by C. M. Owens
This is why that little pecker gnat—yeah, I’ve picked up some lingo during our stops on the quest for nut-free food for Ruby—laughed when I insinuated I’d kick Tyler’s ass if he tried to stop me from seeing Salem.
Obviously that plan needs tweaking now that I realize he could very easily break me. I prefer to have a fair chance in a fight.
“Will you please take me to her? I need to see her.” I go for sincerity.
His humor dies, and he frowns a little. “She’s my only sister.”
I nod in understanding.
“Mom is completely unreliable. Just because she’s staying now, doesn’t mean—”
“I just want to see her,” I interrupt. Yeah, just interrupted a basketball legend. I’m in a mood.
He studies me for a moment. “Give me one good reason to,” he finally says.
I start to tell him how I feel about his sister, and then decide I’m not ready to tell him before I even tell her.
So I go with my failsafe. My constant.
Picking up my phone, I turn on the song that Corbin wants destroyed. “Shake that ass, bitch, let me see what you got.”
The words start blaring, and Ruby snorts before coughing. Tyler looks utterly confused as I hold the phone up, wiggling it at Corbin, as if to say, “Well, then, get on with it.” Though I don’t risk looking over there and being burned by the furious fire that’s surely blazing from his eyes.
“You’re fucking kidding me,” Corbin snaps.
“Rules are rules,” I remind him, once again wiggling my phone, prompting him to move this party along.
Even as he plots my murder aloud and maybe whimpers, he tosses his shirt to Ruby, squats, puts his hands on his thighs, and he fucking twerks like his life depends on it.
Right in front of a legend.
Tyler is torn between being fascinated and horrified, unable to look away from the train wreck that is my cousin shaking his ass to the beat.
“Reason number one,” I say in answer to Tyler’s question, “we’re really fucking entertaining.”
Chapter 41
SALEM
I’m going to kill Tyler. I wish Maverick hadn’t made pie moment a sweet thing, because before Maverick, this would be a pie moment.
I can hear that obnoxious Gator he drives around from here.
Wrapping up in a towel, I step out of the tub, abandoning my soothing bath.
I know damn well he’s trying to piss me off if he’s already driving back again today, after I already told him ten times that I just need some quiet time. The entire point of me unplugging is to get some quiet time.
And all he does is try to make me talk about Maverick.
I need distance from all those precious moments with Maverick. Not constant reminders.
Especially now that I have to return to Sterling Shore and somehow live around Maverick without being with Maverick.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say my mother did all this just to break us up, knowing I’d be unable to go through it all again.
When I swing open the door, ready to ream my brother a new asshole, I almost trip. Almost lose the towel. And almost, almost go a little weak in the knees.
Because there’re suddenly two arms around me, the spicy scent surrounding me with a familiar brand of heartache, and the lips on mine are devastatingly memorable.
I’m too surprised that Maverick is kissing me to remember I’m not supposed to be kissing him back. Or letting him walk me up against a wall. Or allowing him to slide his hands under the towel to grab me and pull me closer.
Not by my vagina either.
When I finally do remember, I shove at his chest, and he breaks the kiss, his forehead pressing against mine.
“Come home with me,” he says softly. And my heart decides it’s time to break all over again.
“You know I can’t,” I say with my eyes closed, my hand clinging to his shirt.
“You have to be where Sean is, and Sean is in Sterling Shore,” Maverick says, his lips curving in a smirk that tells me he thinks he has it all figured out.
“I’ll be coming back soon, but not with you. Mom could—”
He kisses me again, shutting me up, and for a very long second, I kiss him back. However, I find it in me to once again put space between us, though it’s just a tiny amount he’ll allow.
“As long as you’re back, then I’ll have a chance to fix all this. Find a way to make sure it’s permanent. If I do that, there will be no reason to stay away, right?” he asks, his eyes intensely focused on mine.
“There’s no way to make it permanent,” I say on a sigh, wishing he wasn’t pouring a little salt on fresh wounds.
Him being here, so close, is keeping the ache out of my chest, confusing my heart, tricking her into believing the world is right again. My heart doesn’t have a brain; my brain doesn’t have a heart; and the two of them refuse to be partners.
I haven’t slept worth a damn in over a week since I left him behind to lick my wounds.
Now he’s here. I’m exhausted. And all I can think about is wrapping up in his arms and sleeping peacefully for hours.
“I’ll figure it out,” he says with a confident grin that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Until then, I don’t want you avoiding me just to keep from getting close.”
“Maverick, I barely walked away last time. If we keep going, then when Mom decides to—”
“I get it,” he interrupts softly, his hand cupping the side of my cheek, his body still taking up too much of my personal space. But I don’t have it in me to push him any farther away when my entire body is comforted by his mere presence. “But we can be friends until I figure it out—no avoiding me, Salem. That’s all I’m saying.”
I cock an eyebrow, and his grin grows.
“We suck at being just friends,” I remind him.
“We can be friends when we know it’s only temporary—until I figure out a way to make it okay for more.”
I’m already struggling to be this close to him. How the hell am I going to be his friend? It’ll be like having him all over again, minus the sex. Because Maverick became my friend. My best friend.
The friendship is what made me freaking fall in love with him, because it made us real.
Deciding not to unload all that, I keep my inner thoughts locked up. “You came all the way to Georgia to demand that we be friends?” I ask dubiously.
His smile falters. “No. I came all the way to Georgia because I needed to see you.”
I’m kissing him before I can stop myself, and his hand goes into my hair, holding my head right where he wants it. I barely manage to shove at his chest this time, and he almost doesn’t back away.
We’re both a little breathy when we finally do put a few inches between our mouths.
“Already we suck at being just friends,” I deadpan, causing a rumble of laughter to vibrate through his chest.
“I’ll do better,” he says on a long exhale, and then he takes a step back, woodenly, as though it’s causing him physical harm to do so. I smile sympathetically, because it sucks.
I don’t want to have to avoid him, but I sure as hell can’t seek him out. Limited time together has to be a main priority.
It’ll be like weaning myself off my version of crack. My crack being Maverick Sterling, in case that isn’t glaringly obvious by now.
“Sorry to break this up,” comes a voice I recognize, though it startles me just before Ruby pokes her head in, “but I’m starving, and I really have to pee.”
Confused as hell to see her here, I gesture toward the open door, then remember I’m still in a towel when Corbin walks in.
I clutch the towel tighter as Corbin averts his eyes, looking at anything but me, as Ruby shuts herself in the bathroom. Tyler comes in last, smirking at me, and I glare at him, ready to kick his ass for not giving me any warning.
I’d probably need a stepladder to kick his ass.
“You might have mentioned your brother was an NBA le
gend,” Corbin says with his back turned, sounding as though he’s pouting.
“I never do to basketball fans—which you all are. Why are you so red?” I ask, noticing it looks like he’s blushing.
Maverick grins, the sight doing strange and unexplainable things to my insides, as he cocks a hip against the counter I’m leaning against, once again invading my space as though we’re two magnets pulling toward each other.
“He had to twerk in front of Tyler Murphy,” Maverick says.
Pretty sure the tips of Corbin’s ears are glowing red through his hair.
“Sean said your new people were weird,” Tyler says through an amused smile. “He just never said how weird.”
Corbin glares at Maverick just as Ruby comes out.
“Our flight doesn’t leave until tomorrow. We got you a ticket, by the way,” she tells me matter-of-factly, which has Tyler laughing at me with his eyes. “So what can we eat? And…where’s the TV?”
“There’s no TV out here, and there’s only one other bedroom,” I say quickly.
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” Maverick offers.
“Or you guys can come up to the main house,” Tyler offers.
“Salem won’t stay in this cabin with just me, and I don’t want to stay in a different house with her just right here,” Maverick says conversationally, as though he’s not plucking at the heartstrings or anything.
Tyler turns away, a small smile on his lips.
“We have some board games here if you don’t want to trek to the house. My wife and kids won’t mind the company, though. She expects me to be out here bothering the hell out Salem, but she’d be thrilled to have everyone up.”
I spent all day yesterday with Monica and the twins, and the other two. All are under the age of five.
“I’m good down here.”
My brother refrains from grinning, understanding.
“Oh! Monopoly!” Corbin says, pulling out the board and causing me to smile. Again, before Maverick, Monopoly was just a game.
Maverick cuts a grin at me, letting me know he’s thinking the same thing. Those moments I so eagerly and desperately collected now hang around like little haunting thought bubbles all the time.
“I haven’t played this in forever,” Corbin goes on, putting the game down on the dining room table.
Tyler pulls up an extra chair, and he sits down with the guys. Ruby works on making a large bowl of salad with the ingredients I fortunately have on hand. I go put on clothes so that I’m not standing in a roomful of people in nothing but a towel.
When I emerge, I tell Ruby, “Burgers are in there too. Tyler keeps all his grilling food in this fridge. Normally this is his man cave.”
I feel Maverick’s eyes on me, but I don’t cave to the pressure of turning and looking at him.
Ruby gets excited, and she cooks and grills while the rest of us play the game. Of course, after a few hours, it’s just down to Corbin and Maverick and the game is getting heated.
Tyler watches them with rapt attention, fascinated to the core as Maverick and Corbin talk shit to each other and start comparing the game to real life and the properties one got over the other and…I don’t know. I tune most of it out.
I’m busy pretending that hearing his voice over and over isn’t sending my heart into a constant frenzy.
The tears aren’t even threatening to emerge. Why? Because I really am sinking into a blanket of false reconciliation. My heart can’t understand that we’re not back together.
Confusing.
Annoying.
Whiny, I sound. And done.
Standing, I snatch the board up before they get into a fight, and they both groan at me as I start packing it away.
“Can’t play nice, can’t play at all,” Ruby says, drinking the wine straight from the bottle as she lounges on the couch, watching with a grin.
“I need to get back up to Monica. I guess, since you’re leaving tomorrow, I’ll come visit you soon,” Tyler says, smiling as he reaches out and hugs me.
I cling to him a little, soaking in his warmth and comfort. Twenty-five, and I still run to my big brother when shit turns bad in my life.
Everyone is trying to send me back, after I was metaphorically dragged out kicking and screaming. It’s like they don’t understand how hard this is going to be. It’s not just Maverick I’m irrevocably attached to.
As Tyler releases me, he bids everyone farewell, and the night creeps on.
I decide to go to bed a little early. Maverick gives me a knowing look, but he doesn’t say anything as he makes a bed on the couch.
Ruby and Corbin go to the spare bedroom, leaving us alone in the living room.
“You sure you want to sleep on that?” I ask him, gesturing to the long leather couch.
It’s actually really comfortable.
“It’s not my bed or yours, but it’ll do.”
Yeah, not touching that.
I turn and go to bed, not saying anything else. Then I…toss and turn for several long hours. After four hours, to be exact, I decide to go confuse the hell out of us both and stick my heart in a blender.
The second I open my door, Maverick’s head turns toward me, proving he’s still awake too, suffering the same as me. He just watches me as I walk to him, and he helps me when I climb onto the couch and lie down on top of him. His arms squeeze around me as he blows out a relieved breath.
“We can be just friends tomorrow,” I say softly, tucking my head under his chin. “I want to sleep for one night.”
He kisses the top of my head, squeezing me a little tighter. “Thank fuck, because I could really use some sleep too.”
And just like that, I drift off, cocooned in his arms, and tricking my heart for one more day, catching a reprieve from the pain that can wait until tomorrow.
Chapter 42
SALEM
@MavSterling: @SalemWithNoWitch we’re going to Silk tonight and so are you. #FriendGameStrong
@SalemWithNoWitch: @MavSterling I’m washing my hair tonight.
@MavSterling: @SalemWithNoWitch unless that’s code for using your vibrator, then wash your hair tomorrow.
@SalemWithNoWitch: @MavSterling it was code. I guess that means I’m not coming out tonight.
@MavSterling: @SalemWithNoWitch that’s just cold… And friends don’t let friends vibrate alone.
@SalemWithNoWitch: @MavSterling have fun at Silk.
Yep. It’s perfectly acceptable and not at all confusing to flirt with the man I love on Twitter, even though there’s still no way we can be together. Distance. I’m supposed to be getting distance.
@LegendarySWY: @MavSterling @SalemWithNoWitch I think I need to stop following you both because UR gross.
@MavSterling: @SalemWithNoWitch @LegendarySWY is too young for Twitter.
Putting my phone away now. Far away.
In fact, I’m going to leave my phone here, and I’m going to take Sean out for ice cream. Far away from Maverick.
Who will be at Silk.
Three days back, and I’ve only seen him once for a few brief minutes when he and I ran into each other on my way out of a deli. I’ve been invited to three gatherings from his friends, because these people are obviously trying to put us in the same place at the same time.
I appreciate the sentiment. It means they find me worthy of the man they all love so dearly.
Brin’s party is one I will be going to. And that’s still a little while away, so that gives me time to prepare myself.
Sean and I are avoiding Mom, which means she’s not picking him up from school. Once Brin realized I needed help getting Sean from school and taking him to dance—where an adult is required—she took over helping me, refusing to have it any other way. And my brother has given her ingenious prank ideas to use on Rye in return as payment.
This is my current life, people.
So when she asked me to come to a party, obviously I couldn’t say no.
I haven’t even bothered speakin
g to my mother, though she has called. Apparently Sean isn’t in any hurry to go back to her, since he’s reclaimed his room and ignores her calls too.
She hasn’t sent a car for him or come to retrieve him herself, so we’re just riding it out.
“Ice cream?” I ask Sean, who pushes off from the couch and closes his binder.
“Just finished all my homework, so yeah.”
We drive all the way across town, and as soon as we get out, I realize the universe is conspiring against me. I see Victoria, and almost decide to dodge her so that she doesn’t have to talk to me shortly after her son and I broke up. But then I realize she’s not walking a straight line.
In fact, she’s weaving and zigging and…is she drunk?
“Sean, go grab the ice cream to go,” I tell him, tossing him my purse for him to dig out cash.
He doesn’t argue as I jog over to catch Victoria seconds before she crashes into a bush.
“Salem?” she asks, her eyes glazed over and her smile too wide.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I ask, worried as I steady her and put her arm around my shoulders.
“I have no idea. I was going to meet a date, but then suddenly…I just got worse and worse.”
Sean is walking back out with two ice cream cones by the time I manage to help her weave to the truck. Getting her in the back is like an act of congress, and I curse myself for not getting this damn truck lowered when I have to grab two handfuls of her ass and shove with all my strength.
She giggles wildly, and I roll my eyes as I shut my back door.
“Sean, will you text Maverick and have him meet us at his house?” I ask.
“Sure,” he says with a small grin.
“I’m just helping him with his mother,” I tell the meddler.
“Sure you are,” he agrees, but his tone implies he’s being a smartass.
“You know we can’t—”
“Ice cream!” Victoria shouts, startling the both of us as I drive us toward Maverick’s.
She rips a cone out of Sean’s hand, and she starts licking it like it’s the last one on earth. Sean turns a little, making sure to guard his ice cream so she can’t snatch it too, and he gets to eating it quickly.