Page 64 of Ruse
I can’t remember the last time I felt this rush of emotion tingling up my spine or the fluttering of butterflies dancing around merrily in my stomach. Even three months ago I don’t remember feeling this way, but right now, as I watch my friends, Donovan, Oliver, Darcy, Cole, Ryan, Fitz, and even my brother, the real friends who stuck by my side through the toughest months of my life, this is what it means to be happy.
Today has been incredible. From the moment we arrived early this morning just as the sun was rising, to now watching it slowly set into the sky, I can’t remember the last time we were this carefree and content.
Darcy and Dee, both with pink cotton candy clouds in their hands, laugh loudly as they walk toward me with Olly on their tail lugging around a giant stuffed great white shark he just won at the ring toss. “You will not believe what just happened!” Donavan squeals, shoving a mouthful of pink sugar into her mouth.
“Oliver adopted a stuffed Poseidon?” I ask, eyeing the stuffed shark wearing a MC High football jersey.
Dee rolls her eyes annoyed I’m not meeting her same level of enthusiasm. “Funny but no. Right before Fitz and the guys headed back over to work the kissing booth, he looked over at our girl Darcy here and said,“I'll see you around”.” She gushes with excitement as if what she’s said means anything specific. Darcy’s cheeks flush in embarrassment, her gaze dropping to the floor.
“So?” I ask, at first confused by her comment, but then I remember how curious Dee was the last time Fitz and Darcy were a topic of conversation. I know where this is going.
“So, he was obviously, and super subtly, inviting her to go see him at the kissing booth later.”
Darcy turns to face Donavan, her hands positioned on her hips, and her eyebrows furrowed intensely. “Oh come on Dee,” she pouts, “That is not what he meant. He was just being polite and making conversation. Why would he ask me to the kissing booth? He’s Grant Fitzpatrick, All-star quarterback. He can literally have any other girl here.”
“Okay fine,” Dee says, raising her hands up in the air in surrender. “Pretend I said nothing.”
Silence flows between us for a moment before I break the ice.
“Alright well I’m going to go check on the guys at the booth and make sure they’re charging for the kisses and not just giving them out for free. Darcy, you coming with?” I ask her, trying to save her from Dee, who can be a bit too enthusiastic at times. I love her for it, and if Darcy knew Dee’s attempt at pushing her and Fitz together was a selfish reason to keep her away from my brother, she’d see my bestie means no harm. However, that isn’t something I’m going to announce. It isn’t my place.
Darcy nods, stepping beside me. “Fine,” Dee grunts, “You two go do your thing and work this amazing fair you’ve put on. Olly and I are going to go ride theGrease LightningSwingsand get into some trouble. Meet you guys at the Ferris wheel tonight at eight-thirty to watch the fireworks.”
We nod and while Olly and Dee take off toward the thirty-foot jellyfish sitting in the middle of the pier, Darcy and I head to the end of the deck and toward the football team’s kissing booth. It’s the most elaborate of booths, with four large white tables set up in a T-shape, T for Thunderbirds, with a wooden wall separating the two sides. The wooden plank is painted with our school emblem, a white crest entwined with teal leaves, and a great white shark in the middle under the words Malibu Cove High. Our team mascot, Poseidon, is dancing around the front wearing a leather jacket over his MC high football jersey, welcoming passersby to join in on the fun hidden behind the curtain covering one side of the wall on all four sides.
It was their idiotic decision to keep the identity of the kisses hidden behind the curtain. The entire varsity team has come out to put in the work, all in matching leather jackets with the wordsMalibu Cove Thunderbirdsembroidered in white on the backs, volunteering their time, and mouths, to the cause. Given the popularity of the starting lineup, they figured it wouldn’t be fair to everyone else for them to hog all the kisses.
Which brings us to this elaborate setup.
The booth is already buzzing with traffic, high school girls of all ages rushing in line for a chance to kiss a glorious player of the Malibu Cove All-Star Football Team.
Darcy scoffs, watching the giddy teenage girls unable to hide their excitement as they not so patiently wait their turn in line. “If you ask me, they’re all hopping in line hoping it’ll be Grant or Brooklyn standing behind the curtain.”
I chuckle at Darcy’s disgusted face. She’s right though. The moment we announced the varsity football team was going to be manning the kissing booth, ticket sales nearly tripled. We were ecstatic, more money means we’re going to put on a hell of a senior year. However, as if the guys' egos needed any more fluffing, the two co-captains wouldn’t stop yapping about how they should just quit football and start a kissing booth business on wheels.Taking their luscious lips on the road.
My laughter continues as I watch her face contort into a horrified expression. Squeals continue to erupt as whispers trickle down the line when someone says they spotted them behind the curtain. “Yeah, you’re right. The only thing that would add to the appeal would be to snag a kiss from the infamous Maverick Carter.”
“Is that so, Nyx?”
My heart nearly stops the moment I hear him come up behind me, the silky tone of his voice sends a wave of awareness between my legs. I try my hardest not to turn around and give him the satisfaction of seeing the way my body reacts to him, but it’s inevitable. Everyone in line is suddenly looking back and forth between us, feeling the tension building up the longer it takes for me to turn and face him.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath just as he takes a step forward, reaching for me, his hand slowly caressing the sensitive skin showing at the nape of my neck. My skin prickles with anticipation, but just as easily as he touched me, he drops his hand, my flesh instantly missing the heat of his touch.
Opening my eyes, I turn to him, his eyes blazing with desire I’ve never seen from him, or anyone for that matter. It’s an intensity that immediately sets my body ablaze with need. His eyes roam over my figure, from the top of my bare arms and neck, down to my midriff showing under my strapless black top, and lower to the leather miniskirt that highlights my long legs.
I find myself looking him over just the same. Although his color scheme ceases to change, it’s like every time I see him, he looks even hotter than the time before, and today is no exception.
Dark ripped jeans tucked into his shiny black Doc Martens, and a black tee with the wordFUCKin white capital letters written on the front. Don’t get me started on the leather jacket draped over his shoulder and the cigarette hanging from his lips. Raven hair trimmed short on the sides and slightly longer on top, and the scruff covering his sharp jaw, although it’s slightly longer than a five o’clock shadow, is trimmed neatly and I want nothing more than to grip onto it as my lips meet his or feel it in between my thighs as he devours me.
Danny Zuko who?
Calm the fuck down Phoenix, you’re letting your horny show.My inner subconscious reprimands me.
“Maverick,” I murmur, a little breathier and needier then I expected. His eyes glaze over with lust, the bright blue color now dark and demanding.
“Tell me Nyx,” he mutters in a tone that sends another electric wave of heat over my entire body. I inhale sharply, intensely aware of every nerve in my body firing at the same time I watch his lips move, anticipating what will come from them next. “What will it take to snag a kiss from the illustrious princess, Phoenix Bancroft.”
The crowd that’s now formed around us gasps, dull snickers and disapproving whispers fill the soft silent breeze with noise. I’m speechless but I know I need to cut the tension between us with a sharp blade before it takes over and pushes us both past the point of no return. Especially since I know my brother is around here somewhere. Yesterday was a close call after potentially being caught by Chad, and today there are too many witnesses.
