Chapter Ten

When the boys left, Amber planned on taking advantage of the quiet. She watched them head down to the dock. They had paused for a minute a couple of feet away from the house and she had a feeling something was up but then they all continued on their way. Amber was determined to make the best of the situation and not let the guys ruin her plans. She headed to her room to find her bag with the books she had packed, so she could lounge out on the deck and relax.

She headed up the stairs to where her bedroom had always been at the cottage. Her little sister's room was the third door and hers was the first, with the bathroom between them. Hers was the bigger room of the two and her sister always tried to race to get to that bedroom first but Amber always won. Plus her sister's room had a twin bed when she had a double. She walked into her room to grab her books and noticed to sets of luggage.

"Yeah right Max," she grumbled outloud, grabbing her bag off the bed and leaving his before heading back downstairs. What was he playing at? Was he seriously demented enough to think that she was going to share a bed with him?

The main floor had two bedrooms – her parent's master suite and a guest room. She entered her parent's room and dumped her bag on the bed. 'At least this room has an en suite,' she thought to herself, trying to get over the weirdness of having to sleep in her parent's bed. She opened her bag and dug out her sun screen and some reading material before heading out to the deck.

-.-

The water had been calm - the fish non existent. The only thing that seemed to be out on the lake was horse flies, the giant hungry-for-blood kind. The boys came in from the lake empty handed and down about a quart each. Max suggested filling themselves back up with beer and Jordan agreed happily. Sid and Max had barely spoken while out on the water, leaving him in the middle to entertain his two buddies.

Max tied the boat up to the dock. Sid offered to help but Max refused and whipped the rope away from him. Jordan wasn't really sure what was going on. Max and Sid got along with everyone. They had never fought each other, even though Max often deserved it and had taken it on more then one occasion from almost every other guy on the team. They had all waited for the day when Sid snapped and went ape on Max but no one would have ever expected it to be the other way around, which it seemed was a likely possibility at any moment.

At least they were on dry land now. Jordan was hungry, which was no real surprise, and he needed a break from the drama. He was sure he had seen some good looking fruit in one of those bags Amber had carried in but he was hoping for something with more sustenance. Like maybe a piece of a cow…

-.-

As they walked up the hill to the main house, it felt like a power struggle for the lead between Max and Sid. Sure Max was a team mate but he was still a competitive person and Max was pissing him off. He was happy that neither one of them caught a fish because if Max had caught one and he hadn't, they would still be out there, until he got his. And if Sid had got one and Max hadn't, he was pretty sure that Max would have left Sid in the middle of the lake – sans boat.

They made it up to the top of hill at the same moment and Sid almost felt like they were going to end up racing to the house. It was ridiculous and immature and he hated feeling this way but… but… Max started it.

"Hey Max, any chance that girl of yours would cook us up some meat?" Jordan asked, innocently enough.

Sid cringed at hearing Jordan refer to Amber as Max's. He grit his teeth and took it though. Nobody knew and nobody could know. He faced defeat. Max won. He slowed his pace and let they guys walk ahead of him. Like always, someone else got the girl and he would sleep alone.

Max and Jordan walked around the side of the house and Sid hung behind instead opting for some alone time. He jumped up the couple of steps of the back deck and walked towards a couple of lounge chairs facing the lake. He walked around to the front of the chairs and went to sit down for some peace and quiet.

"You guys back so soon?" Amber asked looking up from her book. "That's too bad…"

Sid hadn't seen her and now he wished he had gone with the boys. She was sprawled out on the lounge chair with her feet on a stool. She was wearing a red bikini top and a short jean skirt and she had never looked sexier.

"Could you do me a favour? Put on some clothes? Max is going to rip off our heads if he so much as sees us blink in your direction."

"What's going on?" Amber asked, sitting up in the chair, closing her book.

"I don't know. Whatever is between you two…"

"There is NOTHING between us."

"Well, Max thinks there is and I don't really want to get my head beat in, so for fucks sake, a shirt would really help!" He sat in the chair next to her and buried his head in his hands. "Preferably big and baggy," he added.

Amber smiled and her cheeks started turning red. She stood up and walked past him, ruffling his hair as she walked past. Her touching him, even in a pesky little sister kind of way, felt good. He had to control himself… he had to shake the thoughts from his mind, as he watched her walk into the house, imagining her long legs wrapping around his waist as he slammed her into the side of the house, pressing his lips to hers and… 'Stop it!' he screamed in his head. These were not the thoughts he needed in his head! He leaned back in the chair and put his feet up on the stool.

"Hey man, want a beer?" Jordan came out of the sliding door, extending his arm equipped with a cool bottle.

"Yup. So much for my off-season diet," Sid grumbled, thinking about how many miles he would have to run to shake this off.

"Oh, please, if we can learn anything Guerin, I think it's that beer does no harm. And besides, you and Max seriously need to chill. What the fuck is going on between you two?"

"He thinks that I have a thing for Amber…"

"Are you saying you don't?"

Sid thought for a moment. What was the harm in telling one person? Staalze wouldn't tell anyone and he could seriously use some help at the moment. Maybe having someone on his side would help. The alternative, of course, was that he would side with Max and run and tell him… and then Sid would have this beer bottle shoved somewhere very uncomfortable. He decided he couldn't risk it.

"I don't even know her…" Sid lied, immediately feeling like crap.

"What do you need to know? She's hot… too hot for Max, that's for sure!"

Sid laughed in agreement.

"She's alright," Lie number two. "Not really my type." Lie number three. 'I'm really on a roll,' he thought to himself.

"Not your type? Something is wrong with you…"

Max stepped out onto the deck. "Amber found some steaks in the freezer, so she is going to defrost them and then we can BBQ them, might be a while. Not a lot of other food though. She bought some stuff for a salad on her way up here, so I guess we are limited to steak and salad."

"I guess we were supposed to catch some fish or something…" Jordan laughed. Nobody else joined him. "Oh come on you two! Lighten up. Max, he doesn't have a thing for her… so get over yourself! Sid, I don't know what the fuck you've been mopping about but cut it the fuck out! We are here to relax and fish and hang out… so if you don't shake and make up, I am going to beat the shit out of the both of you!"

Sid and Max just looked at the ground in silence.

"NOW!"

"Okay, fine… tabernack! Simmer down!" Max looked at Sid and extended his arm. "I'm sorry dude, just when it comes to her… I am just protective. She's important to me."

"You guys grew up together, I get that… "

"It's more then that, I screwed up a lot with her when we were younger but I am going to win her back…"

"I don't think she thinks of you like that…"

"How the fuck do you know what she thinks?" Max said defensibly, stepping closer to Sid, fists clenched.

"She said so in the kitchen… earlier. It's just… I mean nothing by it." Sid said standing up, mostly in protection of himself.

"You have no idea how she feels…" Max stepped closer again.

It took everything in Sid not to blurt out the truth… that he did in fact know how she felt – in more then one way. But he grit his teeth and stood his ground.

"I am just saying that it's awfully presumptuous of you to assume that she even wants you back."

Max reached out and grabbed Sid's shirt with one hand and pulled the other hand back to punch him.

As he was about to take his swing, Jordan stepped in to grab his arm. "Quit it out, you two! I don't know what the fuck is going on but I am too damn hungry to deal with it!"

"What's going on out here?" Amber came out on the deck. "Max let him go! I thought I wasn't going to know you were here? Is yelling at each other on the deck your way of blending in?" She stood with her hands on her hips, starring at the three of them. "Max, maybe you should run to the store and get some fresh meat. The steaks are going to take a while to defrost and Jordan is apparently starving. Maybe get some vegetables too."

Max let go of Sid's shirt and stepped back. Sid maintained his posture waiting for Max to come back at him.

"GO! And while you're out, I guess you guys won't want yoghurt for breakfast, so you should get something for that too," Amber demanded.

Max grunted his agreement and stepped towards her. He put one hand on the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss so hard and fast she didn't have time to stop him. She pushed him away with all her strength but he was strong and held on. He finally let go with a push that made her trip backwards and she fell against the wall.

"Mine," Max stated firmly in Sid's direction and then stormed away.

Sid couldn't help but stare at her and she was starring right at him. The shock and hurt was written all over her face. He knew Max had done it just to piss him off and she was caught in the middle. Sid wanted to go and beat the shit out of Max. But Amber looked so upset, so hurt and confused, he mostly wanted to go to her, wrap his arms around her and reassure her that he would never make her feel that way or let anyone else, ever again.

"Jesus Christ, what the fuck!" Jordan stood in shock. Max was never really one to be shy, but that was extreme. "I'm gonna… ah, go with him to the store…make sure he doesn't kill someone there… would be bad PR"

"That might be a good plan," Amber stated, still starring at Sid.

"Don't have a thing for her, eh?" Jordan said to Sid under his breath, as he walked past. Had it been that obvious? He never was very good at lying. Sid broke his stare with Amber and looked down at the ground, feeling his cheek burn red.

"It's not like that…" Sid responded quietly back.

"Whatever man, it's not my problem… I'm just here to fish…" Jordan jumped down the stairs and broke into a quick jog to catch up to Max.

Sid caught Amber's eyes one more time. He took a step towards her and she jumped.

"I'm just gonna head inside for a bit… I just…need to…" Amber shook her head and turned towards the door.

"I'm sorry this is happening," Sid offered as he watched her step inside. 'Fuck!' he swore to himself.