Page 17 of Ruse
Sitting up, unable to ignore me and meddle where she has no business meddling, she resigns to the fact I will not divulge any secrets on the subject. “Fine, either way you need to look hot Phoenix, this is your first Malibu Cove party since your breakup with Chad and, well,” she pauses, unsure what to say, “Everything else.”
Olly barges in with a tray of chilled glasses full of crushed ice and rimmed with salt, and a pitcher of margaritas. “True, you’re single now, which means you, my dear Phoenix, need to look ready to mingle.”
I smack my lips, annoyed that my two best friends are trying so hard to get me laid. Didn’t I tell them I’m swearing off men indefinitely? Or at least until I find one who isn’t a lying, cheating, sleaze-bag, but I think I have a better chance of finding a unicorn. “But I’m not in any way looking to mingle, Oliver, not even in the slightest.”
He hands me a margarita, but I set it aside, not ready to drink it. “Unless it’s with Maverick Carter,” he chimes in, both him and Dee laughing hysterically as they chug down their margs. Fucking assholes. I’m blushing, I know I am, so I glance away, turning my attention back to the dilemma at hand.
What the hell am I going to wear?
“Especially not that bastard,” I groan, throwing the sundresses back into the closet and pulling out some jean shorts and sweaters. It shouldn’t be this hard to choose an outfit for tonight, and although I’m trying to convince myself I don’t care what Maverick sees when he looks at me, I have an inkling this struggle to find the perfect outfit may have something to do with my brooding stepbrother.
Olly pours Dee and himself another margarita, while mine still sits on the desk, the melting ice diluting the flavor. "That's not true, your body language definitely said you were ready...”
“And willing,” Donovan adds, finishing his statement.
“Whatever. You guys are dead to me, traitors.”
Donovan stands beside me, both of us now staring at our reflections in the mirror. My best friend is striking, always wearing the most fashionable outfits, flawless makeup which looks to have been done by a renowned Hollywood artist, and her hair, never a strand out of place. Beside her, I look like a disheveled mess, resembling what I feel like inside.
Sure, I was just as, if not more, put together that Dee just a mere two months ago, but how quickly things can change. In the blink of an eye, my life as I knew it ceased to exist. The perfect life I’d been born into collapsed before my eyes, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
And now that he’s here, things were supposed to be that much worse. However, in the back of my mind, I can’t help but think that isn’t the case. Instead of Maverick’s arrival further wrecking my already crumbling reality, he’s somehow kept it interesting.
"Oh come on P, lighten up,” Dee coos, fluttering her lashes and giving me her best sad puppy eyes. “We were kidding. I bet Maverick will love you in anything you wear. I mean, why wouldn't he? You're a total babe. We all are."
As much as he is a pain in the ass, he’s also the only other person, other than my two best friends, who’s talked to me without throwing out every insult in the book or sabotaging me for their personal entertainment. But I also am not stupid to think he doesn’t have something up his sleeve, a purpose for being so interested. My father ruined his perfect family, and at the end of the day, it will always stand between us.
“Again, not interested, Dee, there’s just something weird about him, like he's up to something. Besides, you saw how everyone’s been treating me at school. It’s like I’m this new contaminated girl everyone’s afraid to catch a case of. The last thing I need is to be caught anywhere with my stepbrother. Can you imagine the scandal?”
Olly groans, fanning himself, “Can you imagine how hot it would be?”
Dee nods in agreement, “No one’s telling you to do anything with him P, but some harmless flirting never killed no one.” Suddenly, her expression changes from amused to scheming. “Actually, you may have declared him mortal enemy numero uno, but wouldn’t it be fun to make him fall for you, beg to have you, and then remind him his mother should have never fucked with yours?”
“Donovan Kennedy, you little scheming bitch!” Olly shouts, a little too enthusiastically. I can’t believe what my best friend is insinuating, though it probably isn’t too far off from what he’s probably scheming.
The same expression flashes in my eyes. “Actually, Dee, that’s not a horrible idea. Maverick showed up here, overly confident and sure I’d be all over him, begging him to show me even an ounce of the attention everyone else gives him. He walks around like he knows I want him, like I can’t help myself. If only I made him feel the same.”
Olly wraps his arms around us, embracing us in a giant bear hug. “You two are a pair of manipulative, conniving bitches, but I’m all here for it. I love it! Let the games begin.”
After a moment, Olly releases us and I quickly grab a band T-shirt from a concert Dee and I went to last year, having scored backstage passes from her record producer uncle, and a pair of black boots. I hold it up to them, asking for their approval. “Yeah wowza. You’re going to look fucking hot P.”
I can’t help the giddy, exhilarating feeling coursing through me at just the thought of it. Maverick Carter is messing with the wrong girl. Phoenix 2.0 is a total bitch. “He’ll definitely think twice about mocking me now.”
Dee scoffs, falling back onto the white, pillowy soft comforter. “Yeah, if he can think of anything at all.”
Using my looks to get something I want, or rather don’t want, isn't something I'm used to. But drastic times call for drastic measures, and I need Maverick out of my house and out of my life.
“What are you going to do?” Olly asks, and I must admit he looks slightly afraid of my answer.
I give him a wicked smile, accompanied by a teasing wink. "I'm going to beat him at his own game."
ChapterSeven
MAVERICK
Iimmediately spotted her, dressed in something I never would have imagined seeing her in, but now that I have, I don’t think I could ever get the image out of my head. Instead of sporting a typical bikini top with cutoff jean shorts like every other chick around me, or like the one she had on earlier today, Phoenix is wearing a band tee, my favorite band tee, as a dress, the fabric barely covering her ass, pinned together by a thin gold chain around her waist. Her long legs, silky, toned, and beautifully tanned, shimmer against the setting sun, while the boots she has cuffed around her calf highlight the naturally earned muscle.
This girl is easily the sexiest chick I’ve ever laid eyes on.
