Maxwell presses his lower half against mine before backing up. My teeth clench together at the motion, the slight friction that he rubs against me.
“Take me back.”
He doesn’t respond to me, just walks away in the direction of his bike. I pause for a moment, feeling a bit of shock and disbelief.
Maxwell isn’t anything that I thought he was, and I think I hate him more for it.
Chapter 5
Maxwell
Backatcampus,Claytondid not throw up when he got off the bike.
It wouldn’t have mattered if he had because the second my engine stopped, I walked away from him. Left him in the dust like he was nothing.
The air is warmer now that we aren’t at the beach, my skin sticky with the humidity. Strands of my hair cling to my face, and I push it away but it seems to find its way back to my forehead.
I’m pent up with rage over Clayton. I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea to bring him on a ride, but it wasn’t. It absolutely was a fucking horrible idea. He had this picture painted about me, but he didn’t even take a second to know me. Who I am to everyone else, that isn’t me at my core.
I’m smart, I do know my way around a body, and I do have the right to be a nurse. I have the right to be at this school and my father didn’t hand me my tuition like a piece of birthday cake.
I skip the dorm and go right out to the woods, hoping that Dax and Mav will still be out where I left them. They usually are, especially when it gets later in the night.
Emerging through the trees, seeing the couch and other furniture pieces, I find Mav sitting alone on the recliner.
“Hey, buddy,” he greets me.
“Where’s Dax?” I ask.
“Went to pick up my sister.”
“Naturally. They ever gonna hitch or what?” I joke, knowing that idea pisses Mav off.
“Fuck no. He better not.”
“Who knows, maybe they’re in the car making out as we sit here,” I mock, watching as Mav’s face changes to anger.
“Fuck back off from wherever you came from, Max.”
“I’m fucking with you, man,” I laugh.
“Where you been?”
“Went for a ride. Brought Clayton,” I explain and tell him everything that happened. Even the whole Clayton-boner part.
“You did what?” Mav’s jaw drops, eyebrows rising, and dark eyes going wide.
“Yeah. Was gonna go by myself, but then I ran into him. Decided to bring him along,” I explain again as if I hadn’t just told him. “I may have held his throat and pinned him to the wall.” I add, which I hadn’t told him before.
“Again, you did what!?” Mav's voice cracks, disbelief prominent in his tone.
“He was pissing me off,” I deadpan.
“You're supposed to make him love you, not kill the guy.”
“Yeah. Right. The kid hates my guts, but I am determined to turn this around.” I swing my leg up, ankle hanging over my knee as I light my own J. I suck in the smoke, letting it fill my lungs and clear my head. I soak it all in. The taste, the burn, the smell. Every aspect and it makes me feel a little better. A little less pissed.
“What are you going to do?” Mav ponders, puffing on his own joint. It's dark now; the sun is completely gone from the sky, and all I can see is the red of the burning paper.
