Chapter 6

Maya tried her best not to keep track of what Larry was up to while at the club, but that was very difficult, given the kiss they had shared on the dance floor.  With every drunk wink or other attempts to hit on the girls in the club, Maya took another gulp of her drink, trying desperately to push him out of her mind.  Phoenix and Miles were a bit worried about this as well, and so they accompanied her in the drinking to let her feel that they supported her.

When just a couple drinks started turning into four or five, thoughts of Larry thankfully began to fade from her mind as she began to study the men in front of her.  When she was sober, she didn't bother to study Phoenix too much since she considered him strictly as a brother.  She didn't study Miles too much either for two reasons:  he was obviously seeing Phoenix, so that'd be strange in itself, and he really wasn't that easily approachable, although he seemed to be getting better about that as of late.  Now that she was appropriately intoxicated, she was glad to realize that they did provide quite the distraction. 

Looking at Phoenix now, Maya decided that he really was quite good looking, having well defined features and, of course, those really intense, but warm blue eyes, almost wondering now why she didn't pay him much attention before.  She decided that the same applied to Miles.  His eyes were no less intense than Phoenix's, but they had this sharp edge to them that the defense attorney's lacked.  He carried himself with a sense of confidence and charisma, even if he was nearly as drunk as she was.  And when he was smiling, which was thankfully becoming a much less rare occurrence, she found it to be undeniably attractive.

Just before she was going to order them a sixth round of drinks, both Phoenix and Miles finally decided that all of them had enough, despite Maya's pitiful attempt at a puppy dog face in her drunken state.

Once outside, Miles spoke, his voice sounding a lot lighter and laid back as compared to when he was sober, "You know, Wright…I don't think I should drive…I think I'll just get us a cab."

"Noooo!  I wanna ride in your car and stick my head out and feel the wind in my hair!" Maya said, pantomiming how she would stick her head out of his car window, and nearly falling over as a result, hardly stable on her feet at all.

Lucky for her, Phoenix was standing right by her and he immediately caught her and said, sounding much more amused by her plight than he would if he were sober, "Whoa, take it easy, Maya!"

Finally Miles managed to hail a cab and the three of them squished into the back, Maya being in the middle of the two of them.  Miles told the cab to take them to Phoenix's apartment complex, since this is also where Maya stayed when she was in to visit the city from Kurain.

During the cab ride to Phoenix's apartment from the club, Maya decided to link arms with Phoenix and Miles and then doze off with her head on Miles' shoulder.  Under regular circumstances, this surely would have made them feel incredibly uncomfortable, but now they both found that they rather liked the closeness.

Finally the cab arrived at the apartment complex, and Phoenix set himself to waking Maya up while Miles paid the cab driver.

"Hey, Maya, we're here…" Phoenix said as he shook her with a little less grace than usual.

She blinked a few times in confusion, realizing that she had fallen asleep in the cab and then she said, "Woooowww…I thought we were still at the club!"

As she exited the cab with Phoenix's help, he was pleased to see that the sleep on the way back did her a little good, since she was a bit steadier on her feet now than she was at the club.

Making their way up to Phoenix's apartment, Maya decided to grab on to Miles' hand and hold on tight as Phoenix led the way.  Being primarily gay his whole life, Miles wondered why it felt so nice to have her small delicate hand in his, but he didn't think too deeply about this since it was very difficult to focus on one thing that long in this state.

It took Phoenix a few seconds longer than usual to open the door, but he finally managed it, letting everyone inside.  Phoenix had thought everyone would just get to sleep as soon as they got in, but it seemed like Maya had other plans.  When Phoenix had closed and locked the front door, Maya reached up to her hair, and undid her hair tie, shaking her hair loose from the bun it was in.

Something about the way she looked drew Miles and Phoenix's eyes, both of them silently agreeing that she looked better like this, her hair open, in a little black dress (which she had chosen to wear to the club instead of her everyday acolyte uniform), a definite sexy air about her now that wasn't there ordinarily. 

Both of them were too distracted in their drunkenness to even realize that this was Maya they were thinking about in this way, someone who was usually more of a child or a little sister in their eyes, instead of this appealing woman standing in front of them.

Giving Phoenix a hard look, she giggled and said in a sultry tone, "You know something, Nick?  Mia always told me how cute she thought you were, and I didn't know what she meant until I met you.  And I have to say, she was totally right."

Miles had to laugh at the blush that immediately spread across Phoenix's face at the direct compliment, but this brought Maya's attention to him next.

"And you!" Maya said with a smile, pointing a finger 'objection' style at Miles, "I didn't know what to think of you when I first met you, but I think I like you now, Miles…I like you a lot!"

Without warning, she stepped toward Miles and unceremoniously threw her arms around him, causing him to make a noise in surprise, but not entirely disliking the feeling he got from it.

"I'm glad you do, Maya." Miles said sincerely, even with his drunkenness, awkwardly returning her embrace.

Maya took Miles' reaction to her hug as a positive sign, and suddenly she closed her eyes, pressing her lips against his.  Instinctively, his eyes shut as he accepted the kiss, but within seconds, his drunk mind caught up to current events and he pulled back from her and looked at her in shock.

He wasn't the only one, since Phoenix was looking at her quite the same way, unable to help feeling just a twinge of jealousy that she was kissing Miles (as the prosecutor was technically his 'boyfriend').

Maya gave an airy giggle at the look on Miles' face and when she turned her head to look at Phoenix, she laughed a little more and said, "Don't feel jealous, Nick!  Come here!"

She suddenly turned to face Phoenix, almost tipping over if it wasn't for Miles' arms still loosely around her, reaching out and grabbing his hand, yanking him quickly toward herself, causing her to be in somewhat of a sandwich between the two men as she locked Phoenix in a sloppy but intense kiss.

Phoenix couldn't deny liking it as he felt Maya's soft lips against his, but his mind quickly caught up with what was happening and as he slowly pulled back from her, he looked at her, feeling his heart rate rising at the intense look she was giving him and he reluctantly said, his face flushing fully, "Maya…we shouldn't do this, you're…drunk."

Phoenix tried to look to Miles for assistance, but he couldn't provide any, as Maya's delicate warm body pressed against his own preventing much coherent thought in his alcohol addled brain.  This feeling was completely different than a man's body and on a whim he decided that he wanted to feel more.

"Noooo!  Come on, Nick!  It'll be fun!" her voice now sounding down right seductive as she pulled Phoenix's body tightly towards hers again in an awkward embrace.

"But, Maya…" Phoenix said as a small sigh escaped him, almost against his will, closing his eyes and trying to exercise a bit more self control, but the alcohol was a factor that was making him want to bend to his desires much more easily.

Suddenly Phoenix heard Miles' low sexy voice in his ear saying, "Come now, Wright.  It never hurts to try something new from time to time."

Barely giving Phoenix a chance to gasp, Miles captured Phoenix's lips from over Maya's shoulder, and Miles put his arms around both Phoenix and Maya, pressing all their bodies even closer together.

With that kiss and those words from Miles, all of Phoenix's self control finally broke and now he couldn't stop himself if he tried.