Lo

“Hey, Dad.” I bound into the kitchen and threw my bag down on the table.

“That bad, huh?” He looked up from his stack of papers.

“Just another day of ‘your future is bright’ crap.”

He let out a wry laugh. “That’ll be you next year, kiddo.”

Didn’t I know it?

After my meeting with Miss Tamson, I couldn’t get the future out of my mind. The packet she’d given me lay on my desk, taunting me every time I walked into my bedroom, daring me to open it. But I wasn’t ready. I couldn’t explain it or put it into words… I just wasn’t ready to go there.

“Listen, sweetheart, there’s something—” His phone vibrated, and he scanned the screen. “I need to take this.”

“Sure thing, Dad.” I helped myself to some cookies from the cupboard and headed to my room. Seconds later, he appeared around the doorway, deep lines creasing his eyes.

“Everything okay?” I asked, and he flashed me a smile, but it felt forced.

“Yeah, I need to pop out. Stella is—”

“It’s fine. What did you want to tell me?”

Eyes narrowed, he let out a weary sigh. “Nothing that can’t wait.”

“Sure, okay.”

“I’ll see you later?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure what I’m doing yet.”

“Okay, I’ll leave some money in the usual place. In case you want to order in or go out.” He seemed distracted, but that made two of us.

Dad went to leave but at the last second, I said, “Say hi to Stella and Beth for me.”

Surprise flashed in his eyes and then a smile split his face. “Sure will, kiddo.”

He looked like he’d won the lottery.

It wasn’t much, not really, but it was a start.

When he was gone, I finished my snack and lay back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I’d almost survived my first year at Wicked Bay High. Another two months and it would be over. Then I had a year to decide what to do with the rest of my life. Although, in reality, it was much less time than that. People would expect me to start senior year with a plan.

My phone bleeped pulling me from my thoughts.

 

Maverick: I’m at your back door

 

A smile tugged at the corner of my lips and I climbed off the bed to go let him in. “This is unexpected,” I said as the door swung open. His eyes drank me in, the way they always did.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

Maverick slipped passed me and I closed the door. “How did you know my dad was out?”

“I didn’t. I was driving by and saw his truck was gone.”

“You were driving by?” I raised an eyebrow and a rumble of laughter built in his chest.

“I hoped he was gone. Guess my luck was in.”

I studied his face. The dark circles around his eyes and lines across his forehead. He was tired. Worn down. It had been a crazy few weeks. The SAT, this thing with his father and Caitlin, not to mention the State Championship game.

“Any news from Gentry?”

Lips pressed in a flat line he shook his head. Time was running out. We hadn’t talked about what would happen if Gentry’s guy couldn’t find a loophole, but the clock was ticking.

“Maybe we should talk about—”

“No,” he said running a brisk hand over his head.

“Maverick, come on. Graduation is in eight weeks. Time is running—”

“I said no.” He stalked toward me until there was a sliver of space between us. “They’ll figure it out. They have to.” His eyes held mine, silently telling me everything he couldn’t say. “They have to find a way.”

I reached for his hand, tangling our fingers together. Maverick played his part well but if people looked closely, past his cool exterior, they’d see the cracks. They’d see he was just a boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders. And he was one second away from being crushed under the pressure.

Slipping my arms around his waist, I buried my face against his chest, not daring myself to speak.

“I got in,” his voice was so quiet, muffled by my hair, I barely heard it.

“What did you say?” I pulled away and stared up into his eyes.

“I got in, the letter was waiting for me when I got home.”

“You got in?” I breathed. This was everything. Maverick’s shot at basketball, at a future he wanted.

A future he deserved.

I raised up on my tiptoes, pressing my lips to his, showing him how proud I was of him. “You deserve this, Maverick. You deserve it so damn much.” He swallowed my words, his tongue parting my lips, swirling with my own. And I felt the urgency in his kiss, the desperation. But most of all, I felt the relief flowing out of him and into me.

He got in. Not because his father was an alumnus or donor. Not because Coach Callahan pulled the right strings. Because he worked hard and went after it. Even with the odds stacked against him, Maverick didn’t give up.

Breaking the kiss, I eased back and smiled up at him. “This is it, your ticket to freedom.”

We just needed Gentry to come through. But I understood the conviction in Maverick’s voice now, when he’d arrived. He didn’t want to consider Gentry’s plan wouldn’t work because it had to.

“They’ll figure it out,” I said with a half-smile as he tucked me back into his chest.

Not because I believed it.

But because right now, in this moment, Maverick needed to hear it.

~

“Seriously, Prince, you can’t just let someone else win?” Kyle threw his cards down, grumbling a string of cuss words under his breath.

“You’re such a sore loser, babe,” Laurie stroked his hair the way you would a wounded puppy and shot me an amused look. I laughed, relieved to see they seemed to be back to their usual back and forth. She promised me she was done texting Jared and from the way she and Kyle had been looking at one another tonight, they seemed good.

Maverick slipped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. “What time is it?”

“Like eight,” Nick said.

“I’m going to order pizza.” Maverick pulled me up with him.

“This is nice,” I said as we went to the small kitchen counter while he dug out a menu. After coming over to the house to tell me about his acceptance letter, Maverick had surprised me by saying he wanted to celebrate.

“Yeah, all we need now is for Macey to hook up with someone,” he smirked.

“When hell freezes over,” I grumbled, and he said, “She’ll come around.”

“We’ll see.”

I wasn’t expecting that day to come anytime soon. She might have cared about her brother but since collaring me at the party, Macey had made next to no effort to talk to me again.

Maverick ordered pizza, and I went to join the others, but his hand caught me, and he hooked his fingers through my belt loops. I arched my eyebrow at him and his eyes darkened, a challenge there, causing shivers to roll up my spine. When he hung up, his voice turned husky. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Back to the others.”

“Two minutes.” He leaned in and I swallowed.

“Maver—”

His lips came down hard on mine as he yanked me flush against his body. My hands slipped under his t-shirt running over the taut muscle, exploring and touching.

“Seriously, guys, I don’t know how much more of this my eyes can take,” Kyle’s voice boomed, and I laughed, dropping my face into the crook of Maverick’s neck.

“I think it’s cute,” Summer shouted. She’d been angry at me for all of two-minutes, when I finally came clean to her about me and Maverick. She knew there was more to it but unlike Macey, she knew Maverick wouldn’t shut her out unless it was for a good reason.

“Cute? It’s fucking disgusting. They’re practically dry humping.”

“Stone,” Maverick warned over my head.

“You’re only jealous, babe.”

“Jealous? I’ll show you jeal—”

“Kyle, you disgusting pig,” Laurie’s shrieks filled the pool house followed by Summer and Nick’s laughter, and I craned my head back, trying to see what was going on.

“Come on,” Maverick’s voice was low in my ear as he curled his body over mine. “I guess I’ll have to share you until they go, which is when by the way?”

I playfully punched his arm, stealing one more kiss. “It was your idea to invite them.”

“I’m an idiot,” he mumbled as I led him back to the others.

We’d been playing cards for the last hour, but Kyle was right, Maverick wiped the floor with us. Nick was the only one who came close to beating him. But it was fun. More than that, it felt normal.

When the pizza arrived, Kyle put on a film and the six of us ate and chatted and laughed. It was the most normal my life had been in weeks. And hope blossomed in my chest. But then, out of nowhere, Nick said, “So have you guys made plans for prom yet?”

Summer elbowed him in the ribs and he spluttered, “What?” Confusion shining in his eyes.

“Nick,” she hissed, and realisation flooded his face.

“My bad… I… shit, I really put my foot in it, didn’t I?” He looked from me to Maverick and then raked a hand through his messy hair, averting his gaze. Awkward silence descended over us.

Summer gave me a sympathetic smile while Laurie’s mouth hung open like a fish. Even Kyle had no witty reply, and the silent boy beside me went rigid, anger radiating from him. He got up and stalked away.

And just like that the bubble burst.

“Shit, Lo, I’m sor—”

“Don’t worry about it, Nick.” I offered him a weak smile as I went after Maverick. There weren’t many places to hide in the pool house and I found him sitting on the edge of his bed, eyes fixated on the carpet.

“Mav—”

“Don’t.”

“It’s fine,” I said going to him.

“Nothing about this is fine,” he whispered finally meeting my eyes as I sat in the chair I’d sat in so many times when I helped him study for the SAT.

“You got in, Maverick. Steinbeck chose you. This is a huge deal. I won’t let them ruin it. Not tonight.” My fingers danced over his arm. “You deserve to celebrate. You deserve one night of normal.”

His eyes stayed on mine. Dark and hard. Two intense inky pools pulling me in, holding me captive.

“It shouldn’t be like this.”

“But it is.” He flinched, but I went on. “And I can live with it. If all this means you get your shot at a future you want, I can live with it.”

“I love you, Lo. I love you so fucking much it scares the shit out of me. If I lose—”

“You’re not losing me. I’m right here.” I leaned in closer, ghosting my nose across his cheek. He turned and our lips hovered millimetres apart.

“I won’t lose you.” The conviction in his voice stunned me. But then he was kissing me, sweeping me away in his touch, and I gave over. Because even though I knew the road was only going to get harder, Maverick was right. I wasn’t going anywhere.