6. Maverick
Maverick
When Con told us his plan, I figured he’d finally snapped his last thread. But now? The more I think about it, the more I think this is going to be fun .
It’ll definitely give us something to focus on instead of our recent university scandal.
I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. If only my mother could find something equally entertaining.
My gaze slides to the closed door of her office, across the hall from where I’m standing.
I left her curled up on the sofa in her conversation area, the pills she’d popped earlier taking their effect and sending her to lala land in the middle of our discussion.
She was not happy with me. All of my screwing up my life—her words, not mine—were going to put me behind bars one day…and when that day came, it might just be the best day of her life. What on earth had we been thinking, getting ourselves expelled for an entire year?—
In my defense, I didn’t think they would kick us out for an entire year. I thought the board would be satisfied with a hefty donation and being rid of us for the summer. I guess they’re taking it a bit more seriously than any of us expected, though.
I’d barely had time to process the sting of the jail statement when her eyes went vague and slid past me, focusing on something over my shoulder.
I’d turned to look and found nothing there, but when I returned my attention to my mother, she had steepled her hands in front of her and was mumbling frantically against them.
“Mom?”
“It’s okay, I’ll fix it, I swear,” she murmured, the words so low and slurred I could barely make them out. “And then we can go in the car, and it’ll be good , I promise?— ”
“Mom, sit down.” Putting an arm around her shoulders, I steered her toward her couch. She lay down immediately, turning onto her side so she was facing the back of the sofa. I stayed a few minutes longer, my hand heavy on her shoulder, until her body went lax and the muttering ceased.
Then I left. It wasn’t the first time she’d lapsed into cuckoo territory, and it wouldn’t be the last. She used to tuck me in and tell me I was going to save her one day. Now she doesn’t even notice when I leave. If that’s love, I don’t want it.
In the hall, I scroll back to the string of text messages we’d spent the last couple of days exchanging. A new one had come in while Mom was berating me.
Con: you’re in the offices, right? Phoenix is supposed to be meeting with Dad…maybe you could hang around and find out what’s happening?
Me: Yeah, give me a few
I glance around the corner at the closed door of Mr. Masterson’s office. One of the housekeeping staff…some chick I’m fairly positive I’ve had relations with, is next to a cart just outside of it .
“Psst.” Her head jerks up, and I paste my most charming smile on my face. “Hey, darlin.’”
“Maverick!” She beams and starts my way. “What are you up to?”
“Nothing much. Just having a little chat with the parental unit, you know how it is.”
She makes a yuck face. “So glad I don’t have to deal with that. Are we partying tonight?”
“Maybe.” I shrug. “Hey, who’s in there with Masterson?”
“Uh…well, his secretary, of course. But he called one of the maids in. Phoenix Jones. I was trying to figure out what was happening.” She gives me an arch look.
“That sounds intriguing. What could he possibly want with a maid?” This girl is dumber than a bag of hammers, and half as useful.
“Right? That’s what I said. I mean, she’s just?—”
“Why don’t you go scout it out, see if you can learn anything? She’s one of you guys, right? You can chat her up when she comes out, satisfy our curiosity. ”
“Oh, that’s a good idea. Wait here for me?”
“Absolutely.”
With a last lingering smile, she goes back to her cart and knocks lightly on Masterson’s door. I pull my phone from my back pocket.
Me: I have one of the maids on it.
Con : Perf. This’ll make losing a year worth it.
Earlier today, Con had been the one to break the news that our expulsion was an entire year. I’d have figured on him losing his shit, as he and Atticus actually cared a little about their standings at the university, and we were in our senior year and right on the brink of graduating.
Instead, he came in wearing one of the biggest shit-eating grins I have ever seen.
“Why the fuck are you so happy?” I barked.
He rubbed his hands together. “Because that means Phoenix will be at our beck and call for the whole year. We have an entire year to break her, use her, make her beg. I like the idea of that.”
Alarm mixed with anticipation slithered down my spine. Con had a complicated history with Phoenix. The speed with which he’d jumped on this chance to ‘break’ his former girlfriend was a tiny bit disturbing.
Atticus must have felt the same way. “Explain,” he snapped.
The smile slipped, and Con moved to the bar to pour himself a whiskey.
When he spoke, his voice was matter-of-fact, the words without inflection.
“I told you, not only was her cunt dripping for me, but she even took a finger up the ass without complaint. Pretty sure that was what pushed her over the edge and had her coming, that tight little pussy milking my fingers for everything it could. She’ll be begging me for it in no time. ”
“Uh…this is Phoenix you’re talking about.” I couldn’t keep from pointing that out, strangely irritated.
Aside from the fact that if we were placing bets, I was going to win—I didn’t lose, ever—he was talking about Phoenix like she was one the whores who lived to ride his dick. Like he hadn’t once been head over heels in love with the girl.
His attention whipped to me. “And? ”
“And I can’t see her tripping all over herself to fuck you. She did that once, and ran like her ass was on fire.” Con’s expression darkened, and I kept going. “You never know…she could’ve had a change of heart. But here’s the thing…if I’m playing, I’m winning.” I smirked to lessen the impact.
“Fair enough,” he conceded. “But who’s to say there will only be one winner?” he added, pulling my attention back to his smug face. “We play this the right way, she’ll be begging all of us.”
That caught my fucking attention.
The idea of sharing her sets something sour in the back of my throat.
Not because I’m above it—I’ve shared before.
But this is Phoenix. And no matter how many times I tell myself she’s fair game, there’s a piece of me that wants to keep her to myself.
Lock her down. Fucking own every gasp she makes.
And yet…these were my brothers. I would never keep anything from them.
I decided the second he proposed this devious little wager of his that I was going to win.
No one else would fight for that little firebird (Phoenix had always been a firebird to me, from the first time I discovered the meaning of her name) the way I planned to.
In spite of how she broke his heart—or hell, maybe because of it—I’ve had a thing for her for fucking years, and damned if I was going to waste this opportunity to have her.
But the idea of sharing her? That was even more appealing. I’ve always liked to watch, and this little slip of a girl has captivated far too much of my attention—attention that she’s been ignoring—for far too long. It’s the same with the others.
I’ve watched us all quietly, stealthily pant for this girl for years, when it should have been the other way around.
We are the Titans. She should have come to us on her knees a long time ago, crawling and begging for whatever scraps we’d give her.
The idea of being able to break her down, having her serve all of us the way she should have been doing this entire time, was simply delicious.
But I was for sure going to be the first to make her beg.
So here I am, waiting around the corner from our parents’ offices, lurking like a fucking creep. After several minutes, I hear the snick of the door opening and closing, and the wheels of the cart .
I can hear Samantha…Susan—whatever the fuck that annoyingly chipper maid’s name was—talking to my little firebird. I can’t help the smirk that covers my face when she refuses to gossip and dismisses the twat, the ding of the elevator moments later announcing her exit.
She doesn’t even flinch. Doesn’t give an inch.
It makes me wonder what it would take to break that calm right in front of everyone.
Make her drop to her knees in this hallway, eyes locked on mine, defiance flickering beneath obedience.
Make her beg so prettily the whole fucking casino would know she belongs to me.
Seconds later, I hear the boom of Masterson’s voice. “Let me know immediately when she calls back. I’ll up the damn amount if I have to.”
“Yes, sir.”
I should have known that Phoenix wouldn’t give anything up so easily.
Hell, it might not be as easy as Con thinks to get her on her knees begging for us.
I should be annoyed by that fact, but the thought of a challenge is…
exciting. My cock twitches with interest. Finally, a woman who will make me work for it.
It’s been far to o long since I’ve had to put any effort into getting laid.
The maid comes around the corner. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” Sandra says in a low voice, sticking out her bottom lip in a pout that she probably thought was adorable.
“Please, I’m really sorry. I tried so hard, and like…
it’s just Pheebs. She’s impossible. Nobody likes her.
She doesn’t talk to the other maids; she doesn’t do?—”
Hearing this nobody reduce my firebird to ‘Pheebs’ is like nails on a chalkboard.
“So, you failed?” I ask, even though I know the answer. I lift an eyebrow, feigning irritation.
“I’m so sorry, baby, let me make it up to you. Please.” Her fingers trail across my abdomen, and I back away a step.
Baby? Who the fuck was she calling baby?
“How the fuck are you going to make it up to me?” I scoff. “You’ve already proven that you’re pretty fucking useless.”