Chapter Nine

Max's POV

Saturday, November 21st, 2013, 9:15

I felt a spot of warmth on my shoulder as I slowly began to wake up. My eyes blinked open and I saw Victoria's face just in front of mine, her face glistening with sweat, I think. Or maybe it was water? I couldn't tell. I didn't have the reaction I usually get when I wake up in a strange place. I remembered very clearly what had happened the night before and I smiled when I saw Victoria's face.

"Good morning," I said groggily, my voice deeper and raspier than it usually was, like it was coated in sleep the way my brain was in that moment. Sleep was almost like this strange pool that we often sunk into, covering ourselves in this strange liquid that coated every part of us until we could barely think or move, covering almost every aspect of our physical being.

"Good morning, Maxine," she said with a soft smile before quickly standing up straight, running her fingers through her messy blond hair. It looked damp. I was so focused on her hair and face that I'd barely noticed that she was only wearing shorts and a sports bra. I looked over her exposed skin and the way the fabric of her sports bra hugged her breasts tightly against her chest. I felt my throat going dry and my insides getting tight and warm. My palms felt sweaty and I hugged the covers closer to my body.

I wanted to do things to her that I never wanted to do with anyone else, not even Chloe. I couldn't help the small groan that escaped my lips as my body started to tingle at the thought of touching her and making her feel good. My thoughts led me to an image of her laying underneath me, moaning my name as I kissed her neck and touched her in ways that made my own heart race.

"Maxine," Victoria's voice broke through my fantasy and I sat up, looking at her with a sheepish smile, probably blushing so hard that I looked more like a tomato than a person.

"Yeah?" I asked, trying to play it at least somewhat cool. I just wished that the atmosphere that had hung in the air the night before was still between us. Things just seemed a little awkward now. Like we were both fighting against what had happened. Victoria had this look on her face like she wanted to say something. She was worrying her bottom lip a little, her brows furrowed. I tilted my head a little, waiting patiently but still curious. "What's up?"

"About last night…" she said softly, looking away from me a little, her arms crossed across her stomach. "I'm sorry if it was too fast." She looked like she wanted to say more, but stopped herself. I paused, debating whether to get out of the bed or not. Did she regret what happened? The thought made it a little harder to breathe. Had my panic attack made her uncomfortable? I balled my hands into fists and stood up, pushing away the guilt that had started bubbling up in my chest.

"It wasn't too fast," I said gently as I took a step toward her. She looked up at me for a split second before looking down again.

"But you got all freaked out," she replied, her usual behavior seeming to have never existed. The shy, insecure girl that stood before me now was far from the Victoria I was used to. I didn't like the way a crease showed up between her brows because it showed that she actually felt guilty about something that she didn't cause. "I don't want to be the reason you get sad and start to freak out like that. I don't to bring all of those memories back to haunt you." She spoke quickly, like if she didn't say it fast then it would never get said. I took another step toward her and put both my hands on her shoulders, tilting my head down to catch her eye.

"Victoria," I said softly, catching her attention. Her name felt light on my tongue, like I could say it over and over again and never get tired of it. She looked up at me with those normally daunting green eyes that were now as soft as the bed I'd just been laying in. She looked so vulnerable in that moment, like my words could make or break her. "Please never think that you're the cause of anything unpleasant in my life. I hate seeing you look so dejected. What happened last night wasn't your fault. I've… I've been through a lot and sometimes things bring those memories back. You had no idea what happened to me so it's not like you tried to upset me. If anything, you made me happier than I've been in a long time." Victoria huffed a little and looked away from me.

"Cause crying yourself to sleep is what happiness looks like, right?" Her words were dry and stung a little, but she almost immediately softened up again when she looked back at me. "I'm sorry. Look, I really care about you but what if this doesn't work out?"

"This?" I asked, a little surprised. I let go of her shoulders and felt my eyebrows furrow. Victoria sighed and rolled her eyes. This was normal Queen Bee behavior now.

"You and me," she explained. "The kiss, the feelings. I want to be with you, more than I've ever wanted anything else in my whole life, but what if it doesn't work? What if I give up my reputation to be with you and then you decide that we can't be together because I'm too much of a bitch or because you realize that you deserve better and then I'll lose you and everything I worked so hard for will go away and then I'll have nothing."

"Hey, hey, hey," I said softly and wrapped my arms around her neck and pulled her into a hug. It didn't take more than a moment for her to lean into me, wrapping her around my waist and burying her head into my shoulder. "You're way overthinking this. I want to be with you, Victoria. You're so smart and talented and beautiful and an actually decent human being underneath it all." She chuckled at the last part and I smiled, pulling away a little to kiss her cheek and look into her eyes. "If this is what you want, then I'm good with that. I don't want you to feel pressured if being with me isn't worth all of the stress that it would put on you."

Saying that stuff made my heart hurt and Victoria obviously felt the same way because she looked like she was about to cry. I wanted to be worth it, I wanted to be enough for her, but I knew that life got in the way sometimes. Victoria had an eye for the big picture. She knew that the art world was fierce and that the world over all was no different, so she understood not only what dating someone below her social status would do to her future, but also what coming out to people do for her credibility is a lot of places. She was supposed to be Victoria Chase, the perfect daughter, artist and overall just a perfect human being. I could only imagine how scared she was of losing what she'd worked so hard to get because I had never cared about any of that stuff. But her and I grew up and lived in what felt like two very different worlds.

"Max," she whispered my name, touching her forehead to mine. She looked into my eyes, pulling my mind back to the present. "If you want to try this out then we should. But we can't tell anyone. At least… Not for right now." I felt my heart flutter in my chest. Was this actually happening? I was a little taken aback to be totally honest. I expected her to let me down gently and then tell me to fuck off, but she wasn't she was holding me close, telling me that I had a chance. That we had a chance.

"I'm willing if you are," I whispered. It was all I could say. My heart was beating to fast that I wasn't sure it was actually pumping blood to my brain anymore. Victoria let out a small breath, like she'd been holding it in as she waited for my response. She smiled a little and looked from my eyes to my lips.

"Can I kiss you?" She asked softly, slowly moving herself closer to me. Her chest was against mine, own hips touching as she got as close as she could. The contact made my mind go fuzzy. I just giggled like a giddy little school girl and nodded, tilting my head up as she leaned toward me to close the gap between us.

It was a soft kiss, nothing crazy, but it filled my whole body with this warmth that I had never felt before. The softness of Victoria's lips against mine made my whole body tingle and a big, hugely hormonal part of me wanted more. Wanted to get rid of any extra space between us. Wanted to take off my clothes and hers and be totally vulnerable to Queen Victoria and whatever she wanted to do to me. So I deepened the kiss, testing my luck and lack of skill. As I drew closer to her, she bit down on my bottom lip a little, causing me to gasp a little. Her hands moved down my back and onto the back of my shorts. She grabbed at me butt and pulled me close to her, making me squeak in surprise. I grabbed onto a fist full of messy, damp blond hair and tugged a little.

I felt like my heart was beating so hard that it might explode out of my chest at any moment. My stomach was in knots and there was this strange warmth that filled every part of me. She moved her right hand from my butt and slowly ran her fingers under the hem of my shirt. I moaned into the kiss as she moved her hand slowly up my side. Was I on fire? It felt like my skin was being set on fire. It felt like my entire being was being turned to a melted puddle of arousal at Victoria's touch. It made me wonder how far I was willing to go after just establishing a secret relationship with the girl that had been my bully just a week ago.

Before I could think too much into it, I heard the door slamming open and felt Victoria pushing me away. I stumbled back, falling against the bed. Luckily, I managed to make it look like I was sitting on the edge of the bed. Whether or not it looked convincing was still up for debate, but I guess it was better than being caught with Victoria's hand up my shirt. Taylor stood in the doorway with a wide eyed look on her face.

"What do you want, Taylor?" Victoria snapped at her, arms crossed over her chest.

"I just wanted to let you know that we were all gonna head down to the lake in a couple minutes if you guys wanna tag along," she said nervously, looking from Victoria to me and back. She suddenly got this smirk on her face that sent shivers down my spine. "I'm sorry if I interrupted anything."

"Yeah," Victoria replied, moving toward the door. "You did. You interrupted me getting changed. Now get out of here before I smack that look right off your face." Taylor squealed and ducked out of the doorway, running down the hall. I sat on the bed, still trying to process what had just happened. Victoria started making her way to the bathroom before stopping just in front of me.

"Why do you look like your life has just flashed before your eyes, Caulfield?" She asked sharply, but it sounded a bit like she was teasing me. I looked up to see a hint of a smirk on her lips. God she looked smug. She knew that she'd gotten me off and had managed to throw Taylor off our tracks all in the span of a little over three minutes.

"Sorry," was all I could say. She chuckled and walked over to the bathroom.

"Get dressed, hipster," she called as she walked away. "Time to see you in a bathing suit." She turned and winked at me as she closed the bathroom door and I felt my heart jump into my throat. Falling back onto the bed, I rubbed my face with my hands and groaned.

Victoria Chase was my girlfriend.