Maddox looked up as I approached. He took one last inhale of his cigarette before throwing it on the ground and crushing it under his feet. He blew out a cloud of smoke before licking his lips, eyeing me up and down. “What’s up, Garcia?”
Silently, I pushed the sandwich toward him.
He quirked up an eyebrow. “Is this a peace offering?”
“Gran said you didn’t eat,” I said as an explanation. I was just being… nice. There was nothing to it.
Maddox grabbed the sandwich from my hand, our fingertips touching briefly, before I quickly pulled away. “Careful there, Lila. You’re starting to look like you care.”
My eyes snapped to his, and I glared. “I’m being a decent human being. Give me back the goddamn sandwich if you’re going to be an asshole.”
Maddox was already ripping through the wrapping before I could finish my sentence. He took a huge bite, chewing hungrily. “Sorry, Sweet Cheeks. You can’t give a hungry man food and take it away. Just like you can’t put a pussy on display in front of a horny man and expect him not to devour you.”
I blew out a breath. He was absolutely impossible. “Does everything have to be sexual for you?”
Maddox took another bite of the sandwich. “We were born to be sexual beings. Why not embrace it?”
I leaned against the window, watching the cars drive by, as Maddox devoured his sandwich in big bites. He was obviously hungry. Once he had polished the last bite, I broached the forbidden topic.
“That day… in the storage room,” I started.
I didn’t have to look at Maddox to feel the change in him. When he spoke, his voice said it all. “Speak of this again, and I will mess you up so fucking bad–”
“Why are you so full of anger?” I cut him off before he could finish his threat. “I’m not your enemy.”
He let out a humorless laugh. “That’s a pretty ironic thing to say considering our relationship, if you’d even call it that.”
“It is ironic, isn’t it?” I finally turned to look at him. He had a shoulder against the window, facing me. His eyes were bright blue in the sunlight, glimmering and hiding something darker.
Who was the man behind this mask?
“But I’m not going to hurt you. That was never my goal. I’ve only been trying to get even with you.”
Maddox and I had been playing a game of cat and mouse. It was infuriating but harmless.
He cocked his head to the side. “So, you’re saying, you won’t hurt me unless I hurt you first?” he questioned with a rough, gravelly voice.
“Yeah, it’s only fair. If you hurt me, I’ll make you regret it.”
“You’re the first girl who hasn’t fallen at my feet and begged me to fuck them.”
“What does that make me?”
He grinned, wolfishly. “My prey.”
I let out a laugh, instead of being offended like I would have been two months ago. “You have a one-track mind, Coulter.”
“You’re running circles around my head, Garcia.”
Was that a… confession?
I backpedaled away from him. “Gran will expect us back to work in two minutes.”
Swiveling around, I went to walk away but then stopped. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach, a gut-wrenching feeling that I was about to do something so stupid. But I couldn’t stop myself. I had always been a girl who planned ahead, never doing something so… reckless. After life punched me in the face and left me scars, I vowed I would never be foolish.
Always in control.
Always cautious.
But apparently Maddox’s reckless habits had been rubbing off on me.
I marched back to Maddox, standing a mere foot away. So close I could feel his warmth.
“You know what? I think me and you can be really good friends,” I announced, the words spilling out before I could stop myself.
Yeah. Stupid, right?
His eyes widened a fraction before he scoffed. “How does me wanting to get in your panties equal to us being good friends?” He eyed my hand, the one stretched out between us. “And are you really waiting for a handshake?”
Goddamn it, what was I thinking?
Heat burnt my cheeks in embarrassment. “I’m trying to be civil here,” I said through clenched teeth. “I just think… if we’re so good at being enemies, imagine us being on the same side?”
It was true. I was tired of fighting with Maddox, day after day, over and over again. It was time to call truce, to end this war and to start over.