Page 20 of Ruse
Turning so she is standing directly across from me, she scoffs, raising a brow and meeting my teasing smirk with one of her own. It’s sexy as fuck and has me shifting to hide my dick pressing against my jeans. “You don’t seem like a guy who doesn't have everything planned out ahead of time.” Slowly she moves closer to me, just a few inches of space between us, and I swear I see the sparks and currents of the magnetic field between us.
“Oh, I have a plan.” I take the final step forward, closing the space between us, and brush away a stray strand of hair that’s glued to her sweat glistened face. “But I wasn't expecting you to be a problem.”
Stunned, she takes a step back, but my hand comes down to the small of her back to keep her from moving. “And how am I a problem?” she mutters, her breath hitching slightly as she stands her ground and doesn’t cower down. I watch a bead of sweat trickle down her forehead as I bring my fingers down lower and around her upper thigh, slowly slipping them beneath the hem of her shirt, leaning forward to press my lips against her ear.
I try my hardest to make it look as innocent as possible since we’re standing in the middle of a crowded beach, but the loud hoots and hollers prove everyone’s still fully engrossed in the other activities.
Leaning closer, as close as I can possibly get without causing a scene, I inhale the decadent scent of her shampoo, coconut, and vanilla, with soft notes of citrus. “Because I wasn’t planning on wanting to fuck you so badly.”
Now it’s her turn to inhale sharply the moment my thick erection presses into her. I swear I hear something that sounds an awful lot like a moan leaving her lips. I can’t help myself. She makes me so painfully hard it’s almost impossible to be near her. It’s like my dicks in this permanent state of arousal. Just the mere mention of her name, or scent of her perfume floating in the air has me instantly hard.
“So, Maverick?” Suddenly, and frankly imprudently, I hear her best friend Donovan call out to me as she comes over to join us, startling us both. Phoenix clears her throat and pushes me back so quickly she almost trips. I can’t catch a fucking break and get a minute alone with her. “What brings you back to Malibu Cove?” Donovan asks, the mocking smirk on her face proving she is aware of what she interrupted. This girl is going to be a problem.
Back. Of course, they all are aware I used to live here when I was a kid, whether they remember or were reminded is irrelevant. “Just came for a change of scenery,” I reply calmly, brushing off her insinuation. “I've been stuck in a snobby prep school for way too long. I thought some fresh California air might help.”
“Then it isn’t true you were kicked out for nearly beating a classmate to death?” Tate joins in appearing out of nowhere, clearly already knowing the answer to her stupid question.
Soon enough the entire group moves closer to join us, all except Donovan and maybe Tate, unknowing of what was happening between Phoenix and me.
“The key word there is nearly darling. He survived, and I left before they gave me the boot.”
Cole, the guy who earlier fawned over my Aston Martin, throws his hands in the air exaggeratingly. “Fuck, remind me never to piss you off, Carter. This face is worth too much.”
“Oh, don’t be such a dick, Cole. You know Maverick wasn’t intentionally looking for a fight. It all comes back to his mom’s affair with our very own little princess’s dad.” Now that was intentional. Tate obviously knows more about me than she originally let on. I’m going to have to keep my eye on her because she is quickly becoming a complication and I already have too many of those to deal with.
I laugh at her dig, brushing it off and making her believe there are no hard feelings for the insult she casually threw out. Phoenix, however, well, her face is the color of the sun right before it’s about to set. A bright shade of red, almost purple, from how angry she is. She’s about to say something, I can see her lip curling, her jaw clenched tight, and the hostile glare she’s giving Tate almost makes me take a step back.
Instead, I interrupt her. “If you already know so much, then why the fuck are you playing dumb and asking Tatum? Or is it not an act and you're genuinely that fucking stupid? I knew they said blondes were good for nothing more than a good, dirty fuck, but jeez I didn’t think things were this serious.”
The guys burst out in hysterical laughter while Tate stands in shock, her jaw dropping to the floor, until a dangerous rage takes over. Donovan and Phoenix, who were smiling at my mockery of Tate, are now also directing their furious glares my way at the blonde dig.
“You, my man, are a fucking god, Maverick!” Cole shouts out, raising his hands in the air and bowing down to me repeatedly. “All hail The Brutal King Maverick,” he yells even louder, making all the people who weren’t anywhere near us come rushing over to see what all the fuss is about.
I can’t help laughing at Cole’s hysterics, not to mention the way Tate just stormed off, stomping away with her tail between her legs, is equally satisfying.
But in all the commotion, I lose sight of Phoenix, until I spot her and Donovan in the distance, heading back toward the Bancroft’s Mansion.
ChapterEight
PHOENIX
Two weeks come and go without another peep out of my dear stepbrother. Between the heavy workload I've had, thanks to all the honors classes I was adamant to tackle, and the after school extracurriculars I signed up for, I’ve stayed busy and out of his way.
It’s relieving, sure, but I can’t help feeling a tad offended he's just ignored me all together. I shouldn’t care. It's exactly what I wanted. To stay as far away from him as humanly possible. Then why the hell have I been in such a sour mood since?
I know exactly why. Because despite what I may say out loud, the thoughts of what he said to me down at the beach the night of the bonfire don’t seem to fade away from the forefront of my mind.
I wasn’t planning on wanting to fuck you so badly.
My heart nearly stopped the moment those words left his lips. Not knowing how to react to them, I simply played them off like they hadn’t made my thighs squeeze closer together, or my breath hitch at the thought of what it would feel like to be fucked by Maverick Carter. I know he purposefully said it to get this exact reaction from me. It’s obvious I’m attracted to him, I’d be dead if I weren’t, but this attraction needs to be viciously murdered.
It’s not only ridiculous to be so entranced by someone I’ve just met but there are so many reasons I should stay the hell away from him.
A) He’s nothing like the guys I usually date nor would I even be interested in dating him.
B) He’s a total asshole who is surely only trying to get me into his bed to prove his dick is magic or something.
C) He’s hiding something. A secret plan, a vengeful scheme. Maverick has something up his sleeve I’m sure of it.
