by Henry, Max
Greer’s hand lifts to give herself another serve, yet I knock the bottle from her lips to stop her making a thoughtless mistake. Brandy sloshes from the neck, over her chin and down her throat to the valley between her breasts.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” she challenges, relinquishing the bottle.
I chug what remains, the alcohol burning a path to my stomach like the knowledge of the sins I plan to commit.
“Colt?”
“Dearest?” I set the empty bottle aside on my grandparents’ spotless bookshelf.
“We made this mistake once.” She fruitlessly swipes at the drink, making a sticky mess of her skin.
“We haven’t made any mistakes at all.” Challenge remains in her gaze, yet she doesn’t do a damn thing to physically stop me.
Greer’s calves hit the seat. I sweep my arm around her waist to save her alcohol-dampened clothes touching my Nonna’s carefully chosen furniture.
Frail hands find my chest. Fluttering eyes sweep my face.
“Next call is yours,” I breathe.
“Step away.” There’s no resolve in her demand. No conviction.
“As you wish.”
She finds her feet, eyes still wide and lips temptingly a mere half-inch apart. My pulse hammers hard; muscles tense from the restraint required to let her go.
“I won’t always be so accommodating, you know?”
She huffs, turning away to seek out a linen cloth from the bureau. “I have no doubt.”
“Then why deny it now?” I readjust myself and turn for the mantle.
A picture of my smiling Nonna and Poppa should do the trick.
“Because the thought of being one of many conquests in a week sickens me.” Her back may be turned, but she can’t hide the hurt in her confession.
“You think you’re one of many?”
“Isn’t that your normal modus operandi?” Greer dabs at her chest.
I look away again to save doing something entirely inappropriate for the moment. “Who else is there this week if you know me so well?” I bite. “I assume you’ve kept a list.”
She huffs, tossing the spent cloth on the sideboard. I’ll have to clear that away before Alicia gets home to save questions.
“Only one that I know of.”
“Say her name,” I taunt.
She lands a searing glare on me. “Willow.”
“Jesus, Greer.” I shake my head. “Really?”
“How else do you get information from her?” she states indignantly, moving toward her school bag.
I step in front of it, pinning the luxury leather to the seat with my heel. “I can talk to girls without having to fuck them for the pleasure, you know?”
“You’re so crass.” Greer bends to retrieve her bag.
I take a fistful of her hair in one hand and a handful of her arse in the other. “Perfect position, baby.”
I get a swift punch to the balls for my trouble. “You fucking pig.” She jolts back while I cup my jewels.
“What I did there. That,” I choke out, “is crass,” setting her straight. “What I said beforehand is called honesty.” I crumble into the seat. “Fuck, Greer. Play nice next time, huh?”
A smile tickles her lips.
“A guy could be forgiven for thinking that if you can’t get it, you’ll make sure this package is out of action for everyone else.”
“Oh, stop flattering yourself,” she drawls. “You had my head crushed to your crotch.”
“Next time try opening your mouth if you need breathing room.”
A cushion sails across the room and collects me in the head. I dissolve into howls of laughter as she sends another my way. I haven’t laughed like this in … shit … years.
“You feeling better now?” Greer teases, collecting the strewn cushions.
I reach out and snag her around the hips, pulling her into my lap. “I am.”
She allows me to nuzzle into her, inhaling the perfume I’m growing quite attached to.
“You worry me, Colt.” Her hand settles over mine, splayed on her stomach.
I hold her tighter, leaning her back with me. “Then you better keep a closer eye on me.”
“Is that so?” Greer’s head nestles perfectly against my shoulder.
I’m not too man to admit I like how this feels. “I can think of one way you could do that.”
“Install cameras in your bedroom linked to my smartphone?” she quips.
I run my bottom lip along the shell of her ear and whisper, “Be mine.”
TUCK
I can’t say Major was all too happy about being hitched to the saddler’s rail again when he knows oats are waiting for him at home. But the big guy will have to suck it. I have things to sort out.
If Mum’s death taught me anything, it was that you don’t leave things unsaid.
Got a problem with someone? Let them know why.
Got an issue that needs clearing up? Get on with it.
I round the corner of the street and falter on my next step. My boot scrapes the pavement, drawing Lacey’s attention from where she sits—alone. She’s adapted over the past weeks, assuming a style that blends in with her laidback rural surroundings better. But even in her school uniform, shielded with full-length jeans and a thick blazer, she’s gorgeous.
No prizes for figuring out what drew me toward her in the first place.
I just wish her attitude hadn’t shifted with her physical change.
“Hey.” She gestures to the seat opposite her. “Maggie’s shopping.”
“Oh.” I pull out the vacant chair and get settled. “Cool.”
“What did you want to say?” she snaps.
“Cut the attitude, okay?” I spread my legs wide, arms folded over my chest. “We both know that’s not how you are with me.” Yeah, I’ve adopted a defensive stance, but jeez, an “It’s good to see you” isn’t that hard to fake.
“You really don’t know much about me, do you?” Lacey says with a shake of her head.
She opts to watch a lady wrestle her toddler indoors rather than make eye contact with me.
“I tried to learn.” My arms band tighter. “But you’re not that forthcoming.”
I wish she’d damn well look at me.
“Top five,” Lacey blurts. “Top five things that attract you to me. Go.”
“Excuse me?” I lift an eyebrow.
She studies the table before her. “What attracts you to me, Tuck? It’s a simple question.”
So she wants reassurance. I can give that in spades. But can she deal it back?
“I’ll tell you on one condition.”
Her lips purse, but her silence urges me to continue.
“You have to do the same.”
“Fine.” Her dishes sit in an orderly stack awaiting collection, yet she fusses with them anyway. “You first.”
“Easy.” I lean forward, slamming my elbows on the table. “One.” It still doesn’t get her attention. “There’s no point denying that I noticed how beautiful you are,” I admit. “Any guy would look twice when you walk by, but it was the easy-going smile you had when I first saw you that made me want to look again.”
“I was smiling?” she asks, seemingly unconvinced.
“At Colt. Yes.”
“Two?”
“Two. You’re selfless… usually.”
“Usually?” She huffs. “Gee, thanks.”
“You put the wellbeing of those you love before your own.” Which makes me wonder just how little she cares for me if this agenda of hers has overtaken what we have. “It’s compassionate and an honourable trait to have.”
“Three,” she says on a lengthy inhale.
“The way you tip your head back when you don’t agree with what someone is saying.” I lean closer. “Like you’re doing now.”
She huffs. “Lame. Four.”
I sigh, leaning back on my seat. “The first pair of boots you got after you moved out here. Put those on your long legs, and you
know I’m a goner.”
“Technically, you’re attracted to the boots, but I’ll give you that. Last one. Five?”
“Your loyalty to your brother,” I mumble. “As much as it pisses me off after what he did to you, that selfless love you have for him makes me crush on you hard.”
“Why? Lacey leans in, narrowing her pretty blues.
“Because I wish you felt that way about me. I want you to feel that way about me.” My throat feels half its size when I try to swallow. “Could you?”
She leans back, searching out the mother and son again. “I’m not sure.” Her chest concaves with a deep sigh. “I guess it’s my turn then?”
“I guess so.” I spread my legs wide once more, back curled against the chair and hands resting at my hips. I don’t want to miss a second of this.
“One.” Her fingertips tap the table.
“Not a good start, baby.”
“Don’t pressure me,” she gripes. “One.”
I smirk.
“Family means everything to you. Blood or otherwise.”
“True.”
“That quality is harder to find in people these days.” Her words fade as she speaks, and I know she damn well thinks about her mum.
“Two,” I rasp.
“You’re unwavering in what you believe in.” Lacey leans back, flicking her thumb and forefinger off to the side to clear a crumb from the table. “Nobody else’s opinion will waver you from what you know to be right. You stick to your guns.”
“Three?”
Her nostrils flare, eyelashes shielding her blues from me as she pulls in a deep and seemingly fortifying breath. “This one’s harder to say.”
My gut churns. I knew somewhere deep down that I’d lost her, but I didn’t want to believe it. I thought if I showed my hand enough times that eventually she’d pick the cards she wanted and then make do with the rest. But perhaps we are too different?
Fuck. The way she fidgets with the cuff of her school blazer makes me think it would be easier on my heart if I just stood up and left.
“Lace…”
“Just give me a minute to word it right.” She screws up her face, sighing as she flicks her fingers out. “There’s no other way to say it without it becoming wordy and confusing.”
“So spit it out,” I growl, my heart threatening to jump the gate.
“I guess…” She swallows, meeting my eye.
Her goddamn phone hollers, buzzing on the table—her focus shifts to its incessant cry.
“Ignore it.”
Lacey’s brow furrows. “I can’t. It’s Colt.”
“Fuck’s sake.”
She taps the screen and then lifts a hand to urge me to stay while she answers. “Can I call you ba—” Her frown returns. “Slow down. She said what?”
My heart remains lodged in my throat. I want to know what the fuck her third point was.
“Are you sure?” Lacey’s eyes go wide, her head slightly tilting as though to focus on Colt better. “But that could have been their interpretation, not the truth.” She nods, uttering the odd, “Uh-huh.”
I swear to God I’m all of five seconds away from ripping the phone from her hand and hanging up on that arsehole when she says the words that finally steal my focus from what Lacey is yet to tell me.
“They’re on their way? Now?” Her eyes lift to mine.
She hasn’t looked this worried since Colt took on Johnson with the tractor.
Lacey gently disconnects the call. I have no idea what she said to cut the conversation with Colt; I was too focused on her distress.
“I need to go.” Her hands fly, fingers tripping over items on the table before she realises she already has her phone in hand. “I just … I can’t stay, Tuck.”
“What did he say?” I rise to my feet with her.
“Nothing.” She stumbles from around the chair, feet tripping in the leg in her haste to leave.
A single breath gasped between parted lips when my hand circles her wrist. “Tell me.” My heavy words convey just how much I’m not fucking around. “What the fuck is going on, Lacey?”
Her brow twitches, her tongue peeking out to wet her lips. She fights the urge to cut me out of her mess, to pull away.
“I’ll find out anyway, won’t I?”
“Shit.” One rushed word heaved in a panicked breath.
My hand grows tighter, my urgency rising to match hers.
“The assault case against me has been dropped.”
I don’t get it. “What’s so bad about that?”
“It was only dropped against me.” Her bright blues search my gaze. “Libby hasn’t been cleared.” Lacey turns toward me. “The prank they played on me has backfired, Tuck.” She huffs. “They blame me. For everything. All of it.”
“Fuck them.” I let her go now that she’s not actively trying to run. “What does that matter now you’re out here?”
“Didn’t you hear me?” She laughs, bitter and despondent. “They’re on their way. They’re angry, and they want to blow off some steam.” She flinches. “On me.”
“Who’s they, Lacey?” I lean down to level our gazes. “Names. Give me names.”
“All of them. All of them except Colt and Greer.”
I run the math. Two guys, two girls. “There’s only four of them,” I reassure her. “Richard, Libby, Arthur, and Ingrid.” She doesn’t seem as relieved as I am. “Don’t worry about it. We’ve got you.”
“Not just them.” She pinches her brow, as though confused by my assumption. “I meant all of them. The parents too.”
“What difference does that make?”
“When one is a lawyer? Everything.” She sighs, turning to leave again. “I need to get a hold of my dad.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No.” She spins on the edge of the street. “No, Tuck.” Her lips purse as she shakes her head. “Not this time, okay?”
“Baby.”
“I’m not your baby, Tuck.” She looks away before I see the first tear fall. “I never was.”
LOYAL LOVE: Arcadia High Anarchists #4
The page-turning conclusion to the Arcadia High Anarchists series!
PREORDER NOW
ALSO BY MAX
Visit Amazon here: amazon.com/author/maxhenry
STANDALONE
Malaise
Tough Love
Echoes In The Storm
DARK TIDE SERIES (Rock star)
Down Beat
Amplifier
Coming Soon
Train Wreck
TWISTED HEARTS DUET (New Adult/Age Gap)
Desire
Regret
FALLEN ACES MC SERIES
Unrequited
Unbreakable
Tormented
Existential
Misguided
BUTCHER BOYS SERIES
Devil You Know
Devil on Your Back
Devil May Care
Devil in the Detail
Devil Smoke
RED HOT READ NOVELLAS
One More Night
Playing with the Boss
Lady Killer
Physical Therapy
THE MUSIC
Listen to the songs that encouraged the book here: https://spoti.fi/31pwasw
“Adolescent” – Jack River
“Alligator” – Of Monsters and Men
“Bad Vibes” – K.Flay
“Do You Feel Me?” – Oliver Tree, Whethan
“Hate Me” – Ellie Goulding, Juice WRLD
“Hustle” – P!nk
“Lose Lose Lose” – SWMRS
“Me Too” – Meghan Trainor
“Momma Sed” – Puscifer
“Mother’s Daughter” – Miley Cyrus
“Nightmare” – Halsey
“Red Light Green Light” – Duke Dumont, Shaun Ross
“Slut Like You” – P!nk
“Sober” – TOOL
“Stupid Girls” – P!nk
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“Take What You Want” – Post Malone, Ozzy Osbourne
“This Baby Don’t Cry” – K.Flay
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and bred in Canterbury, New Zealand, Max now resides with her family in beautiful and sunny Queensland, Australia.
Life with two young children can be hectic at times and, although she may not write as often as she would like, Max wouldn’t change a thing.
An avid lover of stories from a young age, she enjoys nothing more than to get lost in the pages while the characters dictate what direction she takes. Her favourite genre to write is young/new adult and the events in her stories may or may not be related to real life experiences (only she will ever know for sure).
In her down time, Max can be found at her local gym brain-storming through a session with the weights. If not, she’s probably out drooling over one of many classic cars on show that she wishes she owned.
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