“Why are you so full of anger?” I cut him off before he could finish his threat. “I’m not your enemy.”
He let out a humorless laugh. “That’s a pretty ironic thing to say considering our relationship, if you’d even call it that.”
“It is ironic, isn’t it?” I finally turned to look at him. He had a shoulder against the window, facing me. His eyes were bright blue in the sunlight, glimmering and hiding something darker.
Who was the man behind this mask?
“But I’m not going to hurt you. That was never my goal. I’ve only been trying to get even with you.”
Maddox and I had been playing a game of cat and mouse. It was infuriating but harmless.
He cocked his head to the side. “So, you’re saying, you won’t hurt me unless I hurt you first?” he questioned with a rough, gravelly voice.
“Yeah, it’s only fair. If you hurt me, I’ll make you regret it.”
“You’re the first girl who hasn’t fallen at my feet and begged me to fuck them.”
“What does that make me?”
He grinned, wolfishly. “My prey.”
I let out a laugh, instead of being offended like I would have been two months ago. “You have a one-track mind, Coulter.”
“You’re running circles around my head, Garcia.”
Was that a… confession?
I backpedaled away from him. “Gran will expect us back to work in two minutes.”
Swiveling around, I went to walk away but then stopped. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach, a gut-wrenching feeling that I was about to do something so stupid. But I couldn’t stop myself. I had always been a girl who planned ahead, never doing something so… reckless. After life punched me in the face and left me scars, I vowed I would never be foolish.
Always in control.
Always cautious.
But apparently Maddox’s reckless habits had been rubbing off on me.
I marched back to Maddox, standing a mere foot away. So close I could feel his warmth.
“You know what? I think me and you can be really good friends,” I announced, the words spilling out before I could stop myself.
Yeah. Stupid, right?
His eyes widened a fraction before he scoffed. “How does me wanting to get in your panties equal to us being good friends?” He eyed my hand, the one stretched out between us. “And are you really waiting for a handshake?”
Goddamn it, what was I thinking?
Heat burnt my cheeks in embarrassment. “I’m trying to be civil here,” I said through clenched teeth. “I just think… if we’re so good at being enemies, imagine us being on the same side?”
It was true. I was tired of fighting with Maddox, day after day, over and over again. It was time to call truce, to end this war and to start over.
There was an unreadable gleam in his eyes when he spoke. “You’ll bring Berkshire to its knees, Sweet Cheeks.”
I’m going to bring you to your knees. I kept that tidbit to myself.
Maddox looked thoughtful for a second. He rubbed a thumb across his square jaw before giving me a simple nod. “Fine.”
Wait…really? I blinked, waiting for him to laugh and call me pathetic.
He didn’t.
Maddox stared at me expectantly.
Holy shit.
I swallowed past the nervous lump in my throat, and this time, I showed him my pinky. “We solemnly swear to not share any animosity between us anymore and we’ll play nice.”
If Maddox thought I was being stupid, he didn’t show it on his face. “I solemnly swear not to be an asshole, but I’ll still think of sixty-nine ways of how I can dick you down every time you look at me or shake your ass my way.”
“Maddox!” I hissed, heat blooming in my cheeks at his crude words. I was no saint, but damn it, he knew how to make a girl blush.
He let out a throaty chuckle, the sound coming deep from his chest. Maddox wrapped his pinky around mine, squeezing it the slightest bit.
My lungs burnt, and I realized I’d forgotten to breathe.
This is it, I reminded myself.
The end of something; the beginning of something else.
I didn’t know how serious Maddox was or if he’d keep his words… I didn’t know if he knew the meaning of friends, I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring us, if he’d be back to his usual asshole self, but I knew one thing – I no longer wanted to be on the opposite side of Maddox.
“Friends?” I breathed.
“Friends,” he agreed.
Maddox
I watched Lila walk away, back into her grandparents’ store. I scratched my three-day old stubble over my jaw, thoughtful.
The door closed behind her, hiding the perfect view of her ass from my feasting gaze. I had to remind myself to look away because, fuck me, Lila could bring any man to his knees with an ass like that.
Our eyes locked through the glass window, and she was smiling. A genuine fucking smile.
Lila waved at me to come inside, and my feet followed. If I was a puppy, my tail would be wagging back and forth.
Ah, for fuck’s sake.
Friends?
Friends.
I paused at the door, blinking as I came to a sudden realization.
The moment Lila aimed for my dick in that coffee shop, I was fascinated. Girls were usually on their knees for me, worshipping my dick like it was the best meal of their lives. I never had a girl who wanted to cause Maddox-Junior pain instead of pleasure, until Lila.
When she had smirked over her shoulder before walking away, I was instantly intrigued. Who was this girl?
I made it my mission to find more about her, to study her… and to break her. She was my pet project, and I had wanted to bring her to her knees. Someone feisty as her? It would be sweet when she’d finally beg me.
Two months later…
Lila Garcia just fucking friend-zoned me.
Well, shit.
A laugh bubbled from my chest. Little Miss Perfectionist was ballsy, I had to admire that. I never had a girlfriend before. If someone had a pair of tits, Maddox Junior had a one-track mind. Sex. Plain and simple.
Lila had three things that made me weak: tits, pussy and ass big enough for my greedy hands.
I scoffed at the thought. This was going to be interesting. I wondered how long she’d last. The games have changed; the tables have turned, and I was going to play her game now.
Who was going to break first?
The player or the prey?
Well, this was going to be fun.
17
Lila
A firm hand landed on my ass, squeezing the soft flesh like its personal stress ball. The warmth of his body radiated against my back and the familiar, spicy scent of his cologne filled my nose.
“Take your hands off my ass. We’re friends, Coulter.”
When he didn’t let go, I elbowed him, and he let out a small ouf. Maddox came to my side as we walked to our English class. “Wait, I thought you meant friends with benefits. Because that’s the only type of friends I do.”
I rolled my eyes. Day three of us being friends, and Maddox was still an asshole. A somewhat bearable jerk, but still a jerk. Apparently, he couldn’t grasp the concept of just friends and was still trying to cop a feel.