Page 28 of The Consequence of Loving Me

Maverick pops the top off one of the beer bottles and holds it out to me. “You know Aspen thinks you hate him. Either that or you’re playing hard to get.”

His voice causes me to jump, a bit of beer flying from the top of my bottle and onto my collarbone.

I don’t look away from the TV, where Steve Harvey raises his eyebrows and shakes his head at a contestant’s answer. “I’m certainly not playing hard to get.”

I watch from the corner of my eye as he stretches out his long legs. “Then you do hate him?” He’s staring at me, jostling his beer bottle with his hand.

“No. Why would I hate him?” I take a long swig from my own beer, avoiding looking at Maverick.

“Because you don’t talk to him like you talk to me.” He shifts again, which finally draws my eyes in his direction.

When I turn my head, I find his body angled toward mine and his blue eyes glowing in the light of the TV, staring straight at me.

“Oh, that’s easy. It’s because you’re taken.” I shrug, taking another swig from the bottle. The beer tastes like piss, but I won’t complain right now. It’s something to keep me busy. And I’m searching for the numb.

His dark eyebrows raise as he thinks my words through. I give him the amount of time he needs, not wanting to elaborate if I don’t have to.

He nods slowly and says, “Well, yeah, but what’s that have to do with Aspen?”

“He’s single.” I take another sip from my beer, letting the bitter taste of the Heineken linger on my tongue before swallowing.

“Just because he’s single doesn’t mean you can’t be nice to the guy,” Maverick says.

“Wait a minute. Just because I’m not eating out of the palm of his hand doesn’t mean I’m not nice to him. I just don’t want to give him the idea that I might be interested in him.”

“I still don’t understand.”

I drag my eyes away from the Viagra commercial to look back at Maverick. “You’re in a very happy relationship. There is no chance of you falling in love with me or getting attached or wanting more in any capacity. So, we can be friends.”

“You won’t be friends with a single guy because there’s a chance they might get feelings for you?” he asks.

“Yep,” I deadpan, popping the p.

“Aren’t you thinking a little highly of yourself?” he counters.

I shrug, finishing off the last of my beer. It clinks against the table when I set it down on the end table next to me. “Maybe, but if I think there’s a chance a guy is attracted to me then I won’t be friends with him. There’s a small chance after attraction that the person can fall in love and I don’t want anyone falling in love with me.”

“So, we’re officially friends?” he asks with a smirk.

I reach over and pull on his hoodie string, pulling it tight and then letting it go. It recoils from my hand and bounces against his face. “Hell, we could be best friends. You’re so disgustingly in love with Selma that you’d never find me attractive. It’s a win-win situation.”

He slowly swallows. For the first time, I’m close enough to him to spot it. Starting under his bottom lip and roaming over to the skin above his top lip, there’s a jagged line. A scar. An imperfection. I itch to paint it, unable to look away. I’m too busy memorizing the way it slopes down. My brain ponders how I’ve never seen it before. Maybe I just never looked at him hard enough.

I’m still staring at that scar when he hesitantly smiles and jokes, “Best friends, then?”

My eyes pull away from his lips and find his eyes. The smile that overtakes my face is completely genuine. I hold out my hand and wait for his to engulf my own. His is warm; mine is cold.

“BFFs,” I joke back, shaking our hands up and down once before pulling my hand back. We stay in a stare-down for a few moments before I pop off the couch, leaving my empty bottle on the table, and make my way to the door to the basement.

As I open the door, I look over my shoulder to find Maverick staring after me, an unreadable look covering his face.

I hope he knows I was joking.

17

Maverick

“Oh my god, this can’t be real.” Veronica leans over my shoulder as we scroll through our professor’s Facebook page. She’s so close I can smell the sweet flowery scent of her perfume.

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