Maddox: We need to talk.
My heart starts to pound in my chest. What the hell could they both need to talk with me about?
Me: I’ll be there soon.
It is lunch, so I know that they would already be in the cafeteria. I want to know what they want to talk with me about, but—
“Hey!” Mason calls out, falling into step beside me.
I smile at him. “I’ve seen you twice in less than a week now. Are you stalking me?”
“What? Me?” He gestures to himself. “No, I’m totally gay.”
I stop walking, my eyes bugging out. “Are you serious?”
His lips slowly crank into a smile. “I’m not, sorry…”
“Don’t be sorry, I would be the one who would have to apologize. How shallow of me to think you were stalking me.”
“I wouldn’t say shallow.” He opens the cafeteria door and gestures for me to walk in ahead of him. “I would say, intuitive.”
“Intuitive?” I grin, looking at him like he has lost his mind. “Intuitive would mean my assumption had some sort of intelligent ground to build from. I was being shallow.” I grab a couple of trays and hand him one.
“You aren’t being shallow, Amethyst. You’re being human, and anyway, when I first saw you, I thought you looked interesting. Shallow people don’t look interesting, they look bland.”
“You thought that of me?” I reach for a chicken sandwich and an orange. It surprises me that he thinks that of me. I’ve never been called interesting before.
“Sure.” I could see him watching me out of the corner of my eye, so I allow myself to look at him. His soft blue eyes watching mine with deep sincerity. “When I first saw you, I thought you looked interesting but shadowed. Like Banksy’s finest art sitting beside some cheap mundane knock-offs of the Mona Lisa.”
I smile sadly, licking my lips. “That is really sweet of you.”
He shrugs as if it’s nothing and goes back to piling his plate with food. “It’s the truth. In a world where everyone is wanting to be hot. Sexy. Seductive. The Mona Lisa’s, if you will—even though they’re obviously cheap and non-authentic—you’re an art of Banksy, pulling the middle finger splashed over a brick wall while carrying a pot of dead flowers. You’re everything that the world tells you not to be—and that’s why you’re interestingly beautiful.”
I’m speechless. “Mason…”
“Mmm?” He bites down on a piece of carrot.
“That was probably the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me, and I don’t even like sweet words… but that was…”
“Interesting?” He quirks one perfect eyebrow.
I burst out laughing, turning to face the loud cafeteria. “Yes, interesting. Where are you sitting?”
He nods over to the college football table. “With the boys.”
My eyelashes flutter. “Of course you play football.”
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” All his buddies are watching us carefully. Most of them with smug expressions on their face.
“Interesting…” I add, and then walk off toward my table, leaving him behind.
“Hey!” he calls out. I smirk while slowly turning to face him, walking backward. “I need that number!”
I pretend to ponder over his request. “Maybe. Only because I like the word interesting.”
His head jerks and a wide smile spreads over his mouth, showing his straight teeth. I shake my head, turning back to slide into my seat.
“Hi,” I shrug off my bag and sit down. Noticing no one greets me, I look up at all of them, throwing a celery stick into my mouth. Talon is watching me carefully, along with Wolf. Leila seems uncomfortable, blatantly glaring at me, and then I finally sneak a peek at Maddox who’s opposite.
His eyes are flat. Expressionless, blank and dead.
“What?” I snap at them all. “I had both of you” —I gesture to Leila and Maddox— “Text me to tell me we needed to talk—so talk.”
Maddox’ eyes cut straight to Leila.
Leila throws her hands up. “Hey! I wanted to talk with her about girl shit—not your shit!”
Maddox tilts his head at me. “Why’d you skip the party?”
I chew on my celery stick. “I told you, I was tired and I needed to study.”
“And did you?” He inspects me closely.
“Did I what?” I ask, peeling my orange. I love oranges, but I hate peeling them because my fingers smell like citrus for hours, and they give me an acidy stomachache every time I eat them, but they’re my favorite fruit so I tolerate it.
“Study.”
My eyes go back to him. “Yes. Why are you snappy today? How was the party?” I ask around the table, sucking the juice off my thumb.
Maddox’s foot hits my shin under the table and I scowl at him. “Ouch!”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” I snap. I’ve almost had enough of his moody bullshit. Mason’s table is looking rather appealing right now.
His eyes slant on my mouth.
“Oh, that,” I murmur.
“It was…eventful,” Talon grunts, taking a bite out of his burger.
“Amethyst won’t want to hear about it. She hates drama,” Leila chimes in, chopping up a tomato into small pieces.
“I don’t hate it. I just don’t care about it.”
Leila rolls her eyes. “Everyone secretly loves watching it when it’s not happening to them.”
“That’s so disturbing to me, Lei, like you have no idea.” Leila starts yapping on about some random fight that happened between two girls at the party, but I tune her out and look back to Maddox. “You ok?”
His jaw clenches, and then he abruptly stands. “Yeah. See you guys later.”
He leaves, and I glimpse at Talon. “Did I do something again?”
Talon watches Maddox closely, and then stares back at me. “Sweetheart, you’ve done nothing at all. Wanna take a walk?”
I unscrew my water bottle and then look to Leila, who gives me a reassuring smile. “Ok.”
After following Talon down the empty corridor and out the front doors of campus, I fall into step beside him. “So, are you feeling like the extra cardio today, or do you really want to talk?” I start braiding my hair to fall down one shoulder. I’m wearing a small white crop top that shows my belly and ripped jeans with white Nike Air Force 1s.
He chuckles, pulling me under his arm. “You’re the little sister we all wanted, that’s for sure.”
I relax against his warm chest. “I think you speak for yourself, not for Wolf, who hates me, or Maddox, who also hates me but also—”
“—Maddox doesn’t hate you, Amethyst.” Talon leads me under a flowering dogwood tree that expands under the bright sun, shading us. I plop beside him on the grass, crossing my legs.
“Care to elaborate?”
Talon sighs. “Maddox had a girlfriend once.”
“Lovely,” I answer. “I assumed he may have.” I am being a smart ass, but it is worth it to see Talon smile.
“—Not Stacey,” he quickly interrupts my thoughts. “Stace was nothing but a charity bang. This was in high school.”
“Wait, why are you telling me this?” I’m going to ignore the charity bang thing.
“I’m getting there!” He shoots me a playful glare.
I relax.
“She disappeared on him after dating for over a year. He searched for her, and then eventually fell off the rails. As in drugs, money, and bitches.”
“Talon, don’t refer to us as ‘bitches.’”
He snorts. “The ones he was messing with? Were. Anyway, he hasn’t had another since Cassidy. I guess that’s why he’s probably acting up right now. Maddox likes control, and he exercises it in almost everything. Cass fucked him up when she left.” Talon admires at me over his shoulder. “But he didn’t even look at Cassidy the way he looks at you, Ame. Think that scares the shit out of him.”
I ponder his words, yanking the grass out of the
ground. “Well, it’s mutual, so I don’t know why he stormed off instead of talking to me about it.”
Talon grins. “He’s only just realized it. I saw it the first night I met you. Now.” He stands, yanking me up with him. “Whatcha doing this weekend?”
“I’m going to see my dad, you?” We start walking back toward the cafeteria.
“Liza has a birthday thing she’s throwing for one of her friends.”
“About you two…”
Talon laughs, shaking his head. “Oh no, I’m not getting into that.”
“That’s not fair!” I call out as he jogs back into the school.
My toothbrush is sticking out of my mouth as I’m tugging out clothes from my closet when there’s a knock on the door. “Coming!” I mumble around my toothbrush, dodging stray clothes that are strewn around the floor. I dive for the handle, pulling it open.
Maddox chuckles when he sees me. I let him in, jogging for the bathroom. Spit, rinse, and repeat.
“Hey!” I come back into the room.
“Hurricane?” Maddox asks, gesturing around the clothes that are on the floor.
I chuckle. “Nope. I’m going to my dad’s for the weekend, and I left everything to the last minute to get ready.”
Maddox watches me before slowly lowering himself onto my bed. “What are your plans for this long weekend?”
It’s Independence Day on Monday. Thank God, because even though I have managed to get a lot of studying in, it’s still not where I should be with Leila and her partying ways rubbing off on me.
Maddox shakes his head, watching me carefully. “Did you forget my fight in a couple of weeks…”
“Um, no?” I lie, blindly tossing a few more items into my backpack. It may have slipped my mind. “Where is it going to be anyway? Here?”
When he doesn’t answer me, I turn to face him and then instantly regret it when I see the look he’s giving me. He’s intense, guarded and a little hard to handle. I’m still trying to figure out whatever we have going on. There’s no denying we have a connection of some sort, but I’m not naive enough to think I’m special just because his brother has said that I am, and his actions are a litt—okay. Maybe I can explore the idea that maybe I am… but he’s Maddox Stone, renowned playboy. I just, I have trust issues, I guess. I usually like to walk into the den when I know what kind of animal is lying on the other side. Not wait until it’s too late and I’m locked in the cage with a hungry Lion instead of a harmless bunny.
I’m trying hard to stay focused, but when he’s staring at me like he is now; it disarms all my senses. Even just for a few seconds. How long does it take for a lion to take its prey?
“Amethyst,” he demands my attention, his alluring gaze still on me.
“Huh?” I tilt my head. Shit, was he still talking?
He smirks. “I said my fight is in Vegas at the Cox Pavilion. It’s great exposure for me and my team. Hopefully snag a few sponsors while I’m there.”
“Should I be excited or scared? Or both? And will Dana White be there?”
Maddox grabs my hand and tugs me into his chest. He takes a seat, pulling me down onto his lap. “I’m a little turned on that you know who Dana White is, but you don’t need to be scared. I’ve been throwing right hooks since I was a kid. It’s what I do. If I get enough attention there, then hopefully I’ll be selected for my weight division in the MGM Grand fight. Big fucking deal, babe.”
My legs hang sideways over his, his arm snaking around my back as he pulls me in closer. Shit. His lips press under my ear.
“Why would you be scared?” His voice is low and deadly, his warm breath dancing across my flesh.
My eyes close. “Why are you doing this?” I whisper. I’m about two seconds away from losing my mind and I’m not sure if I’d want it back. His hand glides up my thigh, his grin pressing against the surface of my neck. He sets off flames in places I thought I had extinguished.
“Come with me.”
I turn to face him, the tip of his nose slightly brushing against mine. He’s so close my eyes damn near cross. “Why?”
His hand comes up to the back of my neck and he pulls my face to his. “Because I want you. I want all of you. I want to fuck you until you can’t walk or talk, or fucking see straight. I want to ruin you, break you, and make you bleed so I can make it up to you again. I want to fuck you so hard that I leave an imprint of my cock inside of you, so everyone after me knows that you’re mine.”
My thighs clench and wetness pools down there. Distraction. “I can’t be owned, Maddox,” I say, swallowing down all, and every feeling that is rushing through me. I want him. Goddamnit. Want him. I want him to do all of those things to me and more.
His lips skim over mine, then he kisses me. I open my mouth slightly as his tongue gently dips inside mine. He pulls away, his breathing labored. “You’re right, Amethyst, you can’t be owned. Because a young boy already claimed you when you were seven years old.”
I lick my bottom lip. “You’re not my type.”
“Ditto, baby.” Then he flips me onto my back, stretching my legs wide with his and sinking into my crotch. Oh Lord. He grinds his hips into mine, a smirk on his mouth. I can feel the thick trunk of his cock grind against me and I need to fight all that is inside of me not to rub myself against him until I come. “How about this…”
“Are you about to proposition me?” I quirk an eyebrow.
He chuckles. “I am. Why? Wanna fight me?”
“I’d fight you,” I say, challenging his stare.
His glare intensifies, his grin deepening. “Oh, you would?” he mocks being shocked. “I’m terrified.”
“You should be.” I nod my head.
“Fucking shaking in my boots,” he adds, circling his hips into me.
My eyes narrow, and I bite down on my bottom lip to stifle a moan. “What’s this proposition and can we do this with you not being on top of me? It’s distracting.”
He bites his bottom lip. Straight up, bit his lip. As in white, perfect teeth sinking into soft plump lips. I grab the back of his neck and yank his face down to mine, kissing him roughly. He stills for a beat, and then relaxes into me before dropping down, his elbows now caging my head in. Sucking on his bottom lip, I trail my tongue over him then go back to pretty much sucking his face off.
He chuckles. “You done?” he asks, leaning back slightly.
I nod. “Yep.” There is no shame in my takeover game—clearly.
I can feel his arousal pressing against me again. I close my eyes. “You’re going to have to get up for this to work.”
“Agreed.” He jackknifes off me, stands and readjusts himself. I sit up from my bed, letting my hair fall all over the place.
“Neither of us do relationships, so what about we do this… and other shit, without any labels.”
I tilt my head. “You want a free pass to do what you want with other girls?”
“Amethyst,” he says dryly, his eyebrows raised. “I don’t fucking want anyone else and I can’t see the future me wanting anyone else, but like you, I hate labels. Not because of the commitment, because I already know that I won’t be going elsewhere and you and I both know how much I despise cheating… but because fucking society says that we need to have a label in order for us to work.”
He makes sense, and for the first time since being reunited with him, I can see why I had blindly chosen him.
“Fuck society.” I smirk.
He pulls me up from my hands and into his chest. My eyes close as I inhale his scent, allowing it to wrap around me like a safety blanket. “You’re annoying.”
He laughs, kissing me on my head. “You’ll come next weekend?”
I nod, stepping out of his grip to continue packing up the rest of my belongings. “Yes! Now I need to get my stuff organized.”
His lip curls. “Mmmm, not yet….” He picks me up from behind my legs and throws me back onto the bed. I scream out in laughter as he drops down onto the bed with me.
AMETHYST
“Mom, I’m driving.” You would think she would be more maternal, but no, she’s on a mission to see what’s going on between Maddox and I.
“I know, but you have Bluetooth. Just, please. I know that you’re probably still angry at me.”
“I’m not angry.” It’s true. I worked most of my anger out with Maddox about three hours ago. Meaning, I may have used his dick for my personal use—angry sex is great like that. Which also means, I’m still a little over an hour away from Washington. Great. I am excited to be back in DC, though.
“Anger is healthy, Ame. I worry about you and how you keep your emotions inside. That is not healthy.”
I roll my eyes.
“So you and he? Are you dating?”
“We’re not dating, Mom. We’re fucking, now are we done here?”
“Amethyst Lilly Tatum!”
“Mother,” I answer. “Listen, I need to go. You’re cu—cu—ting—” I hang up on her and turn my phone off. She can be exhausting on the best of days. I soon realize I need music. Fuck.
My dad’s home is all cedar stone with heavy windows that have so many miles on them it displays through the wrinkles in the paint. He moved here when I was one, which meant that I had to stay with Mom pretty much full time. I wouldn’t have minded as much if my dad lived closer so I could see him more. I love my mom, but I’ve always been close to my dad.
I climb out of the driver’s seat and stretch my arms wide.
“Ame!” Lara, my dad’s partner and world-famous defense lawyer opens the door. She’s in a white flannel two-piece suit and slippers. “Hey, girl!”
“Hey!” I smile, going straight for her.
She’s carefully watching my reaction. Her brown eyes to my blue. She has long ash blonde hair and what I call mouse features. She is good for my dad and has always been nice to me. Her and my dad have been together since I was five, I think, so she’s always sort of been there. She pulls me into a hug and I relax.
“Your dad is out back playing with the BBQ. I’m a little scared.”
I laugh. “Yes, I don’t blame you. Make sure Rocco is away from the grill.” She opens the door wider and I step inside, shutting it behind us. Rocco is my dad’s German Shephard.