Kingston nodded with a distant look in his eyes. “Yeah, maybe.”
I looked him over carefully. I was used to the happy, carefree scoundrel, not this melancholy, serious Kingston. This new version of him worried me. He was a happy drunk earlier. What was with the extreme mood swing?
“I’ve only had a few conversations with your dad,” I said slowly. “But I know he would do anything for you guys. He talked about how devastated he would be if the two of you were taken away from him. That’s why he was so adamant about getting me here for my mom.” My mouth twisted. “He thinks that she feels the same way.”
Kingston stared. “You have a shitty mom.”
“Yeah,” I laughed. “I noticed.”
Kingston hopped off the counter and wrapped me in a hug before I could back away. “Thanks, sis.”
“Listen, Kingston,” I said quietly. “I don’t think your dad is keeping you away because he doesn’t want to spend time with you, I think he just wants you to have as normal a life as you can while you’re still in high school.”
Kingston looked down at me with a smirk. “What part of my life is normal? I’m not so far gone that I don’t realize how insane all of this is.”
I knew Kingston was back when he nuzzled into my neck and his hand crept toward the knot that kept my towel tied tight.
“Kingston…” I said in warning.
He looked down at me with a broad grin but left his hand on the knot. “Yeah?”
“Don’t even think about it,” I threatened him.
“Too late,” he smirked. “I’ve thought about it, weighed the consequences, and made a decision.”
“Do you realize how fucked up it is that you call me your sister one minute and then try to undress me the next?” I said as I clamped my hands on my towel.
And just then, the door opened, and Maverik stepped in with an angry gaze trained on me. “What did I tell you about my brother?”
“Me?” I asked in disbelief. “He came in while I was showering.”
Kingston shrugged. “True, but I didn’t even get to see anything. I feel like I missed out.” Despite his words, he took a step back and removed his hands from me and my towel.
Maverik looked at Kingston and motioned his head towards the door. “Out.”
“Fine,” Kingston said in a huff.
Maverik stared at me for a moment after Kingston left. His eyes flicked up and down my barely covered form, and I clutched the knot to my towel a little tighter. Kingston was a playful jokester, but Maverik was intense.
His gaze was the opposite of cold right now – there was raw need. It didn’t help that he hadn’t put a shirt on when leaving the pool. The amount of bare golden skin he was showing was completely distracting. I remembered all too well how good his muscular arms and toned pecs felt while he held me, and he had abs to drool over. His shorts were slung low enough on his hips to reveal that sexy v that made female brains melt.
I edged around him and moved toward the door, but he stopped me with a hand on my arm. A wave of heat ran through me just from the feel of his warm skin on mine, but I tried to ignore it. He stepped closer to me, and his masculine scent made my traitorous body react even more strongly. I struggled to keep my breathing even, but I was sure he could see how flushed my skin was.
Maverik moved my wet hair out of my face and spoke. “You need to be careful. What would have happened if King and I weren’t there when you fell in the pool?’
I swallowed and remembered my panic as Elena shoved me deeper under the water. I would have been in real trouble if Maverik hadn’t been so quick to come after me.
“I wasn’t thinking clearly,” I admitted. “They said some rude things about Abby and tried to throw their weight around.”
Maverik chuckled. “Those were two of the three top girls at Bedford. They have the weight to throw.”
I shrugged one shoulder. “Hopefully, I’ll be back in New York by the time the fall semester starts, and I’ll never have to see them again.”
“Do you really believe that?” Maverik asked.
I smiled sadly. “I have to. There’s nothing here for me.”
“What if there was?”
He said it so softly, but the words struck me right in the heart.
I gazed up at him, overwhelmed by his scent, his touch, and the way we were so close that his body brushed up against my towel. For one crazy moment, my mind went wild with the possibilities if I were to let this towel drop. I’d be completely naked and at his mercy. My body ached for his touch, and heat throbbed through me.
Maverik’s eyes lowered to my lips, and the connection between us intensified as if he were having the same thoughts. He rested his hands on my hips and leaned forward slightly.
“What are you doing?” he asked in a low voice that vibrated through me.
I licked my lips and banished every single dirty image from my mind. I couldn’t let Maverik Wilder affect me like this. I deserved better.
“I was about to get dressed,” I said sarcastically. My heart was racing, and I took a step back to preserve some of my brain function. He was overloading all of my senses, but I needed to keep my head in the game. It was too dangerous to let down my guard in front of him.
“You know what I mean,” Maverik murmured. “You’re here for a couple of weeks, and my dad wants to bring you to work? He’s refused to let me
