Hands Where I Can See Them
Chapter Three
Max's P.O.V
As soon as I was out of work, which was early, around five, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Fang's phone number.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Hey, Fang. It's Max." I said, getting into my car.
"Max! What's up?"
"Just got off work. Driving home."
"On the phone while driving, eh? You work at a police station. You'd think you'd obey the law."
"Well, I wanted to talk to you. Plus, when you're a cop- or a detective- you get away with a lot."
"Lucky," I could tell he was holding the phone away from his face. "Ella! Be careful! That's hot!" he yelled.
"Fang? Everything okay?" I asked.
"Um… Yeah. Fine. Hey, um. What are you doing tonight?"
"Nothing really. My brother's out with his friends. So I was going to read or something."
"Do you want to come over here? I'm making dinner. Did you eat?"
"Sure. I didn't eat. I'll be over in a few minutes. I'm just down the street from your apartment building. So I'll be there in a few."
I could feel my cheeks getting hot.
"Ella! I told you not to touch that!" Fang said, holding the phone away from his mouth, "I have to go, Max. I'll see you when you get here."
I put my phone on the dashboard.
I couldn't stop thinking- or wondering - who Ella was. Whoever she was, I was going to find out when I got to Fang's apartment.
Which I did about two minutes later.
I headed up to Fang's apartment and knocked on the door.
After about a minute, he opened the door… holding a little girl…?
"Aww, who's this?" I asked, as Fang stepped out of the way so I could come inside.
There comes a time in everyone's life where "That's what she said" jokes become an everyday occurrence.
"Ella. She's… my daughter."
My eyes widened.
"Daughter?"
"Yeah, there was an incident with some beer and a broken rubber five years ago."
"Ah. I see."
"Told you I was no virgin."
"Now I see what you mean."
"Daddy… Who's she?" Ella asked Fang.
"This is my friend Max, Ells." He cuddled her closer to him.
He closed the door and sat Ella on the floor.
"Max, want to come help with dinner?"
"Sure."
He and I went into the kitchen and stood by one of the counters.
"Um, Fang?" I asked.
"Yeah?"
"Where was Ella when you were arrested?" I muttered.
"With her mom."
"Oh. Okay."
"Why?"
"Just wanted to make sure she wasn't here. By herself when her father was in jail."
"She's only here three days a week. Her mom has her the rest of the week." He looked sad when he said that.
"But you wish she were here more often."
"Of course I do. She's my baby girl. She's the only girl in my life that ever sticks around for more than a month. Watch, Lissa will be gone within the next week."
"Well, maybe just randomly having sex with girls makes them think they can leave."
"I've never been one to have a full-on relationship with someone. Its always sex, wake up in the morning and she's gone. I've never woken up with a girl next to me. They've always been gone before I woke up."
"Eek. Harsh. Like I said, maybe the random sex is making the girls feel like they could just up and leave, then expect you to fuck them when they ask."
"I guess."
The stove timer beeped, so Fang turned around and pulled a casserole dish out.
"Mac and cheese?" I asked, feeling my mouth start to water.
"With cubes of ham and bread crumbs on top. It's Ella's favorite."
"Mmm. It sounds amazing."
"It is."
He turned around and got three plates, a big scooping spoon, and three forks out of a cupboard and drawer.
He scooped out some for me, Ella, and himself.
"Ells, come here. Dinner's ready."
Ella bounced over and hopped up onto a bar stool in front of the counter.
All three of us ate in almost silence.
At one point, Ella started talking about how she and her mom went to Coney Island last week and how she was on a Ferris wheel and she was so scared, wishing her Daddy was there with her.
After dinner, Ella went into her room to go to sleep.
"I'll be in to tuck you in in a minute, Ells."
"Kay, Daddy."
"She is so cute." I told Fang as he started to clean up.
"I know, right? She's everything to me."
"Want me to do the dishes? You can go tuck her in?"
"No, no, it's fine."
"I insist. Go tuck her in."
He nodded, took his hands out of the soapy water and dried them off before going off into Ella's room to tuck her in.
I finished doing the dishes and waited, leaning my arms on the counter, for him to come back.
About five minutes later, he did.
"So, Max, what now?"
"I have to say, I'm surprised. First, you can cook! Amazingly! Which I'm sure none of those other girls knew. And second, you're a father. Which is probably why you reacted the way you did when you were brought into the station for questioning."
"That's exactly why. I didn't want people to think I was a rapist with a five year old daughter. They'd take her away from me."
"Which would practically kill you."
"Exactly."
"Well, nobody's gonna take her from you. We all know you didn't do it. Except I think I know who did."
Fang came to the side of the counter I was on and poured two mugs of coffee.
"Who?" he asked, handing me a mug.
I looooooove coffee. It's like my best friend. And I drink it black.
"I think it was her dad."
"Why?"
"Because, you said he freaked out when he saw you in her room and called the police? Well, my guess is that he knew you didn't rape Abby, but he needed to get it off his conscience that he did."
"That's pretty smart actually. But why do you think it was her dad?"
"Because, when we checked the DNA samples we found, we found your sample, that to be honest, I don't want to know where it came from, Abby's sample from the tests we took, and a sample found on Abby's bed sheets. And the sample found on Abby's sheets was semen. And the Y chromosome from Abby's sample and the sample from her sheets matched. So it was a male from her dad's side of the family."
"Oh wow. But wouldn't Abby have told someone that her dad raped her?"
"Not necessarily. Usually, when a child is raped, it scares them. And usually, the rapist either kills their victim, which I'm glad he didn't kill Abby, or they manipulate them into lying and not telling anyone about it. Which I'm pretty sure is what happened with Abby."
"You're a good detective."
I took a sip from my coffee and smiled, "Thanks."
"Want to go into the living room?" he asked, gesturing into the living room.
I nodded eagerly and took another sip of my coffee.
I placed my coffee mug on a coaster on the coffee table in front of the couch.
I sat down on the couch, as did Fang.
"You can put your shoes on the couch, I really don't care. It doesn't bother me." Fang told me.
I bent my legs behind me, laying my arms on the back of the couch, and resting my head on my arms.
"So, Fang, what's your real name?" I asked, after a moment of silence.
"Ah, I guess you figured out that it's not my real name."
"Yeah. I didn't think to look in your arrest file. So I wanna know."
"Nicholas. Nicholas Thomas Diekman."
"What about you? I know it's Max Ride, but you got a middle name?"
"Maximum Valencia Ride."
"Maximum?"
"My dad has… odd taste in names."
"How so? I mean, Maximum isn't really common, but its not odd by any means."
"My older brother's name is Ari."
"Yeah, now that's weird."
I smiled and laughed.
After a few seconds, Fang whispered, in a vacant voice, "You have the most beautiful smile."
I smiled again, looking directly into his beautiful eyes.
"Are your eyes black?"
"They look like that sometimes, don't they?"
"They're beautiful…"
"So are you…"
"What?" I asked, snapping out of my trance.
"Sorry… That was un called for."
"Don't apologize…"
Call me crazy, but I think I was starting to like him… a lot more than I should.
"Max…" Fang whispered, inching closer to me.
"Yeah…?"
I slid a bit closer to him.
I wanted to kiss him soooooooo badly.
"I- I really want to kiss you…" Fang mumbled, bending his neck toward me.
"I'm not objecting…"
He slowly bent closer, making sure I wasn't going to jerk away. I wasn't.
The second his lips touched mine, I was set for life. I'd never been popular with guys, but to have this guy sitting here, kissing me, made it worth it.
I placed my hand on the side of his neck and kissed him.
After about thirty seconds, we pulled away, not moving our hands.
His were rested on my hips, mine on his neck.
"Wow…" I whispered.
"Wow is right…"
"Why do I get the feeling that if I don't kiss you again, I'll regret it?"
"Don't know. But why don't we make sure you don't have that regret?"
I nodded.
He leaned back in and kissed me.
This time, it got more… intimate.
It went from one small little kiss, into a full-on make out.
His lips felt so… good against mine.
His arms snaked around my waist, pulling me closer to him.
After around ten minutes, he abruptly pulled away, shooting off the couch.
"Max, I think you should leave." he reluctantly said.
"Why?" I asked, confused.
"Because if you don't, I'm going to want to go all the way. Which I don't think you'd want."
"You're right. I don't."
"Exactly. And if you stay, I'll kiss you again, which will progressively get more… adult rated, and I wouldn't want to stop. Please, Max."
"Okay…" I got up off the couch and stood in front of him.
I lightly kissed his lips and left.
I really wished I could kiss him again. But he was right. I didn't want to be just another girl to add to his list.
Whoop.
