Max (A Carter Brother series Book 4) (43 page)

“Alright,’’ she says slowly looking at me for help. I shake my head subtly, silently telling her to just let him be. It’s easier and safer that way.

“Are you on the run from something or someone?’’

Her eyes widen and I’m pretty sure she’s going to grab her daughter and flee from the room, but to my surprise, she doesn’t.

“No.’’

“Have any parent issues?’’ he asks pointedly.

“My parents are both dead,’’ she tells him, sorrow flashing in the depth of her eyes.

“Fuck. I’m sorry... No, wait. Were they good parents?’’

“Seriously, Max?’’ I growl. There’s one thing asking the questions he has been asking, but to be downright inappropriate is just asking for trouble. He could be at least a little more sensitive.

“The best,’’ she whispers.

“I am sorry. I just needed to check. We’ve been shit out of luck when it comes to parents in our group,’’ he explains.

“Hey,’’ I snap, my turn to be affronted.

“Except hers. Hers are pretty great,’’ he tells her, pointing to me. “If your application is accepted, how soon can you move in?’’

“Actually we’d be pretty much ready to move in. My landlord is selling the building we’re currently living in so we’ve had to start packing,’’ she explains. That explains why she’s put up with Max and his pestering. She needs to put a roof over hers and her daughter’s head before they get kicked out.

“Last question before you leave. This is a make or break question too: Batman or Superman?’’

“Oh no!’’ I mutter, my face heating from embarrassment. How is that a reasonable question?

“Superman?’’ she asks unsure. Max’s face stays impassive, not giving anything away.

“I wike Batman,’’ Faith butts in. I hadn’t realised she was listening. She’d been so quiet sitting colouring that I forgot she was even here.

Teagan giggles, smiling at her daughter.

“Okay, I meant to say Batman,’’ Teagan corrects. Max isn’t listening, his eyes are lit up as he eyes the little girl.

“I like you, kid. Me and you are going to be good friends,’’ he grins.

“I wike fwiends,’’ she tells him, giving him a toothy grin, two little dimples popping out on her cheek.

Max chuckles. “Cool.’’

“When will we know?’’ Teagan asks, biting her bottom lip.

“We’ll be in touch,’’ Max tells her, standing abruptly and shaking her hand. I give him a look, wondering what he’s playing at. He has the perfect candidate standing right in front of him and he’s just going to let her walk out of here without an answer.

Shaking my head I walk around the table, giving Teagan a friendly smile. As we get closer to the door I lean in and whisper, “I think you’ve got this.’’

“I hope so, but...’’ she starts before looking at Max over her shoulder. Thankfully he’s distracted by Faith handing him a picture.

“He’s a nut but he’s harmless. He is normal, I promise,’’ I tell her, but honestly, I’m wondering how truthful my words are.

“Okay,’’ she smiles before taking a deep breath. “Faith, baby, come on.’’

“Bye, Maxy,’’ Faith waves.

“Bye, beautiful princess,’’ he grins, making Faith giggle and run over to her mum.

The door shuts behind them and I whirl on Max. “What was
that
all about?’’

“Um, did I miss something?’’ he asks confused.

“All those questions, Max, you went too far.’’

“I needed to know they weren’t crazy,’’ he scoffs.

“Max, if anyone needs an interview to make sure they’re not crazy, it’s you,’’ I deadpan.

The door opens and we both turn to find Maverick standing in the doorway. I smile, giving him a friendly wave.

“He chosen anyone yet?’’ he asks me, not looking at Max once.

“I’m right here,’’ Max deadpans.

“No, he’s been... He’s been Max. He asked the last person for a picture of her ex,’’ I groan.

“He didn’t?’’ Maverick bites out, his eyes narrowing.

“I can hear, you know?’’

“Yep. She’s your new tenant too, I decided. I like her and her daughter’s cute.’’

“Okay,’’ Maverick agrees easily.

“Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! I’m in charge. I get to pick. When did Lake get selected to be tenant picker?’’ Max growls, glaring at me. I glare back, poking my tongue out at him.

“Come on, Maxy,’’ I tease, Mum is going to be waiting in the car park.

“You can’t boss me around, woman,’’ he snaps.

“Just did.’’

“Need some balls, bro,’’ Maverick chuckles as he follows us down the hall.

My phone beeps in my back pocket and I grab it, smiling when I see my mum’s name. “Mum is going to be a few minutes late.’’

“It’s okay, we can wait out in the... What the fuck?’’ Max snaps and my head whips up confused.

That’s when Maverick takes off out of the exit and over the car park. Max follows and that’s when my eyes find Teagan pinned up against her car, Faith crying nearby, screaming for her mum.

“Oh no,’’ I gasp and run over, following Max and Mav. Mav is close when the attacker notices him and takes off. Maverick doesn’t stop or slow down; he just carries on sprinting after the attacker.

When we reach Teagan and Faith, Teagan looks to be in shock, her hand on her throat and tears running down her face. Her other arm is clutching Faith and my heart breaks at seeing the fear in the poor little girl’s eyes.

“Hey, what happened? Are you okay?’’ Max asks, finally back to himself, his voice laced with concern.

“I...I,’’ Teagan shakes her head. I reach out to soothe her but she flinches. Max is concentrating off in the distance. Maverick is walking back, much slower, and clearly panting.

Bending down I run my hand up and down Faith’s arm, hoping it’s comforting her.

“Are you okay, Faith?’’ I ask gently.

“Bwad man hurrtt moommmy,’’ she tells me, her bottom lip trembling.

“I know, honey,’’ I say softly, at a loss on what to say to her.

Footsteps coming closer grab Faith’s attention and her head snaps up. Her eyes go round before she launches away from me and her mum and dives for Maverick.

“Youu swaved ma mommyyy,’’ she cries and as if on autopilot, Maverick bends down, lifting the little girl in his arms before straightening.

“It’s okay, squirt, she’s safe now,’’ he rumbles then looks at Teagan for the first time. It’s like his eyes stop, frozen, like they’re memorising that moment, every inch of her as he stares unashamedly at Teagan. It’s the same for her, neither one looking away. They both look dazed like they’re drugged and a smile tugs at my lips.

Max must have the same idea running through his mind because when I turn to see if he’s noticed their stare off he’s looking at me grinning mischievously.

He winks at me before clearing his throat; both Maverick and Teagan jumping from whatever spell they were both under.

“Mav, meet Teagan, your new tenant,’’ Max grins in a cheerful voice.

The End

SNEAK PEEK

FOUL PLAY

All my life I’ve stood out from the rest of my friends. I’ve always craved that independence all adults seemed to have. Every Monday when I wasn’t at school or working, I’d be with my mum, food shopping and paying bills and I loved it.

As soon as I finished school I went straight into work, waitressing at a local restaurant to save up enough money to attend university. With my mum being a single parent she has always worked her ass off, and I guess it brushed off on me because I’m finally where I worked so hard to be.

Blinking away the blinding flash from my camera, I turn it around and look at the picture of me and my best friend grinning away.

I’ve been waiting for so long for this moment that I’m an emotional mess and wanted to photo document this very moment, so I never forgot it. I did the same not ten minutes ago when we picked the keys up from the estate agent, wanting to send as many pictures of my time here to my mom.

“It doesn’t feel real,’’ I whisper excitedly as I gaze up in awe at our building. There is five or six block of flats, but our building is one of the newest built and thanks to Allie’s father and his connections we were able to rent one. Everything here is just feeding my excitement, the buildings are bigger, larger than life, brighter and newer and I can’t help the squeal that escapes my lips.

“I’m seriously worried about your sanity,’’ Allie, my best friend, now roomie says. We’ve been best friends ever since I can remember and even though we’re polar opposites, we fit. I’m out-going, fun, bubbly, chatty and I love to party. Allie on the other hand is quiet, shy, anti-social, and book nerdy. But she’s the bestest friend you could ever wish for. We balance each other out better than most friends or couples do. I get her to live a little, push her out of her comfort zone, and she grounds my free spirit. Don’t get me wrong I take school work very seriously, but I also wouldn’t lose sleep trying to achieve my goals; life’s too short for that.

She also put off college so she could attend the same time as me. We were lucky her dad loves me and understood how much it meant to the both of us to be together through such a huge milestone in our life.

“You’d be more worried if I acted normal,’’ I tease, opening the car door. We both get out and make our way to the back of the car, where we’ve stacked up all of our luggage.

“Willow, I worry about you period,’’ Allie giggles, pushing her thick, black rimmed glasses up her nose.

“They should have a valet service,’’ I groan, pulling out one of Allie’s cases. And I say this with conviction because this must be the case that holds her library. “Why couldn’t you buy all this new?’’ I ask her again.

“They’re my books. I wouldn’t ask
you
to buy new shoes,’’ she says and to make her point, she takes the case that is specifically labelled shoes. So I love my shoes, what nineteen year-old wouldn’t.

“Shall we go see our new home?’’ I grin, laughing when she nearly tips over backwards grabbing another case.

“Yes. Grab one more bag? I don’t want to do more trips than we have to,’’ she moans, and I laugh. I don’t mind exercise, but Allie hates any form of it. She has no coordination whatsoever so I understand her hate for it.

Laughing, I heave one more bag out of the boot, chuckling when I nearly fall backwards on my ass too.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have squeezed everything in,’’ I mention, still laughing.

“I did tell you,’’ Allie giggles, bumping her hip with mine. Grinning, I begin to roll my two suitcases along with me, ready to see my new home.

Allie grunts halfway up the path making me giggle harder. She looks so out of breath and we haven’t even moved far from the car. You’d never believe she was from the richer side of town looking at her right now. She’s wearing old, worn, faded jeans, with a Fries over Guys hoody. Her dark brown locks are a complete mess, piled high on her head in a messy bun. All that paired with her thick black rimmed glasses and you get a beautiful disaster. She’s also the clumsiest person I’ve ever known. She proves it when she trips up the bottom step to the flats.

“Who put that there?’’ She grumbles and I have to stop, clutching my chest as I bend over laughing my ass off at her. “Don’t,’’ she warns with no heat. “Why couldn’t Alec come and help again?’’

“He had to meet his coach,’’ I remind her. Alec and I met six months ago at open evening here at the university. We hit it off straight away and since he lived so close to my old town, we decided to make a go of things.

When a hard tug on my case nearly sends me flying I let out a piercing scream, my heart hammering in my chest.

“What the...,’’ I begin, but I’m cut of when I see
his
handsome face. Letting out a squeal I jump into my best friends arms, wrapping myself around him like a kola bear. Logan and I have been friends since we were babies. Our parents knew each other, but have long lost their friendship for unknown reasons. But Logan and I kept up our friendship, not caring what our parents said.  “Oh. My. Gosh. Logan. What are you doing here?’’ I squeal. He’s still as good looking as he was the last time I saw him, which was briefly for a week last summer. His parents are always taking him away on his school breaks, so I’ve hardly seen him for the past two years. His hair is a little shaggier; his body still slim, but muscular, other than that he still looks the same.

All the girls at school lined up to date him and hated the fact I was so close with him. From the looks of a few passing girls, I can see nothing has changed.

He slides me down his body, his grin permanent on his handsome face and I can’t help but grin back, my excitement doubling more than before.

“Hey Will,’’ he greets, his voice deeper than I last heard from him.

“Logan. What are you doing here? I thought you were busy?’’ I remind him. He’ll be on the university football team with Alec and from what Alec and Logan have both said, they had a practice this morning.

“Coach is letting us arrive later so he can fill in all the newbies,’’ he grins, before looking over my shoulder. His grin slips a little, and I playfully slap his shoulder. “Allie,’’ he nods.

Allie doesn’t say anything but I can picture her stiff posture, her awkward nod as she greets him back. We all used to be friends, but around the same time our parents fell out, so did Logan and Allie. She’s never made me understand her hatred towards him, but she doesn’t make me feel like I have to choose between them. I do try and keep them separate, knowing how uncomfortable Allie gets when he’s around.

He squeezes me into a tight hug again and I breathe him in. I’ve missed him so much, I can’t help but be happy he’s here. Perfect timing too.

Pulling away and taking a step back I notice he’s brought a friend along with him. I didn’t notice him at first, probably because I was in so much shock about seeing Logan so soon. We planned to meet tomorrow for breakfast, so I’d hyped myself up for then.

I smile at his friend even though his appearance and expression make me feel a little out of sort. It surprises even me because I can talk to anyone and everyone. My mum reminds me all the time that I could make friends in an empty room I’m that social. But something about Logan’s friend makes me feel on edge.

Not wanting to be rude, I wave. “Hey, I’m Willow, this is my best friend Allie.’’

He grunts, giving us a head nod, his eyes scanning Allie with a mix of repulsion and lust, which startles me. I give Logan a questioning look, but he just grins, shrugging his friend’s behaviour off. Knowing Logan wouldn’t bring around someone to likely hurt us, I don’t say anything more.

“Come on, give us your bags,’’ he tells me. Not needing to be told twice I happily let go of the handles of my cases and let him take them from me. I’m about to move and help Allie with her cases when Logan’s voice stops me. “Jamie, grab um off ‘er man.’

I watch with wide eyes as Jamie - as Logan called him, takes the bags from Allie. Stiffly she makes her way over to me, her eyes wide with a flick of fear flashing in them.

“Shall we go see our new home, roomie?’’

“Lead the way, my lady,’’ she giggles and we begin to skip are way to the front entrance. With our fob, we let ourselves into the building, heading to the lift.

The ride to the eighth floor isn’t long and before we know it, we’re stepping out on our floor. As we reach the door, I have to hold back tears of joy and excitement. So instead of trying to process everything right there, I take my phone out of my back pocket, holding it up, ready to take a selfie.

Logan laughs, taking the phone from me so he can take the photo for us. “Still documenting, I see.’’

Grinning, I nod at him, smiling for the photo. I’ve always loved taking photos. It doesn’t matter what they’re of, I just click away. My favourite pictures are when I capture memorial moments though, ones like right now.

I’d love it as a kid when my mum would flick through photo albums, pointing out memories I’d long forgotten or hadn’t been old enough to remember and tell me all about them. I’d stare down at the photo and I’d feel like I was there all over again, old memories resurfacing.

Logan hands me my phone back and I put it back in my pocket, ready for when I need it next.

“Do you have more shit in the car or is this everything?’’ he asks, but looks doubtful at the four suitcases resting next to the door, knowing us well.

“Yes. There are a few more cases in the back of the car. Allie’s dad had most of it sent over with furniture,’’ I smile.”Are you going to be a gentlemen and grab them for us?’’ I wink, teasing him.

“It’s why I’m here,’’ he winks, snatching my car keys from my hand.

“Do you want to grab some food after?’’ I ask, excited to spend some time with him.

“I can’t, Will. Need to get to practice,’’ he tells me, an apologetic look flashing in his eyes.

Blinking back my disappointment, I force a smile. “It’s okay. We’re still on for tomorrow morning, though, right?’’

“Yeah, I’m alright for breakfast,’’ he grins. “See you in a sec.’’

We watch them leave in the lift before turning to each other. “His friend is really creepy,’’ Allie comments straight off.

Laughing, I answer. “I know,’’ I shiver. “Want to go in?’’

“Yes,’’ she giggles, clapping her hands. She’s just as excited as I am about not being under parental supervision. Her probably more so than me. My mum was trusting and never made me feel suffocated like Allie’s parents did with her. As long as I stayed safe, told her where I’d be and what time I’d be back, my mum was happy. I’d talk to her about anything, I still do. Allie’s parents on the other hand were always on her back about her grades, her attendance, even going out. She wasn’t a social person, but it was her parents who made her that way. They coddled her, gave her a strict curfew on the one day she was only allowed out. Even when she left school her parents only let up some. I was surprised when her dad agreed to let her move so far away.

I’m about to push open the door when the door behind us opens. There’s two flats on each floor, on either side of the building, so when I hear the latch to the other side, I’m excited to meet our new neighbours.

Knowing Allie won’t introduce herself or me for that matter, I try to calm myself down a little before approaching them. When I’m excited I tend to babble, and people never know how to take me.

Allie and I both turn at the same time, her body freezing the same time mine does. A lad my age or maybe older walks out, his eyes glued down at his phone. He’s huge. Like mega freaking huge. He’s wearing a jacket, but even that doesn’t hide the tattoos peeking out from under his shirt, or the dangerous vibe bouncing off him. He looks broody, and from the way his powerful frame accumulates most of my attention, I’m stunned into silence. How can someone who looks so scary, so menacing, be so gorgeous at the same time? He has a strong cut jaw, dark piercing blue eyes and full lips. His hair is a dirty blonde colour, messy and unkempt and the urge to run my fingers through it is strong.

He truly is handsome and I have a hard time looking way at the rugged beast in front of me. The scruff on his jaw line makes him look even sexier. My breathing picks up the longer I stare at him, worrying me. I’ve never had a reaction like this to anyone. I’ve slept with two lads in my life, the second I’m still dating. And although I had chemistry with both, neither made me feel the way this guy does, it’s empowering and already I’m addicted.

The door slamming startles me and I shake my head to clear my thoughts of the lad standing in front of me. It takes all my strength to look away but when I do, his friend turns, jumping slightly when he sees Allie and I standing there, side by side staring at them both.

Great! They probably think we’re stalkers right now and will put in for a transfer or a restraining order.

“Well, helloooo, beautiful ladies. What can we do for you?’’ The softer look lad asks, his cheeky grin reaching his eyes.

My eyes flicker to the broody lad once more, and like lightening has struck me, a wave of electricity runs through my body when his eyes capture mine and for a brief, stolen moment it was just me and him. I’m actually struggling to breathe and the fact this other guy wants me to string together a sentence is a horrifying nightmare.

“I, um, I’m Allie, no, I’m Willow,’’ I smile, shaking my head, more to myself than at him. “This is my best friend, Allie. We just moved in,’’ I tell them, motioning to the door behind me.