Chapter 54 A Worthy Opponent
A Worthy Opponent
Connor
The doorbell rings, and my heart kicks up a notch.
I haven’t seen much of Maize since we hooked up.
Just practice and a few dinners. I puff air into my open palm and take a whiff.
Smells fine to me. Hopefully Maisie agrees.
I grab the door, and as soon as I see Maize on the other side, my jaw drops.
She’s wearing a little black dress like the night we met, but this one has a deep V cut in the front and—as she walks inside past my still-gaping mouth—I see it has a twin in the back.
It wraps around her thick thighs in a way that makes me jealous of the fabric.
I finally find my words and shake my head, saying, “You are breathtaking.”
Her cheeks pink, but she rewards me with one of her brightest smiles. “Thanks—you don’t look so bad yourself.” She rocks side to side with nerves, but her eyes never leave mine.
“Thanks again for hosting!” Angie bursts the all-consuming Maisie bubble I was wrapped in.
“Uh, no problem,” I mutter. “Happy birthday, Ang.”
“Thanks!” She beams and bounces away into the kitchen. I overhear Hunter greeting her and asking what drink she wants to start with tonight. He even goes so far as to offer to be her personal bartender for the evening.
When I turn back to Maize, she’s picking at her cuticle again. I gently take the hand at her mouth and bring it to my own lips, stepping into her space. “Don’t worry about tonight. I’ve got you. Promise.” I kiss her fingers where she had just been picking.
Her eyes dart away for a flash, but she returns them quickly. “How do you always know the right thing to say?” she asks.
“I don’t. I know you, and I want you to be happy. The rest just happens.”
She sighs, and her eyes soften. The way she’s looking at me makes me feel like the luckiest bastard in the world.
I think, not for the first time, that she reminds me of sunshine.
I’m drawn to her light. I know it would never be her intention, but I pray she doesn’t burn me.
My heart is out on a floating dock, and she’s the ocean.
It could pitch at any time, and I’d be lost to the deep.
Her smile fades as she takes in whatever expression must be on my face, so I slap on a smile, grab her hand, and pull her into the kitchen currently housing both of our roommates.
It isn’t long until more people show up.
Plenty from the swim team, but it seems Angie has invited some of the men’s hockey team, too.
I never get to make it to any games since we’re both winter sports.
I watch as one guy—I think his name is Caden—dips down to whisper into Angie’s ear.
Next thing I know, Brock is between them, his back to Angie, facing down the hockey player who has at least fifty pounds on him, but Brock doesn’t seem fazed by that.
Caden’s brows pitch up, but he quickly retreats.
Angie crosses her arms, yelling something at Brock.
He lifts his hands in exasperation, firing back, but I can’t hear what either of them is saying. She storms away.
I turn to Maize to see if she witnessed the event, and by the wide-eyed look I’m met with, I’m assuming she did.
“Brock isn’t usually the overprotective type,” I say and toss another ping pong ball casually toward the other side of the beer pong setup. We aren’t playing a real game right now, just practicing.
“What’s he usually like?” She sticks her tongue out in concentration, head tilted to the side as she throws a ball back my way. It lands in one of the empty cups, and she whoops in victory. My little competitor is so cute.
“Obviously I’ve only known him for a few months, but from what I’ve seen, he’s a one-and-done kind of dude. Not that he doesn’t care about women, but I’ve never seen him be anything close to possessive.” I shrug.
Come to think of it, though, I’m not sure I’ve seen him with a woman in a while. Maybe he calmed down after those first few weeks? I should probably check in with my roommates more often. Not that they’d want me in their business like that, but I make a note to ask him what’s up sometime soon.
Maisie’s nose scrunches in distaste at my assessment of Brock. Then Tyler walks up to the table.
“Hey, guys.” He nods nonchalantly. “You playing?”
“We were just practicing,” I answer. “You wanna play?”
I look to Maize for confirmation that I made the right decision. She smiles, one of her genuine smiles that softens her emerald eyes, not her “being polite” smiles, where her eyes remain tight, so I know we’re good.
“Sure,” Tyler says. “I’ll go grab a fourth?”
“Sounds good!” Maisie speaks up this time, and I give her a knowing wink. She’s about to get so competitive, and I’m going to revel in every second of it.
When Tyler returns, he brings Lola with him. I didn’t even know she was here, but I guess she and Maize are sort of friends, so it makes sense Angie would invite her. Tyler takes my side, and Lola—her red hair in its signature braid falling over a shoulder—sidles up next to Maize.
“Lola!” Maisie shrieks. She hasn’t even had anything to drink. “I’m so glad you could make it! You can be on my team! We’ll crush these boys.” She smirks.
“Thanks for inviting me,” Lola responds shyly, fidgeting with her fingers at the end of her braid.
Guess that answers that question. I’m proud of Maize for branching out, making more friends. I peek over at Tyler and catch him watching Lola’s fingers with an intensity I haven’t seen from him before.
“Everyone know the rules?” I ask, and I’m met with a chorus of “yeps” and nodding heads. “Great! Ladies first.” I stretch an arm out and give a deferential bow to the other end of the table.
“You can go first,” Maize tells Lola, who looks like a deer caught in headlights. “Or I can go first if you’d prefer?” Maisie backtracks.
“Sure, that’s good,” Lola says, taking a cursory step back to give Maisie room for her turn.
Maisie goes for the bounce technique, and it lands perfectly in the cup, which means we each need to down one.
Tyler silently takes his, and I wink at Maize as I drink mine.
Her hands fist up like she wants to shout in excitement, but she keeps herself contained while making room for Lola to take her turn.
Lola puts in a solid effort, but ultimately misses. Tyler does the same, and then I land one straight from the air, no bounce. Lola grabs a cup, and I see Maisie mouth, “Are you sure?” and Lola nods.
Maisie doesn’t miss a single shot the entire game, so we’re down to the last cup. Angie, Brock, and Hunter surround the table at this point, along with a few other partygoers.
“You got this, babe! Kick their ass!” Angie shouts, to which Brock rolls his eyes.
Hunter eyes her and laughs, tipping his baseball cap at her.
Brock glares at Hunter, who doesn’t seem to notice, and leaves in a huff.
Lola went first for their team but missed, her cheeks red from alcohol and the excitement.
Now it’s Maisie’s turn. If she sinks this, they win.
Even though I’m a competitive s.o.b., I want her to win.
She’s an amazing athlete, even for dumb things like beer pong.
Her body is so graceful and strong. It’s like every move she makes is intentional. It’s mesmerizing.
She launches the ping pong ball, and it’s a perfect shot! “Yes!” she shouts and turns to hug a startled Lola.
Tyler decides to down the last cup for our team and then nonchalantly walks away. I rush to Maize, picking her up and swinging her around as she laughs in my arms.
“I took you down, Bocelli!” she says directly into my face, our noses touching. I can’t help but smile as I put her back on the ground.
“I’ll happily lose to such a worthy opponent,” I say, and she blushes.
I realize we’re probably being rude. I turn to say congratulations to Lola, but she’s gone too. Huh. I guess she and Tyler have that in common.
Next thing I know, Angie is wrapping Maize in a hug. “That’s my roommate! Hell yeah! You’ve made us proud on this, my birthday party!” I think she’s had a bit too much to drink, swaying recklessly and slurring her words a bit.
Maisie must notice too, because I hear her tell Angie to drink some water.
“I’ve got her, don’t worry,” Hunter interjects. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”
Maisie beams. “Thanks, Hunter. You’re the best.”
“What about me?” I joke incredulously.
“You’re also the best, obviously.” She rolls her eyes.
Another guy pushes through the crowd to congratulate her on her win.
I don’t recognize him. Maybe he came in with the hockey guys?
But it has the hairs on my arms standing up.
“That was an impressive game,” he says, inching as close as he can to Maisie.
It takes everything in me not to physically shove her behind me and declare, Mine, like a caveman.
“Uh, thanks,” Maize says awkwardly, retreating a step.
He closes the space she just created, and that’s what does it. Nope, nuh-uh. Can’t he see he’s making her uncomfortable?
“Step back,” I say, tone dripping with authority.
“Whoa, calm down, man. I was just congratulating her.”
“You can congratulate her from a normal distance away.” I point.
“Ha. What are you? Her bodyguard? I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.”
I want to shout, That’s my girl, dickwad! But that’s not true, is it? The realization hangs like a weight in my gut, and some of my bravado cools.
“Connor, I want to go to your room,” Maisie says, tugging at my arm for me to follow.
The guy adds, “What? You’re choosing this loser over me? Fine, be a bitch.”
My temper soars, and every instinct in me has me wanting to deck this son of a bitch for ever speaking to her like that, but I fight it. Maize doesn’t want me to be violent, and neither do I. She tugs harder on my arm. I know I need to go with her.
Before following her, I crowd the guy’s space and seethe, “Get out of my fucking house.”
The guy huffs, but then Brock reappears out of nowhere. “You heard the man. Out!” he barks, shoving the guy in the direction of the door.
“Fine, fine.” He holds up his hands. “This party was lame anyway.”
Angie reappears at Maisie’s side, holding her by the waist in silent support. Thankfully, the guy doesn’t argue further and leaves. I take a shaking breath and pull freaked-out Maize away from Angie and into my embrace. I whisper into her ear, “Let’s go upstairs, Betty. I’ve got you.”
She nods shakily, and we sneak away.