“Max! Max, open up! I know you’re in there! I can hear you talking!” Variable’s voice went through the door clearer than Max could bear. Her heart sped up painfully.
Her heart froze.
“Shit,” she swore.
Will jumped up before she could think, and just stood there, tense and panicking.
And incredibly sexy, she thought.
“Go in the bedroom. The bedroom,” she whispered.
He nodded and lightly dashed to the bedroom, and shut the door halfway behind him.
Max started towards the door, then cursed and doubled back.
Two sets of silverware, two dishes, two glasses.
Two people.
She grabbed Will’s and carried them to the fridge, shoved them in before she headed to the door.
“What do you want?” she yelled through the door.
“Let me in, dammit!” he yelled.
If I don’t let him in he’ll just break the door, she realized in dismay.
She unlocked the deadbolts and turned the knob, only for the door to fly open before she could open it.
Variable stormed in, face scrunched up in fury.
Quickly, Max shut the door behind him.
“Variable, what are you doing here?” she asked.
His eyes raked over her, and Max swore violently in her head. She was wearing the black silk robe she put on to compare herself to the picture of herself a few months before. She’d been wearing it all through dinner, she realized. She picked up the habit of not thinking about what she was wearing from when she was fighting; she hadn’t realized she’d been semi-naked with Will the entire time they were talking.
“What is all this shit?” he demanded as he pointed to the table with the food on it.
“Do you have a problem with my eating Italian food?” she demanded snarkily.
“Who the fuck were you talking to?” he demanded as he stalked toward the bedroom.
“Goddammit, Variable, get out of my apartment,” her voice was hard as diamonds.
Just as Variable was reaching for the doorknob for the bedroom, it opened.
“Hey, babe, do you have any –“ William stood in the doorway, his pants on but unbuttoned. His hair glistened blue-black in the dim light and small beads of moisture dripped down to his shoulders … his bare chest … his stomach …
“Maverick!”
“I’m sorry?” she said. Her eyes jerked up to his face.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Will asked in confusion as he walked up to her.
She shrugged helplessly. He walked up to her, their bodies only inches away.
He put a hand on her waist and pulled it so her hip was touching just below his. Their eyes locked onto each other's, and her breath hitched in her chest. He cupped the back of her neck with one hand and drew her into a kiss.
She melted.
He tasted like spiced wine, and he dashed through her blood quicker and hotter than Captain Morgan or absinthe ever had. Shocks of electric heat dashed up and down her whole body as he leaned into the kiss.
Too soon, he pulled away, and turned to look at Variable.
Variable was standing very still, trembling with rage all the same. His face was slowly turning red and his jaw was clenched.
“I’m sorry, what are you doing here, Variable?” he asked. He was standing next to her, his arm draped easily around her shoulders, and hers around his waist. His nonchalance was practically oozing off of him, and it was driving Variable mad.
She loved it.
Variable unclenched his jaw.
“I just came to make sure that Maverick knew when to be at the airport,” he said rigidly.
His beautiful face was solidified into a hard mask.
He looked like he could kill. The thought ran through her mind without control.
But then again, we always knew that he could, she thought to herself.
“I’ll be there at eight o’clock. Just like you emailed me. I even have my ticket printed out and I’m packed. I’ll be there tomorrow,” Max said quietly.
He nodded and forced a smile.
“Good,” he said.
He stalked to the door, his movements jerky.
He left, and Will shut the door behind him and locked it.
He turned and faced her and smiled weakly.
“That was close,” she whispered as she sank weakly down onto the couch.
A glance to the table showed her that the pen device was active, so nothing had been recorded, and sighed in relief.
“I’m sorry about the kiss … it just seemed like the best way to convince him,” Will said.
He was mentally screaming at himself.
First she finally relaxes around him enough to start treating him like a human being, and he fucks it up by kissing her like a tavern wench in front of the guy who has been, in her own words, sexually harassing her for years.
Great way to fuck up trust, William, he scowled at himself.
But what a kiss it had been.
Max’s face went carefully blank, and he was immediately suspicious. She only went into that mask when she didn’t want anyone to see what she was thinking or feeling.
“No, it’s fine. That was pretty perfect – he’ll be too busy seething about that to actually be on guard during the tournament, so we’ll be good,” she smiled, but he could see that it wasn’t genuine.
“Um, I put your dinner in the fridge if you want it. Quick hiding space,” she said.
“You know what, I think I’m going to cut out after that. Just to be safe,” he went into the bedroom and picked up his discarded shirt and jacket.
She nodded as he moved around.
“I’ll see you at the tournament. Text me on the safe phone if you need anything or if anything happens,” he said.
She nodded and he left, cursing himself all the way.
“I’m sorry about the kiss.”
Those words dashed through her like cold water on the raging flames in her gut.
That single kiss had melted away a two years worth of ice, and he regretted it. The ice was building up faster and faster by the second.
He left. He ran away because he was embarrassed for her.
“Fuck,” she swore to herself.
She stood and began pacing the length of the room.
Humiliation swirled up in her, but was quickly overcome with anger.
She stopped abruptly in the middle of the living room.
“You know what? Fuck him! It was a fantastic kiss and I refuse to believe it was bad. He’s just a fucking idiot,” she convinced herself.
Anger coursed through her and she felt better as she settled in to finish the rest of her food.
