Page 10 of Invisible String (The Underground #1)

RAINEY

I ’ve waited for Max to knock on my door or for us to run into each other for the past few days.

It seemed he avoided me like the plague after our dinner.

I played back that night to see what I did wrong.

Was it too intimate? Two friends having dinner is not a big deal, but it didn’t seem that way.

It felt like more to me. Maybe that scared him away.

I didn’t expect Lana to show up. Honestly, her showing up hit me with disappointment.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my best friend, but I wanted to have Max to myself.

The guy she’s hooking up with is okay. It’s the guy from the party.

The other guy she brought with them is supposed to be a hookup for me.

I hadn’t spoken to Lana about Max until she showed up here.

She was in shock when I told her he’s, my neighbor.

Lana knows how upset I was when Max never returned to school that year.

He consistently crossed my mind.

Peter, the friend of Lana’s hook-up, is so damn annoying.

The guy was so drunk and horny he was like a chihuahua in heat.

Every time he would get near me, I would move.

Thinking if I jumped into the hot tub, he would not follow.

Wrong. He did. Then I saw Max coming around from his run, I assume.

When Lana screamed his name, I figured he wouldn’t want to come over.

Max is an antisocial type of guy. I’ve learned a little about mental health.

Not much, since I still have a way to go with my schooling.

I’m surprised Max told me his mom passed.

Maybe that’s why he’s quiet. He lost her at a young age.

The need to be next to him has been borderline obsessive.

I know I’m scaring myself. The pull is so strong that I jumped out of the hot tub and ran to him, dripping and all.

He seemed angry, maybe jealous. I’m fooling myself.

Why would he? Wishful thinking that he was jealous.

When he opened the door like an angry god, that’s when my heart did jumping jacks.

Max cared for me in his own strange way.

Now, his soft, tender lips skim against mine. The heat of his body seeps into mine and rushes to every vessel. He smells of Ivory soap and spice. My chest rises and falls like crashing waves. I can’t believe he wants to kiss me. Our breaths mingle as I swipe my tongue over his lips.

“Raineyyy,” Lana yells, causing me to jump up. “Oh, ohh.” Her hand goes over her mouth. Seriously, she has to come at the worst time. In flash speed, I jump out of the water. My feet slap on the wet wood as I rush to Lana, standing below the balcony.

I give her the stink eye, although she’s not affected by it. She smiles widely. That only makes my frustration rise with the need to strangle her. I grab her arm and drag her back some. “What are you doing here? Did something happen?” I whisper.

“No, I wanted to see if you guys wanted to come tubing tomorrow,” she whisper shouts.

“And that couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”

She looks behind me to peer at Max. “Oh my gosh. Rainey, he’s hot as a habanero pepper and cute as a cucumber. He’s very muscular,” she shouts, tipsy from the alcohol. “Sorry, I interrupted. I didn’t know you were about to suck face. Damn, you guys move fast.” She giggles.

I pinch her side. “Shut it, Lana.”

“Ouch, jeez, bestie,” she whines.

“Well, you have a fat mouth.”

“He’s definitely hotter than the professor,” she shouts, grinning toward Max.

I’m terrified to turn around.

“Does he know?”

“I think it’s time you go back to your date, hook-up, or whatever he is,” I whisper, tugging on her arm.

“Bye, Max, it’s good to see you again.” She points to him, then to me. “You guys get back to it.”

“I’m so going to suffocate you in your sleep.”

Lana winks and walks off.

Oh, my God. I’m afraid to turn around to face him.

I’m not the type of girl to get embarrassed, but with Max, my body seems to want to melt.

Slowly, I spin on my heels. Max leans his head on the log cabin wall of the house while his feet are still dangling in the warm, gurgling water. His lips form a straight line.

Twiddling my fingers, I say in a low voice. “Sorry, about her?—”

“She hasn’t changed much? Huh? Seven years and still a loudmouth.” His lips turn. In the last hour, he’s relaxed somewhat with me. His smile is one to remember. If only he would let me see the rest of him.

“No, she hasn’t. If anything, she has gotten worse at running her mouth. She is so blunt. I’m not sure if it’s a blessing or a curse.” I laugh, walking to him.

“Do you want to go inside? You’re cold.” The heat in his gaze rolls over my body, landing on my cold, erect nipples.

My face heats. I’m grateful he can’t see me clearly. It’s dark, and neon light spills across my face.

“Sure, we can go inside. It’s getting chilly.” I gesture with my hands to my body. “And I’m still wet.”

Max climbs out, reaches for a towel on the patio chair, and hands it to me. Taking it, I dry myself and then wrap it around my waist. I’m so angry Lana ruined the kiss. I can still feel the lingering of his lips on mine. He opens the sliding door, and I trail behind him.

“Follow me to the room. I’ll get you some clothes,” Max mutters in his gruff tone.

It would make perfect sense to go back to my cabin to change, but the hell with that.

I’d rather wear Max’s clothes. The house is stunning as we walk up the stairs.

There are photos of wild animals—bears, to be exact.

It resembles an old cottage home. There are no family photos, but since it’s a rental, they can’t really have them up.

He pulls open a drawer and takes out a pink shirt and some spandex shorts.

Women’s clothing. Why does he have women’s clothing?

Is it an ex or some random hook-up? Jealousy churns in my gut.

“Here, I’m not sure if they’ll fit.”

I snatch them from his hold. His brows pinch together at my ludicrous attitude.

“Who do they belong to?” I extend the clothes in front of me. A little too small for me.

“Not mine,” he jokes.

Yes, Max joked. His green eyes sparkle in amusement. Can he tell I’m jealous? I hope not.

“They don’t fit. I have more curves than this chick.” My tone is sassy as I toss them on the bed.

A small chuckle leaves his lips, causing me to jut my head up. As much as I would like to drown in his husky laugh and bottle it up, I want to know what’s so funny. I mean, the guy never laughs.

“What’s so funny?” I mutter under my breath, turning from him to hide my embarrassment.

“Nothing, Rain. Just didn’t think you’d get all worked up over a pair of women’s clothes.”

“I didn’t get worked up.” My voice comes out like a child throwing a tantrum.

“I beg to differ. You had smoke rings coming out of your ears.”

It’s clear he heard jealousy in my tone, and I hate that I’m being this way.

“Whatever.” I fold my arms to my chest.

Max digs into a black container and pulls out a shirt and a pair of boxers.

“Put these on. I don’t have fucking curves, but I’m sure you’ll have room in them,” he muses.

Who knew Max had a sense of humor?

“Shut it.” I grab them out of his hand.

“You can change in here if you’d like, or you can take a warm shower. I’ll be in the living room.”

I nod, watching him walk toward the doorway. Just before he shuts the door, he turns. “And sunshine, I don’t know who’s those clothes belong to.” He smirks, shutting the door.

My eyes widen, and my mouth gapes.

Sunshine.

Twenty minutes later, I made my way back to the living room.

I showered, then slipped his boxers and shirt on.

They fit loosely but smell of him. Max leans back on the sofa, his legs spread.

He’s flipping through YouTube. I’m unsure whether I should sit next to him.

Instead, I sit on another sofa opposite him.

“What are you watching?”

He looks up from the TV. “Just scrolling. I like to watch old boxing matches.”

“Cool,” I say nervously, tucking my legs under my bottom. “Have you boxed? Like with others professionally?”

“I have, but not professionally. I’m an amateur boxer.” He shrugs. “Maybe someday I can go pro.”

Something inside tells me he will. It means a lot to me he confessed his dream. “I’m sure you will.”

For the next fifteen minutes, we watch boxing matches.

I love how he studies the fights. He scrunches his nose in concentration.

He hands me the remote and asks me to pick something.

I pick a classic. Rocky . He loves to box.

Might as well watch something he loves. We go through the first half of the movie in silence, stealing glances at one another.

When my gaze is on the TV, I can feel his stare on me.

I wonder if he’s thinking of the kiss we almost had.

I know I am. I want to feel his lips on mine.

“I would offer you snacks, but I don’t have any,” he finally says after our silence.

“No worries, I’m good. Maybe I should go. It’s getting late.” It’s past midnight, and I’m sure he wants to be alone.

He stands to peer out the window-opening the plastic blinds. “The cock sucker is still outside.”

I stand to see who he’s talking about. Peter is sitting on a lounge chair. He keeps glancing at Max’s place. My guess is he’s waiting for me.

“If you want to go back, I can walk you and tell him to fuck off if he bothers you. Or you can sleep in one of the beds in the upstairs rooms,” Max says, still peeking out the window.

I wonder if he wants me to stay. He wouldn’t ask if he didn’t.

“It’s probably best to stay. I’m sure Lana is getting busy with Dan, and I don’t want to hear it.” I rub my thighs. “Umm, that’s if it’s okay. I don’t want to disturb you.”

Max takes a step back from the window.

“It’s not a big deal.” He shrugs. “I’m just going to watch TV.”

It’s such a lame excuse because I could go back to the house.

It’s quite spacious. It’s not like I can’t close the bedroom door and ignore Peter.

Max sits back on the stiff leather sofa.

His jaw tightens, and his fist goes to his mouth.

I sit back, but this time closer to him on the long sofa he’s sitting on. The movie has about ten minutes left.

“Max?”

He cocks his head to the side.

“Do you remember the book we read as kids under the tree?”

His brows deepen in concentration. “The one with birds in it? The taboo one?”

I laugh. “It didn’t have birds in the story, per se, but the book is called Thorn Birds .”

“Yeah, you only read one or two chapters.” He leans back on the sofa. “Did you finish the book?”

“No, I wanted to finish it with you.”

His face stays neutral. I want to kick myself in the butt for sounding so incredibly ridiculous.

“I didn’t want to read on. I wasn’t sure if you’d come back, and after some time passed, I forgot about the book until now.”

I really didn’t forget. It’s on my bookshelf. The thought of reading it didn’t sit well with me because I knew my mind would drift off to him. It was always, “What happened to him?”

“Maybe you should read it. Tell me what happened to Meg? Wasn’t that her name?”

I pull out my phone, and it’s a good thing I have the Kindle app. I’m always reading on my phone.

“Let’s find out,” I say while searching for it, and then I download it. Max lies on the sofa with his head on the armrest. His long legs touch my thighs. Well, his sock-covered feet. “Okay, I downloaded it.”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean by what?” I ask, confused.

“How do you download it? Like, is it pirated?”

My eyes widen. “No, you dummy. It’s an ebook.”

He peers up at me, one brow raised.

“It’s a book you buy online, and it saves on your phone.”

“Huh,” is all he says.

“You really don’t read books?”

He shakes his head. “Nah, don’t have time for that, but I don’t mind you reading to me.”

My head flops onto the opposite armrest of the sofa. My legs go between his. He says nothing about it. “Then let’s get started, shall we? We’ll start from the beginning.”