Chapter Ten

Once I was safely secure in the passenger’s seat, Max took off out of the parking lot and made his way to my house. I had given him the directions and now we drove in silence. I replaced my sunglasses and sat back with my window cracked a little. After a little while, I felt the car begin to slow but I kept my eyes shut.

“Oh. My. God,” I heard Max breathe incrediously.

“What?” I said finally opening my eyes. I saw him staring in the direction of my house. We were parked outside on the curb and I turned to my right to get a better look. There were dozens and dozens of flowers of every kind. All of which adorned my steps and the path leading up to them. There were balloons bearing the phrase “I’m sorry” tied to the banisters and the railings. And finally, there were stuffed animals of every size scattered throughout the floral mess.

“Wow,” Max stated simply.

“Keep driving,” I said, not wanting to face all of that nonsense in front of my house.

“Where to?” he asked me, pulling out from the curb.

“Anywhere,” I answered, fully meaning it. I resumed my former position. Eyes closed, with my head resting on the back of the seat. I’m not sure if I dozed off or not, but before I knew it, the car was stopped and the engine was off. I opened my eyes to see this adorable house. It was brick-faced with a cute little well kept flowerbed in front.

“I’m renting,” Max grumbled as he got out of my car. He came over to my side and opened the door for me, helping me out of the car. He led me up the steps and into the house. The inside was just as adorable as the outside.

“This is so cute!” I squealed as I walked around the spacious living room.

“Again, I’m renting,” Max countered.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever you say,” I responded. “I wish my house looked like this!” At this remark, Max gave a small smile, clearly more comfortable than before.

“It could,” he said wrapping his arms around my waist. “Marry me.” I laughed and stepped away from him.

“Okay, one, you’re renting, so you most likely wouldn’t be living here forever and two, no,” I said to him. “And you say Geno’s infatuated? Take a look in the mirror buddy.” I shoved past him and walked into the kitchen. The granite countertops glistened from the overhead lights. I ran my hand all along the counter until Max pulled it away.

“Such lovely hands,” he said, grabbing the other one as well. I pulled them both away from him and continued into the living room. Finally, I plopped down on the couch.

“I like it,” I said, giving my seal of approval.

“My offer still stands,” Max said smiling at me.

“I think I’ll pass,” I returned. He looked at me amused.

“Hungry?” he asked making his way back to the kitchen.

“Starving,” I said as I took a seat at the island. “What do you have?”

“Everything,” Max said as he opened the fridge. And it did indeed seem as if he could have everything. It was massive.

“I think I’ll have Chinese,” I said, pulling a menu out from underneath a bowl of fake fruit.

“Ah, good choice,” Max said, looking over my shoulder to read the menu.

“You don’t have to stand so far away,” I said sarcastically. However, he took this as a cue to move even closer. His lips grazed my neck as he read off his potential wants from the menu. I ducked away and walked to the other side of the kitchen and perched myself on a countertop. “Wow, so much more spacious.” I let my legs swing back and forth.

“Even from over there, you still attract me,” Max spoke, leaning on the counter.

“You know that made no sense, right?” I asked him. “Just order.”

“Fine, what are you having?” he looked down at the menu and tried to decide for himself.

“Um, I’ll have the General Tso’s Chicken. Not spicy,” I recited the same order I always had.

“Freak,” he replied.

“What’s wrong with my order?” I asked turning around to look through his cabinets.

“The whole point of that is for the spiciness,” he said, still staring down at the menu. He finally made up his mind because within the next few minutes he was calling in the order. “It’ll be about half an hour. And I know exactly what we can do in that time.”

“And I know exactly what we won’t be doing,” I replied, moving back to the living room. I laid down on the couch and stretched across the whole thing. Max came over and laid on top of me.

“This is quite cozy, dontcha think?” he asked, nuzzling his face into my neck.

“Um, no,” I pushed him off of me and he made a thud upon hitting the floor.

“You like it rough?” he asked me.

“Yes, but in this case, no,” I responded grabbing the remote. I turned on the television and began a boring game of channel surfing. By the time I got to 1024, the doorbell rang.

“A delivery for Max?” I heard the man say.
“Yup,” Max returned. I heard the rustling of the bag and the exchange of money. In a moment, Max walked back into the kitchen. I followed and watched as he sat the food down and opened a cabinet.

“Whatcha getting?” I asked as he continued to search.

“Plates,” he said matter-of-factly.

“You don’t need to impress me, to tell you the truth, I actually love eating out of the cartons,” I said smiling at him as he turned around.

“Thank God,” he sighed, “me too.” Max ended his search and came back to the bag. We each grabbed a carton, then switched when we realized we grabbed the wrong ones. Max then made his way over to the table.

“Nope,” I said pulling him away, “we’re eating on the couch, in front of the T.V. where all Chinese food should be eaten.” Max looked absolutely relieved and grabbed his container as he followed me to the living room. I grabbed the remote and found a hockey game as we settled in to eat our food. It was Dallas against San Jose. I was definitely rooting for Dallas. I couldn’t help it. Loui Eriksson was a hottie. Now I know how that makes me sound like a severe puck bunny. However, I actually do love the sport. I just also appreciate that the men playing it happen to be quite attractive. We ate our food and talked animatedly about the game while I tried to convince him to admit that he’d fuck Loui.

“You know he’s a fine piece of ass,” I said as they showed a close up on him. “Plus he has that gorgeous accent. And those gorgeous eyes. And that gorgeous nose.”

“I would not fuck him!” Max protested.

“You don’t wanna do him even a little bit?” I asked. He contemplated this for a moment before sighing.

“Ugh fine, I guess I would,” Max said, “but I’m only agreeing with you because you’re hot.”

“I’ll take that,” I answered smiling. “I love me some Loui.” I closed my eyes and sunk into the couch. It was one of the most comfortable couches I had ever been on.

“Now what?” Max asked, clicking off the T.V.

“Actually, do you mind if I take a shower?” I asked, starting to get up.

“Be my guest,” he said. With this I scampered out to my car, grabbed my gym bag, and ran back inside. I knew keeping the bag in my car would come in handy someday.

“I have shampoo and shorts,” I said, rifling through the bag. “I just need a shirt.”

“That can be taken care of,” Max said as he led me upstairs and into the master bathroom. The shower was immense, with a rainhead showerhead. After I put my stuff down in the bathroom, Max went into the bedroom and looked through some drawers. He eventually came back into the bathroom with a t-shirt yielding “Talbot” on the back in bold letters, the number 25 beneath it. It was his Penguin’s shirt.

“A little full of ourselves are we?” I asked as I put the shirt down and began to close the door. “Be out in a few.”

Max’s Point of View:
I watched her walk into the bathroom and shut the door behind herself. I heard the door click and the water begin to pound. I closed my eyes and imagined her in the shower, the water glistening over her perfect figure. I had to shake my head clear and keep myself under control. It took so much energy not to bust down the door and run in there. I leaned my head against the door and sighed, dying to be in that room. As soon as I did this, as if on command, I heard her let out a moan and I lost control. I banged my hand on the door without even knowing it and made a grab for the knob. I twisted it sharply and much to my dismay, it was locked. Thank God it was though because I don’t know what I would have done if I was granted access through the door. This gave me time to back up and I took a few deep breaths and headed downstairs. Fresh air was what I needed.

I headed towards the back door and on my way walked through the kitchen. As I walked through, I heard Riley’s cell vibrate on the counter. I looked over to see that it was Ryan.

“Hey Ryan,” I answered.

“Max?” he asked uncertain of who it was.

“Yeah that’s right,” I replied, leaning on the counter.

“Why the fuck are you answering Riley’s phone?” he asked angrily.

“Because she’s in the shower and can’t get to it right now,” I said coolly.

“What?!” he shouted.

“Yeah, so can I take a message?” I asked in a mocking tone. I heard him take a deep breath on the other end of the line.

“Tell her to call me,” he said quickly before hanging up.

“Yeah right,” I said aloud as I shut the phone. I replaced it to its original spot on the counter then walked to the back door. I stepped outside and looked up into the sky. It was a clear night and the moon was full. All I could think about was Riley. She was so perfect and all I wanted was her. I never felt like this about any girl before. She was different than any other girl I’d been with. She was so comfortable being herself with anyone. That quality alone made her so attractive. Well, not to mention that she was super hot. She had a body to die for. She was gorgeous. Thinking about her made me crazy. I let myself daydream for a while as I stared up into the sky.