Maverick

Chapter 15

I followed Maverick blindly down the front steps of Ezra's house, my eyes still stinging with tears I was too ashamed to shed, Hanna's words still raw in my mind. I didn't ask any questions, and Maverick didn't provide any answers; he just opened the passenger door to his car widely and gently eased me into the soft leather seat. I stopped his arm before he could reach the seatbelt "I'm not handicapped," I reminded him. "I can buckle my own belt."

"Sorry." His liquid-gold eyes were apologetic. "You just seem so upset."

I swallowed, looking down to my shoes. I could still hear the thudding bass of the music from the party, and my head throbbed in syncopation. My fingers rose to my temples. "Are you alright?" Maverick asked, but before I could reply, a faint "Reece!" interrupted me.

Ezra.

Laces whipping wildly in the moonlight, his hair knotted and matted with sweat, his face a mixture of worry and anger and frustration, Isaac came running down the steps, his eyes pools of fire. "Reece! Thank God I caught you. Are you okay? I just heard about what happened."

"I'm fine," I lied, as Ezra pulled me to his chest. His heart was hammering vigorously through his shirt, and I put my ear to it, just letting the rhythm calm me. Then I remembered Maverick. I pulled back and shot him a rueful smile. He was leaning against the car, casually examining his fingernails like he was on another planet. He looked up and smiled, somewhat forcefully, at Ezra. "I'm Maverick." He introduced himself gallantly, extending his hand. Ezra took it, slightly grimacing at Maverick's vice-tight grip. "Ezra. Nice to meet you."

I couldn't help noticing that Maverick was a few inches taller than Ezra, and I think he was distinctly aware of it.

"Ezra is" I paused. There were no words I could use to describe what he meant to me. Soul mate? Life giver? They were all too sickeningly cliched.

"He's my best friend," I finished lamely.

"I was just going to take Reece out," said Maverick smoothly. "You don't mind, do you? I think she's had enough of this." I saw his nose turn up slightly as if he had smelled something bad. I wanted to kick him.

"Fine." There was a resigned tone in Ezra's voice, as if he was too tired to argue. I could see the hurt and rejection glistening in his eyes, even if Maverick wasn't aware of it. "I just wanted to make sure she was okay."

"Why wouldn't she be?" snapped Maverick, his indignant eyes darting from me to Ezra like he was watching a tennis match. "What happened?"

"There was a incident." Ezra shuffled awkwardly, as if he wished that the ground would swallow him up. "And then I heard she bumped into Hanna. I didn't know."

"What?"

It was hard to ignore the the aggressive anger in Maverick's voice. I put a firm hand on his chest, restraining him, as if he needed to be controlled. Maybe he did. I could feel his torso quivering under my touch.

"So you're telling me," Maverick continued icily, "that Hanna was at your party, and you didn't even think to tell Reece?"

"I didn't know," Ezra retorted in a hard voice, his jaw clamped together so savagely I thought he might break all of his teeth. "And what does this even have to do with you, anyway? How much has she told you?"

"Enough," replied Maverick, his eyes glittering with resentment, "And I'm here to support her in any way I can."

"I am here, you know!" I exclaimed, but Maverick and Ezra were already squaring up to each other, fists clenched, and carried on arguing as if they hadn't even heard me.

"So what are you?" Jeered Ezra wildly, "Her father? Her protector? Her boyfriend?" He made it sound like a dirty word.

"I'm whatever she wants me to be," Maverick said, his voice the same texture as melting chocolate, his eyebrows furrowed as though he was thinking about something, hard. Then he turned to me, still waiting by the car like a pathetic bystander. "Are you ready?"

I looked from Ezra to Maverick, unsure of what to do. Ezra was my best friend, and I knew deep down that I would always choose him over Maverick, but at the same time Ezra had let me down. Hanna would hate me forever, now, and that could have been avoided if Ezra had warned me she would be at the party. I walked towards Ezra and wrapped my arms around his waist. "I love you."

"You mean that?" His voice was rough and muffled against my hair.

"Of course I do. You're my best friend."

At those last two words Ezra seemed to sag in my arms, and he unwound himself from my grasp as if I was a disease he didn't want to catch. "Ezra?" I tried, but he was gone, out of my reach, already making his way up the steps back to his sodding party. There was a silence for a moment, as if Maverick knew better than to say anything now. Maybe he knew he had been wrong to mock Ezra. I expected an apology, but instead, he took my wrist. "Come on. It's not your fault."

"But it is," I replied quietly. "He probably loathes me now." Looking up at Maverick, I continued. "I've known you for two minutes. I've known Ezra for almost my whole life."

"He'll get over it."

"Everything's so bloody simple for you, isn't it, Maverick?" I snapped as we got in the car and buckled up. Maverick had the most annoyingly attractive grin on his face. "On the contrary. My life is actually quite complicated."

"I can imagine." Sighing, I looked out of the window as he started the car up and sped off onto the main road. It was a clear, cool night, and Maverick wound down the windows to let the sweet, summer air wash over my face refreshingly. He started to say something, but caught himself. I looked at him. "What?"

"I was just going to say" He coughed, looking sheepish, a look that hadn't appeared on Maverick's face before. "I mean."

"Spit it out."

His eyes drifted out of the window where a couple of bats were twirling and spinning in the air, creating a beautiful yet haunting whirlwind of darkness. "I don't blame him if he's in love with you."

There was a momentary silence. Then I collapsed into helpless laughter. "Ezra isn't, I mean, he's not" I took a deep breath, composing myself. "Maverick, he is gay. Of course he's not in love with me."

"Well maybe he's lying, or he's confused."

"He's not lying. Or confused." I traced a pattern in the dust on the dashboard lazily with my finger. "I know Ezra better than anyone."

"If you say so." Maverick's voice was exasperatedly self-righteous. Even though I knew it wasn't true, the thought kept on nagging at me like an itchy T-shirt label. It wouldn't go away, no matter how hard I tried to block it from my mind. I tried to distract myself by staring at him, taking in his beauty like a fish gasps for oxygen. Tonight he was wearing a dark navy shirt, taut over his well-built chest, and seemingly casual grey jeans, though something told me that they were designer. Suddenly I realised how much I didn't know about him, but something about the ever-present anguish in his eyes warned me not to ask any questions.

Maybe the answers would be too difficult for me to bear.

However there was one aching question at the forefront of my mind that I thought I could get away with. "How did you know where I was?"

"I called your father," Maverick explained cooly, wholly unashamedly.

"What?"

"Calm down," he stopped me, putting a cold hand on my bare leg, "I pretended to be Klara's father."

I shot him a perplexed, outraged look. "Who the hell is Klara?"

"As far as your Father knows, a girl from your english class," he elucidated. "She wanted to invite you round for pizza tonight. Your Dad explained that you were at Ezra's party. I got the address. Simple."

"Very clever," I retorted drily.

smiled, a brief charming smile that sent shockwaves down the whole of my body, and seemed to warm the chilly night. It wasn't until I looked past him into the forest of trees that I realised that we were approaching the beach. "What are we..?" I tried to ask, but Maverick didn't reply, just took a thick woollen blanket from under his seat and put it on my lap. "It might get cold," was all he said, and as we turned off onto the thin, narrow road leading up to J-bay, the moon uncovered itself from the coagulated grey clouds and turned the dark sea below it a magnificent milky white.