Chapter 6

Eliza's POV:


Around 10am I had returned to my apartment to find Mia and Paul bickering over the newspaper at the kitchen table. As soon as I walked in though Mia let Paul have the whole paper and then barked at me to get a move on into my bedroom. As soon as the door to my room was shut she turned on me.




"What's going on with you Eliza? You seem tired all of the time, I see you popping aspirin like it's candy and this morning I hear you yelling at your Mom on the phone who you NEVER talk to like that."



I knew she was right and tried to turn away so that she didn't see my eyes start to puff up. I was never able to have a serious discussion when I cried because I was a blubberer. Finally I gave up and I couldn't help but sniffle before going over and allowing myself to be hugged by her.




"I don't know Mia. I'm just being stupid, I know. But I'm so tired of everyone pushing at me about my Dad. I've tried to be there for my Mom but now she wants us to go to grief counseling and I just don't want to do it. What else is there to talk about? I don't want to feel this sad anymore!" I leaned back from her shoulder when I realized that I was getting snot on her t-shirt and felt bad all over again which of course only made me feel bad and cry harder.



She continued to hug me and stroke my hair but not before smacking me on the back of the head.



"I repeat, what the hell is wrong with you Eliza? It's okay that you don't want to talk about your Dad all of the time but there's a better way to deal with it then holding everything in and exploding on your Mom. Also, you don't return phone calls, you have been skipping family dinners- which you usually love AND I'm pretty sure that the only thing you have been doing since moving here is working."



"Are you done yelling at me yet? I already feel like a fool Mia and I'm really sorry that I've treated everyone so badly. If I promise to call my Mom tomorrow and thoroughly apologize will you stop hitting me?"



"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I only hit you to try to knock some sense into you. You know we all love you and are here for you, right?" I nodded yes and she finally smiled at me before dragging me up out of my bed and into my closet.



"Now we need to make you look really hot tonight so you can find a guy and finally relieve some tension!"



"Mia! I do not need to relieve tension. And don't go slutting me up, I still have to be these guy's lawyer on Monday morning." She ignored me and happily searched through my closet for the next hour.




By 9, I was dressed, sprayed, spritzed, makeup'ed and fluffed within an inch of my life. Mia had made me take my time since I normally just had a routine to getting ready and went with it everyday. She had picked out dark wash jeans that were on the skinny side but didn't cling to me like a second skin. She had also picked out a black silk camisole and plum sweater to wear over it along with my favorite black Chanel flats. I disagreed about wearing flats because that made me stand at my normal height of 5'7" which put me at a height disadvantage with basically all men. In the end she convinced me to wear the flats though so that I would be able to walk better in case I did decide to drink. Which I probably would tonight. I really needed a drink. For some reason, tonight seemed special so I even spent more time working on my makeup and darkening my eyes and lips. I guess Mia's attempt to sex up our looks a little bit worked because when we walked out Paul stuttered considerably upon seeing Mia and her cleavage and blushed when he saw me as well.



I couldn't help but grin at how awkward he was. "Thanks Paul, I appreciate it."




While we waited for Max to show up, Mia busied herself fixing Paul's collar since when had she become the kind of girl that dotes on a guy? and I finished putting the rest of our dinner dishes away. Butterflies erupted in my stomach when I heard the buzzer for my door go off.



I really hope tonight is fun.









Max's POV:



When the door opened, I was expecting to see Lizzy in jeans and one of her fancy turtlenecks or something. In all honesty, I expected a toned down version of lawyer Lizzy. Instead what appeared in front of me was Lizzy: the sex kitten version. Her normally straight blond hair was lightly curled and fluffed out around her face with long eyelashes and red lips. And she never wore red lipstick. At least she took my suggestion of jeans to heart but of course the new sex kitten Lizzy was wearing jeans that framed her curvy body and a black silk top. Jesus, silk too? Her only attempt at her usual modesty was a small purple sweater that covered her shoulders but didn't disguise the fact that she simply had fabulous breasts that I needed to not stare at all night. I thought maybe she hadn't put her shoes on yet but then realized she had opted not to wear heels at all and wore flats instead. I kind of liked this though because normally she was only an inch or two shorter than me. Without heels I could easily tuck her head under my chin. Wait, what the hell am I thinking? So far we were just standing there looking at each other and I was marvelling at how she could look so hot and not appear slutty at the same time. There was just something about her that kept her classy at all times and simultaneously sent of warning bells in his head. Bells that seemed to say definitely not for you bud which sort of pissed him off.




I did manage to speak eventually and she let me in to introduce me to her friends. Mia shook my hand and seemed to be sizing me up but was friendly and broke the ice by talking a lot. Her boyfriend who was introduced as Paul didn't say much but let Mia boss him around and looked damn happy that way. I figured he would loosen up with a little alcohol and good music. While we waited for Lizzy to grab everything she needed in her giant purse what was she bringing out anyway? I took the time to look around her apartment. It wasn't huge but it was definitely the type of place that she would live in. Classy and coolly painted in shades of peach and cream with a lot of paintings and black and white photographs on the walls. In short a chick place that she obviously lived in because it was meticulously clean and organized. He did appreciate that she had comfortable, big chairs though because most girls he knew picked weird, little fung-shui furniture that dug into his ass and made him feel like a giant.


Finally she came out of what he guessed was her bedroom with her bag and announced that she was ready to go. She only hit him once on the way down the elevator when he tried to steal her bag to figure out what she needed it for. This caused Mia to start laughing hysterically and tell stories about how Lizzy was infamous for her giant purses.



If he got to hear more embarrassing stories about Lizzy all night, then he knew it was going to be a good time.




Eliza's POV:




When I opened the door and saw him waiting for me, I couldn't help but feel a little bit giddy. He was dressed casually in jeans and a black sweater with his glasses and looked good. Sexy even. I especially liked that he had shaved and opted not to look like a lumberjack. He had this macho thing where he liked to look as hairy as possible for games and I still didn't understand if that was a hockey thing or a Max thing. Rue the day I ever found his ability to grow hair like a gorilla attractive.


As we stood in my doorway staring at each other I realized that I had never taken the time to appreciate that aside from his questionable theories about obeying the law, he was really handsome. I hated to think about how many women in Pittsburgh thought the same thing every day. Damn him for wearing those glasses too. She was such a sucker for his glasses which made his eyes darker and if possible, bluer. I was a little bit worried that something was wrong because of the way he was just staring at me but then he walked into my apartment and started to chat up Mia and Paul while I grabbed my usual black bag. I had learned when I turned 21 that you never know what you'll need when you go out. That bag had saved me and my friends many a time with its mini first aid kit and various other safety objects.







After a brief struggle in the elevator when Max wanted to know what was in my bag, he led us out to his car which surprisingly was not his sports car and instead was a white, expensive-looking SUV. I didn't realize until I was settled in the car that Max had physically led me to the car and seated me in the passenger seat again before I could say otherwise.



I sighed, "you know, one of these days you will listen to me when I say that I don't need to be led around everywhere. You can stop pushing me into your car for one."



"Ohhh, a man handler is he?" Mia teased from the back seat causing Max to grin at her through the rear-view mirror. I hated that they were both prone to suggestive comments like that.



"She's only manhandled because its so hard to get her to go anywhere otherwise." Jeez, they haven't even known each other for 10 minutes and they are already bonding over torturing me. Paul had even jumped in a couple of times!



"So Max, what is the actual plan tonight?" I interrupted them.



"Oh, right. So we're going to the nightclub Diesel but before you say anything, most of the guys from the team are coming and its our usual Saturday night spot. It's just a club, not a skeezy dive bar as you put it before." He smiled at me before adding,"You'll like it, I promise."




"Yeah Eliza, you haven't been to a club since last year for my birthday and dancing will be so fun tonight!"



Maybe she's right, maybe I do need to let off a little steam and just dance. A hot guy wouldn't hurt either.
I tuned back into the conversation going on in the car around me and let Max's jokes and teasing make me feel better.

We arrived at Diesel and were led inside by a bouncer right away. I guess Max really is a regular here. Tons of people were already packed inside even though it was still relatively early in club time. Before I could wonder what to do, Max was behind me with his hand on the small of my back leading me upstairs to some sort of lounge where I immediately recognized some of the Pens shouting at us and waving to get our attention.

"Eliza, you look hot!" Kris grinned appreciatively at me as he looked me up and down. Jordan had also walked over as soon as we entered. "I agree and therefore I am going to steal you away from Max here so that I have you all to myself. Who are your friends?"

I introduced everyone to each other and felt the tension in my body begin to melt away. Why was I even worried about this. I knew these guys and they were awesome so I should just let myself have fun tonight. I still wanted a drink though. I turned from where I was tucked in between Max and Jordan talking about the music and waved to a couple of other players. Mia and Paul had been introduced to Sidney and Paul was getting his fan worshipping out of the way. I decided that I could make a break for it and find my way to the bar.

As I walked away, I stopped and said a quick hello to Marc-Andre who had just arrived and was introduced to his girlfriend Vero who seemed super friendly and made me promise to dance with her later.
"Sounds good Vero. I'll be right back, I want to get a drink. You guys want anything?" When they said no, I made my way down the stairs and began the trek through the crowds to get to the bar.

Finally I wiggled up to a small, open space and was able to get the bartenders attention quickly this outfit really is useful for something and ordered a margarita. I didn't care that it was not a tough girl drink but a girly drink- I really just wanted some tequila after the week I had been having. After paying and letting the bartender flirt with me a little bit, I made my way back to where everyone was to see who else had showed up. Most of the younger guys on the team had arrived by now some with girlfriends and some without. At least I think they were girlfriends, some of the sluttier looking girls looked like they were just random club-goers who had weaseled their way into our section. Max in particular looked like he was cozied up against two of these girls and when noticed that I was back, looked sheepish at the two girls literally pawing him. I couldn't help but laugh and mouth "good luck" to him before turning around to find Sidney standing behind me.

"Hey, you scared me!" I laughed and drank more of my drink. He looked between Max and I again before smiling himself.
"So, you and Max, eh?"
"Me and Max what?" What was he talking about?
"Is there a little something going on there? He hasn't stopped looking at you the whole time we've been here" he said with a little nudge and one of those all-knowing masculine smiles. As far as I could tell, Max only had eyes for the two pairs of breasts that were currently pushed into his face right now.
"Whoa buddy. There is nothing going on, I promise. I think we're friends, or on our way to becoming friends and that's it."
"Eliza, we're all friends. You guys just seem a little...friendlier or something."
"Please Sid. Look at him and look at the girls he's with. Even if there was something going on, and there isn't, I am nothing like the girls he obviously prefers." I said gesturing to where Max was sitting again. Good lord, one of the girls was straddling him!

He looked skeptical of my attempts to reason with him but finally let the conversation die. I had finished my margarita and with all of that liquid courage inside of me, I was ready to dance. First I needed my dancing partner though and looked for Mia amongst all of the players. I found that Max was no longer with the stripper twins and was instead having engrossed in conversation with Mia and Paul. It looked pretty serious-definitely too serious for a club. I ignored the fact that my head felt like it was floating and marched over to them. I was not a lightweight.

"Come on Mia, I need my dancing partner so let's get down there." I broke into the conversation giggling a little bit at that point. Just how many shots did he put into my drink anyway?

Max narrowed his eyes at my giggling. "Jeez, what did you have to drink already? We haven't even been here for an hour."
His tone was bossy and surprisingly authoritative but honestly, was he really going to frown upon me drinking tonight?
Mia on the other hand was amused and had admitted before that I am hands down hilarious when tipsy. "Well if you want to dance, then we gotta let you dance! Wanna come Paul?"

Paul knew better and left us for Jordan and Sid who he saw seated a couple of feet from us. Smart guy.

When Max tried to convince us to stay I rolled my eyes before walking away. "I don't know what his problem is tonight. He complains that I'm too uptight all of the time and then when I'm in an appropriate setting to have fun- I shouldn't." Mia listened to my complaint without saying anything but I couldn't tell if it was because she didn't want to comment or actually couldn't hear me over the music. We danced for a couple of songs before both deciding that we needed drinks and a minute away from all of the sweaty bodies. I was starting to really like this bartender that kept flirting with me and providing me with alcohol. He kept trying to be cute and joke with us and even took a shot of tequila with us once Mia convinced me to drink one.

"Hey, we should go back to everyone. I need to check on Paul anyway-he might be going back into super fan mode without me there to control him." I agreed even though I wanted to dance more because it was stifling hot on the main level. I also needed to sit down because I was a little woozy after my last shot of tequila. How many did I have again?

Max's POV:

She had been acting weird all night. Sure it looked like she was actually just cutting loose and having a good time but her smiles didn't seem real or something. Like she was proving to everyone and herself that she was happy. He had found Mia earlier to ask her about it but all she had said was that Eliza would be fine, and that some foolish dancing would do her good. Aside from dancing she was also on her way to drinking a lot of what he suspected was tequila. Who knew that uptight Eliza was a tequila drinker? He wasn't going to lie, he found it sexy that she was cutting loose and wearing that outfit tonight but he wished that she was genuine in her having fun. After talking to Mia, he could tell that she and Eliza both were definitely not telling him something but all Mia had said to him before Eliza had bounded over was that she knew he would look out for her. What the hell did that mean? She didn't need a babysitter in her life and even if she did, she probably wouldn't let him even if he wanted to. He couldn't talk to any of the guys about it because they were all doting on her except for Flower who was currently making out with his girlfriend and was loving the new, outgoing Lizzy anyway.

After breaking away from two very handsy girls (who kept appearing no matter how hard he had tried to escape them) he realized that he hadn't seen her in awhile and assumed she was still dancing when he heard her and Mia laughing hysterically and making their way back up the stairs. He could tell just by looking at her that Mia definitely wasn't drunk but Lizzy was well on her way and from what he could hear, she had just been hit on by a guy who thought he had very smooth moves. She waved and smiled at him when she caught him staring and then was distracted by a few of the guys calling her over to their table. He watched her wriggle out of Jordan's attempts for her to sit on his lap and sat between him and Sidney before playfully punching him on the shoulder and calling over her friends to come join them. When she looked at him as if to invite him over he shook his head and let himself be distracted by the handsy girls again just so that he could ignore how beautiful she looked under the club lights with her face flushed. I sound like such an idiot.

By 2, the club was starting to wind down and most of the guys with girlfriends had already left. After seeing Mia yawn with Paul's arm around her shoulders and Lizzy getting progressively more drunk with her newly declared "drinking buddies" Sidney and Jordan, he decided that he should probably cut her off. She had been worshipped by the guys for being what they termed, "a sexy tequila drinker" and in her alcohol induced state, had loved every minute of their attention. When she was just being persuaded to do a body shot by Jordan, he stepped in and shooed everyone else along with a nasty glare.

"But Max, I don't want to go!" He ignored her swatting and pulled on her hands to get her to stand up.
"Come on honey, I'm exhausted and that's why we're leaving." Mia tried to help him and convince her to leave.

She plopped backwards on the couch and still refused to get up while he dialed a cab service to send Jordan and Sidney home in. Besides those three, everyone else including himself was sober enough to get home. Now how was he going to get her home. Looked like he would just have to manhandle again.

"Come on Eliza, it's time for you to go home now." She swatted him when he tried to grab her hands to pull her up from the couch.
"Neugh! I can walk, I promise." He watched her carefully stand up herself and struggled not to smile when she looked a little bit like a surfer trying to balance on a wave.
"Come on Eliza, let me help you a little bit okay?" He took her arm and straightened her before moving closer and sliding and arm around her waist while grabbing her enormous bag with his other free hand. She surprised him by mumbling "thank you" into his shoulder blade where she had planted her face and snuggled closer to him. Without her heels she only stood at his shoulder and he thanked god that it wasn't her face pressed against his neck instead. His shoulder was already close to spasming simply because he could feel her breathing against his skin through the fabric of his sweater. Slowly they made their way out of the club mostly because she kept trying to say goodbye to people and had said a particularly heartfelt goodbye to the bartender who had kept the liquor flowing for her most of the night. He ignored the fact that the bartender had offered to take her home instead and didn't let Eliza consider the idea before whisking her outside and to his waiting car. After seating her in the passenger seat and making sure that Mia and Paul were ready, he pulled out into the street and began the short drive back to Eliza's place.

The ride was silent except for Mia and Paul murmuring to each other in the back seat and Eliza mumbling to herself and shifting around in her seat before finally settling on a position and using his arm as a pillow.

"Do you think you could help us get her upstairs?" Mia questioned once they had parked in the garage to her apartment building.

"Yeah, of course. She's kind of a handful when she's drunk apparently."

Mia laughed and commented, "you should have seen her on her 21st birthday."

Surprisingly, Eliza was easy to lead upstairs because she was too tired to put up a fight. However, when they reached her door and began the process of finding her keys and unlocking the door she attached herself to his body and mumbled something about "not being able to stand anymore."

"Here, just take her into her room and get her on the bed. I'm really sorry she's acting like this. She's unusually cuddly when she's drunk and tends to latch onto the warmest body." Mia said trying to untangle Eliza's arms from my waist which remained firm and pressed even closer to mine. Especially her breasts.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just take her in there if you guys want to go to bed. She'll make my life a living hell on Monday if I don't make sure she's okay." I hoped that this was the right thing to say because I wasn't concentrating so well with her boobs pressed against my chest like this. Especially with her non-existent silk top.

"In that case, thanks again. It means a lot to me that she has someone trust-worthy here to make sure she's okay. She's had it pretty rough lately and really needed a night like this outside of her apartment."

I looked down at Eliza who appeared to be dozing on me. "Yeah, I've noticed. What exactly happened? I mean, is it okay if I know? It's just that we've been becoming friends but she still has this thing about keeping boundaries because she's a lawyer to the team and she hasn't told me whats really been getting to her." I really hoped that this question was okay and that Eliza really was asleep.

"No, it's fine. I'm just not surprised that she hasn't mentioned it. Her dad died a couple of months ago really suddenly in a car accident and she hasn't actually done a good job of addressing her feelings. She just kind of bottles it up and won't let it all out to anyone. Her mom and all of her friends are really worried so that's why I'm so happy that she has you and the rest of the guys around right now. I mean, I don't want to sound weird or anything but it seems like you would all be good for her right now just to distract her from her shitty family life right now."

I nodded at what Mia had told me and couldn't help but pull Eliza a little closer to me. So that's why she had been so weird everytime I asked her about her family. It actually explains a lot of things.
"Mmmph. Are we home yet?" Eliza mumbled starting to loosen her grip on me and open her firmly closed eyes.

"Yeah Lizzy, we're here. Let's get you to bed, okay?"

"Bed! I haven't been to bed in months!" Somehow after what Mia had told him, he wouldn't be surprised if she was telling the truth. The idea of bed perked her up instantly and she finally let go of him to walk into her bedroom and begin the task of undressing. He let her go and walked into the kitchen to dig up some water and aspirin for her so that her head didn't roll off in the morning. I wonder if she's even had a hangover before.

"Hey Lizzy? I'm coming in" he said knocking softly on her door. Unfortunately he walked in and instantly wished he hadn't. She was in the process of stripping off her jeans and in her current position, he had a very nice view of her ass fitted in a small, pair of red boyshorts.

"I, uh, brought you some aspirin to take before you go to sleep." Should he stay or should he go? She ignored him and continued to struggle out of her pants exclaiming "a-hah!" when she was finally released from her jeans. He groaned when she also wiggled to pull her top off over her head making other interesting parts of her wiggle as well.

He couldn't think. That was the only reason that he was still standing here watching her innocent strip show and not giving into the temptation she didn't even know she was providing. She didn't seem aware of the fact that she was practically naked and he was painfully full of tension just from looking at her tonight. He was still trying to turn his brain back on when she climbed into the folds of her fluffy and girlishly pink bed.

"Here, come on and take the aspirin." So I can get the hell away from here. He nudged her into a seated position before handing it to her and making sure she drank all of the water. He didn't know why he was still there torturing himself and taking care of her. That was what surprised him the most. Normally he didn't give two fucks about a girl's hangover and now here he was tucking his very prickly and almost naked lawyer into bed and making sure her hangover wasn't too horrible in the morning. By a strange and cruel twist of fate, he was also sober so he definitely couldn't blame it on the alcohol the next day.

She finished her water and smiled up at him before throwing her arms around his neck and hugging herself tightly against him. He felt his body freeze and then go through a slow melt-down. It wasn't that he had never had girls hanging on him before (sad but true) but he had never had Eliza hanging all over him and he certainly had never had her all over him in nothing but her underwear. Her very, very sexy underwear.

"Thanks Max" she turned and mumbled against his throat.

"Uh, what for?" He hoped that she wouldn't notice his pulse jumping out of his skin.

"I know I'm mean and a bitch and a mess to you most of the time but I really had fun." She kissed his cheek softly before adding, "You're so nice for such a bad boy" and shimmying back under her covers. He started to tell her that it was okay when he realized that she was already sound asleep and wouldn't hear him anyway.

He rose and pulled the covers up over her shoulders and turned off her cell phone before quietly shutting the door. The apartment was silent so he locked up as best as he could and left.

He knew that he definitely wouldn't be sleeping that night remembering how she had looked in her undewear smiling at him adoringly. What the hell was happening?