"Shit!"
My head snaps up from my dinner. I haven't eaten anything; just pushed the food around on my plate.
"What on earth was that?" my mother questions, eyebrows raised.
I quickly push my chair back and stand, heading for the door. I know that voice.
Sure enough, it's Max. I gaze at her, surprised.
She shrieks. Milly's gotten to her, and is now attacking her with kisses. I grin.
She scowls at me. "A little help, please?"
I respond by holding out my hand. She grabs it, and I pull her up, then grab her to make sure she doesn't fall again. She's wearing heels, which is a poor decision on her part. No wonder she fell.
I look up to find her staring at me. She blushes when I stare back.
"So, uh…I guess you're wondering what I'm doing here." She stammers.
"It did cross my mind." I say. I haven't let her go yet.
She frowns, and I am unsure why. She focuses her stare on me again, but I'm not uncomfortable. I stare right back.
"Want to invite me inside?" she finally asks.
I glance down at my sock covered feet-now soaked from standing on the ice-and her bare legs.
"I think that would be a good idea."
I lead her inside, not letting go of my hold around her waist. Wouldn't want her to fall, of course.
My mom is waiting for us. By the looks of it, she was watching us through the screen door. I introduce her to Max, but don't stick around to explain anything to her. Instead, I take Max upstairs to my old bedroom. She immediately sits on the edge of the bed and pulls off her heels.
"You should really shovel your driveway," she remarks smartly.
I raise an eyebrow at her. "You should really not wear heels in the middle of winter."
She glares back at me. "There wasn't snow in Arizona."
"Why are you here?" I ask.
She sighs, and stands up. She stops right in front of me. Once again, she is staring at me. Once again, I stare back. Her gaze doesn't waver this time.
"You love me," she finally whispers, not breaking our gaze.
"Do I?" I murmur. I know she hears.
Max takes a step back, still not breaking her stare. Now she is all business.
"Yes, you do. I've been over it again and again-" she turns away from me here, pacing. "-and I've figured it out. The smiles, the compliments, the laughs, the flowers. You've liked me since I started working there, haven't you?" She's back to staring at me.
"How exactly did you reach this conclusion?" I ask, ignoring her question.
She blushes. "I had a bit of help. My sister, Nudge. But then, right as we were leaving for my mom's company party, I remembered the time I told you-" she stops suddenly and bites her lip, finally breaking our gaze.
I raise an eyebrow, silently telling her to continue. After a long pause, she finally does.
"I told you how if I ever had a boyfriend, he could make me the happiest woman in the world by buying me this necklace." She breaks eye contact with me to pull it out of her dress. It's a silver necklace, with a pair of open wings encrusted with diamonds at the pendant.
She looks up at me again. "You said, 'He would have to love you a lot, to buy you that necklace.'"
I don't say anything.
She takes a step towards me.
"I found the necklace on my desk, right before I left for break. I knew it was you, but you left before I could talk to you." She whispers, taking another step forward. I don't back away, and don't say anything, either.
"Why?" She asks.
She's standing right in front of me now, mere inches away.
"I might have been afraid to see your reaction. You don't seem to react well to guys hitting on you." I say, scratching my neck.
Max rolls her eyes. "If by guys, you mean the Sam, the office perv."
"And Dylan, and the guy from the coffee shop, and those guys we passed on the street that one time…" I list.
She sighs, exasperated. "Yeah, because none of those guys were you."
I barely contain a snort. "You're kidding."
She blushes. "Not at all. Turns out, I've liked you for a while."
I raise an eyebrow. "'Turns out'?"
"Apparently, when you can't stop thinking about a guy, and you always smile when he's around, and you hate it when girls flirt with him, and you get butterflies whenever he stands close to you, that means you like him." She waves her hand. "Or whatever." She's still blushing.
I cock my head to the side. "Are you embarrassed, Ms. Ride?"
She glares at me. "Are you going to kiss me or not?"
"Hm. Maybe. I haven't decided yet."
She rolls her eyes. "Oh, fuck it." She reaches out and grabs me by the hair, pulling me towards her. Our lips meet. My arms wrap around her waist and pull her to me. We don't break apart for a long time.
In case you didn't get it, Fang was at his mom's house for Thanksgiving or Christmas (it really doesn't matter). Fang and Max met at work, where they became friends and started liking each other. Milly is a dog.
This has been sitting on my hard drive for six months. I was originally going to fix it up and do something more with it, but I opened it for the first time in a long time today and liked it how it was. So here it is. Maybe I'll add to it someday.