her exactly?’’
I gritted my teeth at the mention of Lark. I knew it was normal, but I hated that shit. If only the questions were like my usual regarding the last woman I had been fucking but didn’t care about, then I’d be all the more willing to open my trap and blabber.
“We met freshman year in college in New York. We had the same group of friends.’’
“It’s been a while then.’’ She took some quick notes on her notepad before her light brown eyes fixed me once again with that inquisitive spark I loathed. “Were you dating? Are you in an open relationship?’’
I couldn’t help the chuckle to escape. ‘Open relationship’? If she knew Lark, she wouldn’t be asking such a dumb question. “We never dated in college. I’m good friends with her cousin. He used to help me and the guys to get gigs in bars and shit.’’
“How did you two get married then? It’s a very odd start for a couple, don’t you think? She must not be exactly thrilled with your indiscretions.’’
I leaned over the table and glared at her. “I’ve always been very close to women, but with Lark, it’s different. I’ve never cheated on her because our marriage was the result of a weekend trip to Vegas that ended in a lot of booze and dumb dares when we were freshly twenty-one.’’
“Are you saying that now that it’s out in the open you’re going to divorce your wife?’’ She’s almost vibrating at tasting something juicy.
Under the table, I clenched my hands into tight fists and leaned back in the chair. “I’m saying that we haven’t been in each other’s lives in a while, but we’re getting reacquainted. I don’t want people to refer to her as the ‘most famous deceived wife’ because I’m Maxen fucking Walton and I’m known to be a womanizer. She deserves respect.’’
She shook her head at the coldness seeping in my voice and plundered on. Journalists were ruthless. No wonder I liked Harley, she’s nothing like these people. “What can you tell us about your wedding in Vegas? Do you have pictures of that day to share with your fans?’’
“I’ve changed phones since then, and I don’t think I have any pictures left of that time. As for our trip to Vegas… It was to celebrate our contract with the label we’ve signed with since then. We didn’t know if it would lead anywhere, but for once we had money from our gigs and decided to go to Vegas. Dex, Otis, Beckett, Lark, her cousin, and I went there and had fun like any students freshly turned twenty-one would. We ended up in a small chapel getting married by a tacky Elvis and that’s it.’’
“I’m sure you can give us more details, Maxen.’’
I narrowed my eyes at her and breathed in the coffee bean aroma to calm down before I went from rude to downright rabid. It was fucking hard when my blood rushed so hard through my veins, making my ears buzz and my temple throb. Being high had definitely made interviews a lot easier and more fun. Not wanting to protect something or someone made the process also easier. “There’s nothing else to say. We were plastered, didn’t exchange a kiss and never saw each other until a week ago in LA.’’
“You haven’t seen your wife in almost five years. That’s…’’
“Weird, I know.’’ I toyed with the piercing in my eyebrow. “Lark and I weren’t exactly friends back then. We had a hard time talking without fighting. The next day she had left Vegas on an early flight, and we avoided each other on campus until me and the guys went to LA and signed with the label. Life went on.’’
The woman in front of me frowned and glanced at her notes. She pointed at something with her pen on her notecard and directed her eyes back on me. “I remember you told another magazine that you wouldn’t get married. Why lie considering you’re already a married man? From what you’re saying, this is a sham marriage, but it’s still official in the eye of the law.’’
“I didn’t lie, Ms. Olson. I remember that interview.’’ Thank fuck for Harley’s email that warned me this would come out. Otherwise, I’d be digging my own grave and make things worse. “I said that for me, a marriage wasn’t necessary to prove your engagement to someone. I also said that I don’t have a woman in my life that would make me want to change my ways and settle down. After that, it’s free of interpretation.’’
“What interpretation are you keen on?’’
I smiled at her, my big panty-dropping smile and watched the red in her cheeks invading her neck and down to her cleavage again. “Hey now, I can’t give you all my secrets.’’
I grabbed my phone from my pants, checked the time and smiled bigger. I turned the screen over to her, and she nodded with disappointment. Time was up.
“I suppose you want that name now.’’
***
LARK
“Don’t you find it weird he hasn’t called yet?’’ I asked Harley and started chewing on my thumbnail, something I haven’t done since I started my teenage years.
She tried to smile at me, but it looked fake. Dex stood up again and paced around the suite.
Alan had left half an hour ago, slipping through a back door a hotel employee escorted him to when he got a call regarding a delay in some delivery or another. Life didn’t stop because of this gigantic mess, but I wouldn’t have minded some family support from my cousin right now. I glanced down at my phone when it buzzed again and sighed when I saw my parents were calling again. It’s been going like this for the last two hours, but I couldn’t bring myself to answer.
“She’s right, Harley,’’ Dex said, arms crossed over his chest and stood in front of us on the other side of the coffee table while we’re still on the couch. “And he fucking turned off his phone.’’
“Calm down, I’m sure he’s on his way back,’’ Harley said with a soothing voice. But one look at her big green eyes relayed another story. She’s as worried as Dex and I.
“I hope the fucker didn’t make a stop on his way or else…’’ He gripped the back of his neck and growled. “I’m going to rip apart the person who got the story out. I swear.’’
“He wouldn't do that,’’ I butted in, shaking my head at the thought of Maxen with a drug dealer.
“Do drugs? Lark, he’s an addict for fuck’s sake! Addicts have fallbacks. He wouldn’t be the first.’’ Dex went back to pacing while I leaned farther back on the couch, hoping the thing would swallow me.
I couldn’t picture Maxen doing drugs in the first place, but thinking he’d do this right now when we were all worried and were in this mess? I didn’t believe it one minute. But still, my heart squeezed a bit at the fear contained in Dex.
And then, the door to the suite clicked open. At once, we all turned toward it, Harley and I jumping to our feet. I wasn’t breathing, my heart hammered in my chest and my fingers tingled.
Maxen’s blonde hair appeared followed by his tall and muscular body. I sighed with relief, but upon seeing the hard glare of his green eyes and the flat line formed by his mouth usually always ready to smile, I tensed again.
“Where the fuck were you?’’ Dex exploded, his smoky voice booming in the quiet room.
Harley walked to her man and wrapped an arm around his hips, and he visibly relaxed at her touch. But his dark eyes were still pinning Maxen near the door.
Maxen leaned against the closed door, and his eyes searched behind his best friend and Harley to land on me. “I needed some time to calm down.’’
“Did the interview go bad?’’ Harley asked tentatively, probably already thinking about the repercussions of a bad interview.
Maxen shook his head and toyed with his piercing in his eyebrow. “Nah, it went all right.’’
I walked to him and stopped when I was close enough to touch his chest covered by a navy blue shirt if I stretched my arm in front of m
e. “What’s wrong then? Just tell me and get it over with.’’
He glanced over my shoulder at Dex and Harley and then fixed me again with his green eyes so serious at this moment. I knew I wasn’t going to like what he was about to tell me, but I didn’t see what could go more wrong. Our marriage had been ousted already. It wasn’t like I had any more skeletons in my closet.
The fingers toying with the barbell in his eyebrow stopped and his arm fell to his side. His eyes stayed locked with mine and I was ready to say I finally didn’t want to know when my uneasiness grew, but he opened his mouth and once again I was left at a loss.
“Caleb Hatkinson. He’s the one who told that journalist.’’ Maxen’s voice sounded hard to my ears as I blinked stupidly at him.
“Wh—What the hell?’’ I whispered in a choked voice. If anyone asked me how I felt, I wouldn’t be able to answer. Everything was blending into each other, my emotions colliding in waves. Disbelief left to give way to anger and then it’s betrayal’s turn to show its ugly face.
“Who’s that?’’ Harley asked from behind me, and I shook my head as my eyes wandered to the plush floor of the suite.
“Lark’s—’’
“He’s nobody,’’ I cut Maxen off sharply and gritted my teeth. “I can’t believe this.’’ I stared at Maxen again and found him eyeing me. He made a move to get closer to me, but I shook my head stiffly. He stopped, but I didn’t miss how he tensed once again. His shoulders bulged suddenly and his shirt stretched over his muscles. One quick look at his hands showed me he was clenching them into tight and deadly fists. “I need to go. Do you think I can use the same way Alan left?’’
“Without risking the damn paparazzi outside following you? Forget it, Lark. We have to wait for Floyd’s debrief,’’ Maxen retorted without waiting for the others to say something.
I scowled at my husband and pointed at his face. “If you think for one moment I’m not going to pay Caleb a visit, you’re mistaken. He proposed to me and I went to see you to get a divorce so I could marry him! He rejected me when he realized I wasn’t free to marry just yet and he put the last nail in the coffin by running his fucking mouth to the first hungry journalist he could find. I will not stay here while he’s enjoying his damn weekend in the apartment we lived in together, but he threw me out of!’’ I was panting harshly after my outburst. I was boiling and ready to punch that pretty boy face in when I saw him. I had thought I was in love with him and I wanted to build a life with him. And I’ve spent two years with him! No, I’ve wasted two years with him. “I can’t believe he did this to me,’’ I added in a whisper, some hurt slipping through my anger clogging everything.
Maxen (Kinky Shine Book 2) Page 14