Butts and Suds is a small diner located on the city line of Trenton and Dover. It’s the sort of mom-and-pop place you’d find off the side of an interstate after a long road trip. Maddox turns left and rolls his pickup in an empty space, next to another truck. The side of the restaurant, with its four long-paneled windows, faces the unpaved parking lot so that the occupants of the diner are able to look out at whoever is coming in and vice versa. It’s as small on the inside as it is on the outside, even more so considering how packed it is. We walk into a din of more than fifty patrons immerse in conversations interrupted by the occasional laughter and the clacking of silverware. There are people seated on red-cushioned stools lined beneath a long counter to the left while on the right fifteen or so booths matching the red of the stools stretch a short distance down to the kitchen area.

“Eh, Suzy, you got a table for me?”

The heavyset woman behind the counter with graying auburn hair twisted up in a bun and a greasy white apron tied over her powder blue uniform smiles big at the sight of Maddox.

“Last booth by the kitchen.”

While I slide in on one side of the booth, he walks away for a brief moment and returns with two Styrofoam cups of fountain drinks.

“The only thing good to drink here is the sweet tea,” he says, setting one of the cups in front of me and taking a seat.

“So, tell me…”

“Been a while, kiddo,” the waitress from earlier interrupts, the same warm, wide smile brightening her weathered features. She looks about fifty, with deep frown lines carved across her forehead. “How you been? Staying out of trouble?”

Maddox scoffs. “Never learned how, Suze.”

She laughs. “Don’t I know it? Always have been a real pain in the ass, even when your mom brought you around.” Her glance strays to me. “You know he used to go behind that counter right there, take our tip jar and help himself? His mom didn’t know what the hell to do with him. God bless that woman’s soul, she was such a sweetheart. I still can’t believe it happened like that. She didn’t deserve any of that. None of you guys did. Your old man was such a bastard.”

It’s remarkable how quickly his expression of casual tolerance vanishes. Nothing immediately takes its place. He just stares straight ahead, right through me, like he’s trapped in a memory. He doesn’t say anything, but he’s radiating so much hostility, it’s like sitting across from a heat lamp.

He reaches over to pick up his cup. “Here’s to hoping he’s roasting in hell,” he announces, and drinks and drinks until it’s all gone. Despite all the noise around us, there’s a cloud of tension hanging over us in that instant.

Knowing she probably said far more than she should have, Suzy clears her throat before taking out her pencil and pad. “What’ll be, kiddo, the usual?”

“Yup.” Short and concise.

Jotting it down, she turns to me. “And you, sweetheart?”

I shake my head. “I’m okay, thank you.”

“Order something,” he grumbles, his gaze boring into me.

“Uh…maybe some fries…?”

“You got it. Basket of fries, coming up. Hang tight. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“You follow me around school, you’re at this bullshit therapy group I’ve been forced to go to, and now you’ve come all the way down to my little shithole with some stupid-ass excuse about homework. I don’t know what the fuck you want, but I’m going to make it real easy for you and tell you I’m not…”

“I want to draw you,” I blurt out.

He looks at me like I’ve gone brain-dead. I raise a hand to sweep my hair behind my ear with a sigh. “I’m applying to the New England Institute of Art, and they need my portfolio by December. I’ve been following you around because you have this look I think would translate really well onto a canvas. I thought I could capture your likeness from far away and not have to bother you, but…” I raise my shoulders to align with my ears and let them drop with a sigh as my eyes drop down to the black-speckled tabletop.

“Look at me.”

I can’t say why his directives have such an unquestionable effect on me, or why. I can’t seem to deny them. But without even the slightest hint of hesitation, they fly to meet his brooding, pewter gaze.

“Continue what you were saying.”

Another sigh. “But I need you sitting in front of me in order to get your angles and contours exactly how I’d like them.” It’s so hard to hold his stare, especially when embarrassment warms my face like it is now. “I was hoping you’d let me draw you.”

With his razor blade stare fixing steadily on me, he raises his arms and folds them behind his head. “Why not ask Noah? We have the same face.”

“Actually, you don’t…not really.” At the intrigued cock of his left eyebrow, I look away before elaborating. “I know you’re twins, but Noah’s face is more symmetrical, his features are delicate, beautiful even. But you…you’re…”

“Uglier,” he quips, the corner of his mouth flirting with a boyish grin.

I shake my head, “Far from it.” I lick my lips as my eyes dart to his face before looking away again. “You’re…rugged. Striking. There’s a hardness about you that’s really compelling. It’s hard not to stare at you.” I bite my tongue at the unsolicited admission.

There’s a soft exhalation of a chuckle before he asks, “What’s in it for me?”

I flush, not sure the tone of his inquiry is entirely innocent. “I don’t have a lot of money…”

“Not interested in your money,” he inserts dismissively.

“Okay. I can tutor you. I’m assuming with all the class you’ve missed out on so far you probably have a lot of catching up to do. I can help.”

He gives a shake of his dark head. “That’ll just end up wasting not only your time but mine too. My time is pretty fucking valuable right now.”

It doesn’t take a genius to surmise exactly where that valuable time is spent. Without warning, my mind conjures the image of his lean, muscular body adorned with all those beautiful tattoos. It’s emblazon across my mind like a billboard pictorial off the interstate. Nine inches. Circumcised. That sudden thought is plucked from my memory bank. My eyes widen and I can feel the palpable heat in my face, mortified that I even know that. “What do you want then?” An alarming sense of dread tiptoes down my spine the instant those words leave my mouth. That sensation is made worse by the sight of the Grinch-like smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.

I open my mouth to ask him the reason behind the grin but I’m interrupted by our waitress’ return. I’m partially grateful to her for saving me from making a complete fool out of myself. Again. Though another part of me is still somewhat curious to hear his response.

“Here you are, kiddos. A Sudsy bacon double cheeseburger with the works and a side of loaded curly fries for you.” She sets the massive burger and fries in front of him. “And here’s your basket of fries. I had Sudsy add a bit more for you, honey, you look like you need to eat more. Flag me down if you need anything else.” With that she waddles away to another table, leaving me to wonder whether I was just insulted.

“She’s a real pro in the subtlety department,” he remarks dryly, taking a big bite of his burger. In the time it takes him to polish off his food, there’s little to no conversation between us. While mindlessly nibbling on my basket of fries, I occasionally glance his way. It’s odd that I find him eating something so simple, so utterly appealing. He eats like he hasn’t eaten in days, with a strong, voracious appetite that seems insatiable. I catch his gaze while he licks his fingers of the ketchup on his fries. There’s an irreverent glint in gun-metal eyes that suddenly speaks of so much more than just his literal appetite.

In that instant, despite that we are in a crowded place, I feel every inch a prey. His prey. How quickly and how thoroughly will he subdue me? I continue to wonder. What would it feel like to be subdued by someone like him? He can very well leap over the table separating us right now to gobble me up and…and I don’t think I would mind it at all. The part of me that reigns over my inner kingdom of insanity would douse herself in a vat of ketchup if it meant being licked clean by Maddox’s tongue. That thought is accompanied by a very lurid, very graphic image that unnerves me so much that I’m not even sure how to process it.