Chapter 17
When I rolledover in my bed, Max was nowhere to be found. I headed to the kitchen when I heard dishes being moved around. The bedsheet was wrapped loosely around me as I made my way towards Max, who had his lips wrapped around the bottle of wine from lastnight.
“I didn’t know I drove you to drink so early.” I tried to make the remark playful, but I could tell something was up. I walked up to Max, taking the bottle from him. “Tell me what’swrong.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” I could see the wheels turning in his head, which started mine. He leaned back against the counter, taking me with him. “Tonight is Melanie’s last night intown.”
“Okay.” I had no idea where he was going withthis.
“I’m throwing a party at the house.” He was throwing a going away party for his sister. That was fine. But then my heart sank because it dawned on me that he was just bringing it up now. He hadn’t asked me to go with him. I tried to pull away, but Max kept me rooted againsthim.
“I’ve been trying to tell you all week, but I just didn’t know how to. My parents are in town for the party.” I froze in my struggle to get out of Max’s arms. His parents. “I want you to meetthem.”
Meet his parents. He hadn’t responded to me last night when I told him that I loved him, but now he was asking me to meet his parents. I didn’t know how to react, but I knew this was something that was going to have to happen at some point intime.
“Is thatokay?”
“Absolutely.” I made sure to settle my voice before answering him. This would be okay. I stopped struggling to get out of hisarms.
“I’ll need to leave soon to be able to go set things up, but Lilly and Erica are invited as well. You could always get with them to come over.” I thought about what he said and considered that Lilly and Erica had already known about this, too, but no one had told me. I felt left out of the group, like they were trying to purposely keep me away, but that was crazy to think. Lilly wouldn’t do that tome.
“I’ll get with Lilly to figure it out.” This time when I went to leave Max’s arms, he let me. I went back to my room, wanting to get dressed for the day. I almost didn’t feel comfortable being just wrapped in a sheet next to him now. I wanted to cover up, put that barrier between usagain.
I had started putting on my underwear when I became aware that Max was standing behind me. I could feel his eyes on my body, and it reignited the fire that was there last night. I peeked over my shoulder to see him leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. He was watching me so closely, I pulled on my thong slower as I stood up. I wiggled my ass in front of him and heard the growl that came from his core. I continued to dress in front of him, pulling on my shorts and shirt next, choosing to go braless. It was a risk, but I knew it would drive Max crazy, and he deserved it for keeping me in the dark abouttonight.
When I turned around again, I realized that Max was fully dressed, he even had shoes on. He could have left and I wouldn’t have ever known, but he stayed. It was a silver lining to the darkness that was filling mymind.
“I have to go, babe.” I reveled in his word choice, almost forgiving him. I smiled to myself, trying to hide the blush that was creeping across my face. Max came to me first, wrapping a hand around my waist and tugging me towards him. His lips crushed to mine before I could tell him goodbye. “I’ll see youlater.”
I hadn’t realized I was pulled off the ground until Max put me down, and I stood there, lightheaded. It happened almost every time he kissed me now. I didn’t know if it was because I was so drawn to him, or if my body was still thinking it was a dream. I heard the door open, but before it shut, all I could hear throughout the entire apartment was Max’s voice saying, “I loveyou.”
* * *
Iwas still lyingon the couch when Lilly came barreling through the door. She was talking so fast that I couldn’t keep up. I sat up looking at her, not saying a word. When she saw my expression, shestopped.
“What’s wrong?” Genuine concern was traced across herface.
“Max told me abouttonight.”
Her face fell instantly. “I wanted to tell you, but Max insisted that he do it in his own time.” She rushed over to the couch. “I wasn’t expecting him to wait till today. I kept telling Greg he needed to do itsooner.”
“It’s okay.” I tried to reassure her, but it was more for myself. “I think I’m justnervous.”
“About…?” Lillyprobed.
“Meeting hisparents.”
She sat back, almost shocked. “I didn’t know they were coming. They haven’t been to Georgia inyears.”
“Well, Max said they would be there, and he wants me to meet them.” I still didn’t know how I felt about this. Meeting the parents. This was something I never thought I would have to do again. How did I make sure they liked me? Because knowing Max and his back story, it was so important for them to likeme.
“They will love you.” I tried to listen to Lilly’s words, but they didn’t soothe me. I thought back to Adam’s parents and how they had been a little wary of me. I’m a loner at heart, so apparently it showed through the first time I met them. I always tried to brush it off, but their view of me never seemed to change, even once Adam and I were married. I tried to calm my brain, because even though Max was all I should be thinking about, Adam still crept into my mind. I never meant to think about him, but then again, Adam was the only other boyfriend I ever had. It hurt that the only person in my life I could compare Max to had hurt me, but I still couldn’t be sure that Max wouldn’t do the same to me. He had completely ignored my declaration of love to him. I looked up at Lilly, knowing that she could see just how scared I was, because I was terrified of what could happen. “We’ll make them loveyou.”
Lilly helped me get dressed that night. We found out that Erica would be arriving early since she needed to leave early in order to get to her parents’ house. Luckily Greg and Jack had offered to pick us up tonight, and I felt relieved knowing that it wouldn’t just be Lilly bringing me to this party, even if I wasn’t that close to Greg orJack.
The drive to Max’s house wasn’t as peaceful as I would have wanted. Greg was arguing with Lilly about something, but I didn’t have the mind to pay attention to it. I stared out the window, watching the day turn to night in a matter of minutes. I loved watching the moon peek through the clouds when there were still blue and orange hues in the sky. I hadn’t realized that we had pulled up to the house until Jack was standing outside my door. He helped me out of the car, and when I turned around everything seemed to happen in slow motion. All of the feelings that arose the first night I was here came back. I was scared, nervous, and excited in ways that I never thought I would feelagain.
Max was standing on the balcony with a few other people. I stopped my walk towards the house. He looked so in his element, and I tried to smooth down the royal-blue dress that Lilly had put me in. It was casual, but still dressy for a house party. Max was in a suit, though, and I didn’t see how I would even fit next to him. I could see the exact moment that he saw me standing there. His shoulders tensed, he stood up straight, and then searched the yard until his eyes collided with mine. A knowing smile lit his face. He excused himself from who he was talking to and entered the house. I continued my journey to the front door, where Lilly was still waiting for me with Greg andJack.
