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Chapter 22
Gigi stared atMax’sbroadbackashe pushed Erin inthestroller ahead ofher. Thenewshe’d broken toheratthecafehad affected hermorethan shecared toadmit. She hadn’t known he was only in New York for a short time and justthethought ofMaxleaving togobacktoCalifornia caused her chesttoache. Although ithadonlybeen amatterof days, although shehad justmethim,itdidn’tseemtomatter toher heart.
Shesighed.
Whatwasshesupposedtodo?Shebrieflyconsideredringing Jen totalkaboutit,butrevealing thetruth aboutherandMax’srelationship,or lackthereof,wouldonlyfuelJen’sfire. Shesupposed shecould call hermom,butwhentheopening lineoftheconversation wenta littlesomething like:Mom,I’vemoved inwith a man.I’mlooking after hischild and we’realso having mind-blowing, butunfortunately casual,sexthatwill notleadto arelationship,she knewher Catholicmomwould havean aneurism.
Shecould seewhereMaxwascoming from;hewassaying why notenjoywhattheyhadwhile theyhad it,butGigi’sbrain wasvetoing thenotion. Shethoughtshecould docasual sex,and shehad,butwhen Maxhad asked herwhatshe’dwanted,whenhe’d invited her tostayin hisbed, sherealizedwhathadhappened between themcould never be deemedto becasual and meaningless…atleastnotfor her. Shewasin itforthelong haul. Shewasinveryrealdangerof falling for him. Putting an end toitbeforeitcould begin wasthe onlywayshecould think ofto stop theunavoidablepainthatwould comelater.
When theyarrived backattheapartment,theatmospherebetween themwascharged. Gigi excused herselfto her roomimmediately. Shefoundher iPod and securedtheearbudsin place,then laydownon thebed todrown outherthoughts. Shestared up attheceiling,herbrain cycling through all the possibleoutcomes. Ifshecontinuedthisthing withMax,sheknewshewould beleft heartbroken attheend ofit. If sheputa stop toitnow,shewould alwayswonder whatif…
Someonewasshaking herleg, making Gigi snap intoan uprightpositon. Shemusthavefallen asleep. Shelooked downtofind Maxstanding there,hisarmscrossedover his chest. Hisexpression waspinched. Shepulledthe earbud from herear.
“Max?”
“There’ssomeoneheretoseeyou,”he gritout.“A guy,” hetackedonwith asmall snarl.
“Whoisit?”Herbrain wasclearlystill asleep becauseshecould notkeep up withthe conversation.
“I didn’tcatch hisname.”
Moving offthe bed,shestood up and wentto thedoor,butwasstoppedwhenhetook herby thewrist. Shelooked backathim.
“I don’tsharewell,Gigi.”Hehad broughthisfacecloser tohers. Hisgazewashotand hungry, and focusedon herlips. Her mouth parted,a small gasp slipping from her throat.Maxkissed her hard,possessing her ineverywaypossible. Histongueslid insidehermouth,stroking her own with a rhythmshewasbecomingaddicted to. Whenhepulled away,shewasbreathless.
Dazed,shewalked intotheliving room. Alexwassitting on thecouch witha bottle ofwinein one hand,and in theotherwasa pizza boxwith aDVDcasesittingon topof it.“Alex?”
Helooked up ather,a grinspreading acrosshis lips.“Sinceyou had tocancel,IthoughtI’d bring our datetoyou.Dinner and a movie,right?” heasked,gesturing tothepizza and DVD.
“Right,”shereplied. Sheturned when shefeltthefine hairsatthebackof her neckstandon end. Maxhad justwalked intothekitchen,hiswatchful eyes onthepairofthem.“Umm,you already met my boss.”ThesamebossI’msleepingwith,shementallyadded.
“Yeah, wemet briefly,”Alexsaid,hisvoicebecoming sharp. Shelooked betweenbothmen warily,watching themstareateachotherfromacrosstheroom;testosteronewasthickintheair. Alexwasthefirstoneto break,though.
SheknewexactlywhatMaxwasdoing—hewasmarking his territory.Well,shewasn’taboutto letherself becometheir firehydrant.Turning backto him,sheasked sweetly,“You don’tmind if we watch amovie,doyouMax?”
His jawbulged before he managed tosay,“Notatall,Gigi. I’ll getoutofyour way.”Banging around in thekitchenforafewminutes, Maxstalkeddown thehall with everything heneededto makea sandwich. Gigi stood up,her legsalittleshaky,and wenttogetsomeplatesand glasses. Alex wasunscrewing thecapofthewine bottlewhen shecame back.Placing everything on thetable,she opened up theDVDand placed itintheplayer.
Shesaton thecouch,Alex passing her a glassofwineand a platewith a sliceof pizza on it. After getting himself twoslices, hesatbesideher,theirbodiestouching fromhiptocalf.
“I’m glad you didn’tgetupsetthatI still camearound,”Alexsaid,taking a biteand chewing.
“Why did you thinkI’dbeupset?”
Heshrugged. “Dunno. Justthoughtthat maybe you wouldn’twantmehere.”
“I feltreallybad abouthaving tocancel,”shesaid,butin her head shewasscreaming,Liar,liar, liar!Gigi trulydidn’twanttohurtAlex,butsheknewsheinevitablywould—Maxwasjusttoomuch of atemptation.
“Mind ifweturn off thelights?” heaskedoncethey’dfinished dinner.
“Umm,no.”Shestood up and flipped off themain lightsin theliving roomandkitchen.
“Can wekillthelamps, too?I likewatching moviesincompletedarkness.”
Shedid turn offthelamp,butshefeltuneasydoing it.Darknesscould hideany multitude ofsins, and shewassuddenlywishing itwasMaxshewassitting beside. Shedid wanttolikeAlexasmore than justa friend,butshewasstruggling with theconceptnowthatsheknewwhat Maxcould give her.
Thefirst half ofthe moviemanaged tokeepherattention. Itwasaromancebetween aformer bull rider whowanted to makeacomebackafter amajor,nearlyfatal injuryand ayoungwoman whowasvisiting hergrandfatheronelasttime before hepassed away.To behonest,shewouldn’t have thought itwasthekind ofmovieAlexwould like.
Whenit gottothesexscenes,Gigi started togetreallyuncomfortable. Alex’shand ‘accidently’brushed up againsthersatfirst,then itlanded on herknee. Clearlyhewastrying toget thecouragetohold her hand. Completelyuncomfortablewith hisadvances,sherepositionedherself on her stomachonthefloor,feigning a soreback.
