Page 86 of Just for the Cameras
Maple gasps as she turns. “Oh my God, Hank? What are you doing here?”
Who the hell is Hank?
I can barely process the question before Maple is dropping me like a piece of trash and securing her arms around the strange man’s neck, pulling him into a hug. I watch as he loops his arms around her waist, picks her up, and starts spinning her around.
What.
The.
Fuck.
Spinning her? Seriously? He has about two fucking seconds to put her down before I do it for him.
“Holy shit,” he whispers while he sets her on her feet and looks her up and down. “Wow, Maple, you look incredible.”
“Thank you,” she says, beaming. Like, actual light is seeping from every pore in her face as she stares at this fucking nimrod. “You, wow, have you been working out?”
Have you been working out?
Uh, fucking excuse me?
He shamelessly flexes his bicep. “Oh, you know, a little.”
“Well, you look great.” She wets her lips, letting her eyes roam over him.
“So do you.”
He does the same, staring far too long at her curves for my liking.
And then silence falls, an unspoken exchange passing between them.
He smiles.
She smiles.
He shakes his head in disbelief.
She coyly tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
I stand there watching the entire exchange, my fist clenching at my side, ready and willing to break bones.
What the fuck is going on?
He laughs. “Wow, when I moved here, I thought—”
“You moved here?” she asks, bouncing on the goddamn tips of her toes.
“Yeah, about a week ago. I thought about calling you, but I didn’t know…wasn’t sure of your situation.”
“There’s no situation. I’m totally—”
“Unavailable,” I say as I step in, only towering over this guy by a few inches. I wish it was fucking more. IwishI was so much bigger than this fuck that when I stepped up next to him, his stupid little fucking knees quivered with fear.
“Yeah, I was going to say, looked like you were very much…unavailable.”
Maple stiffens next to me as I slide my arm around her waist, letting my fingers dig into the fabric of her dress.
“I’m available for coffee, though, with a friend,” she says, hope in her eyes.
