I take it from him, ignoring the zap of electricity that passes through our touch. When did my life become a cliché? “Thanks. I wasn’t sure whether I’d see any of these photos again.”
He unzips his hoodie and throws it onto the end of the sunbed. I try really hard not to look at his rippled arms and the way they tense when he grips the chair—much like how they tensed when they were on either side of my head. One thrust, two—sheesh. That escalated quickly.
“I knew, also, you need to put a lock on that shit.” He laughs, picking up a water bottle and taking a sip. I watch as his throat contracts from his swallowing, and then quickly divert my staring when I realize I was watching his throat like a creeper.
“Wait,” I say once I have managed to calm my erratic thoughts. Throats. “You knew? That you would see me again?”
He pauses and then slowly twists the cap back onto his water bottle. “My dad and your mom have been seeing each other for months now. You’re her pride and joy, there are damn photos of you in their room. Yeah, I knew who you were when I walked into that bar.” his eyes drift to my hair quickly, and then he chuckles. “And if I wasn’t sure, the hair would’ve given it away.”
“You don’t like my hair?” I’m offended. I usually give no shits about what people think of me, but I’m offended by this, and then I’m offended that I’m offended by this. Prick. My hair has been this shade of pink since I turned thirteen. It was me rebelling against my mom and society. But at that time, mainly my mom was still trying to get me into modeling. I didn’t have the height, standing at five-two, but apparently I had the cheekbones (whatever the hell that meant). Only I was riding on four-wheelers and BMXs when (according to her), I should have been riding on her dreams to become a model.
“I didn’t say that, Rosé.” He grins, using my nickname from last night. His eyes search mine. “But I didn’t intend to fuck you. Smashing back Jessica’s little Cherub? Yeah, hell naw, that wasn’t my intention at all.”
I’m offended again. Can I hit him? I’m going to hit him. “Um, there are so many things I want to say in reply to that, and they all have the word cun—"
“Mad?” A tall, blonde haired girl, waltzes through the doors while pushing her oversized sunglasses over her silky white hair. “Hey, baby, sorry I’m late.”
AMETHYST
My eyes close. I shake my head, attempting to calm my breathing.
He has a girlfriend.
Of fucking course he does, because men.
“Hey, Stace, what are you doing here?” He also seems surprised to see her.
“I know, I know, it’s me again, but I just wanted to make sure you’re hitting your macro count and getting ready to cut for this weekend.” She hands him a bottle of some murky colored drink as her eyes fly to me. They drag over my body, and at first, I could make out the scowl that threatened to surface, but then her focus lands on my shoes (my Docs), and she visibly relaxes, putting her hand out to me. “I’m Stacey, Maddox’s girl. And you are?”
Apparently, the chick who fucked your man last night.
Leila warned me about this in a way. Well, no. Actually, she had said that he wasn’t the boyfriend type, she failed to mention it was because he already had a girlfriend. I’ll be having words with her. I’d never, ever, sleep with another girl’s boyfriend, no matter how hot he was or how shitty she was, it just wasn’t in my nature to do something like that. Until now. I’m beginning to think I’ll be having a lot of firsts with my new stepbrother. Asswipe.
I take her hand in mine. “I’m Amethyst, my mom is—”
“—Dating Elliot!” She nods, clicking her fingers together in recognition.
“Yep.”
I refuse to look at Maddox. I can’t believe this asshole.
“Stacey is my ex-girlfriend, slash old friend…” Maddox declares casually, getting to his feet.
Stacey rolls her eyes while caressing his arm possessively. “For now,” she adds, throwing me a wink. Okay, that’s an Olympic sized drama pool all on its own, thus, I will not be diving into that. Me plus drama equals a gold medal no.
“I better take this inside. It was nice meeting you, Stacey.”
I finally allow myself to look at Maddox. I hate the way the sun shines through his liquid ink hair. It makes me want to tear the dumb thing from the sky just so I never have to watch how it warms against him. His face profile is square, chiseled perfection. Just the right amount of tormented bad boy with a slight dash of Abercrombie. Again, totally not my type. I should stay in my lane. The very reason why I stayed away from guys like Maddox all my life, was this reason right here. They’re the devil’s work, and I don’t sin.
Much.
Today.
Well, since last night.
Hail Mary full of grace…
“You too,” Stacey whispers to my retreating back as I make my way back inside. I know she is lying. She hates me, I can sense it. I can practically feel the sharp daggers she is shooting into my back.
I find the kitchen fairly easy, because we passed it on the way through. I empty the rest of my drink down the sink, and I’m about to rinse my glass when I catch the fancy tap that has a spiral-like tube. I better not touch it, just in case I break something.
“Hey, Cherub, you met Stacey?” My mom comes in, her glasses off and her hat placed on top of the kitchen’s oak counter. For the first time ever, the name Cherub sits weirdly with me. Maddox and his filthy mouth.
“I did.”
“Poor Maddox. They’ve known each other for a very long time, so he doesn’t have the heart to get rid of her.”
“He has a heart?” I ask, shocked.
Mom sighs. “He does. He’s just particular with who he allows to see it. Like someone else I know.”
I ignore her jab. “Yeah, well, they dated…”
Mom giggles. “Oh, for two weeks. They were always friends in high school, and Elliot said she was always in love with him,” she pauses, going to the fridge and taking out a jug of juice. She better not be making more cocktails. “Maddox felt he owed it to her to give it a shot. He figured out rather quickly that he only had friend feelings for her. If you ask me?” No one was asking you Mom, and please keep your voice down. She leans closer toward me, clutching her glass. “She’s a bit crazy.”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes me. I guess that made it a little better. At least he wasn’t as douchebag-y as I initially thought he was. I glance out the large window that hangs above the sink, overlooking the pool, and watch their exchange. Maddox shakes his head, his eyebrows crossed. Her face pulls in sadly and then her shoulders drop. His face sinks and sympathy falls over his features. He tugs on his hair slightly and then reaches for her. She takes his sympathy eagerly, stepping into his arms and resting her head on his chest.
Drama. Central.
MADDOX
Dinner is just flat out awkward. Amethyst hasn’t so much as glanced at me the entire time, regardless of the fact that I’ve been seated directly opposite her.
I stretch my legs wide until my foot collides with hers. Her eyes shot to mine, almost instinctively, and then they narrow. I’m pissing her off—good.
“So, Stacey,” my dad starts, poking at his steak. “How are you liking college? I know it’s your second year, but I remember when you started like it was yesterday.”
Stacey clears her throat, reaching for her drink. “It’s been very good. I’m just glad I get to see Mad a lot.”
Talon snorts, biting into his bread roll and tugging at it viciously. He continues to glare at Stace from across the table. I know he hates her, hell, my whole family except for my father dislikes her, but her story is shit. She got a shit hand, and I took it upon myself to help her. Her mom, though she is trying to get better, is still a shit mom—even on her good days.
Dad pauses, glares between me and Talon, then grunts in obvious disapproval. Dad is a hard ass. He was a professional MMA fighter all his life until he retired at forty-four. He always h
ad money from my pops’ business that he ran on the side, then when he retired from fighting, he took on the business full-time. My pops passed away not long after that. My brothers and I now carry on his legacy. Well, more me than the other two. Wolf prefers illegal dealings in the underground and Talon prefers football. My brothers and I, we don’t let people get close to us. We’ve always only had each other and that’s how we like it. It’s why not many people know about us, only hear about us. Talon is the guy that has the most friends though, with his social butterfly personality, and Wolf has more enemies than friends, and I somehow fall in the middle. I’ve always been the medium between the two of them. You could say that I’m more balanced. My eyes fly to Amethyst.
Usually.
“So, Amethyst, your mom says you’re doing something in drama?”
I watch as her fingers tuck her long pink hair behind her ear. On the exterior, everything about her is perfect. I follow the precise line of her cheekbone and how it angles perfectly down to her jaw. How her chin has a small indent in the middle, sort of like the dimples on my cheeks. How she’s obviously not wearing any fucking makeup, yet her cheeks manage to wash over in a pink tint every now and then, and her dark lashes fan out on her pale white skin. Her eyes are unusual too, the lightest blue I have ever seen, close to a cyan color. She’s drop-dead fucking beautiful, in the most disturbing way possible. Disturbing because she doesn’t realize what she does to mankind. She doesn’t fucking see how beautiful she is. She doesn’t flash it around or use it as a reason to be a shallow bitch. I’ve watched her tonight, and even last night. She’s effortlessly herself, a ‘fuck what you think’ personality in a small five-foot-two little body with pink hair.
I wish I could say that I felt like shit for not stopping what went on between us last night and that I had zero intention of ever doing that again, but that would make me a decent guy, and that’s something I’m not. They say that if someone maintains eye contact with you for three seconds or more that they are either plotting your death, or they want to fuck you. The sex and anger she exuded, proves that both dance in her pretty little head. The pull is strong between us, even at such an early stage. Too fucking strong for me, and that made me a little bitch because I put grown men to sleep with my right hook. The only thing I have to figure out is whether I play with whatever the fuck it is we have going on here, or leave it alone.
Never been one to leave anything alone, much less a challenge.
“Maddox?” my dad calls from the head of the table, cutting through my thoughts. I’m still fucking staring at her. She’s sitting there, her doe eyes fixed on mine with a direct line to my cock.
I shuffle in my seat. “What?”
“I said what time’s your fight this weekend?”
“Oh, ah, seven.” I finally look back at him, cracking my neck. I either need to fuck something or break something—or both simultaneously.
“Good,” he answers, digging into his steak. “Brian Lynard will be there. You need to accept his offer.”
Brian Lynard has been trying to sign me under his name for years now. I just don’t want to accept.
“Yeah, but I don’t know if I want to go the celebrity way—”
“Oh, honey, you should take advantage of what everyone has to offer,” Jessica adds, flashing me a smile. I like her. I’ve known her long enough to warm up to her, the one who hasn’t warmed up to her is Wolf.
My focus goes to Amethyst, and I grin, leaning back in my chair. Making her uncomfortable gets my dick hard, and not a lot gets my dick hard. “What do you say, Rosé? The celebrity MMA fighter and the actress. Has a ring to it, doesn’t it?”
She gapes at me in shock, her jaw basically hitting the table. She quickly checks everyone, only no one paid any attention to my comment. Mainly because they know what I’m like. She’s about to get schooled. Talon scoffs at my comment, grunting into his meal again. The only reason he would have heard is because he likes her enough to pay attention. I don’t know what kind of like that is, but I know someone who would have something to say about it.
She clears her throat. She’s cute as shit when she’s blushing, but deadly when she’s trying not to blush. She’s a rebel without a cause, and her soul is fucking reckless, but I want it.
I want all of it and her.
She seems a little more innocent in the sex department than the ones I usually go for, but cute and exotic, nonetheless.
She takes a sip of her drink and then gazes back to me. “Not unless that ring is from the bell at your funeral.”
I laugh, going back to eating my dinner.
Fucking wish I was face deep in her right now.
AMETHYST
Clearing my throat, I reach for the glass and take a sip of my water. I’ve been trying my hardest to keep my gaze away from Maddox. My phone starts vibrating in my pocket, but I ignore it, figuring it would probably be frowned upon in this house to answer calls at the dinner table.
A foot collides with my shin and I flinch, my eyes shoot to a grinning Maddox. Such a freaking jerk.
“Ame, are you going to that audition this weekend that your dad was talking about?” my mom asks as she poked her fork into her lettuce.
“Mmmhmm,” I nod, tossing the tomatoes around on my plate. “It’s just a small role for a new Netflix show coming up, but it’d be a lot of fun to play.”
“Oh yeah?” Maddox interjects into our light conversation. “What’s it about?”
I lean back in my chair slightly. “A young detective who is starting out on the force, but she has superpowers. It has Marvel vibes, but I think it’d be a great starter. More than great, actually.”
I look to Mom. “Did you get the donuts?”
Stacey clears her throat. “Seems a little far-fetched, though, right?” Then she laughs, probably hoping that everyone else would join her, only no one does and she’s left looking like a dick. She stops abruptly and then clears her throat again. “So, what do you do for fun? What are you majoring in?”
It feels like an interrogation, but I answer anyway because I don’t really care for her or her bitchy attitude. I’m well acquainted with mean girls, and there’s one thing that they always forget; they have more to lose than us. Their pride, their image, all that plastic stuff that they care entirely too much about is a lot to lose against a girl who doesn’t give a shit.
“I skate for fun, and like I said earlier, I’m majoring in dramatic literature and screenwriting.”
She stops, her mouth slightly ajar, then my mom comes to the rescue again. “It’s true, my girl is smart. I guess I’m lucky she spent more time at skate parks and less at parties during school.”
I pat my mom’s hand from under the table.
Aquaman interferes. “You’re hot and smart?” Then he pauses, looking between Maddox and me. “Whoever has you has got to be one lucky guy.”
“—Oh no,” my mom once again chimes in. This time, I’m thinking I’m going to be a little more annoyed than I was before. “She has only had a couple of boyfriends, isn’t that right, honey.” She places her knife and fork back down onto the table and seems to think over what she’s going to say. I try to widen my eyes at her, as in shut the fuck up, but she abruptly blows me off. “Oh, Shane was his name.”
I cringe, sinking farther down into my chair. “Mom—”
Elliot interferes. “I’m sure she doesn’t want to talk about that, love.”
He’s right, I don’t. Elliot seems like a nice man, a bit hard around the edges but soft in the middle. At least I think he is, especially when he looks at my mom or his sons. I’m feeling drained, so I get my mom’s attention as the maid walks in to take away our dirty plates.
“I’m feeling a little tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” My excuse comes out way, way the fuck out of left field to those three boys at the table and sounded more like I was taking a dig at Maddox when I wasn’t.
“Were you skating last night? Must be tiring,” Stacey asks unknowing
ly, her slight scowl pinned on me. Gosh, was she that intimidated by me? I want to roll my eyes at how cliché she is being.
Wolf chuckles. “She was riding something…”
I feel my cheeks heat. I’m itching to get out of the room, it feels as though the oxygen is getting sucked out minute by minute. Pretty sure I’m about to die in here.
“Oh, you don’t want your donuts?” My mom’s eyes come to mine.
I shake my head, suddenly, my escape plan sounds more appealing than sinking my teeth into frosted fried dough. Or did it? Yes, yes it did. I start to contemplate an escape plan that will get me back to my dorm. “No, I’m okay.”
“But they’re tiramisu,” she declares proudly before continuing. “Amethyst could never get enough of them when she was a child. I’d buy her them all the time, but only tiramisu. Weird flavor for a child."
I smile softly at my mom. Even though she drives me crazy, she has so much to give and loves strongly. “It’s okay, Mom. I might just go to bed.”
My eyes unconsciously go to Maddox, who’s now searching the dining table as if he’s in search of something, then he visibly stills. His fists clench as his eyes slowly come up to fix on me. He pins me with a glare. “What’s that song… you know, the one…”
What?
“The song?” I entertain him. “What song?”
He starts humming, and I instantly answer, annoyed with his tricks. “’Fly Away’ by Lenny Kravitz.”
I go to kiss my mom on the head when I feel the atmosphere drop to deathly cold levels. Did someone open a window? Goosebumps break out over my flesh as I slowly look back at him. His face has gone pale, his eyes flat. Now he’s looking right through me, instead of at me.
“Why’d you just ask me that?” Oh no…. My eyes dart between my mom and Elliot. “Wait! How long have you both known each other?”