by C. M. Owens
Sean has already eaten his fill, and Maverick glances at the time as he sticks a slice in the microwave.
It’s always the most awkward when he’s about to leave. Maybe I’ll get to be the departer one day, and he can be the awkward one floundering around with how to bid farewell.
As soon as his piece of pizza is heated up, he smirks at me. “Is this where you punch my shoulder? Because I really do need to go.”
“I’ll never understand some generations,” Sean decides to say.
Maverick grins at me, and I blow out a long breath, deciding to smother Sean with a pillow a few times tonight. Or dump a pitcher of ice-cold water over his head.
I go to tell Maverick that I’ll see him later, or that I’ll see him at the dinner, and can’t decide which to say. So I say neither. Nope. Instead, I open my mouth and let stupid stuff fall out.
“Later, alligator,” I tell him lamely, hearing Sean snort, and Maverick nods while trying not to laugh at me as well.
“After while, crocodile,” Maverick finally says, sending Sean back into a laughing fit.
Smartasses. Everywhere I look, I see smartasses.
Two boys laugh at me as I turn and walk away. I’m going to Google cool farewells. Because I’m lame like that.
And to think, usually I’m good at this sort of thing.
But, outside of my brothers, I’ve never had a male friend. I’m the girl guys want to have sex with. Never the girl they want to settle down for. Never the girl they want to be friends with.
Okay. I’ll stop whining now. Promise.
Chapter 12
MAVERICK
“So, Salem, what is it you do?” Dad asks as we sit down to our very awkward family dinner. I only just got here, since I was running behind.
Why was I running behind? Because the cat from hell decided my shirt was the perfect thing to piss on.
I really hope someone needs a cat. I don’t know how much more I can take of the devil.
When I glance over, I can tell Salem and Sean would both rather be anywhere else.
Personally, I love a little drama. Keeps things interesting. As long as that drama doesn’t involve me or a cat pissing on my shirt.
“I’m a mechanic,” Salem answers, shocking the hell out of me.
Kelly bristles, and I can tell she doesn’t like that answer.
“Salem was an excellent dancer when she was younger, but she decided she preferred to play in dirt like a boy.” Even though Kelly says it with a smile, it’s definitely an underhanded dig.
Salem doesn’t seem fazed as she drinks her water. I’m sure she’s probably used to the digs by now.
One of the things I like about her is how she doesn’t seem to care what anyone else thinks about her.
“What about you, Sean? Any hobbies?” Dad asks.
Sean looks at his mother, who stares expectantly, and he narrows his eyes at me before answering my Dad. “I’m in dance.”
A big-ass grin spreads across my face, and the little dick across the table glares a little harder, like he’s daring me to say something.
“Dance?” I ask, leaning up.
Salem tries not to smile.
“Mostly breakdancing. Not ballet,” Sean quickly supplies, as though that was paramount above all else to be told.
“But do you wear tights?” I ask, goading him.
He uses his middle finger to “scratch” his eyebrow. Pleasant kid.
Dad quirks an eyebrow, but Kelly seems oblivious. Clearing his throat, Dad redirects his attention to Salem.
“If you need a job, Maverick has a friend who was hiring,” Dad offers. “May still be looking for someone.”
Guess I could have thought of that.
“Well, I got a job a couple of days ago. It’s actually a really nice place, and the work atmosphere is probably one of the lightest I’ve ever been in.”
“Oh, Maverick, Salem made that pie on the table,” Dad says, gesturing to the pie with whipped cream on top.
I shoot a taunting look at her, and she rolls her eyes. “I always make a lemon pie. It’s Sean’s favorite.”
“Why’d you make pie?” I ask her.
“Because it’s rude not to bring something when someone invites you to dinner,” she states as though it’s obvious.
I blink at her.
“Salem’s lemon pies are good, but they are very fatty,” her mother supplies dryly.
“Damn good; not just good,” Salem says, her eyes on her mother.
I swear her mother almost smiles. “Language,” she says instead.
Cue awkward silence.
Dad apparently grows tired of being the one to force all the conversation, so he looks over at me for help.
Kelly doesn’t look old enough to have three grown kids, but she also doesn’t look like the warm motherly type. I wonder what it was like for Salem to grow up like this. Constantly dealing with new family dinners and such.
“The prime rib is great,” I state flatly, coming up empty for conversation topics.
Yeah. This sucks.
***
“See you after dance on Monday,” Sean says over his shoulder to Salem.
“I’ll be here tomorrow to help you study, ass face. Got everything you need?” she asks as he starts up the stairs.
“Always do, fuzzy head.”
Fuzzy head? Salem’s hair is always glossy and sleek, never a single piece of fuzz to be found.
Salem turns to face me as I cock my head. “He’s staying here for two days?”
“He’s starting school, so Mom wants him here to study for his classes, that way he’s prepared on day one. She thinks I let him watch too much TV. I think he’s already scarily smart.”
I laugh to myself as I follow her out, holding the door open for her.
“So you’re free to go to Silk? A bunch of us are meeting up. Thought you might want to make some new friends.”
She hesitates, probably because of her no-friends rule.
“Are you being nice because you think we’re going to have sex again? Or are you really trying to be my friend?”
A smile slides across my lips. “Both? Depends on which one we reach first, I guess.”
She eyes me warily as she steps toward my car. “You can drive me there. Mom sent a driver after me since she thinks my truck is too obnoxious to be here, so my truck is still at home. But I’m taking a cab home from the club.”
I wave off the driver who is waiting for her, and he nods before walking away.
“Fair warning, my friends are a unique and complex brand of crazy. It’s like Skittles; there’s a rainbow of options.”
“Duly noted.”
I open my passenger door for her, holding it, and she eyes me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Really?”
“I’m not a complete asshole most days,” I say, still smiling.
She climbs in, still regarding me, and I close her door before walking around to my side and driving us toward Silk.
“Your mom is intense,” I tell her.
“Always serious. Always planning her next ten steps. That’s how she operates.”
“I guess she tried planning your steps too, but you didn’t let her.”
She taps her nose. “Drives her crazy, but she deals with it. She doesn’t like arguing. If she can’t clearly and brutally prove her point, she’ll give up with the argument and move on, never acknowledging who was right or who was wrong. What about yours?”
“She has a lot of rules,” I answer, smirking. “Tons of them. She loves order in her house, but she still smiles amongst chaos, meaning she got used to me and my cousins constantly bringing disorder.”
She smiles like she likes that answer.
“What sort of rules?” she asks.
“Typical things. You know.”
“Not really. My mother’s rules revolve mostly around how to carry myself in front of men. And what men not to bother with. And, well, you get the point. She doesn’t believ
e in dating someone simply because you like them, and she really doesn’t believe in ‘being yourself’ in front of them.”
Something she said on the first night pops into my head as I turn us toward Silk.
“You said I was in hunter mode that night I first found you at the beach house.”
“Some of my training. Always know what’s on a guy’s mind. Always know what he’s looking for and give it to him. My mother is really sexist and tends to think men are painfully predictable. Thus, God gifted her with three sons who prove to be wildly unpredictable on a good day—her form of punishment, I think.”
Not sure why that makes me grin.
“Yet, you pretty much figured me out.”
“I didn’t say a lot of her tactics don’t work. They do. Women are just as predictable, though. We’re all creatures of habit. It’s not always so simple, though. You, for instance, threw me a curveball by being different than I pegged you. Unpredictability is preferred.”
I start to say more, but we pull up to Silk, and she gets out almost as soon as the car is parked.
“I’m still not fucking you though, so we better figure out a way to nail down this friend thing,” Salem adds as she joins me at my side, prompting me to laugh.
Without asking for permission and making it weird, I drop my arm to her shoulders, guiding her in, bypassing the really long line. Base Masters is playing tonight, which means the crowd comes early.
However, as soon as we’re inside, she ditches me to head straight for the bathroom.
A shock of blonde hair catches my attention as Rain spots me ordering two drinks at the bar.
“So…how’s the stepsister seduction thing going?” she asks, unaware that Salem is in the bathroom.
“Dane has a big fucking mouth,” I fire back dryly.
Her grin just spreads. “Come on, Mav. No judgment here. Stepbrother romances are huge right now,” Rain is saying, and I open my mouth to speak when I see Salem stop walking, standing just behind Rain as she arches an eyebrow at me in question.
“Rain, it’s not—”
“I mean, they were huge. I wanted to write my own, but as usual, the market dried up before I could figure out the perfect story. But seriously, it’s just the right amount of taboo without the ick factor,” Rain goes on, causing Salem’s lips to twitch as she eyes me.
“Rain—”
My gaze stays on Salem, as Rain continues to talk over me. “Well, it can be icky if they grow up together, because that’s a little too close for comfort. But in your case, there’s zero ick involved. And there’s also usually some innocent girl versus bad boy trope mixed in to make it twice as hot. You could totally pull off the bad boy thing. And the conflict is already there, given the forbidden nature of—”
“Rain, for fuck’s sake,” I say, my eyes imploring her to shut the hell up.
Her expression sobers. “She’s standing right behind me, isn’t she?” Rain asks flatly.
Pretty sure she dies a little when I nod. Salem looks like she’s trying not to burst out laughing.
“For the record,” Salem says, looking at me as Rain’s back stays to her, “I’m not all that innocent.”
Slowly, Rain turns, plasters on a smile that is as transparent as they come, then grimaces when she realizes she can’t pull it off. “Salem! Awesome to finally meet you!” she says, her voice two octaves too high. “I’m just going to go sew my mouth shut now before I lose any more of my foot in it.”
With that, Rain darts off, leaving me behind with Salem. Her arms are crossed over her chest as she rolls her eyes.
“You told them about our quickie?” she asks incredulously.
“It was a warmup,” I automatically defend. “And they were here the night I took you home. Then of course I told them about the bomb a little after it was dropped.”
She groans while dropping her head back, and I step behind her so I can stare straight down at her, giving her my most innocent expression. In its slanted position, the crown of her head hits my chest as she glares a little, but I keep smiling, knowing she seems to give in easier when I do.
Someone bumps into us, and I grab her hips to steady her. She doesn’t push away at first, but she finally does. “Are one of those mine?” she asks, pointing to the two Jack and Cokes in front of me.
“No, I’m an asshole who thought he needed two drinks even though you didn’t have one.”
She bites back a grin as she lifts one of the drinks to her lips, sipping it as Base Masters gets cheered for. Her eyes are drawn to the stage, and like every other girl in the room, she sways when she sees the cocky little guitarist start playing and singing.
I hate that guy some days.
And I should have learned to play a guitar.
“Come on, and I’ll introduce you around,” I say, pulling her out of the damn spell he weaves.
“Can you introduce me to him?” she asks, pointing at Base.
“Fuck no.”
She grins at me, following as I guide her. She doesn’t seem excited or nervous or genuinely concerned with meeting anyone. When we reach the booth, I see too many teeth in all the greeting smiles.
I’m starting to think my people are enjoying this a little much.
“Salem, I presume,” Ruby says, grinning salaciously as Corbin smirks at me.
Yeah. I knew they’d all make this weird. What was I thinking?
“Yeah,” Salem says while shifting a little. “I just found out that Maverick gossips like a teenage girl, so this is a little awkward now that I know how much he’s shared with everyone,” Salem tells them, causing laughter to break out as I throw my hands up like what-the-fuck.
“You do,” Salem accuses, a taunting grin on her lips.
“I like her,” Dale says, his arm around Harley as he grins wickedly at me.
“How about we drink and dance for a while. I like my friends more when I’m drunk,” I tell Salem, tugging at her hand.
Won’t be the first time I’ve danced with a girl who’s a friend. I can totally behave. Never mind the last time we danced here ended with me leaving with her so wrapped around me that neither of us wanted to come up for air.
“Come find us soon, Salem. We’ll make fun of Maverick with you,” Kode tells her.
I flip him off, even as I smirk. That really could have been hella awkward, but Salem played it all off. Yet one more thing I like about her.
Now to see if I can play nice when she starts grinding against me.
Chapter 13
SALEM
It feels different when you’re dancing with a guy just for fun and not for seduction. I can’t remember laughing as much as I have tonight.
Maverick doesn’t care what anyone thinks. If he feels like dancing goofy, he dances goofy, despite the fact he has badass moves. I prefer him goofy, because he’s way hotter when he’s dancing for real.
He moves by Rain, dancing a circle around her, before rejoining me and…I think that’s the “mashed potato” he’s doing right now. I, of course, laugh like he’s made me do all night as he waggles his eyebrows at me.
I vaguely notice when Rain decides she’s had enough dancing, leaving us on our own.
We abandoned drinking about forty minutes ago, and his friends have danced with us a few times. Maverick is all smiles as he wraps his arms around me, tugging me to him as he dips me theatrically. I go with it, because I really don’t care who is watching either.
As he swings me back up, he thumbs my bottom lip, sending a jolt of awareness through my very female body. Obviously I ignore that jolt, since this chemistry between us can’t be revisited.
“Let’s sit down for a while,” Maverick finally says, his gaze on my lips for a fraction of a second too long.
He gives me a lazy smile before tugging me with him, not giving me a chance to object. I go willingly because I could use a rest. And some water.
The group makes room for us in the massive booth that could still hold more people if it needed to.
But what has my head cocking to the side are two familiar faces.
“Salem?” Brin asks, grinning when she sees me.
“Hey,” I say, confused.
“You know each other?” Maverick asks as he sits down beside me, his arm going around my shoulders like it’s natural.
“Salem took over Wrench’s spot at the garage,” Rye says, looking at Maverick like he might hurt him. “And she’s really good at her job. Fastest mechanic I’ve ever seen who does twice the quality work in half the time. We need her.”
Not really sure what that’s about—
“Maverick’s already fucked her,” the one they call Kode says in a bored drawl to Rye, prompting Maverick to grunt and bury his face in my hair.
Brin shoots a glare at Maverick, causing me to bite back a grin.
“Our quickie was memorable, but I survived the no-call the next day,” I tell everyone, causing them to start laughing again.
“Warmup,” Maverick says on a defeated sigh, his head still pressed to the side of mine as he leans on me a little. “And I didn’t have your number since you ran out before I was done with you.”
The others are watching the exchange with a little too much curiosity, more than likely getting the wrong idea, understandably so. I mean, I did drag him out of here and use him like he wanted to be used not too long ago.
That was before I knew he was Maverick Sterling. That ling tattoo on his arm? It’s just half of Sterling. Wish I’d gotten a better look at it; this could have all been avoided.
Maverick reaches over and grabs Rye’s drink, ignoring his protests before he throws it back, drinking it all in a couple large gulps.
Kode pulls his drink a little closer to him when Maverick eyes it. “You dicks are going to force me to be drunk tonight.”
“We’ll stop teasing,” Rain says, batting a hand. “But you have to admit it—it sucks to be on the receiving end, huh?”
I can imagine Maverick relentlessly terrorizing them.