Flip Trick

  He cages me in from behind, an arm on either side of me. He leans down and kisses the side of my neck. “What are you thinking about?”

  “I’m thinking that I have to face the music back in LA. I need to do something about this sex tape.”

  He stills, then his hands come to my hips and he spins me around to face him.

  His index finger hooks under my chin, tilting my head up. “Tell me what you want to happen, and it’s done, baby.”

  “No.” I shake my head, swallowing past the fear that clogs my throat. “I don’t want you involved in this, Maddox. You’ve got your own career.”

  “Fuck my career.”

  I yank my head out of his grip, but his fingers clench around my chin, pulling my face back to his. He leans down, his lips brushing over mine. “I’m fucking serious, Amethyst. If you need me, fuck anything and everyone else.”

  I focus on him, all of my attention just on him. People always said that I could handle him. That I was the only girl walking this earth that knew how to handle Maddox Stone, but that was a lie. I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing. He terrified the shit out of me. His loyalty to me frightened me, because I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would kill and be killed for me. How can girls want that? That’s too much responsibility for me to handle. That means without me even wanting it, he could go and do something dumb and there’s nothing I could do about it. So in essence, I had no control over him.

  I lick my lips. “I don’t want you to do that for me, Maddox. I can handle this my own. I have a team of people who can handle this all professionally.”

  He pauses, his jaw tensing. Now what have I done to piss him off. “I know I don’t have to ask you this, but for my peace of mind, what exactly are you going to do about it?”

  My eyes narrow. “Well, I’m not going to sell it to a porn company if that’s what you think!” I snap, folding my arms in front of myself. “First, I’m going to sue him. Then I guess I’ll go from there after I’ve spoken to my lawyer.”

  “Sue him? Baby, you can’t. I mean, what he did was unethical, but you can’t sue him for releasing it. You allowing him to video was you signing your right to do that. I guess you can send DMCA’s to all the websites that are viewing them, but suing him?”

  “That’s the thing…” I say, gritting my teeth and unable to look him in the eye. “I didn’t allow him to.”

  Silence. Then his hand comes to my chin again, forcing my eyes to his. “What?”

  I sigh. “I didn’t know he was taping me. I was on drugs, Maddox. Hard drugs. I was in a dark place. After we broke up, I was fucked up for a while. Longer than I care to admit. When I first met Travis, I dived straight into him. I snorted the drugs, inhaled the weed and sucked down all of the alcohol. I wasn’t a good person. That night, we had done lines and bong hits and had been drinking since lunchtime that day. We had a stupid threesome.” I wipe the tears from my eyes, slamming them closed. I don’t want to look at him, I couldn’t handle whatever way Maddox will be looking at me right now. “We went upstairs into his room and I couldn’t even see straight. God.” I open my eyes, staring straight at him. “I couldn’t hear anything, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t feel. I thought I was going to die—that’s how high I was. I don’t remember that video.”

  Maddox bows his head, leaning back and gripping onto the railing of the porch. His shoulders are rising and falling, his breathing heavy.

  “Maddox?”

  He shakes his head, still not looking at me.

  I’ve disappointed him. My heart snaps. “I’ll show myself out.”

  I go to walk out, but he stands, his hands coming to the backs of my thighs and he lifts me off the ground. I wrap my legs around him, and it’s then I see his face. His eyes are feral, frantic. Pure black and dilated.

  “See this?” Maddox says, his nostrils flaring. Fuck, he’s angry. “You do this to me, Amethyst. You make me fucking crazy!” He takes me back into the room, kicking the sliding door closed. He throws me onto the mattress and dives in behind me.

  He pulls me into his arms. “I’ll kill him.”

  “No, Maddox.” I turn to face him, hiking my leg up on his hip. I press my palm to his face. “I mean it!”

  He lets out a loud and long growl, then pushes me off him and slams his fist into the mattress. I don’t flinch, no way do I flinch. I trust this man with my life. Even at his angriest, I know that he would rather cut off his left nut than make me feel unsafe.

  Well, maybe not his nut, but like, his arm or something.

  “Fuck, Amethyst. What you’re asking of me is unreasonable.”

  I turn to face him. “No, it’s not. And anyway, I’m going back to sort it all out tomorrow.”

  AMETHYST

  The next morning, I’m gathering all my clothes from Maddox’s house when my phone starts ringing in my pocket. Maddox had to leave early this morning for something but said he’d be back to take me to the airport. I had to physically stop him from coming with me and said that he and Ken can come visit on the weekend. He agreed after I agreed that I’d take his jet.

  I answer the call. “Yes?”

  “Hi, so I’ve spoken with the lawyers, and they’ve said that on top of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and other laws that can help pull the videos down from websites, we can also sue him for damages in humiliation, embarrassment, emotional distress, and an invasion of privacy, but” —she takes a deep breath then exhales— “something really fucking strange happened.”

  “Okay?” I answer, dropping my bags near the front door.

  “So, Travis woke from his coma last night and he said that he will be issuing you a formal apology and has already taken all of the videos offline. Now, you can still sue him for all of the other things, but—”

  I pause. “What?”

  “I know, right? He said that he got what he wanted. His intention has been met.”

  “What the hell does that even mean?”

  She whistles, and then breathes into the phone. “I have no idea, but Amethyst, he’s a weirdo and a creep. I would suggest you stay away from him.”

  “Got it,” I say absently, hanging up on her.

  None of this makes sense. I go into the kitchen and get to making a coffee. Why would he all of a sudden retract everything after causing a fucking shit show? What was his intention? To hurt me? To hurt Maddox? No, it has to be more than that, or maybe I am giving Travis too much credit. He’s not that smart.

  Maddox comes home and puts my bags into his Phantom.

  “You own a mafia car…” I tease, getting into the passenger seat.

  “I own many cars, baby.”

  “Of course you do.”

  I clip my seat belt on and wait until he’s in the driver’s seat. I turn to face him. “Hey so, Alesha, she’s my PA, called me while you were gone. She said that Travis woke last night and is retracting everything. He’s had it all removed from the net—even though we both know there will always be something somewhere—but he’s issuing a formal apology too.”

  Maddox’s head tilts as he drives us out onto the highway. “The fuck is he playing at?”

  His jaw ticks.

  I pause, hitting the radio. “Glycerine” by Bush starts playing and I turn it up. I love this song. His voice reminds me of Kurt Cobain. I won’t tell Maddox that, he’ll no doubt get offended. No one is Kurt Cobain but Kurt Cobain.

  “I don’t know,” I answer, looking out the window at the passing concrete on the freeway. We pull into the airstrip and Maddox stops near his jet.

  I shake my head. “Oh how far you have come…”

  He stops, taking off his aviator glasses and putting them on the dash. “I’ll be there this weekend.”

  “Okay,” I answer. “And what are we doing?”

  He licks his lip. “I don’t know, but I know that you’re mine and I’m not letting you go this time.”

  I smile. “Bringing Ken?”

  “Yeah,” he answers.

/>   “Cool!” I say, opening my door. “Her and I need to finish my halfpipe.” I get out and stretch my arms above my head, cranking my neck to look at the sun.

  “What?” Maddox says, shutting his door.

  I pause. “Shit.” What a fucking idiot. “Sorry, I don’t want to get anyone in trouble…”

  He rounds the car. “Spit it out.”

  “Cass and I have sort of, well no not sort of, we have become close friends.”

  He watches me closely. “And?”

  Maybe he won’t be mad. “And her and Ken have come to visit me a couple times, staying for the weekend. Ken and I painted the halfpipe I got built at home. We took photos, a couple of them are on social media.”

  His lips pinch in, his cheeks turning red. “Really?”

  “Are you mad?”

  “Amethyst,” he takes me in his arms, kissing my head. “Ken adores you and you her, why would I be mad about that?”

  I sigh, relaxing. “I don’t know, because you’ve been pretty moody lately.”

  “I’m sorry, baby,” he whispers into my hair and then gestures to the waiting jet. “This Travis shit fucked me up, and us…” He says us, and it hits me in my chest.

  I nod. “I know.”

  He grins, kissing my lips. “It’s your birthday this weekend?”

  “Is it?” I ask, my eyes going to the side. “Nope, I don’t think so… you must have me mistaken. For someone else.”

  He shoves me playfully. “We’ll be there.”

  “When you say we…”

  “Yup.” He reaches inside the car to grab his sunglasses. “I mean everyone.”

  AMETHYST

  I drive home quickly, dodging the paps on my way. I hit call on Alesha as soon as I enter my house, she answers instantly.

  “Yolo!”

  “Stop,” I chuckle, walking into the kitchen. “I think I need to get some extra security for a while, just until this sex tape charade stops.”

  “Yes, I think that’s a good idea. I have a couple of people who come highly recommended. I’ll give them a call and see if they’re available. Do you have any preference? Would you rather male?”

  “I don’t have any preference, just a couple people to stick around for a bit.”

  “Done, anything else?”

  “Yes, I’ll be back in the studio tomorrow.”

  “Anything, anything else?”

  I pause, shutting the fridge door. “Is there something you want to ask me, Alesha?”

  She pauses. “Um…. Maybe.”

  “Spill…”

  She clears her throat, but I already know what she wants to know so I jump in. “Yes, Maddox Stone and I have history, deep history, yes, we sort of have a thing between us, no we’re not exclusive yet.”

  She screams. Full on girly screams. I push the phone away from my ear before the sharpness pierces my brain. “Okay, wow! Oh my gosh that’s… that’s…”

  “Strange?”

  “I was going to say hot, but yes and strange. So, you’re not together right now?”

  “As in a couple?” I ask, sipping my juice.

  “Yes…”

  “No.” The uncertainty must be in my tone.

  “…Are you sure?”

  “No, I mean yes, I’m sure. I think.”

  “You suck at this.”

  I put the lid back on my OJ. “Okay, we already know this, moving on… get those bodyguards!”

  I hang up the phone before she can interrogate me anymore. Were we? We didn’t define anything before I left, now I’m confused. Fuck. I need a bath and some wine.

  Grabbing the bottle of red I keep in my cupboard and a glass, I make my way upstairs into my bathroom, turning the tap on. I pour some bubble bath into the water and inhale deeply as the aroma of crystalized lavender dances in the air. I relax, reaching for the glass and pouring in the wine. As much as I loved seeing everyone, I really love being home and back in my space. I pull open the drawer and take out a lighter, sparking up all the candles. Removing my clothes, I catch my phone ringing and answer it.

  “Hey, Mom.”

  “Hey, honey,” she whispers softly. “Just making sure you got home ok. Sorry we weren’t there to catch you.”

  “Of course I did,” I chuckle, turning off the faucet and removing my panties. “Maddox wouldn’t have it any other way, and no problem. I know you’re both busy.”

  She exhales in relief. “Oh, that’s lovely, honey. Did he go back to LA with you?”

  “Hmm?” I ask, but it echoes because the goblet glass is in my face. “No? He’s coming back with everyone this weekend for my birthday.”

  Silence.

  I step into the hot bath, looking down at my phone to make sure it’s still connected. “Mom?”

  “Yes, honey, hey look. I might fly over tomorrow.”

  “Ok…” I sink into the hot water. I sigh, enjoying the stabs against my skin. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, yes. Do you have security or something there until I get there tomorrow?”

  My eyes open. “Mom, you’re being weirder than usual…” Realization sinks in. “Oh, this is about the sex tape isn’t it?” I giggle. “Mom, it’s okay. I’ve called my assistant and she’s in the middle of getting some security. You don’t need to come all the way here early. Come when everyone else does.”

  “Amethyst,” she says, and just when I think she’s going to say something, she exhales. “You’re right, I’m probably overreacting. Can you have security tomorrow?”

  “Yes, Mom. Okay, I’m going to go now. I love you.”

  “I love you, Amethyst. So much.”

  We hang up and I shake my head. I’m aware how lucky I am to have a mom who cares so much about me, but I’d be lying if I said that it wasn’t overwhelming sometimes.

  A notification for Instagram pops up and I open it.

  maddoxthedestoyerstone started following you.

  Hmm. A cheesy smile comes on my face. I click on his name, my heart pounding in my chest.

  44 posts 66.4M followers 1 following

  I click on the “Following” tab. My profile sits there: fliptrick. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

  I go back to my Instagram page, that has a comfortable 2.3M followers, but I’m following around a hundred-twenty people. I’m not a snob like Maddox. He’s terrible. My Facebook is what I keep private. Well, I try to. I only accept people I know and family, but there are followers on there too.

  A text comes through.

  Maddox: Where are these photos of you and Ken?

  I smile, typing out my reply.

  Me: They’re on my FB.

  Maddox: Let me in.

  I shake my head. Me: You’re already on there! I’ve had the same Facebook.

  Maddox: Oh, shit.

  He disappears, so I open Facebook and sure enough, he’s online. Messenger pops up (1).

  Maddox: Fuck, how’d I miss these?

  Me: I don’t know. You’re not active on here.

  A bunch of notifications pops up. Maddox Stone reacted to your photo. He liked them all, but “Loved” all of mine and Ken’s selfies. There’s one photo of us, both with hair in messy pigtail buns and of Ken painting a mustache on my upper lip. There’s one of us pouting, pulling duckface, and then gangster faces. There’s even one of Ken and I and Cass. Cass is posing, her tits sticking out while Ken rolls her eyes and I stick my tongue out between my teeth, my nose scrunched.

  Maddox Stone commented on your photo: Jesus fucking Christ, Cass. Put them away.

  A few beats later, I get another notification.

  Cassidy Archer replied to a comment on your photo: Who let him in?

  Maddox puts a rolling eye emoji.

  I snort, shaking my head and place my phone back on the counter, sinking into the water. So good to be home.

  MADDOX

  “The fight is going ahead, thank fuck. Travis isn’t pressing charges and has taken full responsibility for the tape this morning by releasing a stat
ement.”

  I squeeze my eyes shut, over the drama already. The fucker brought it on himself, but it still doesn’t add the fuck up.

  “Are you listening, Mad?” Stace says, pushing her glasses down her face. We’ve been here for all of thirty minutes and I’m already over her yapping.

  “Yeah.”

  She takes her glasses off, just as Reva, one of my boys, takes a seat beside me. Stace chose this café, I didn’t want to be out in public. Everything has kicked off even more since all this mess, plus throwing Amethyst into the midst of it too only adds to the hype.

  Reva nudges his head at Stace. Stace smiles politely, but we know how uncomfortable he makes her, which only makes Reva intensify his bullshit. It’s tiring. Reva is from France and has held the title for his weight division for going on four-years. He’s built like a house, thick and heavy, and deadly.

  “I don’t bite, Stacey,” he says in his accent.

  I roll my eyes.

  Stace swallows and then looks back to me. “Ah, so, when is Amethyst’s birthday?”

  I take a swig of my water, pushing my sunglasses up. “We’re all flying out to her tomorrow.”

  Stace nods. “I need to come.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think that’s—”

  “—Maddox, she’s not the insecure type. She wasn’t threatened by me when I first met her when she thought we were dating, she won’t care about me now. And besides,” Stace mutters, fluffing through her papers. “Have you seen her? She’s like, perfection.”

  I grin. “She is.”

  Reva side eyes me. “She is.”

  My head snaps to him. “Yeah?”

  Reva laughs, stabbing into his sausage. “Yes, she is.”

  But I can’t be mad about that. Amethyst is perfection with a rebellious soul. She’s unique, untamed and wild. Fuck. She raises my feral side.

  “Maybe I should tell the fam to leave tonight. Can you do tonight?”