Part Ten

Almost two hours have passed by the time Max makes it down to the pool. From my spot in the water, I can see the irritated expression on his face; I'm assuming it's because I wasn't there when he woke up and also because he obviously hasn't seen me yet, but the second his eyes come to rest on me, the annoyed expression is replaced by a huge grin and I can't help grinning back at him.

I'm sure he feels my gaze on him, because when he reaches the sun lounger next to mine, he takes his time removing his T-shirt, stretching as he does so, so that every muscle in his upper body flexes and is visible to me. He turns around, catches my eyes and smirks and I realise then that I'm staring, my mouth hanging open in awe.

He sends a mischievous wink my way, before smoothly diving into the pool. Whilst he's still under the water and unable to see me, I raise my hand to my face, fanning it urgently. Is it just me or has the temperature out here just risen by about ten degrees?

My mind is so caught up in fantasies of being alone with Max again, that I fail to notice him emerging from the water right in front of me.

My hand flies to my heart, "God, Max! Don't do that! You scared the shit out of me!" I cry, but I can't help laughing at his cute and innocent expression. I sigh and move closer to him, "Come here," I breathe, leaning forward and planting a chaste kiss on his lips. "Good morning."

"Morning," he says softly, as his hands come round my waist and he pulls me onto his lap. "So, you just decided to leave me all on my own this morning, with no one to wake up to? That wasn't very fair," he complains, his tone light-hearted.

"Yeah, well, you sleep like the dead and I was bored," I tell him playfully.

"You were bored?" he questions. "So, what? You finally got what you wanted and now I'm of no use to you anymore?" I know he's just teasing, but something in his eyes tells me that he needs reassurance here.

"Don't be stupid," I say as I grip his shoulders, pulling him closer. "You could never be 'of no use' to me. I just couldn't stay in that room with you like that and keep my hands to myself." I lean in to rest my forehead on his, "And don't ever talk about what happened last night like that again. What you did for me was…wonderful, incredible…spectacular and I shall remember it for the rest of my life," I whisper fiercely.

In a flash, he's captured my lips once again and is kissing me passionately. For several moments, I revel in the feel of his lips, but the sound of children shouting nearby quickly infiltrates my mind and I remember where we are.

"Max," I say, breaking the kiss. "We can't. There are kids here."

He takes a quick glance around, but luckily, no one has noticed us. "Okay," he sighs. "We better keep this PG-rated. So how about a swim?" He slides me off his lap and we spend a few minutes swimming round the pool and enjoying the atmosphere. Max goes off to get a few lengths in, saying that he's hardly gotten any exercise recently and is starting to feel like a slob. I let him go, but not before telling him that there's no way he could ever be mistaken for a slob, not with a body like his.

I grin as he blushes and smiles self-consciously, quickly taking off for the other end of the pool. I watch him go and let out a satisfied sigh as I run my eyes over the smooth lines of his bare back.

I content myself with relaxing at the side of the pool, feeling the blazing sun on my face and observing Max as he completes length after length. After about thirty laps (well, actually it's exactly thirty - I've been counting), he makes his way back over to me, a tired but pleased smile gracing his features.

"Have a good swim?" I ask as he rests his head back against the side of the pool.

"The best," he responds, catching his breath and then turning his head to look at me. He watches me for a moment, before peaking again, "You know, you look so hot in that bikini," he states, his gaze burning into me. "I don't know how I didn't notice how good you looked before this vacation, but you definitely do."

I feel my cheeks begin to burn with embarrassment and my eyes immediately lower under his attention.

"Max," I murmur, shaking my head in denial.

But then his fingers slid under my chin and he urges me to look at him. "I mean it, Lizzie. Just the thought of you in that thing makes me…"

I find myself eagerly anticipating the end of his sentence, but it doesn't seem like he's going to finish. Actually, he almost looks…ashamed. What on Earth, would he be ashamed of?

Oh.

My eyes widen in realisation as the meaning of his words sink in.

"Max?" I ask softly. "Is that why…at the pool in LA…when I got there and then you…?" I trail off, unable to say any more, but I think my meaning is clear.

His hand leaves my face and his eyes drop in shame. "Yes," he manages quietly. He takes a breath and then raises his eyes to me again. "I'd spent the previous couple of weeks trying not to think about you that way, I mean we were sharing a room and all, and I'd just managed to get it under control; but then you arrived at the pool and took off your towel, and my body just…reacted to the sight of you. I couldn't let you see the effect you had on me, so I made a run for the water," he finishes with an embarrassed shrug.

"Wow," I breathe as this new information sinks in. "I'm sorry, Max."

"What? What are you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry that I was the cause of your, um…predicament. Especially in such a public place and all," I explain.

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault you're gorgeous," he tells me with a smile, lifting me onto his lap once more.

I grin and bite my lip, embarrassed and he kisses me lightly on the nose, before leaning in to plant one on my lips; but I stop him mid-way.

"Wait," I say suspiciously. "That whole thing with Aiden; you were rude to him when you two met and then we got into that awful argument after I went out with him at Disneyland," I state and a guilty expression settles across his features. "Max, were you jealous of him?"

"I, um…" he fumbles. "No! I wasn't jealous," he tells me. "Exactly."

I just raise my eyebrow and look at him expectantly.

"Okay, fine," he relents. "I was out-of-my-head, completely and utterly jealous of him," he says in a rush. "There, I said it! Are you happy now?"

Now it's my turn to lean in and kiss his nose, as my hands come up to rest on his chest. "Yes, I'm happy. Completely and utterly happy – " I don't get the chance to say anything more because his lips finally capture mine and he's pulling me closer.

"Maybe we should get out of the pool now," I suggest a few minutes and several heated kisses later. "We've still got a lot more to do today."

When he doesn't respond right away, I pull back to find his eyes still closed. "Max?"

His eyes open. "Um, you go on ahead, I'll meet you back at the room in a couple of minutes," he says quietly.

"Max, what – ?" I'm cut off as his arms tighten around my waist and my lower body comes into contact with…

"Oh!" I exclaim in surprise. "Oh, right. Okay then. I-I'll just go now and I'll see you in-in our room in a couple of minutes."

He gives me a tense, but grateful smile and releases his grip, allowing me to slip off his lap. I quickly get out of the pool and walk over to where I left my towel. Picking it up, I reach up to wipe the water from my face and take a quick glance over at Max as I wrap it around me. He's watching me. He catches my eye and then looks away quickly with a sigh, dropping his head back against the edge again.

I collect the rest of my things and shoot another glance in his direction; but this time it's a sympathetic one.

Max returns to the room, fully dressed and a little more composed, a few minutes after I get back.

Once I've changed clothes and dried my hair, we leave the hotel, this time heading for the downtown area rather than the strip. It feels strange as we walk down Fremont Street, passing the famous casinos and hotels like the Golden Nugget and Lady Luck; places I've only ever seen on TV and in movies.

However, it is after we've checked out the buildings and shops that we realise that there isn't really a whole lot for underage kids to do in Vegas during the day. So, when we spot the huge cinema across the road, it's an unspoken agreement between us that we'll spend the afternoon watching a movie.

We end up seeing Men in Black II, which to be honest, isn't nearly as good as the first one; but I think Max enjoyed it anyway, even if I didn't.

After the film, we hail a taxi back to our hotel and decide to have a late lunch at Planet Hollywood, instead of going for dinner. The reason being that we have tickets for 'King Arthur's Medieval Banquet and Jousting Tournament' at the hotel tonight. It's this show they have at the Excalibur where you watch all these performers dressed as Knights battle it out on horses to rescue King Arthur (think A Knight's Tale), while eating dinner, medieval style (and that means no cutlery)!

As we walk down the Strip towards the Forum, Max spends his time pointing out and making fun of all the strange shops and buildings that we pass. His goofiness makes me laugh and I can't help linking my arm with his and cuddling up to him as we go. About halfway there, I notice a certain building up ahead of us and decide that it would be fun to mess with Max's head a little.

"Hey," I nudge him. "Why don't we go in there? You never know, we might find something we like," I suggest, pointing in the direction of the neon flashing sign just outside it.

Max looks in the direction of my finger and does a double take.

"Liz!" he exclaims, shocked. "God! I mean, I know what I said the other day, but it's only been, like, 4 days! I don't think we're quite ready for that yet, do you?"

His scandalised expression is all it takes and I burst into giggles.

"Oh, relax," I tell him when I've managed to catch my breath again. I push against his shoulder playfully. "I was just messing with you; I'm not serious! And besides, when I do get married, it's not going to be Las Vegas, in the Elvis Chapel!"

He raises his hand to his chest in mock relief. "Oh, thank God!" he breathes. "Shit! Don't do that to me, Liz!"

I laugh again at his face, which still shows remnants of shock. I roll my eyes and he takes my hand, quickly leading us away from the offending building. As we walk on, he lets out a small huff of frustration, but I can tell that he's trying to hide his own smile beneath his frown.

Day 26 – Friday July 18th 2002

We set off in the jeep yesterday morning, after a wonderful last night in Las Vegas. The Medieval Dinner and Jousting Tournament were really cool – the seating area was divided into different sections – one for each country 'competing' and Max and I were cheering for Norway! It was pretty late by the time we got back to the room and apart from a short, but fairly intense make-out session on the bed; we didn't do anything else but sleep, curled up next to each other. I think we're both agreed though, that from now on getting a motel room with two beds would be a bit pointless, especially considering that I think we both sleep better when we're sharing a bed. And it's also cheaper!

We drove right across Arizona yesterday, only stopping for lunch at the other Oregano's restaurant in Flagstaff (oh, how I missed that cookie-dough dessert!) and we finally decided to stop for the night once we reached Albuquerque. We spent last night in a cheap motel on Central Avenue (that's Route 66 to everyone else) and I promised Max that we'd go check out the UNM campus before we set off again today. That way I can see where he'll be living and going to school too. The campus itself is also on Central Ave – a little less than a mile from here.

Uh oh, I'd better go now – Max is awake and complaining that I'm not in the bed with him. Honestly, I can't help it if concentrate better when I'm sitting in a chair than in a bed; especially a bed that he's lying in too!

Okay, I really have go now, he's giving me the puppy-dog eyes again…

With a grin, I shut the book, stand up and saunter casually over to Max.

"Did you want something?" I smirk when I reach his side.

"Yeah. You," he tells me, reaching out his arms to pull me closer and I can't help blushing under his intense gaze.

I'm tempted to throw caution to the wind and simply give in to him, but our relationship is already moving pretty fast and despite what he did for me the other night, I still think we should wait a little while before becoming even more intimate. Although, that doesn't stop me from wishing to return the favour some day soon, just not right now – we have to go see the campus.

I lean down and press a sweet kiss to his lips, before running my hand down his arm to his hand and detaching it from my back. I link my fingers with his and bring them up to plant a kiss on his knuckles.

I smile down at him, watching as he shivers slightly at my soft caress. "Come on, let's go explore UNM. I want to see where you'll be spending the next four years." His face falls slightly at my words and I know he's thinking about us being separated in the Fall. "Besides, I want to know where I'll be staying when I come to visit you," I add, trying to cheer him up a little. I have to admit that I am also feeling choked up at the thought of being so far away from him, but despite how inconvenient the situation will be for us, attending Harvard has been my dream for so long and there's no way I'm giving it up now, not even for Max. If the two of us are really meant to be, then we'll be able to get through the next four years. It won't be easy and I'm sure we'll miss each other like crazy, but I believe that we'll survive it; if not as a couple, then I'm sure that we'll always be friends.

I watch as his eyes light up at the thought of weekend visits and he grins.

"Well, if you put it that way, what are we waiting for?" he asks and then pushes me away a little. "Go, get dressed, woman. I wanna show you everything!"

I roll my eyes at his sudden change of tune and untangle my fingers from his. You know, I think it's just dawned on him that this…us…is not gonna be just a summer 'we're-on-the-road' thing, but that it's going to last, at least for a while. I move away from him, grab some clothes from my suitcase and head for the bathroom to change.

"Hey, where are you going?" calls Max from behind me.

I turn to him, puzzled. "I'm going to change so we can get out of here," I tell him.

"Yeah, I get that, but do you really have to go all the way in there to do it?"

I smile. "Well, I could stay in here, but then I don't think much changing would get done. Or at least, I'm sure clothes would be taken off, but I don't think that they'd be put on again," I smirk and blow him a kiss as I enter the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

I hear a groan from the other side and a thump as he lets himself fall back to the mattress. I lean back against the door, letting out a sigh as I do so.

What has gotten into me this morning? I'm not usually this…forward.

It doesn't take us long to get ready and to leave the motel. Since the campus is only just down the road, we decide against taking the jeep, electing to walk there instead; which, to be honest, was probably not the best idea in the world.

The stretch of road between our motel and the university is known as Nob Hill (I know, I cracked up when I first heard it), but it's actually supposed to be a pretty cool area. There are all these arty shops and some nice looking restaurants, although not so much can be said about the people that we pass walking down the road. Roswell is a fairly quiet, pleasant town to live in, but it appears that UNM is located in a not-so-nice area of town. Some of the buildings are somewhat run down and the only pedestrians seem to be homeless and/or drug addicts, either begging for bus fare money or shouting lewd comments at us as we pass.

Luckily, the campus is a great deal nicer and feels a lot safer than the street. I guess that the students don't usually venture that far off campus and neither do the people on Central come onto the campus.

I have to admit that I'm almost jealous of Max coming here in August. The university buildings and scenery are gorgeous. In the centre of the campus there is a large duck pond, complete with water fountains and surrounded by grassy areas and trees. I can just picture Max coming out here to study in the sunshine. Actually, the picture I have in my head is of the both of us relaxing together on the grass, quietly enjoying each other's company.

"What are you smiling about?" Max's voice brings me out of my daydream.

"Oh, nothing much," I murmur, not taking my eyes off the sprays of water emerging from the pond. "It's beautiful here isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," he agrees. "I think I'm going to like it here."

His arm comes around my shoulders and we take one last look at the pond before making our way over to the Student Union building (or the SUB as Max tells me it's called by the students). It really is an impressive building: It has two stories, with a movie theatre, a large computer lab and a convenience store on the lower floor and an entire food court and conference rooms on the upper floor. The food court has about six establishments, including a coffee and sandwich bar, a Sonic fast food place and even a smoothie bar!

"Wow," I manage as I look around. "This place looks so cool."

"Yeah, it does," he replies. "But let's go see some more of campus. I want to show you my dorm."

He takes my hand and leads me out of the building. We walk through the main courtyard and past the large gym and sports complex.

"I read that use of the gym and pool is free to all UNM students. You just have to swipe your Lobo card to get in," Max tells me, but my brain is stuck on just one word.

"Lobo card?! Max, what the hell is that?"

"Oh, did I not tell you? It's the official student card. It's used to buy meals and get you into the buildings or borrow books from the library," he informs me, but obviously doesn't understand why I'm still confused.

"Oh, I kind of already got the part about it being the student ID card. I was actually wondering why it's called a Lobo card."

He gives me a 'duh' look, "Liz, surely you've heard of the New Mexico Lobos, the UNM football team? The Lobo is the university mascot."

"Oh." I feel kind of stupid now. "Of course I knew that," I say defensively, but Max just smirks and nods.

"Uh huh, sure you did."

I punch him playfully on the arm, but grin along with him too.

As we walk, I take in our surroundings. We are now in the middle of a large area of grass. The gym is behind us and there are several buildings in front of us. But what is spectacular about the view is that there are mountains in the background –the Sandia Mountains if I remember correctly from Geography class.

"This is Johnson Field," Max informs me. "And those buildings up ahead are the dorms."

"Which one is yours?" I ask curiously.

"That one on the left, with the wings on either side. Coronado Hall."

"Wow, it looks nice," I tell him. "Can we go inside?"

"I don't know. It might be locked up for the summer," he says. "Let's go and see."

It turns out that we can't get past the front desk of the building as you need a key to get through the second doors that lead to the rooms, but the guy at the desk gives Max a residence hall brochure that has pictures and information about the hall inside. We take a quick look around La Posada, the dining hall and the SRC – Student Residence Centre (boy, do they like their abbreviations here!), which is where the students pick up their mail. It also has a convenience store with a small take-out Pizza Hut service.

We grab some lunch at Frontier Restaurant, a 24-hour popular student hangout where they serve everything from breakfast burritos to enchiladas and green-chilli cheeseburgers. It's a pretty cool place.

After lunch, we spend some time checking out the large UNM bookstore – complete with yet another convenience store and a Starbucks. The textbooks are on the second floor, while the first floor is full of fiction books, stationary and UNM clothing and Lobo-wear. Apparently, you have to wear red whenever you attend a football game, so Max decides to buy me a red Lobo's baseball cap so that I won't be the odd one out when I come to visit.

He is so sweet!

We manage to spend the entire afternoon wandering around the campus and local area and then eat dinner at yet another student hangout, Saggio's Italian restaurant and sports bar, before returning to the motel.

I actually like Saggio's better than Frontier. You can buy a huge slice of pizza for just over a dollar and their desserts look gorgeous. But that's not the best part; the whole place is done up in an Italian theme, complete with a small water feature and murals and paintings of famous people that cover the walls, although the ones with Einstein and the Beatles are kind of creepy. Even the bathrooms are decorated, with small water fountains instead of normal washbasins.

We arrive back at the hotel exhausted but happy. I know that Max is going to have a great time here in Albuquerque; I only wish that I could share the experience with him. But I know that I have my own adventure ahead of me and seeing Max here today has made me all the more excited to go to Massachusetts. I suddenly can't wait until we make it out to the East coast in a few days.

We're going to head off properly tomorrow and are just going to keep driving until we get there.

I can't wait.

TBC…