Chapter Nine

I looked up to see that it was Max. I reached up to grab my sunglasses in a desperate attempt to make it appear that I was fine. Then, I turned on the ignition, rolled down the window, then clicked the car off again.

“Hey,” he said softly, leaning against my window.

“Hey Max,” I replied a little too cheerily. Even to me my voice sounded fake.

“Are you okay?” he asked with genuine concern filling his face.

“Um, yeah,” I lied, “I’m fine.” I forced a small giggle and choked back a sob. Max didn’t buy it one bit. He leaned forward, through the window, and took off my sunglasses. I guess he must have seen that I looked like a wreck because he quickly stepped back, opened the door, and pulled me to him. This gesture of kindness made me lose it again. I cried hard into his shoulder. I felt myself being pulled and I saw him open the door of the backseat. He ushered me in, sat me down, then followed. He closed the door gently and I put my head down on his chest. I cried and cried until I thought I couldn’t cry anymore. Eventually, I couldn’t keep myself awake anymore. I let myself fall asleep in his arms.

When I opened my eyes again, the sun was in a different position in the sky. It poured in the back windows as opposed to the front. I slowly lifted my head from Max’s chest and instantly put it back down. It was throbbing.

“Sleeping Beauty,” Max cooed. I looked up at him and he smiled down. I could only imagine just how awful I looked.

“I am so sorry,” I began, but he cut me off.

“If I didn’t want to stay, I wouldn’t have,” he said and I thought about this for a moment. Just then, I heard my phone vibrating from the passenger’s seat. “It’s been going on that way ever since you fell asleep.”

“Ugh, I’m sorry,” I said, “How did you sleep through that?”

“I managed,” he replied, helping me sit up. Once I was in an upright position, I reached over to grab my phone.

“Seventy-three missed calls,” I read aloud, “and thirty-two texts.” I sighed as I opened my phone. Every single missed call was from Ryan and out of the thirty-two texts, only two were from Geno. The rest belonged to Ryan as well. I skipped past all of Ryan’s and looked at Geno’s. The first one read “i talk to sarge. he explain it to me. i’m sorry. is not true.” The second one said “we talk later when you ready.” I then briefly scrolled through Ryan’s, all of which consisted of some form of “i’m sorry”, “i didn’t mean it”, or “i love you”. I rolled my eyes as I breezed through those messages and threw the phone down.

“Ryan?” Max asked apologetically.

“Unfortunately,” I replied. I looked over at Max who was sitting in the silence, not uncomfortably. He just smiled at me and that gesture made me want to hop in the driver’s seat and just keep driving until I was away from here. “Well, I’m sure you have to go.” I said looking down.

“I have nowhere to be,” Max replied. I was surprisingly grateful for this and relaxed into the cushions of the back seat.

“Thank you,” I said to him as I shut my eyes. I could hear his methodical breathing on my left.

“Can I get you anything? Do you want to go somewhere?” he asked me.

“Um, not right now,” I replied laughing a little. Actually all I wanted to do was sit in my car and never go back home again. A Range Rover. Daddy’s gift. It was so comfortable and I always thought that if I ever needed to live out of my car, it might not be so bad.

“Okay,” he said, “we’ll sit. Sitting’s good.”

“Sitting is indeed good,” I replied taking a deep breath. I caught a whiff of his cologne and it was divine. I breathed in deeply a few more times, making sure to breathe through my nose with extra precision.

“It’s Dolce & Gabbana,” Max remarked. He had caught me and I looked away embarrassed. I could see that my face had turned red from the reflection in the window.

“Good to know,” I mumbled into the glass.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” he asked me suddenly serious.

“Your cologne?” I questioned confused.

“No,” he laughed, “what happened. With Ryan.” He was serious again.

“Oh, I…,” I trailed off. I continued staring out the window watching the sun bounce off of other cars.

“It was me, you know,” Max stated, “I hit him.”

“I figured as much,” I answered.

“That son of a bitch deserved it,” he went on, “seeing you cry was horrible. All of the guys felt awful. It was so wrong of him to say that in front of all of us. The way he talked to you was so…so disrespectful. I couldn’t help but to hit him.”

“He made me feel worthless,” I spoke. I surprised myself with my casualty in discussing the matter. If this had been three hours earlier, I would have been a teary mess.

“You’re not,” Max comforted me, “you’re far from worthless. You’re spectacular. You’re not afraid to be yourself around anyone. You’re not afraid to have a good time. And more importantly, you’re not afraid of your feelings.” For a supposed womanizer, Max was pretty deep. “Geno cares about you. He really does. I haven’t seen him act this way with a girl before. It’s almost as if he’s infatuated. And to tell you the truth, I’m a little jealous. I thought for sure that you would have gone for me, as cocky as that sounds. But Geno is one of the nicest guys I know. I’m glad he has you. And I’ve only known you for a little while, but I already know that you’re great. And as much as it pains me, I’ll back off…for now.” He smiled at me as he finished his speech. Then he grabbed my hand and kissed each finger. “So tempting though.” He spoke into my fingers. He released my hand and I looked back at him.

“You’re great at giving pep talks,” I said smiling, this time actually feeling the smile.

“I’m great at giving other things too,” he said deviously.

“I thought you said you were gonna back off?” I asked giving him a playful shove.

“Yeah, I said it, but believe me, it’s easier said than done,” he looked at me as if he was inspecting me.

“Enough,” I said, pushing his face away.

“One kiss?” he asked me looking pitifully at me.

“I cannot believe you right now!” I laughed at him, “You just finished this whole long sweet talk and here you are acting like a womanizer.”

“One?” he pleaded.

“What happened to respecting your teammate’s girls?” I asked him.

“Um, uh, I don’t know,” he said backing off. “You drive me crazy. I mean, who can say no to me?”

“Apparently me,” I was laughing so hard it was difficult to catch my breath.

“Well, not for long,” he said again drawing nearer to me.

“You’re incredible,” I sighed.

“And is incredible good?” he questioned. My answer was another laugh and he resented that.

“Oh Max,” I said resting my head on his shoulder. He brushed my hair back from my forehead in rhythmic motion. “See! Why can’t you be like this all the time?”

“I guess I have to learn,” he sighed continuing to brush my hair. “Should I take you home?”

“As long as you’re driving,” I replied, handing him the keys.