by C. M. Owens
She cocks her head, waiting.
“Sleep with me. As often as possible,” I finally tell her.
Her eyes roll, and she starts to push away. I’m not even sure why I said it, but now that the words are out, I mean it. I’ve decided it was definitely disappointment I felt when she left instead of staying.
It was also disappointment when I woke up alone.
I’ve never fucking slept with a girl, and…now I’m back to feeling like an asshole.
“Just sleep. I don’t want to sleep alone tonight. If it doesn’t suck, we can sleep together again tomorrow.”
She softens again, her eyes studying mine. “No sex,” she says again, firmly.
“No sex,” I agree.
“Okay. Hope you don’t sleep naked. That will get you slapped.”
When I smile, she rolls her eyes, and I follow her out to the living room.
“You staying or going? We’re making pasta,” she tells me, gesturing to where Connor is at the stove, still shirtless.
His pec dancing doesn’t bother me anymore now that I know he’s her brother. In fact, I have zero issue with the guy, when only moments ago, I wanted to smash his face in.
Definitely going crazy.
“You kidding?” I ask, rolling my sleeves up. “I’m playing fucking Monopoly.”
Chapter 21
SALEM
Monopoly sucks.
Maverick is grinning as he collects yet another assload of cash from Connor, who is muttering something about never inviting the ‘boyfriend’ to Monopoly night again.
Maverick adds the money to his many piles that are already set out in front of him. I swear he has three hotels on so many damn spots that it’s ridiculous. I’ve never been so thoroughly destroyed.
“Your phone keeps lighting up,” Sean says, probably trying to distract Maverick so Connor can cheat. But Maverick is a man of intent and focus.
“Probably another unicorn or pony picture. I’d rather not look at it for a few days, to be honest.”
I choke on my laugh, and Maverick flips me off without even looking up from the game.
“Did I miss something?” Sean asks, confused.
“Probably something to do with that random tweet I saw this morning that almost made me regret following my new stepbrother. Guessing she hacked your Twitter?” Connor asks, smirking.
Maverick nods, glaring a little at me, before lowering his head. I just grin. At least I won at that.
“This is why I hate being grounded from the internet,” Sean groans.
I’ve been out of the game for the past hour, picking at my cold pasta as they finish up. Sean was put out of the game after me, but he’s still at the table, trying to figure out how Maverick has thoroughly wrecked us in record time.
Usually a good game lasts us for days. Three hours with Maverick Sterling, and Connor is already giving him the very last of his money.
The final one bites the dust.
“How? Just how?” Sean asks seriously.
I’m the banker, and I cheated. I still lost first. Guess that gives clout to the ‘cheaters never prosper’ thing.
“The Sterlings built Sterling Shore,” Maverick says absently as he grins, clearing off the board. “Real estate and investments are our thing. We were a true monopoly in the beginning. Now we share a little. It’s been forever since I got to play the game, though.”
Sean rolls his eyes, settling back in his seat, but I can tell he’s impressed. Obviously, he’d never admit it aloud.
“Why’s it been forever since you played?” I ask, sipping my only glass of wine for the night as Connor drinks his beer.
Maverick grins as he looks up at me. “Because my family outlawed it. We get serious about some Monopoly, and after the fourth fight that broke out between me and my cousins, my Aunt Elizabeth decided to ban it from all households. We tried it again when we became adults. It was a lot of brokering trades, arguing over hotel acquirements, and trying to develop alliances so we could team up against each other. After the first punch was thrown, we banned it from ourselves.”
“Glad us less-than-business-savvy people gave you back your childhood joy,” Connor says flatly.
Maverick just winks at me, knowing he makes even Monopoly look sexy.
“You need to get to bed, kiddo. It’s already past your bedtime,” I tell Sean.
He glances at the clock, groans, then stands and wraps his arms around me, giving me a hug for the night. He turns and does the same to Connor, hugging him a little tighter, since Connor has to leave in the morning. He literally flew out just to make sure Sean had settled into school and was doing okay with the new town.
He has college to get back to.
“I’ll fly out again as soon as I get a day or two off,” Connor tells him, kissing Sean’s forehead.
Maverick busies himself with putting away the game, and I watch as Connor ruffles Sean’s hair.
When Sean turns and opens his arms for Maverick, I grin. Maverick just glares at him. “I’m not that gullible,” Maverick tells him.
A smile breaks across Sean’s face, and he laughs before turning and walking away.
“Still up for debate, Maverick,” Sean says before he shuts his door.
Connor just grins, sipping his beer.
“Monopoly is Sean’s favorite game,” Connor says idly.
“Was I supposed to let him win?” Maverick asks sincerely, looking up. “Because I’m terribly competitive at board games.”
I’m not sure why that makes me smile harder.
“No,” Connor says around a laugh. “Just figured you might be wondering why we would play Monopoly on my only night in town.”
Maverick leans back. “Sorry. I didn’t realize you were here for the one night, or I wouldn’t have intruded.”
Connor bats a hand. “I’d rather you be here. I wanted to get to know you anyway, since you’re going to be around my younger brother. He doesn’t have a whole lot of people he talks about, but he talks about you. Don’t tell him I told you.”
Maverick flashes a grin, and I ignore the butterflies in my stomach.
“He just likes playing with my pussy,” Maverick finally says on a long sigh.
To this, Connor chokes on his beer, and I burst out laughing.
“I heard that,” Sean calls out from his room, sounding overly annoyed.
Maverick chuckles.
“Speaking of which, care if we borrow your cat for a while? I know you want a break from her, and Sean—”
“She’s all yours,” Maverick says immediately. “Take her. I’ll even pay you to take her.”
Connor laughs under his breath, and we spend the next couple of hours just talking about hockey and such. Connor hated the time in Georgia, because, well, hockey isn’t exactly a Georgia thing. It was hard for him to find places to play, but Mom usually found them no matter what state we were in when it was his year to live with us.
Despite her faults, she did some of the important things that did count.
Doesn’t excuse the fact she slept with my boyfriend to teach me not to be gullible.
She used just as many harsh tactics on Connor and Sean, too. It’s why they find it fascinating to dupe people.
Connor finally yawns, and Maverick stands to head toward my bedroom, not saying anything.
“I’m going to bed before I decide this dining room table looks comfortable. I promise I’ll be back out as soon as I can get away,” Connor tells me as we both stand.
I go to hug him, holding on a little longer than necessary, since I don’t know when I’ll see him again.
“Just worry about keeping your grades up and your scoring average awesome. I got this.”
“Yeah. I know you got it. I just hate that it’s all on you, while I’m off living my dream.”
“I get to work on cars no matter where I move to. My dreams are just fine,” I assure him, patting his chest as I try to alleviate his guilt.
Maybe I bat a tear out of my eye before
he can see it.
He musses my hair, and I roll my eyes as I fix it back into place. “Don’t bang the headboard against the wall. I’d rather not vomit in my sleep. I like sleeping on my back, so that’d be a choking hazard,” Connor calls out over his shoulder.
I roll my eyes.
There will be no banging of the headboard.
No sex.
Just sleep.
Shouldn’t be difficult at all.
When I walk into my room, I reassess that last thought.
Maverick is standing by my bed, texting someone, in nothing but his boxer-briefs that hug his ass and show off his—
Eyes up, Salem.
His body is just too damn hard not to look at.
“Got my alarm set,” he tells me, as though I was going to ask who he was texting.
I wasn’t curious, actually. I was using the opportunity to rake my eyes over the sexiest man I’ve ever seen, shortly after I instated a no-sex rule.
Lovely.
“Okay.”
I move around to my side of the bed, wondering how to do this not awkwardly. The sleeping usually comes after the sexing in my world. I’ve never done this without the sex.
What am I doing?
As I shuffle under the covers, Maverick turns out the light, and he crawls in bed beside me, his arms immediately wrapping me up and drawing me against him, spooning me from behind.
It’s like he’s surrounding me with just his touch. His lips trail over my neck, innocent little kisses, until he reaches my ear. “Night, Salem,” he says, a grin in his tone.
“Night, Maverick.”
In some weird way, it almost feels more intimate to do this without the sex. More personal.
His arms stay around me, and I find myself drifting off without any lingering awkwardness because it feels good.
Told you Maverick Sterling was going to be a problem for me.
Chapter 22
MAVERICK
Sleeping beside Salem is both a blessing and a curse.
A blessing, because I didn’t realize what I was missing until I suddenly had it. I fucking love the way she wraps around me in her sleep. I also like not waking up alone.
I don’t care if I deserve to be slapped for thinking something as cheesy as that.
It’s the truth.
A curse because…that one’s obvious. No. Sex.
I never thought about sex this much until I was told I couldn’t have it. Now I’m fourteen again, and I’m one step away from stiff socks hanging out in my bedroom floor.
Not really.
My phone goes off with a text from her as though she felt me thinking about her.
SALEM: Can you get me some tampons? And some mint chocolate chip ice cream too?
I’m sorry, but when did I miss the part of the conversation that said we’d escalated to tampon-buying? Because I’m pretty sure guys who buy tampons are getting sex.
It has to be in a rule book somewhere.
Cursing, I jog across the street to the biggest superstore in town, and walk straight back to the aisle I’ve managed to avoid my entire adult life—other than that one awkward time my mother was desperate.
It wasn’t awkward to buy the tampons. It was just awkward to buy them for my mother.
It’s a massive fucking wall on the back of the store. How many varieties can they possibly need?
As soon as I step up, I spot Kode, Dale, and Rye, which is really weird.
“Didn’t realize we had super-secret Wednesday meetings here,” I say to the trio who gawk at me like I’ve somehow committed a sin.
Rye snags a box of tampons and stalks off, acting as though he doesn’t know me. “Bye, Rye Clanton! Hope Brin likes those tampons!” I call out loudly, snickering as he ducks and weaves when people start looking after him. Meanwhile, I sing the “Plug it in, plug it in,” song from the old Glade commercials.
Dale grabs a box, rolling his eyes and grinning at me. “Bye, Dale Sterling,” I call out loudly. “Tell Harley to go easy on the Midol this time. Last time she put the nipple clamp in the wrong place!”
Pretty sure those eyes of his are condemning me to hell right now.
That’ll teach them to walk off without speaking to me.
I turn to Kode, since he’s the last man standing, and I gesture at the massive wall.
“Which ones—”
He grabs my arm, jerking me behind him as he guides me away from the wall of shame.
“This is not a place where we talk, understand?” he asks, pointing to the wall like it’s even more shameful than I imagined.
A grin curves my lips. “Sorry. Didn’t know there were rules for this secret brotherhood.”
“The only rule is that we don’t speak. Don’t ask what kind of tampons. If she didn’t tell you what kind, then you’re stuck guessing. Like the rest of us have had to do more times than I care to count, because they think tampons are a general, common-knowledge thing. They’re not. There’s like a fucking million choices, and you’ll go crazy. Then she’ll send you back if they’re the wrong ones, and you’ll have a full description of what you’re going to buy the next time around,” he explains calmly. Sort of.
I’m fascinated, simply because it’s Kode. And he’s not happy about buying tampons. I’ve never seen him so riled.
Why did no one tell me this sooner? I could have been giving him hell for months.
“So don’t talk, and just guess at what she needs. Excellent rules,” I say, grinning. “Do you boys plan shopping trips together? Pencil me in for next month. Same time?”
He gives me that signature glare he’s spent years perfecting. “We don’t plan the trips together. We try to avoid each other if we can. Hence the no-talking rule.”
I can seriously do this all day.
“I find it highly coincidental all three of you were there at the same time.”
He rolls his eyes. “The longer the girls are around each other, the more likely they are to need them at the same time. That’s how it works. Trust me; you’ll learn things you never wanted to know. And it’s like they can’t be bothered to buy them before it happens, even though they know it happens at the same damn time every month. Nope. It’s not until shit hits the fan that they send you to the store. Get used to it. And welcome to the motherfucking club.”
He claps my shoulder a little harder than necessary, stalks to the wall, grabs a box of tampons, and stalks back off.
“Plug it in, plug it in!” I sing louder this time, and he flips me off over his shoulder.
I should have come to the wall of shame sooner. It’s fucking comical gold.
Since I don’t really give a damn who sees me buying tampons, I take my time trying to figure out which ones to get. Strangely enough, I see more men come and go at the wall of shame than women, and it’s like a run and snatch sort of thing.
Sometimes they even have something to wrap it in, or they just bury it in the bottom of their basket like it’s contagious or something. Pretty sure you can’t catch a period.
Finally, I give up and grab a basket, and end up grabbing seven different kinds. By the way, tampons are expensive. Totally don’t get how a woman gets screwed into bleeding to death for most of a week, and then has to pay outrageous amounts just to keep from ruining her clothes.
Total extortion, if you ask me.
I’m slightly traumatized by seeing “odor control” on some of those boxes because…what the actual hell?
Back on topic: These men could cut out so many trips if they bought more than a box at a time, but I guess it’d be harder to hide those blasphemous things if they bought more than one at a time.
I go and grab the mint chocolate chip ice cream. Just for good measure, and because I know how cranky these beasts make women, I also grab some Midol. Maybe I won’t get slapped for that.
I’ll tell her it’s for the cramps so it looks like I’m an absolute piece of fucking perfection.
When I get to the register and dump out m
y basket, the guy blushes five shades of red and has those things rung up and bagged in record time. Fastest. Checkout. Ever.
I wasn’t planning on going to her house yet, since I need to grab some more things from town. But if she’s texting that she needs them, then she probably needs them.
And I’m going to look fucking awesome for being so thorough.
As soon as I reach her house, I grab the two bags of tampons and ice cream—and Midol—and knock.
Salem swings open the door, acting surprised to see me. Her hair is wet, and she doesn’t have on any makeup. And again with the no-bra. Why did I think no sex was cool? I’m dying a little.
“I thought you said you wouldn’t be here until later?” she says as she steps back, letting me in.
“Figured I’d go ahead and drop these off,” I tell her, handing her the two bags of tampons, and the bag of ice cream—and Midol.
Her eyebrows go up as she peers inside the bags. “Um…thanks? I think.”
See? Nailed it. Maybe I would be good boyfriend material after all.
“And the ice cream,” I remind her, pointing at it. Not bringing up the Midol. It’ll be a surprise for later.
“Thanks, but I don’t really like anything with mint in it,” she says, smiling at me. “It was a sweet thought, though.”
My brow furrows for only a brief second, until Sean sweeps in and grabs the ice cream from her hand. He looks up and winks at me. “Thanks. Been craving this all day,” he tells me.
As he turns and walks off, I glare at his back, wondering how many times a kid is going to best me before I realize I’m an idiot.
Salem catches on, and she doubles over, laughing so hard she struggles to breathe. Yep. I’m a sucker.
That’ll be my next tattoo.
“Glad this is so hilarious,” I drawl, grabbing her at the waist, and tugging her to me.
She’s still partially laughing when her hands open on my chest and she stares up at me, amusement dancing in her eyes.
“Didn’t realize we’d graduated so soon to the tampon-buying stage,” she says, grinning.
“Har. You really shouldn’t let him borrow your phone,” I say, glaring at her.
“I didn’t. But he’s got his ways around that.” She flashes me a grin. “First time a guy has ever gotten me an assortment of tampons. Kudos for outside-the-box thinking.”
