Chapter Five
Maisie
“What can I do?” Char asks, sitting across from me on the floor, my foot in her lap as she paints my toenails.
“Short of running him over with a car? Nothing.” I blow out a breath, having spent most of the evening recapping the events of earlier today and the utter frustration that is Macallan Stewart.
“That could be arranged.” She smiles, dipping the brush back into the bottle of nail polish before moving to another toe, red hair spilling across her shoulders as she leans down in concentration.
“He just makes me so...” I let out a noise that sounds a lot like a scream but with a bit of a whimper peppered in there too. “You should have seen the way he looked at me. I hope you can be mature enough to be civil.” I mock his earlier words.
“What an ass.”
“It’s like he gets off on pushing my buttons.”
“Which is precisely why you need to stop letting him get to you.”
“You say that like it’s so easy.”
“Not easy, no. But not impossible. I’m just saying, instead of playing right into his hands, throw him a curveball.”
“And how exactly do I do that?”
She thinks about that for a long moment.
“No idea,” she finally answers.
“A lot of help you are.” I nudge her with the foot she’s already finished painting, careful not to smudge the still-drying polish.
“I’m just saying, maybe if you change up the way you react to him...”
“Then he’ll what? Stop making me want to stab his eyeballs out with my pencil?”
“I’m not sure anything will make you not want to do that.” She points the nail polish brush at me. “But you are nothing if not adaptable. Instead of showing him how much you despise him with every word that leaves your mouth, maybe try for a friendlier approach.”
“You want me to be nice to him?” I openly gape at her.
“Pretend nice. You don’t have to actually mean it. Just make him think you do. Maybe if he realizes he can’t rile you, he’ll stop trying to.”
I think over her words for a moment.
“Perhaps,” I concede, deciding her idea isn’t the worst I’ve heard. “Something to consider, I guess.” I blow out a slow breath. “Let’s talk about something else. I don’t want to think about his smug face for another second.”
“Okay then. What do you want to talk about?” She resumes painting my toes.
“How’s everything with you?”
“Really good.” Char smiles to herself.
“River still hangs the moon?”
“Something like that.” Her bright green eyes meet mine.
“I never would have predicted that you two would end up together,” I admit. “I thought everything was going to blow up when Lyric found out and that would have been the end of it.”
“You and me both,” she admits softly. “Though it’s hard to even think about that now. I just... I love him so much sometimes it scares me.”
“I’m happy for you, you know. For you and Lyric both.”
“I know.” She smiles, more to herself than to me. “Not to change the subject, but how is everything going with the new roommate? You two seemed to be getting along pretty well at the party last week.”
“It’s been pretty good. Now that classes are in full swing, she’s not here as often, nor am I, but when she is, she actually talks to me like she doesn’t hate my guts.”
“Well, that’s good at least. It probably helps that you share a common enemy.”
“True.”
She paints the final layer of topcoat on my little toe. “All done.”
“They look great.” I nod in approval.
“Perfect for the sandals you plan to wear.”
“I still wish you could come. You’d make it so much more fun.”
“I know.” She flashes her perfect white teeth at me. “But at least you’ll have Kai.”
“Kai will run off with my brother the second we get there.” I snort. Jackson and Kai have been friends since high school, and when they get together, they act like they’re still in high school.
“Lyric isn’t going?”
“No.” I shake my head. “I think she decided the Rose family’s annual hog roast was too much for her last year. Then again, with the way my cousins pestered her the whole time, who could blame her.”
We’ve been doing this family get-together every year for as long as I can remember.
My entire family, both close and distant relatives, all attend.
It’s the only time of year that I see Aunt Bree and Uncle Tony, as well as my two younger cousins, Jas and Joslin—twins who just turned fourteen this past summer.
Then there’s my aunt Helen’s kids. All boys.
Four of them. All varying in age from ten all the way to nineteen.
The younger ones are the ones you have to watch out for. Rambunctious as all get-out.
“I doubt that’s it. Lyric would have a cookout in the pits of hell if she knew it would make you happy,” she corrects. “She tutoring?”
“Yeah.”
“Look at it this way. At least you have a family to do stuff like this with. My family is so small that I basically grew up all by myself. I have no siblings. Only one uncle, who never had kids. And a couple of second cousins that I see maybe once every five years.”
“I can’t imagine growing up an only child. I don’t know what I’d do without Jackson.”
“I always wanted siblings. Especially a sister.”
My mind drifts to Lily. I had a sister once.
She died when she was two, though I can’t bring myself to think about the circumstances surrounding her death, even now, all these years later.
We were three years apart, which would make her sixteen going on seventeen.
I can’t help but wonder about the person she’d be now if she were still alive.
“Yeah.” I try to shake off the guilt that settles on my shoulders like concrete, threatening to press me into the earth.
“What was Jackson like growing up?” she asks, sensing the shift in my demeanor.
She knows about Lily, of course. I told her and Lyric about her one night after too many drinks. I woke up the next day filled with regret, but neither of them seemed to hold it against me, nor have they brought it up since, like they somehow knew I didn’t want to talk about it any further.
“A pain in my ass.” I huff out a laugh, forcing myself back to the present. “I mean, he was great basically all the way up until I turned fifteen. Then he became like a second father, critiquing everything I did. What I wore. What boys I was talking to at school.”
“And Kai? Was he as bad? I know he was around a lot when you were younger.”
“Kai was kind of the in-between. He was protective of me but also treated me like my own person and not just Jackson’s little sister.”
“Between you and me, did you ever consider hooking up with him? I swear I won’t tell Lyric.” She leans forward, elbows resting on her knees.
“No. I mean, obviously, he’s gorgeous. And sometimes he would teasingly flirt with me and I would wonder what it would be like to hook up with him, but he was so much like a brother to me that the thought kinda grossed me out.”
“I guess I could see that.”
“Anyway, you sure I can’t change your mind about coming with me?” I pout out my lower lip.
“I would if I could, but River gave me specific instructions not to make plans for Saturday.”
“Mr. Charming planning a special date?” I hitch a playful brow.
“Knowing him, probably.” She snorts out a laugh.
“Who knew he was such a romantic?”
“He’s incredible.” She lets out a sigh of contentment.
“Rub it in, why don’t ya?” I grumble. “That’s what I get for letting you swoop in,” I tease.
It’s no secret that I had a bit of a crush on River myself in the beginning.
How could I not have? He’s older. Mature.
Established. And drop dead freaking gorgeous.
Who wouldn’t want a man like that? But it was pretty apparent from the beginning that he had his eye on the beautiful, fiery redhead sitting across from me, and honestly, who could blame him?
“Ha. Ha,” she deadpans, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she pushes to a stand. “Speaking of River, I should probably get going. He expected me home right after class.”
“You didn’t tell him you were stopping by to see me?” I stand as well, my joints groaning from sitting in the same position for too long.
“I forgot.” She snickers. “But he hasn’t texted me, so he’s probably still busy with work.”
“I still can’t believe that man uprooted his entire life and moved here to be with you,” I say, walking her to the door. “Your vagina must be magic.”
“How did you know?” She laughs, tugging open the door.
“Get out of here.” I playfully shove her shoulder as she steps out into the hallway.
“Have fun with your family.” She gives me a little wave.
“Have fun with Prince Charming,” I call back.
She stops at the hall’s bend, throwing me one last look over her shoulder.
“Oh, I plan too.” She winks, her whole face lit up with her smile.
“Must be nice,” I grumble under my breath as I watch her disappear around the corner seconds later.
“There she is.” My mom throws her arms around my neck the instant Kai and I enter the backyard, which is full of people—some standing around talking, some lounging in chairs by the pool or even swimming—enjoying the warmer weather that will soon come to an end.
“Hi, Mama.” I squeeze an arm around her middle, blowing a lock of her blonde hair out of my face.
She pulls back, her hands sliding up to my cheeks.
“Are you eating enough? You look like you’ve lost weight.” Eyes nearly the exact same shade as my own but slightly darker trace my face.
My mom is my polar opposite. Pale skin. Almost white, blonde hair. Super petite, standing just over five feet. She’s a tiny little white woman, whereas I am most definitely not.
Where my mom is fair-skinned and rather small, my father is dark-skinned and tall, with shoulders so broad he looks like a football player. I guess it’s true what they say—opposites really do attract.