Chapter 17
It's Saturday, it's been raining all day and it's freezing. I'm sitting on my bed, reading Hamlet…but I haven't changed the page for a while now. Mom was at yoga class…and I didn't tell her about Fang and my date with him.
I've been doing homework all day, but chores as well. I closed the book and put it on my book shelf. I looked over at my clock, by the nightstand. Four thirty. Whether or not I wanted to think about it, Fang and I had unfinished business. Our last kiss got cut short. Sooner or later, the kiss would need resolving. I had no doubt I wanted resolution, I just wasn't sure I was ready for it tonight. On top of all this, it didn't help that Nudge's warning kept popping up like a red flag at the back of my mind. Stay away from Fang.
It's just a date right? Maybe if this goes well, then he'll stop being a creep. I changed into grey jeans, black boots, a black shirt and a black jacket. Before I knew what I was doing, I was curling the ends of my hair. I stopped when I caught a purple strand. Fang tried to tuck it behind my ear the other day…what would've happened if I let him?
I heard a knock coming from the door downstairs. I ran down to it. I stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath before opening it. Two men in dark trench coats stood there. Detective Henry and Detective Holstijic. Great.
"Maximum Ride. We meet again," he gave me a tight smile. I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Yes?"
"You don't mind if we ask you a few questions right?" asked his partner.
"What's wrong?" I frowned.
"Is your mother home?"
"She's at yoga. Why?"
They stepped inside and sat down on the couch.
"What happened with you and Lissa at the library Wednesday evening?" Oh so this is what it's about…
"She okay?" I responded coolly.
"What makes you think she isn't okay?"
"What were the two of you arguing about?" Detective Holstijic asked. "Librarian told us things were getting heated."
"It wasn't like that."
"What was it like?"
"We called each other a few names," I said, hoping we could leave it at that.
"What kind of names?"
"Stupid names," I said in retrospect.
"I'm going to need to hear those names, Max."
"I called her a slut."
The detectives exchanged a look.
"Did you threaten her?" asked Detective Holstijic.
"No."
"Where did you go after the library?"
"Home."
"Did you follow Lissa?" I scoffed.
"Sir I had more important things to do than follow her," I said.
"Like?"
"Homework," I lied. "Are you going to tell me what happened to Marcie?"
"Can anyone vouch for that?" Detective Henry asked.
"My biology partner. He saw me at the library and offered me a ride."
I had a shoulder propped against one side of the French doors leading into the room, and Detective Holstijic walked over and took up a post on the opposite side, across from me. "Let's hear about this biology partner."
"What kind of question is that?"
He spread his hands. "It's a pretty basic question. But if you want me to get more specific, I can. When I was in high school, I only offered rides to girls I was interested in. Let's carry that a step further. What's your relationship with your bio partner…outside the classroom?"
"You're joking, right?"
One side of Detective Henry's mouth hitched up. "That's what I thought. Did you have your boyfriend beat up Lissa?"
"Lissa was beat up?"
He pushed up from the doorway and positioned himself directly in front of me, sharp eyes boring into me. "Did you want to show her what happens when girls like her don't keep their mouths shut? Did you think she deserved to get a little roughed up? I knew girls like Lissa when I went to school. They ask for it, don't they? Was Lissa asking for it, Max? Someone beat her up pretty bad Wednesday night, and I think you know more than you're saying."
"Listen pal, I could've beat her up if I wanted to. I don't have a boyfriend. Besides…I said I came home and did homework, sir."
"We're going to need to talk to your boyfriend," Detective Holstijic said.
"He's not my boyfriend. He's my biology partner."
"Is he on his way here now?"
Lissa wasn't the nicest person, and she'd acquired more than a handful of enemies. A few of those enemies might be capable of brutality, but Fang wasn't one of them. Senseless beating wasn't his style. I don't even know if he can fight, for petesakes!
"No," I said.
Detective Henry gave a stiff smile. "All dressed up for a Saturday night in?"
"Something like that," I said in the coldest tone I have.
Detective Holstijic pulled a small notepad out of his coat pocket, flipped it open, and clicked his pen.
"We're going to need his name and number."
Ten minutes after the detectives left, a black Jeep Commander rolled to the curb. Fang jogged through the rain to the porch, wearing dark jeans, boots, and a thermal gray T shirt.
"New car?" I asked after I opened the door.
He gave me a mysterious smile. "I won it a couple nights ago off a game of pool." I smiled back.
"Did you hear about Lissa?" I asked.
"No what happened?"
"She got beat up."
Fang looked at me accusingly with an evil grin.
"It wasn't me," I said.
"A shame."
"Don't suspect anyone who did it?"
"Nope." Such a man of many words.
I asked myself if I thought he was hiding something.
Fang parked the Jeep behind Bo's Arcade. When we got to the front of the line, the cashier laid eyes first on Fang, then on me. I glared at him when he looked at me up and down.
"She okay?" he asked in a deep voice.
"Yeah. It's her nature being feisty," responded Fang. I stiffened when he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me to him. Fang led me away and I stomped on his foot, making him wince and release me. I followed him downstairs.
Downstairs, the pool hall looked exactly like it had the first night I'd come. Cinder block walls painted black. Red felt pool tables at the center of the room. Poker tables scattered around the fringe. Low track lighting curving across the ceiling. The congested smell of cigar smoke clogging the air.
Fang chose the table farthest from the stairs. He retrieved two 7UPs from the bar and popped their caps on the edge of the counter.
"I've never played pool before," I confessed.
"Choose a cue." He motioned to the rack of pool sticks mounted on the wall. I lifted one down and carried it back to the pool table. Then he moved behind me, placing his hands on my hips. My hands curled to fists and I stiffened. His mouth was against my ear.
"Easy," he murmured. I relaxed.
He slid his arms around me and took hold of the pool stick.
"Like this," he said, repositioning my right hand up several inches. "And…this," he went on, taking my left hand and forming a circle with my thumb and index finger. Then he planted my left hand on the pool table, like a tripod. He pushed the tip of the pool stick through the circle and over the knuckle of my middle finger. "Bend at the waist."
I did. I leaned into the pool table, with Fang's breath warming my neck. He pulled back on the pool stick, and it glided through the circle. He guided the stick to hit a triangle formed of different color balls on the opposite side. Then he released his hands on the stick and I felt his hands take off my jacket, after it was off his hands stroked my arms, going up and down. Then, he guided my hair to my right shoulder. I felt Fang's lips on my neck, nuzzling it. He groaned softly and gripped my hips.
My heart began to beat faster as he planted kisses on my neck. I gasped when he hit a sensitive spot on my shoulder. Fang's hands moved to my stomach, where he curled my shirt in his fist and pushed it up, revealing my stomach. Fang stroked it. I was in heaven. I was under his spell when reality came back to me.
I pulled away and sighed.
"Stop," I whispered. He did. He pulled his arms away and removed his lips from my neck after he kissed my pulse point once.
"Yo Fang!" shouted a voice from the door. He turned. A guy with brown hair, tall, wearing a blue shirt, jeans, boots and a black leather jacket appeared. The dude stood in front of Fang, but smiled when he saw me.
"Who's your friend?" he asked.
"Sam, this is my date, Max," said Fang.
"Pleasure to meet you," he said, winking. I rolled my eyes.
"Say if you get tired of him, maybe you and I…" he caught my hand. I stepped forward and need him in the groin.
"Shit," he breathed.
"Careful. She doesn't get along with guys who make a move on her," warned Fang.
"Is this the person who beat your ass a few weeks ago?" said Sam, after he came upright. I raised my eyebrows at Fang, who nodded at Sam.
"I thought Max was a guy," he said.
"She fights like one," smirked Fang.
"So I've noticed," he said.
Suddenly Sam lunged playfully at Fang, and the two dropped to the floor, rolling and throwing punches. There was the sound of husky laughter, fists laying into flesh, and fabric tearing, and Fang's bare back came into view. Two thick gashes ran the length of it. They started near his kidneys and ended at his shoulder blades, widening to form an upside down V. The gashes were so grotesque, my eyes widened. I've seen weird scars on people...but this...I mean did a person just grab a knife and just stab it and run it down his back? No, they look straight.
"Get off me you idiot!" shouted Sam. Fang swung off him, and as he got to his feet, his torn shirt fluttered open. He sloughed it off and tossed it into the trash can in the corner. "Give me your shirt," he told Sam. Now I know Fang is a fighter.
Sam directed a wicked wink at me. "What do you think, Max? Should we give him a shirt?"
Fang made a playful lunge forward, and Sam's hands flew up to his shoulders.
"Easy now," he said, backing up. He peeled off his blue shirt and tossed it at Fang, revealing a fitted white tee underneath.
As Fang rolled the shirt down over abs hard enough to put a flutter in my stomach, Sam turned to me, smiling. I rolled my eyes and sighed. Fang held out a hand and I took it, pulling me towards him. I came face to face with his chest, and he wrapped his arms around me.
"Let's get out of here," he said, pulling away and leading me toward the stairs.
"She's a keeper Fangles!" shouted Sam from below. I laughed.
"Fangles?" I asked. Fang smiled down at me and shrugged.
"Where are we going?" I asked him.
"You'll see," he said. Okay then…