Maze chuckles to herself before dropping down on my bed and watching as I pull my ripped jeans into place over my ass. “Trust me,” she says with a sly grin as she pulls a perfectly rolled joint out of her pocket. “I got you covered.”
I grin back at her. “Well, damn. How could I say no?”
Maze’s eyes crinkle with excitement and within seconds, we’re slipping out of my bedroom window. I pull my leather jacket on as we trail up the driveway and just when I think I’ve gotten away with it, Blake’s laughter rumbles from behind me. “Well, well. Double standards I see.”
I groan and turn around to face a smirking Blake. “Hey, I said you had a curfew of 10 pm, not me.”
“That’s bullshit,” he says, his eyes flicking between me and Maze. “Where the hell are you two going?”
“Just out,” I say as Maze gives him her best bedroom eyes which instantly gets his attention. “And no, you can’t come.”
“Oh, come on,” he groans, walking toward us. “Since when can’t I come?”
Since I plan on smoking a joint. This dirty little habit isn’t exactly something that I share with my little brother. He has a good head on his shoulders but he’s impressionable and I don’t doubt that if he comes, he’ll ask to try and it’s not something I want him getting involved with. Besides, he has basketball to think about.
“You have a curfew,” I remind him, “and I sort of explained that to Shay. She’s been sitting up, watching Netflix with Ben all night waiting for you. I don’t know what she’s expecting but I think she wants to play the supportive aunty role and make sure you’re being a good little boy and not falling in with the wrong crowd.”
Blake grins. “You mean like you,” he says, slowly trailing his gaze back to Maze and making her squirm under his stare.
“I resent that,” she shoots back at him.
“Promise, I’ll make it up to you.”
“Okay…enough of this shit,” I say, pulling out my boss bitch, big sister tone. “You need to get your ass inside before Shay sends Ben out here to find out where you are.”
“Damn it,” Blake groans. “Did you really have to tell her?”
“Of course, I did. I want the best for you even if that means having people like Shay and Ben helping me look out for you. You’ll thank me one day.”
“Doubt it,” he groans, spinning on his heel and heading back toward the house while waving over his shoulder. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
I cringe at his back. In Blake terms, that was a big ‘FU.’ Any other time, I’d get a grin, a ‘love you’ or some ridiculous joke about being safe and using protection. The fact that I didn’t get any of that tells me he’s real dirty with me. He’s never liked having people breathing down his neck and me setting the standards for Blake with Shay did exactly that, but I meant what I said. One day when he’s playing in the NBA, getting checks bigger than he could ever dream about, and has fans screaming his name, then he’ll understand why I did it. Hell, he’ll even thank me for it, but until then, I’m going to have to deal with the fact that he’s a sixteen-year-old boy and all he wants to do is screw around and party.
We hear the familiar sound of the door clicking shut behind him immediately followed by Shay’s beaming welcome, and the second we can, we make our escape. Maze and I walk along the curb of the road and considering I haven’t given this place enough of a chance to go exploring, I have no idea where I’m heading so I follow her lead.
We walk for ten minutes toward the old abandoned basketball courts as Maze chats about the kids at school, still filling me in on all the ins and outs of the people I’ll soon get to know. We stay in the shadows as Maze lights up the joint and inhales deeply. Her eyes close as she takes her hit and on opening them, she passes the joint to me.
I bring the joint to my lips and much like Maze, I take a long drag. I slowly let out my breath and watch the cloud of smoke disappearing into the breezy night air. “Shit, this is good stuff,” I commend, passing it back. “Where’d you score this?”
“Robbie McDowell. He’s a junior. He makes it his business to get to know everyone so don’t be surprised if he comes and says ‘hi’ over the next few days. He just wants to scope you out, see if he can get any cash out of you. He’s got some good hash, but don’t try his blow. I don’t know where the hell he gets it, but he overcharges and it’s shit. It’ll fuck you up and not in a good way.”