I skim his family photos. “I never said you had a monopoly on stubbornness.” I pick up a framed picture of Maximoff doing a backflip off the Hale’s yacht, Jane in the corner pointing at him with a pretend-surprised face. I flash the photo at him. “Whatever you can do, I can do better.”
“Such fighting words,” Jane says, squirting oil on her palms. “As the third, unbiased participant in the room, I volunteer myself to be judge of any competitions.”
“I think you meanbiasedparticipant.” I set the photo back. The two of them are together in nearly every picture on the mantle.
“I can be unbiased,” Jane says, and she begins to knead Maximoff’stightdeltoids. He grips the back of the uncomfortable Victorian couch for support.
I watch him while I ask Jane, “Who’s better at boxing?”
Jane pauses and opens her mouth, but no sound comes out.
I help her, “F-A-R?—”
“M-O-F-F-Y,” she spells rapidly and exhales a breath like she escaped death by betrayal. “Aunt Lily saysthetruth will set you free, and I couldn’t agree more.I feel so much better.” She focuses on the massage again, using her knuckles on his back.
Maximoff smiles at me. Like he one-upped me.
“I don’t know why you’re so happy. She just proved she’s partial to you.”
Maximoff gives me a look. “You can’t, even for a second, admit thatmaybe, just maybe, I’m better than you at your own sport.”
It’d take great effort to tear my gaze off his. “Your humility is waning.”
“Your superiority is worsening.”
I break into a huge smile, but my lips lower as Maximoff bears on his teeth, almost wincing. He glances briefly at Jane and tries to peer at her knuckles that edge towards his spine. His shoulders stay in their usual rigid, locked position.
“Try to relax,” I suggest, nearing the loveseat. “Or do you needhow toinstructions?”
He glowers. “The only instructions I need are how to make you shut the fuck up…” he trails off and stifles another wince. Jane can’t see his expression.
“You’re too close to his spine,” I tell Jane, and I reach out to her wrist. “Can I?”
“Please.”
I shift her hands to his traps, muscles lateral to his shoulder blades. I close her fingers, oiling my hands, and as soon as she starts kneading his muscles again, she asks, “Better, Moffy?”
“Yep.” His collar is tight, and when he glances at me, then intakes a sharp breath, I realize that my closeness is the cause.
I sweep his stringent posture: Maximoff Hale, shirtless, muscles oiled, and being massaged beneath novice hands.
He’d feel better beneath mine.
He winces, “Fuck.Jane.” She pinched his nerve.
She raises her oiled hands. “Sorry.” Jane searches for something. “Merde,” she saysshitin French. “Hold on, Moffy. I’m going to pop up the video again.” She nods to me, then the coffee table where her phone lies. “Farrow, would you mind?”
I wipe my oiled hands on my black pants and then I grab the phone, cased in a blue zebra-print hard-shell. “How serious are you about being a masseuse?”
She elbows a piece of hair off her freckled cheek. “If I really enjoy it, then I’ll research how to become a professional masseuse and go from there.” She nods to the phone. “The video should be in my ‘recently watched’ list on YouTube.”
I wait to unlock her cell. “And what happens when you have a customer who wants a ‘happy ending’ from the famous Jane Cobalt?”
Maximoff glances at Jane, exchanging a look like they’ve both discussed the safety risks before.
Whenever I scroll through social media for security threats, the ones surrounding Jane Cobalt range from disgusting, plain creepy toviolent. They’re both also aware of how some people perceive them. All it takes is a Twitter account:
I’d spank the fuck out of Jane Cobalt. I wanna see her cry.
