CHAPTER FIVE
946 Words
Maverick
I awoke with a start, the memories from my dream flooding my heart. Sitting up and climbing off my bed, I walked to my window. I was home for the Christmas holiday, but I wasn’t feeling overly festive. My eyes drifted to Lily’s window, which was directly across from mine, and I took a deep breath. Goddammit, I missed her... ached for her.
Pressing my palm against my chest, against the tattoo of her name over my heart, I sighed. Something was off. After one week of bombarding social media with photos of her new crush, Lily had gone silent. Ghost town silent.
She’d also dropped my mother’s dance class. Lily loved to dance—breathed it—so it just didn’t sit right that she’d dumped me and my mom within a few days of each other.
What the hell is going on, baby doll?
I saw her drapes flutter and hope flared, but only for a second. I didn’t know if I’d be able to handle much more of this. Pulling on a pair of running shorts, I headed downstairs and yanked open the fridge.
“Can’t sleep?”
“s**t!” I slammed the fridge and spun to face my father who was sitting at the kitchen table swigging a beer. “You scared the crap out of me.”
My dad chuckled. “Sorry. Just waitin’ on your mom.”
“She’s not home yet?” I glanced at the clock over the microwave; it read two twelve a.m. “Why aren’t you out dragging her home?”
“I know where she is, bud.” He looked at his phone and shrugged. “She’s at Maisie’s. Girls’ night in.”
I smiled. “So she’s got about thirteen minutes before you head across the street to get her.”
“Somethin’ like that.” Dad swigged his beer again. “What’s up?”
I grabbed a root beer and sat at the table. “Just can’t figure this thing out with Lily.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “Something’s not right. I can’t put my finger on it... s**t, I don’t know. Maybe I’m talkin’ outta my ass.”
“I get it,” my dad said. “Your mom’s not feelin’ it either.”
“Really?”
My dad nodded. “She could tell Lily wasn’t giving her the whole story when they talked. Especially since it came so soon after she was granted that scholarship money for dance.”
Lily had performed in the showcase that had scared the s**t out of her, but she’d been perfect (no surprise there) and was awarded the five-thousand-dollar scholarship.
“Have you asked Hawk?” I asked then took a sip of soda.
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“’Cause if he wants to share, he’ll share.”
I frowned. “Not really good enough.”
“But all you’re gonna get for now, bud.”
I took another angry sip of my soda. I hated this part of the Club. Unless you were “in,” you had no access to anything to do with it. Even though my father was an officer in the Club, I knew almost nothing about the day-to-day goings-on. I wasn’t interested in “patching in,” therefore, I was kept in the dark. It was frustrating as hell at times.
The beep of the house alarm sounded, and my dad rose to his feet and headed toward the front door. I heard my mother giggle and a low voice that wasn’t my father’s (obviously a recruit walking my mom home), then the front door clicked, and the alarm was reset.
“Mav?” My mom walked into the kitchen and leaned down to kiss my cheek. I could smell something fruity on her breath, and I figured she’d imbibed. “Hey honey, why are you up?”
I smiled. “Just can’t sleep.”
She cupped my chin. “Are you sad about Lily?”
My mom knew me better than anyone did, but I didn’t want to talk to her about it when she was obviously tipsy. “I’m good, Mom.”
She sighed. “We’ll figure it out.”
“But we won’t tonight,” my dad piped in, wrapping an arm around her and kissing her neck. “Tonight, I’m taking you to bed.”
I made puking sounds. “Don’t need to know.”
My mom giggled. “‘Night, honey.”
“Night, Mom. Night, Dad.”
My dad gave me a nod. “Night, bud. See you in the mornin’.”
I shook my head when my dad lifted my mom off her feet and carried her toward the stairs. She was still laughing, and I wanted that. I wanted what they had, but without Lily, it would never happen. I couldn’t see myself finding anyone I’d ever love more. She was it for me, and my integrity prevented me from getting involved with anyone who didn’t live up to her. It wouldn’t be fair.
Since I wasn’t going to solve anything at almost three in the morning, I dumped the rest of my root beer, recycled the can, and dragged myself back up to my room. Unable to help myself, I stared at Lily’s window for probably a little too long before falling into bed.
Sleep didn’t come quickly, which meant I swam in my thoughts, and I concluded that I was going to get some answers while I was on vacation. Whether those answers came from Lily or from someone else, I didn’t much care anymore, but I was going to get them.
- Writer
