Chapter 7

****Okay, so I've written and re-written this story three times and I can't tweak it anymore. It is what it is but hopefully it's good! Also, my friend showed me a picture of Max from google the other day and of course it was one of him doing something ridiculous. He was at the pool somewhere with a group of people and he was mooning the camera. Somehow I wasn't surprised but it was still funny.



Eliza's POV:


I woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed the next morning. I couldn't remember anything that happened after 12:30 last night but what the hell, I had managed to sleep for 8 hours which was a miracle in itself. If I did do anything bad last night I wasn't going to worry about it too much because it had made me zonk out and really sleep for the first time in 5 months. Besides I hardly ever got hangovers so who cares?


Rolling over, I looked at the clock to see that it was already quarter to 11. Was it Sunday or Monday? Oh god, did Mia and Paul leave already because I slept so much? Where was my cell-phone? More importantly, why was I only in my underwear?


"Good morning my little tequila sunrise!" Mia knocked loudly on the door and walked in to find me sitting confused in my underwear in my bed.


"Oh, wow girl. What's with the underwear? You have like a cardinal rule against sleeping in your underwear." She was right, I never slept in my underwear and always opted for nightgowns or shorts and a t-shirt. I must have really been drunk and tired last night. At least I don't get hangovers. I was starting to feel better about my choice of sleeping attire when Mia started to laugh hysterically.


"Oh god Eliza. Okay so I have something to tell you since you obviously don't remember." She paused to get her breathing under control again.

"Mia, tell me now. You're sort of freaking me out. I didn't sleep with anyone did I?!"

"No, but you might find this worse. Okay so you were a little drunk last night. Not sloppy drunk or anything but we needed someone sober to get us all home."

Okay, so far this didn't seem so bad. I hadn't slept with anyone and I hadn't acted like a sloppy drunk. What could really be that bad?

"So Max swooped in and got all of us home and because you were such a cuddly drunk he led you into your bedroom. I can only assume that you were too drunk to notice what you were wearing in front of him."

Oh GOD. Max had seen me naked! Well, practically naked anyway. My happy mood from getting a full nights rest was completely gone now and I only felt dread. Mia quickly noticed my distress.

"Oh come on Eliza. He's a good guy. He obviously didn't take advantage of you and he made sure that the place was locked up for us. He knew you were drunk so he probably didn't think anything of the incident."


Okay, that made sense. Besides, I was still covered the important parts anyway and with his reputation, he saw naked women all of the time. I seriously doubted that he was even affected by the sight of me in my underwear drunkenly babbling or whatever else I did last night.


"You're probably right Mia. I'll just thank him when I see him on Monday, pretend like nothing happened and stay away from tequila for awhile."

"That's the spirit. Now are you up to making breakfast? I love you, but I love your blueberry pancakes even more."


I laughed. Leave it to Mia to think about food right now. "Sure, let me put on something and I'll be right out."

I got up and made my bed before quickly washing my makeup off from the night before and putting on some old jeans and a t-shirt. I could shower later once everyone had left. Suddenly I remembered that I needed my phone and it had been remarkably quiet. That's odd. I never turn my phone off. I must have really wanted to sleep if I had thought to turn it off last night. I had 5 missed calls from my Aunt and Mom. I chose to call my Aunt back first because I wasn't even sure what to say to my Mom yet after our fight. I cringed when my Aunt immediately answered the phone wondering where I was and why my phone had been off all morning. So much for being a grown adult who doesn't have to answer to anyone. I walked out of my room to make breakfast only to find that it wasn't just Paul and Mia sitting around the TV.


So much for avoiding him until Monday.


Max's POV:


I didn't really know why I was there only hours after I had left but that morning I found myself outside of her door without any reason other than to make sure she was okay. And okay, so maybe I thought it would be slightly hilarious to see Ms. Perfect with a hangover but that was besides the point.

Mia had greeted me and let me in saying that Lizzy had just woken up and was going to make breakfast. She didn't ask me why I was there and instead acted like she expected me there with all of them. Because she didn't seem to think that it was odd that I was there again, I decided that I wouldn't either. Besides, I was too fascinated by how clean and tidy her apartment was. Seriously, how did she live like this? The pillows were always perfectly fluffed and surfaces even shined from polish. If he didn't have Mrs. Rollins, his place would certainly never look like this.


"Mimi, I promise I'm fine. I just went out last night and didn't check my cell until now." She walked out of her room talking to someone on the phone and pulling her hair up out of her face. She was only wearing loose jeans and an old t-shirt but she looked more refreshed than he had ever seen her. When she finally noticed him she froze before tuning back into her conversation on the phone.


"Yes, I promise I'll come tomorrow night for dinner. Can I bring dessert? Okay, okay." She finished up the phone call quickly and sighed before mumbling "finally!"

I was expecting her to act weird about me being there but instead she smiled at me. "Uh, hey Max. I was just about to make breakfast if you want to stay and eat?" She was acting suspiciously normal and relaxed.

"Uh, sure. I was just up and about this morning and wanted to make sure that you were okay." She was already digging around in the refrigerator concentrating on what she was doing.


"Huh? Oh, don't worry about it. I appreciate you getting me home in one piece. Mia told me that I acted...interesting last night. I just hope I wasn't annoying or ruined your night or anything."

I laughed remembering how she had leaned against me on the way home last night and how nice it had been. Nope, definitely not annoying.

"It's okay, really. You were having a good time last night and I know the guys had fun too." He smirked at her before adding, "They already want you to go out again with them next weekend."

She laughed, "Oh god, I think I'll pass for a week or so. I should probably stay away from the tequila for awhile too. That is what I was drinking right?"

Both Paul and Mia chimed in from the living room with "Yes!" before turning their attention back to the TV.

I laughed at the expression on her face before gesturing to the case of blueberries she was holding. "So do I get some blueberry pancakes as a reward for my taking care of you last night?"

Her face suddenly turned a fascinating shade of red and she turned around to dig in the cupboards. "Sure, of course. It'll be about 15 minutes or so before its ready. Do you want some coffee or something?" She still wasn't facing me and I wondered if this was about me seeing her in her underwear last night. That's the only thing that could make her this embarrassed. I could definitely have fun with this. I was suddenly fascinated by this new side of her. Last night she had shown her uninhibited side and now this morning she was embarrassed about something and definitely not acting like her normal, confident self. It made me want to push her a little bit and see what else she would reveal.

I walked closer to where she was standing in the small kitchen and saw her mixing up the batter for her pancakes. She was humming slightly and began to mix the blueberries into the batter before putting 4 dollops of the mix onto the heated griddle. She didn't notice as I moved closer behind her to peer over her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Okay, that was a stupid question. Obviously she was making pancakes. She turned her head towards me before jumping a bit at how close I was to her.

"What does it look like? I'm making the pancakes." her eyes were narrowed at me slightly and I could tell that she thought I was up to something. Which I was.


The perverse side of me wanted to see just how she reacted to me physically after what had happened last night. It had been hard for me to get past the feeling of her body pressed up against me as I laid in bed last night trying to think innocent thoughts. I couldn't help but wonder if she was as affected by me as I was by her.

After looking over her shoulder for a second time and her snapping at me for crowding her, she pushed me out of the kitchen and to the table before making me set it. Why wasn't she acting like other women? Normally women respond right away and don't push me out of their kitchens.

Time to step it up a notch.

Eliza's POV:

What was he doing? First he shows up looking slightly cute in his sweatpants, stubble and glasses, then I stupidly invite him to stay for breakfast and then he's in my personal space bubble suddenly interested in how pancakes are shaped on a griddle. After the second time he tried to watch too closely I was ready to smack him with the griddle and opted to make him set the table instead. I did not appreciate the fact that yesterday, after seeing me in my underwear, he was back and trying to push my buttons. I could tell by the little smile on his face that we both knew what I did last night while under the influence of tequila and he was enjoying every minute of making me uncomfortable. Sneaky bastard. If he wanted an ego stroke he certainly wasn't going to get it from me. No matter how cute he was.

I peeked over my shoulder to watch him set the table and refrained from saying that he was clearly doing it wrong. The plates weren't centered on the place mats and for some reason he had grabbed spoons to put beside the forks instead of knives. Even though my perfectionist side was outraged by his table setting, I let it go because he looked so funny doing something so feminine. He was also clearly annoyed, but trying not to be, about the fact that I had made him do it.

Mia and Paul came to the table and started to chat to Max once the food was ready. I got everything ready and put it on the table before sliding into the only available chair left next to Max. Immediately conversation veered back to last night and how hilariously I had acted.



Mia was in the middle of talking about how cute the bartender was when I interrupted.


"What are you guys talking about? I thought we were upstairs the whole night?" I didn't even remember leaving the VIP section we had been in.


"You don't remember? He's the guy who gave you all of that tequila and he was pretty flirty with you."

Max laughed, "He even offered to take you home and you don't remember him?"



I seriously didn't remember the bartender. The only snippets I remotely remembered after midnight last night were snippets of being close to Max. I definitely wasn't going to mention that fact to him or anyone else.



"Not really. I think I remember meeting him initially but anything after that is fuzzy. I didn't try to take him up on his offer though right?" Everyone looked at each other before Max stepped in.



"We didn't really let you have enough time to think about."



"Yeah, Max grabbed you before you could consider it." Paul added before shoving more pancake into his mouth.



I looked over at Max who was also chewing and looking down at his plate.



"I hope overall I didn't act too stupidly though, right?"



"You were fine. Unusually chipper, but also agreeable. So that made getting you home and into be pretty easy." As he said the word 'easy,' Max moved his knee against mine and left it there to rest against my leg. Until now, I hadn't noticed just how close our chairs had gotten over the course of breakfast. We had started out with at least a foot between us and now we were almost sitting hip-to-hip. Since I hadn't been the one to move over, I wondered why all of the sudden, Max was suddenly in my personal space bubble and also why it made me so nervous. Every time he pressed against me to reach for more food or his leg moved against mine in some way, my stomach clenched and it was making me lose my appetite. If Max noticed how close we were all of the sudden, he didn't appear to care and continued to talk good naturedly to Paul and Mia while we finished eating and I tried to swallow my pancakes.


Finally breakfast was over and Mia and Paul were getting ready to head back to Boston.


"So you'll call as soon as you make it home, right?" I asked hugging Mia tightly at the door.
"Of course. And you'll promise to start answering your phone from now on, right? No more of your avoiding people bullshit right?"


"Yes, just stop guilting me okay?" I hugged her again before moving on to Paul. Mia and Max were talking quietly again but she hugged him before grabbing up her bag and yelling at Paul to follow her. As they walked away down the hallway together, I could feel myself tearing up as I watched them go and tried not to let Max see. The jackass would probably make fun of me.





Sure enough as soon as I closed the door, he was laughing and saying "So should I get you a tissue?"
"Hah. hah. No. Now could you please leave? I need to clean up my apartment and finally take a shower."


He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him before sniffing me and adding, "You smell fine. And your apartment is already spotless so what else are you going to clean?"


I tried to think of a good response but came up with nothing. Why was he standing so close to me again?


"Are you normally so involved with your lawyer's personal lives?" I asked moving away from him again and walking into the kitchen to load up the dishwasher. He followed me to lean on the counter and I could feel his eyes on me when he answered "Not really. But I thought that we were becoming friends."


Did friends normally press up against each other during breakfast? I don't think so. I decided that whatever game he was playing with me had to end. If he thought that I was just another one of the women that he could mess with, then he was wrong. I hated guys that played games and with Max's reputation, I didn't doubt that he was making me uncomfortable just for his own entertainment because he hadn't gotten laid last night.



"I thought we were friends too. But friends, especially male and female friends, do not rub up against each other just because one friend wants to mess with the other friend." Instead of taking me seriously however, Max rolled his eyes at me before smiling at me like I was stupid.

"What are you talking about? Are you sure you aren't feeling sick from last night? Like a hangover?"

Was he playing stupid with me? He said it so innocently but Max was never innocent about anything. Including all of the speeding tickets I had gotten him out of.

"Look buddy, I don't get hangovers. And no, I am not as stupid as you seem to think I am. I'm on to you. If you need entertainment, go out and find a floozy in a club to mess with. Yes, we've become friends, but I'm also your lawyer and the person who saves your ass every week so don't mess with me."

He smiled at me again before grabbing his keys and saying "I'll see you later this week" before finally leaving my apartment. Did he even listen to what I just said?

Probably not.