Page 12 of The Red Zone
“What is wrong with you?”
“Many things.”
“I’m aware,” I countered, moving the box of rice from my crotch and placing it back on the shelf to my left. “Look, I know that what I’m asking isn’t an ideal scenario for you, but I swear it will only be for a few weeks until I find out whether or not I’m getting traded.”
“Is there anyone I can call to make that decision come sooner?”
“Sure, call up Madden Matthews and see if he’ll strike a deal with you.”
Madden was the youngest person to own two professional sports teams—the Matrix and the Boston Benders hockey team. Sure, Mae might’ve been a well-known public figure, but despite what she believed, she wasn’t “call up one of the richest men alive” kind of famous.
Man, wouldn’t I get a kick out of watching her attempt to badger his secretary for a meeting, though. That’d be better than a damn comedy special.
“Do it for Scarlett,” I suggested. I knew she’d never do anything to upset her sister, and I wasn’t above using it to get my way with this. “Do you know how happy it would make her, seeing us pretend to be friends with each other?”
She sighed; annoyance written all over her face. “You can’t keep pulling the ‘do it for Scarlett’ card every time you want me to do something.”
“It’s quite effective, isn’t it?” I inched closer to her as she scrunched her lips together in thought.
I maximized her moment of contemplation by taking a minute to observe her features. Button nose. High cheekbones. There was a reason she’d previously been one of the highest paid models in the world. Even when she was pissed off, she looked gorgeous.
Smart of her for choosing a career path that involved little to no talking too. Lawyers everywhere should be grateful she wasn’t their counterpart in the courtroom. Or man, how about picturing her as a doctor… could you imagine Mae performing bedside manner?
A small laugh slipped past my lips at the mental image, to which Mae shot me a deadly glare.
“Fine,” she sighed after another minute of grueling silence. “Just know that Scarlett is the only reason I’m doing this. I don’t know why she insists on keeping you around as a friend, especially when she has Lea and I, but she does. Plus, she’d get pissed at me if I let you rot cold on the streets like I want to.”
Can’t say her vivid imagination of my suffering came as much of a surprise.
“Let’s get a few things straight… I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to hear you. In fact, I don’t even want to know you exist. And for the love of fuck, if I so much as see one of your obnoxious whores on my property, I will have both of you arrested for trespassing.”
“Lucky for you, I don’t sleep around during the season.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“If that’s your way of telling me I’m hot enough to fuck, I’ll take it.”
“Ha. Ha,” Mae grumbled with a twisted face. “I’m being serious. I’m a light sleeper. If you play your music too loud… I’ll know. If you test your luck at sneaking someone into the pool house at two in the morning… I’ll know. If you attempt to park even theslightest inchover from your designated spot in the driveway… I’ll know,” she muttered through clenched teeth. “I am all-knowing and all-seeing.”
“Say it ain’t so,” I gasped in mock surprise.
“While you’re at it, you should really get a new cologne. The one you’re wearing smells like month old unwashed underwear.” She pulled a face like she’d just stuck her nose in a freshly used dog crap bag. “I don’t want your nasty odor infiltrating my pool house.”
“I find it interesting that you’re so familiar with what month-old unwashed underwear smells like,” I countered. “Please… tell me more. Don’t leave out any details.”
Was I being a wee bit childish? Admittedly so.
What’s that phrase people said, again? All is fair in love and war.
“You should really keep an eye open while you’re sleeping now that I know where you live and all.”
“I’m shaking in my boots.” The corners of my lips curled upward into a taunting grin. “Truly.”
Turning around, she pounded her fists against the wood door much like she had a few minutes earlier. “Scarlett Joanna Sawyer! You won. I’m letting him live with me. Now, let us out!” She smacked a defeated hand against the door. A moment later the door opened, and a smug Scarlett stared back at the two of us. “There’s no such thing as ‘kiwi buns‘, is there?”
“I can neither confirm nor deny.” A coy smirk was plastered across Scar’s expression. Meanwhile, Abel lifted an apathetic shoulder before snaking a hand around her waist and pulling her close. Based on the soft pink plush that rose to her cheekbones as he whispered in her ear, I had a feeling it was something suggestive.
The two of them were so disgustingly in love. And I wasn’t sure whether the pulling sensation I felt in my gut was envy or just a general hatred for public displays of affection.
