Page 39 of The Red Zone
This girl. I swear she could argue with a tree, and, somehow, she’d still come out the winner at the end of it.
After putting our groceries away, and changing into swim attire, we were both out by the pool, once again, for the second Friday night in a row. By the looks of it, we were on the path to having two weekly traditions together. Strange how that happens, huh? Going from seeing each other nearly every day as kids, to not seeing each other for years, and now here we were seeing each other on a routine basis again.
What was next? Spending Christmas together? On second thought, that probably didn’t seem too far off—especially if Scarlett had a say in it.
Hanging out with Mae was easier than hanging out with other girls, though. She wasn’t trying to be someone she wasn’t. Or trying to impress me. In fact, I go as far as saying that she was trying to be as unimpressive as possible. It was refreshing to say the least.
I couldn’t think of a time in recent years where women hadn’t wanted something out of me—money, sex, game tickets, to be seen with me on social media. Most of the time I didn’t care, but being with Mae made me realize how much I’d been used in the past. How fake people were whenever they were around me.
It was a shitty feeling. But a humble reminder to keep my circle small once this season was over instead of getting caught up with the superficial bullshit.
“Weren’t we supposed to play a drinking game?”
“Yeah, and you’re already losing.” She eyed the unopened beer in my hand before bringing her bottle to her lips and taking down half of it in two giant gulps.
“Someone didn’t tell me we were already playing.” I shot back.
All week, I hadn’t been able to get her out of my head. It probably wouldn’t have been nearly as bad had she not ditched out on family dinner last weekend. All that did was send an incessant stream of questions coursing through my mind.
Sure, we had fun last Friday, but I didn’t want her to be upset with me about leaving her to finish herself off. I also couldn’t deny that I’d thought of that exact scenario more than a few times in recent days.
The thought of her stomping back up to her room with her fists balled at her sides as she huffed up the stairs. Only to crawl into her bed and finish the job while thinking of my fingers taking the place of hers.
“Are you good over there?” There was a faint smirk on Mae’s face as she brought her bottle of beer to her lips and took a long pull. “Afraid you’ll get brainwashed if you come any closer?”
When I didn’t respond, she shrugged, heading for the pool steps instead. Tonight, she was wearing a barely-there bikini that was roughly two times smaller than the ones I’d previously seen her wearing. Her long, tan legs disappeared into the water until she was submerged to her waist.
For a moment, I contemplated following her in before deciding it would be best to take a seat on the edge, dipping my legs in instead.
“I’m not afraid of anything where you’re concerned.”
Mae came up and leaned her back against the wall of the pool next to my thighs. She took another long drag of beer before crossing her arms and staring off into the distance. After a few silent beats, she looked up at me with a small closed mouth smile.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
“It’s going to take a lot more than a penny before I let you in on my secrets, Calhoun.”
What I wouldn’t give to get inside her head for just a few minutes. I didn’t need long, just enough time to figure out why she was coming onto me so strongly all of the sudden. She could claim it was Scarlett’s nagging finally getting to her all she wanted, but we both knew there was something deeper. Something she wasn’t telling me.
At the end of the day, I guess it really didn’t matter. I didn’t have the privilege to pry into her personal life. She was a big girl. I didn’t need to monitor her every move. Whatever was going on with her, I’m sure she’d figure it out. And if I was going to be the collateral that helped her get there, so be it. Better that it be me than some strange dude with questionable intentions.
How she managed to trick me into this I had no idea, but my mind was already made up.
Mae and I were going to fuck.
One time.
No feelings.
No strings attached.
That was it.
“There’s no game, is there?”
“Obviously, not.” She let out a huffed laugh. “October, you know me about as well as anyone. And even though it makes me want to die on the inside, I’d go as far as saying you know me better than most people on the planet.”
She looked up at me again only to be met with my confused expression.
