Page 37 of Ruse
Maverick takes three steps forward to close the distance between us, leaving nothing more than two inches between our lips, and the alluring scent of him is almost too much for me. I close my eyes, unable to hold back if I look into the lustful blue of his irises that watch me with an intensity I feel all over my body.
The magnetic force field between us is indescribable and unparalleled to anything I’ve ever felt before leaving me with so many unanswered questions as to why.
Why is it that I'm not only drawn to him like a moth to a flame, but unable to control my feelings and actions where he’s concerned? Why am I so affected by his mere presence, by his callous yet tempting touch?
I’ve prided myself my entire life on being in control of my actions, my reactions, and intrinsic motivations but when Maverick came into my life, barreling in like a destructive and perilous storm, threatening to take down my indestructible ship, it threw me overboard and now I’m drowning in the sea’s rogue waves.
“Nothing about you is simple Phoenix. You’re intoxicating, magnetic, a fucking force to be reckoned with. It's why I can’t stay away from you. Why despite how hard I’m trying, I can’t help myself where you're concerned. I’ve also prided myself on being in control of every one of my emotions, yet you’re wreaking havoc around me bringing out feelings I never knew existed. Tell me Nyx, how am I supposed to fight that?”
If I was ever out of breath and rendered speechless because of Maverick Carter, this moment here is the reason. I open my eyes and nearly fall apart from the way he’s looking at me, not only intensely aroused but yearning for an answer to this dilemma he’s facing. We’re on the same boat, neither one of us knowing how to navigate these reckless waters, drowning in them, and gasping for air as we descend. He’s desperately looking past the walls I hold in place, my security, my one and only safeguard against him and his undisclosed agenda.
But I don’t have an answer for him. All I can do is leave, walk away, and save myself before the waves catch me and pull me down. I need to walk away before I drown in him.
I only hope, for my sake, it’s not too late.
* * *
“How's school?”Daphne asks, trying her hardest to break through the deafening silence during this dinner from hell. For forty-five minutes we’ve been sitting here, sulking and pouting, the tension growing thicker and thicker every minute that passes by.
My father sits at the head of the table glaring daggers at Maverick sitting across from me beside his mother, while Brooklyn sits to my right across from her. The dining table we’re at, the larger one in the expansive dining room we rarely use, not the one in the sunroom beside the kitchen we usually eat in, is huge and sits about twelve people yet the five of us are all nestled to one end. Awkward, silent, and clearly uncomfortable, but everyone’s too damn proud to be the first to leave.
“It’s going great,” I answer with a smile as fake as I can muster, being the first person, other than my father’s wife, to speak. It’s infuriating how she’s pretending to be so innocent, acting like her presence here is simply a coincidence. Not like she ruined my parent’s marriage by slithering her way into my father’s bed like the unruly, home-wrecking whore she truly is.
She twirls a loose strand of her fake blond hair around her finger, the hot pink acrylics on her fingernails a sight for sore eyes, “Your father tells me you’re in cheer. It must be exciting getting ready for all the rallies the football team will have this year, especially now that scouts will come from the best universities to watch Brooklyn play.”
My brother scoffs, irritated by her fake interest in his extracurriculars, but I pity the woman. At least she’s faking putting in the effort, not that she deserves any of our kindness whatsoever, seeing as she ruined our family, but at least she’s trying to mend the relationship with her son, and stepchildren, not like my father. Unsure whether it’s genuine interest or not, since I’ve realized I’m terrible at reading people's true intentions, Daphne seems to care about what Maverick’s up to. Although she did ship him off to boarding school at the age of twelve, so I may be totally off.
I look between her and Brooklyn and can feel the animosity radiating off my brother. “Actually, I’m no longer on the cheerleading squad,” I respond, getting a few heads to turn my way in surprise.
“What do you mean?” Brooklyn asks, clearly pissed off he isn’t aware of my departure from the squad. “Who the hell is going to be cheering for me then? You were the only one who didn’t look like a complete fool out there.”
I roll my eyes, “Sorry to disappoint you brother, although I think that was weirdly also somewhat of a compliment.”
“Don’t let it get to your head, P,” he counters back. “Every other chick on the squad is a ditzy airhead.”
“I quit cheer, why are you all acting like I’m ruining my future?” My father’s scowl is instant. “Don’t worry dad, I’ve taken up other clubs and honors classes to ensure I get into a university far away from here.”
My father slams his hands upon the table, a habit he’s formed lately. “Why would you quit? Bancroft’s quit nothing. And why the hell would you go to university far away? We have plenty here in California, and if nothing else, then you don’t go. Your mother never went to college.”
“Yeah, and look where she is now,” Brooklyn scoffs, and I quickly smack him on the back of his head.
“Watch your tongue asshole. We both know why she’s there, and not going to college isn’t the fucking reason. Although she might have been better off if she had. Then she wouldn’t have been blinded by her parents and married the first man they chose for her.”
Austin slams his hands down once more. “Enough, I will not let you insult me this way.”
I sit up straighter in my seat, meeting my father’s furious glare head on. “You’re really asking why I’d leave father? Have you forgotten everything that's happened? I mean I wouldn’t be surprised. You not only ruined our family’s reputation with your inability to keep your dick in your pants, but you’ve also made us the laughingstock of all of Malibu Cove’s social scene. I don’t want to be in cheer because of the conniving bitches relishing in my “downfall”, and I want to get into a school far away from you and your new happyfamily.”
His face goes beet red, bulging eyes nearly black from how focused they are on me. Beside him I can see the fear in Daphne’s eyes. I don't think even she’d be able to calm the beast inside of him. “You will not speak to me that way you ungrateful brat. I’ve given this family everything. Have you maybe thought that I’m not the only one to blame here? Your mother is unrecognizable, why would I stay married to a woman I don’t know anymore.”
I stand and meet him, slamming my hands down, and leaning forward over the table. “Then you get a divorce, you don’t publicly humiliate her by having an affair with your married neighbor. God, are you seriously that dense?”
“I’ve just about had it with you Phoenix.”
Maverick stands to join me, his hand resting atop mine on the table. “With all due respect Austin, and I say this with the utmost sincerity, fuck off. Phoenix is only saying what all of us are thinking. The two of you really outdid yourselves as parents of the year. Don’t try to force us to be one big happy family, instilling values, and good morals, when the two of you don’t have the slightest clue what that means.”
The vein in my father’s neck nearly bursts. “How dare you speak to me that way? You’re nothing of mine.”
“Yeah, but I am,” Brooklyn interjects, standing up, and placing his hand on mine. “And the feeling is mutual dad.”
