I opened my mouth to say something, but he cut me off.
“Scratch that. Bitch mother, got it. You and I need to fix this. Tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Tonight,” Maverick repeated. “It’s a summer staple, Harley. It’s a milestone.”
“It’s just a s’more,” I said with a chuckle. The importance this man put on a campfire treat was funny to me.
“We’re going to come back to that once you’ve tried one,” he replied. “So, you in? Or are we doing something else tonight?”
My heart stuttered, which was ridiculous, considering we’d done lunch with Eduardo.Not to mention the fact that he hadn’t done much talking.He let Eduardo take over the whole conversation, who was great, but I wanted to have lunch with Maverick, not Eduardo.
“S’mores are fine,” I whispered. “I hope.”
“I think you underestimate a good s’more.”
“Or maybe you overestimate them.”
“We’ll see, princess,” Maverick said with a wink that sent butterflies scattering through my stomach, “we’ll see.”
S’mores were overrated, but I wasn’t much of a marshmallow person. Sitting next to Maverick with our knees touching was enough of a distraction to make me eat five of them.Well, that,and it was kind of fun to set marshmallows on fire, but I had to do something with them.
“Have I convinced you that they’re the best?” Maverick asked.
“No,” I retorted, leaning over him to grab another marshmallow. The proximity led to another light brush of his fingers over my back. The contact was minimal and innocent, but my skin burned under his touch, and my fingers ached with a need to touch him back.
It was silly and confusing all at once. I’d tried to meet people and make connections since leaving Wilde Bay, and nothing. No one interested me. I’d resigned myself to not being the person who wanted any kind of relationship with anyone. And yet, here I was, with my body screaming with an unfamiliar need for him. He was easy to be around, and my walls melted away all too quickly in his presence. Something about him spoke to me on a level I couldn’t explain.
That notion bothered me more than I wanted to admit.
“And you just keep eating them.”
“I like setting the marshmallows on fire,” I admitted sheepishly. He burst out laughing, which only made my ears flame hotter with embarrassment.
“Always the little rebel,” he commented.
“Right,” I scoffed and resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I shoved a marshmallow into the fire pit and watched how the flames licked at its edges.
Little rebel.As if.The only time I ever figured out how to step out of line was when Maverick was involved. And even then, I always ended up right back where my mother wanted me. I didn’t know how to be anything other than exactly what I was expected to be. I was better at sacrificing everything than I was at standing up for myself.
Maverick’s knee bumped into mine.Once, twice, three times. My gaze finally flicked up in his direction, only to find him watching me closely, the intensity in his expression unnerving.
“Get out of your head, Harley,” he said softly. “Don’t let them ruin a good night.”
Still reading me like a book, even after all this time.How he could was beyond me. That shit seemed unfair after five years.
“Do you hate me?” I asked, needing to know. “For just…”
“Disappearing into thin air?” Maverick finished for me.
“Yeah,” I muttered. “That.”
“I thought I hated you.”
Oh.I couldn’t even blame him for that.
Silence settled between us as he lit a cigarette and took a slow drag. I just watched, studying how the shadows played across his face. God, he was handsome in a way I could feel myself easily getting lost in.
