Flip Trick

  “Where are you taking me?” he had asked, taking off his aviator glasses and tossing them inside his car. He shut the driver’s door and glanced up at the building again.

  I grabbed my deck out of the backseat of my car and balanced it on the ground. Tying my hair into a top knot, I smiled. “I’d come here as a kid a lot. It was here that I taught myself how to skate.”

  I picked up my deck, gesturing to the tall building. Maddox followed, taking my hand in his. “How often would you come to your dad’s?”

  I shrugged. “Almost every weekend, but also whenever I needed to.”

  We climbed the split stairs that led to where a door once hung off. It wasn’t there anymore, and I wasn’t the least bit surprised. The last time I was here, it was barely hanging on by an old rusted screw.

  “How often did you need to?”

  I gave him a small smile, letting go of his grip. “Quite a bit.”

  We headed straight to the main lobby. That’s where the halfpipes were built. It looked the exact same as I remembered it. There were beer cans littering the floor and a couple of logs laying around everywhere, but for the most part, it was the same. Maddox gestured for the deck.

  I narrowed my eyes. “You sure?”

  He chuckled, licked his lips and then tore his shirt off.

  I gulped.

  His abs all tensed with the motion and before I realized it, I was checking him out. His skin glistened, all his tattoos on display. The word DESTROYER was inked across his chest in old English writing, and there was one massive skull that covered his belly. I licked my lips again.

  “Ame…” His tone threw up warning signs.

  “Hmm?” I took my greedy gaze away from his perfectly sculpted body. I was never big on the ab thing. I always dated boys who were probably skinnier than me, but there was something about Maddox. Maybe it was the fact that I knew those muscles weren’t there for the sole purpose of him to flaunt around. They were a product of him being a walking weapon.

  “Watch your eyes.”

  I roll them instead. “Show me what you got.” I pointed to the deck.

  He winked at me, tucking his shirt into the back of his jeans and did exactly that. Showed me what he had, which wasn’t half as bad as I expected.

  Snapping out of my memory, I toss and turn in my bed, unable to find sleep. Leila spent the night with Wolf—I think. Which means that she will be seeing Maddox. And the stupid side of me is jealous of this. Unable to get any sleep, I reach for my phone and type out a text to Maddox.

  Me: Destroyer?

  Probably a shit text starter, but I figure it’s the less obvious way of saying “Hey, I’m thinking about you.” My phone dings.

  Maddox: My ring name.

  Me: ahhh, makes sense.

  Now I sound desperate.

  Maddox: Why are you awake?

  I bite my lip.

  Me: Because I can’t stop thinking.

  I squeeze my phone until sweat slips between it and my hand.

  Maddox: of what?

  I can picture what he probably looks like right now. Maddox is a glorious sight when he’s sleepy. Either waking up, going to bed, or interrupted in the middle of his sleep, he’s pure sex. Messy hair, tight, tanned body, lips you want to bite, eyes that lazily scream “I’ll break you, but you’ll like it.”

  I start to type out a text, but then stop typing. Another text pops up.

  Maddox: Don’t do that. Send me what you just wrote.

  Damn Apple and their fancy little text bubbles. Maybe I should take Leila up on switching teams to Samsung.

  I draw in a deep breath and type.

  Me: u

  He doesn’t text back, so I toss my phone across the floor and force myself to sleep.

  AMETHYST

  It’s Friday when I’m walking out from my final literature class of the day. Which means it’s closer to Sunday.

  Someone jumps on my back and I don’t need to turn to know who it is. It’s not that I’m unapproachable, but it’s just that…yeah, I’m slightly unapproachable.

  “Lei, you’re heavy. Stop.”

  She shoves me playfully. “Please, if anyone can carry me—it’s you. So, are we excited for Sunday? Or should I say tomorrow, since that’s when we are leaving!” Leila chirps, clapping her hands together and falling into a comfortable step beside me.

  “Yes and no.”

  She nods, looking at me in a way only Leila could. “And why is that?”

  I inhale the crisp breeze and shrug, looking up at the old buildings around campus as we almost get to the residence hall. “I don’t know. I am because then it will be over, I guess.”

  “That’s bullshit!” Leila snorts. “This is going to be epic!”

  “Yeah.” I shove through the entry doors. “That’s because it’s not Wolf.”

  She waves me off. “I guess, but no. That’d be so sexy to see him throw down. Also, you have nothing to be worried about. Does the word undefeated mean nothing to you, Miss I’m Studying Literature.”

  I roll my eyes. Nothing has been so Leila than that statement right there.

  Later that night, we’re both holed in. Leila and I lock ourselves in our room to finish our paper before flying to Vegas. We know that we have to get it done tonight or it isn’t getting done, and the guys respect our wishes. Leila isn’t impressed with their chivalry, but I am relieved. Yes, I don’t mind acting. I rather enjoy it. It is a place I can lather a new kind of skin over myself, and then shred it before going home. Not that my life is torturous or sad, but I do enjoy the escape that acting gives me. But even still, I’d like to be a screenwriter one day, more behind the scenes. That’s where my creative juice really needs to be squeezed into.

  “I’m beat,” Leila exhales, belly flopping onto her bed.

  I take off my reading glasses and massage my eyes. “Me too. What’s the time?”

  But Leila is already snoring.

  I giggle, shaking my head. Glancing down at my phone, I see it’s two a.m. and drop down onto the mattress not long after.

  It wasn’t bad enough that I had the fight to work myself up for, but my mom and Elliot have also called a family dinner for tonight.

  “Why.” I massage my temples. Leila is sitting in front of her mirror, pulling a straightener through her hair.

  “It won’t be that bad, Ame, just chill.”

  “Lei, no offense, but it will be that bad.”

  There’s a knock on the door and I jump over my bed to reach for it. I’m in an old beat up Rolling Stone shirt with holes in weird places and thick fuzzy socks on my feet. My hair is in a high ponytail and my reading glasses are still perched on my nose. Because yup, you guessed it, I’m still studying. I only have a couple more words to get in and then I’d be done. Good words. I’m not one of those people who will rush the pictures I paint with my words. I like my drawings to be clean cut and crisp, not smudged and unfinished. Shame I can’t say the same about me as a person. Good thing I take my art seriously.

  I pull the door open and sigh. “Of course it’s you.”

  Maddox saunters in and laughs, kicking the door closed with his heavy combat boot. “I wanna see you before we leave.” His fingers hook into mine and he hauls me into his chest. My arms wrap around him.

  “I can’t argue with that.” I inhale his scent. Leather, soap and a hint of motor oil. It only adds to him. To all that is Maddox Stone. “I don’t think I’m ready to see this whole thing.”

  “I get it now,” Leila says from behind us. I pull myself away from Maddox and turn to face her.

  “Get what?”

  She smiles gently, and it has to be the softest I’ve ever seen Leila. She gazes out the window absently. “The whole soul mates thing.” Her attention comes back to us. “I believe in it now. Because of you two.”

  My eyes widen, and Maddox’s grip tightens around me.

  Leila must notice both our discomfort because her eyes roll and she snorts. “Oh, please. Don’t
try to tell me that you both don’t feel what we all see.”

  Classic Lei. Always has to speak her mind. I’m not sure what she’s implying, but if it rhymes with Pikachu, then she better abort mission.

  “Anyway!” I turn back around to face Maddox, whose eyes are doing that weak, lazy thing at me. I gulp. Ignore those fucking butterflies. “Shall we ride with you?”

  He gives me a half smile. “Or on me would be good.”

  “Oh, come on…” Leila exclaims.

  AMETHYST

  “So, Leila, what are you majoring in?” my mom asks, spooning salad onto her plate.

  “Computer science,” Leila answers smoothly. She’s always so poised, and confident. It’s the kind of confidence you gain when you come from money.

  “Ah, interesting!” Elliot nods then chews on his piece of steak. His eyes go to Wolf, who is sitting opposite Leila. Maddox is right beside me, with his arm thrown over my chair. He hasn’t made an effort to hide that we are an item at all tonight—despite my mom’s obvious discomfort. I’m thinking he’s doing it on purpose now.

  “She’s—” I pause when I feel Maddox’s lips softly press against my bare shoulder. I kick him from under the table, but his hand flies to my knee and he squeezes so hard I almost squirm. “Very smart. Leila is very smart,” I say breathlessly. “Is it hot in here? It’s hot in here.” I try to tug my leg out of his hand, but he only intensifies his grip.

  Shit.

  “Amethyst, stop being weird. Is that your ODC or whatever again?”

  “What? I don’t have OCD,” I reply, taking a sip of my wine.

  I try to yank my leg out from his grip again and he unlatches, which sends me semi-flying into Leila.

  She widens her eyes at me. I know what she’s thinking. She probably thinks Maddox has his hand down my pants.

  I clear my throat, then catch Talon’s eye from the other end of the table. He’s grinning like a big stupid panda.

  “So.” Mom cuts into her sirloin. “Are you two together now?” It’s eerily calm the way she asks it. Almost like she’s asking about the weather.

  I look to Maddox. His tongue snakes out and swipes at his bottom lip, then he half smiles, showing his annoyingly white teeth. “Yeah. We are.”

  Mom clears her throat and then looks to Elliot, who then looks to me. I look to Leila, who clears her throat and sips her wine. She’s like Kermit right now, sipping tea. Just as I open my mouth, Talon steps in.

  “You can’t be surprised.” He looks between Mom and Elliot. “I mean,” his eyes catch mine, and then Maddox. “The evidence is there, always has been.”

  Mom takes a sip of water and then nods. “Ok.” Her attention comes to me. “I’ll have a talk with you later, but ok. Does your father know?”

  Elliot grunts. “I can’t imagine him being too…”

  I shake my head. “Actually, he’s fine. Maddox came to stay with us last weekend. Even met Uncle Marcus.”

  Mom almost spits out her drink. She swipes her mouth delicately. “Forgive me, I’m just a little surprised you have no broken bones, or I don’t know, are still alive. He shot Amethyst’s high school boyfriend.”

  “He’s not that bad, and that shooting was an accident. He thought Adam was a fugitive.” It’s true, there was an incident in town when Adam and I were together. Uncle Marcus accidentally shot him in the foot. Nowhere serious or anything. Total misunderstanding. Also a complete coincidence that Adam was cheating on me throughout our entire relationship.

  Mum snorts.

  My shoulders relax for the first time since I walked into this house.

  Elliot’s tense voice breaks the smooth vibe. “Maddox, can I speak with you?” He stands and then excuses himself from the table.

  Maddox doesn’t move, he remains relaxed, but he watches his dad’s retreating back. He licks his lip and then looks to Talon and Wolf. Without locking eyes with me, he leans over and kisses me on the cheek, then stands and follows his dad out.

  I feel like I’m holding my breath with all the awkward vibes flying around the room.

  “Rosé,” Talon hollers, a beer near his mouth. He drinks beer. Is he the only one who drinks beer? Such a caveman. Actually, Maddox drinks beer too. I look to Wolf’s glass, and as does he. But Elliot, he drinks whiskey. Why is that? “Hey!” Talon leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Relax.” Talon’s eyes soften around the edges, and I find myself slowly breathing in and out, counting to ten.

  I exhale and nod. “Thanks.”

  “Um, should you go check?” Leila whispers to me.

  Should I? Part of me wants to. I don’t want Maddox to have to deal with our shit on his own, but at the same time, I know that he can handle it and will want to handle it.

  “No, they’ll be fine,” Mom assures, sipping her drink. There’s a lot of drink sipping going on tonight.

  “Mom, seriously, why did we have to come for this dinner anyway?” I ask, itchy with annoyance.

  Mom gestures to Leila. “Well, Elliot wanted to meet Leila, and of course, I did too. And you never come and visit me anymore.”

  I lean back in my chair, my eyes on my mom but my focus on the archway that separates the kitchen to the main sitting room where Maddox and Elliot are. “Well, you’re not living in The Cherub anymore, so what am I supposed to do? Drive here every night?” My eyes fly to the door when Maddox walks in, chewing on a toothpick. He looks down at me and winks before pulling his chair out and taking a seat.

  I search his face, ignoring that Elliot has taken his spot again at the head of the table.

  I see the slight unease in Maddox. There’s an inkling of uncertainty that bared itself for a split second, but before I can over-analyze it, it’s gone and Maddox with his stupid cocky grin is back.

  “So, where were we?”

  “Are we going to talk about what happened tonight?” I raise my eyebrows at Maddox.

  He removes his shirt and tosses it into the basket in the corner of his room. Every muscle tenses with his movements. “No need. Dad is just worried that I’ll hurt you.”

  “Ha!” The laugh comes out forced. “Well, he doesn’t have to worry about that.”

  Maddox pauses, his head tilted. My mouth waters. “Why?”

  “Why, what?” I ask, confused about his question. I climb under the covers and try to ignore the fact that Maddox’s scent is all around me now—seeping through his sheets.

  His eyes narrow. “Why doesn’t he have to worry?”

  I exhale. “Because, it’s early, and…”

  Maddox starts walking toward me. My eyes drop down his body, catching him unbuckling his belt.

  Shit.

  “Um,” I say, watching as he pulls at his belt and flicks open the top button of his jeans.

  “Hmmm?” Maddox murmurs, unzipping his zip. His jeans fall lower, showing the rim of his Calvin’s. “Why? Why do you think I can’t hurt you, Rosé?”

  I gulp. “Because it’s early, Maddox. I’ve never, you know… been hurt…”

  His knees hit the bed and he crawls over me, ripping the bed cover off my body. His eyes dip down and slowly drag over my form. His head tilts.

  He chuckles, then his hand flies to my throat and he clenches tightly. Just enough to allow slow intakes of breath. My throat swells every time I swallow.

  He licks his lip, then grins. “Challenge accepted.” Then he presses my hands above my head and widens my legs with his.

  The dampness between my thighs only intensifies as he grinds his groin into me. Clothes start flying off. Wrapping my hair around one fist, he yanks my head back to face him. His eyes come to mine, and then he licks me from the bottom of my throat up, to my mouth where he sucks my bottom lip into his mouth and bites down on it.

  My hips begin slowly riding into his hips, but he doesn’t give it to me, slowly inching away every time he knows I’m trying to gain traction.

  His other hand comes to my throat as he positions himself at my entrance. “You think I can?
??t hurt you, baby?” he questions and then slams inside of me.

  I scream out embarrassingly, but his mouth drops to mine, his tongue savagely dipping inside my mouth, the ball of his piercing clinking against my teeth. “Gonna need to watch the volume of those screams tonight, baby. Don’t want Talon to think I’m killing you,” he mutters into his kiss. He pulls out, and then pushes in again, the grip on my hair tightening until I feel each hair slowly tearing out. Fuck. “Because he will think I’m killing you.”

  He rides me harder, his groin rubbing against my clit with every thrust. His grip around my throat tightens every few seconds, allowing me to breathe every now and then. I start whispering dirty words into his ear, words I will probably regret later when I’m not riding on a sexual induced high. His jaw marbles. Sweat drips down off his nose and drops to my mouth. I lick it off, then lean up and run my tongue over every sweat drop I can see on his neck and jawline, biting and chewing on my path.

  He pauses, and then chuckles, getting off me.

  “What are you doing?” I ask frantically when I feel the absence of him. I instantly need to fight the urge to pull him back on top of me. His heaviness pressing my body into the mattress.

  He cocks his head, as I take in his naked glory. Tattoos seeping into his golden flesh. Flesh that’s stretched to the max from his muscles. Not too big, but way bigger than lean. You wouldn’t think it though when he’s wearing clothes.

  “You said I couldn’t hurt you…”

  “Yes…” I agreed, even when I said that I knew it wasn’t true. Or I was in denial. Wasn’t sure which of the two is more true.

  My thighs clench.

  Maddox’ focus falls to them. “How you feeling down there right now?” he asks with a nod of his head.