“Not really.” Max looked around at everyone else and kept his focus away from the spot where the other three were making quite a spectacle of themselves.
Elissa had her tongue shoved down Katie’s mouth, and the guy was grinding against her backside.
“Mara, let’s dance.”
I didn’t see Van coming in from the side, or else I would’ve run for hiding. But, here he was grabbing my hand and trying to pull me out on the dance floor.
“Noooo.” I pulled back and almost ended up on my ass when my hand broke free from his.
“C’mon, Mara. Just one.” He stumbled towards me.
I looked around for Max, but like always he just up and disappeared whenever trouble comes around. “Just leave me the fuck alone!” I pushed past a few people that were standing around watching our confrontation. Max wasn’t over by Katie, so at least, I knew he hadn’t gone back to her. I weaved in and out of couples on the dance floor, searching for the one that always had my every other thought.
“So, about that dance.”
Max’s soft breath on the back of my neck made me get goosebumps all up and down my arms. “Where did you disappear to?”
“Nowhere. I was here waiting for you.”
I put my hands on my hips. “What if I would’ve danced with, Van? You’d be standing here all alone.”
Max just smiled and reached for me. “But you wouldn’t have.”
We moved to the middle of the floor. I could see Van trying to see where I’d gone, but with all the people circling us we blended in nicely. Katie and Elissa were still over in the corner with that frat guy doing God knows what. I just started swaying to the rhythm like everyone else was doing and Max did the same.
The way that he moved, without even touching me, almost brought me to my knees. It was the most seductive feeling that I’d ever felt. As much as I wanted to feel him, I knew it would ruin the whole moment. The song was coming to an end, and I hoped that they would play another one like this because I didn’t want this moment to end so soon.
“Oops, sorry.” A drunken girl came up behind me, stumbled, and bumped me closer to Max. I tried not to make any contact, but I staggered forward and gripped onto his shoulders for balance.
We were at the cliffs again. Max had my hand in his and ran his other hand through my hair. His hand cupped the base of my neck, and he leaned down to kiss me softly. I felt myself get weak in the knees and deepened the kiss to where neither one of us could breathe. Max broke the kiss and leaned his forehead on my shoulder. “I’ve always loved you.”
When I came out from the imagery, Max was gone. I was standing alone on the dance floor. The song had ended, and everyone was moving to the beat of the new song or heading off to do something else. Just because I asked for one dance, I didn’t think Max would take that too seriously of meaning only one. I tried to see where he’d gone, but I couldn’t see past the masses of people that had crammed into the room.
I saw Ashley over by the bar that I’d just left. She was with that guy she had the likings for and two other people I didn’t know.
I tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. “Ash, did you see where that guy went that I was dancing with?”
“You were dancing with a man? Oh, my little Mara is growing up!” She gave me a hug and giggled. “Nope. I’m sorry. I didn’t see you until you came over here.” She pulled me a bit too close, and I could smell the strong alcohol scent on her breath. “Mara, this is Sean.” She rubbed her hand down the guy’s arm and took hold of his hand. “Sean, this is my best friend in the whole, wide world, Mara.”
I said hello, but didn’t pay too much attention to the whole greeting factor. Ashley always had a new guy that I had to meet. Once her long love affair ended with Reese in high school, I think she’d dated a new guy every week. I patted her shoulder so that she knew I was talking to her once again since she was becoming a little too preoccupied with Sean. “Well, I’m gonna look for him.”
“Okie Dokie. And Mara?”
I turned around when she called my name
“Remember my room is all yours tonight.” She winked and then went back to the loving attention she was giving to Sean.
There was a head of dark brown, bouncy curls over by the front door. I could tell that it was Max just for the fact that his head poked out above the girls that were over there, and he swept his hair back with his hand like he always did.
“Max,” I called out to him as the door slammed shut before I had the chance to get there. I opened it and nearly tripped over the people who were sitting on the porch. I saw him walking down towards where the cars occupied spaces along the street. I called out to him once again.
He stopped walking and waited for me to catch up.
“Where are you going?” I finally caught up with him after a short sprint.
He shrugged his shoulders and leaned up against one of the cars. I’m glad that no car alarm went off to draw attention to us.
“How are you going to get back home if Katie is with another guy?” I assumed that he’d come with her since I saw them walk in together and he didn’t seem to know anyone else here.
“I don’t know, Mara. I came out here because I just needed to get out of there and away from the crowd.”
“I have my car parked closer to the house if you wanna just chill out here for a while.” I pointed to where my car was over by the main parking area by the house.
Max seemed hesitant at first but then shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, why not.” He followed me over to my new car that mom and dad bought me after I came back home from the hospital.
I sat in the driver’s seat and Max sat on the passenger side. I don’t know how I could do it, but it was like I could feel his emotions. He was angry, confused, hurt, and maybe, just a little bit excited to be here with me.
“It seems like you’re picking my brain.” Max’s eyes slid over to me and he raised his eyebrows questioning me.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. Just this weird feeling that I get. It was like you were trying to read my thoughts.”
“Really? You felt that.” Good thing he didn’t read my thoughts when I thought of him with no clothes on, us lying together on the soft meadow grass…
“Ah, now you’re thinking about something a bit dirty minded, aren’t you?”
“Um—uh…” I was stuttering around for words. “N-no, why would you say that? Are you able to read my mind?" That would be embarrassing.
Max chuckled. “No, not really. Your face was all flushed, and I took a guess. But since you’ve almost admitted it, then I guess my assumption was right.”
“I never said I was picturing you in any dirty-minded scenario.” Ha, now what would be his comeback for that.
“When did I say it was me?” He threw me that silly grin he used to give me when we were alone, in our world.
“Max.”
“Yes.”
“What’s going on with us? Was any of that real?”
Max closed his eyes and for a few moments, I thought he wasn’t going to answer. “I don’t know, to both questions.”
“Why do I feel this connection with you? Do you feel it too, or is just all in my head?” I felt like I was going crazy sometimes. Ever since I’d met him in our place, I always needed to be near him and when I wasn’t, I felt like the other half of me was gone. “When I first woke up after the accident, I thought I’d gone crazy or something. I kept asking where you were, but no one knew who you were. It was like you never existed." I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the pain of being away from him for so long. "My mom still thinks I’m senseless and need to get on with my life and forget about the guy who was never there.” I opened my eyes back up and glanced back over at him.
Max nodded his head that he understood. He twisted himself around on the seat so that he was now facing me. “And then, you came to my house.”
“I, uh—it wasn’t by accident.”
“I sorta figured that out but didn’t want to push the issue. I was hoping that maybe we could go our separate ways and get on with our lives.”
I closed my eyes. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I wanted him in my life.
“Hey.” Max lightly touched my hand. There wasn’t any throw back into the past or us remembering about some special moment that we’d shared. “Let me finish before you go and get all sad.”
“How did you know I was upset?”
“I can catch a glimpse of your emotions and thoughts sometimes, especially if we are touching.”
“I can do the same thing with you too.” I took my finger and gently ran it along his hand. He wasn’t as stressed as he was before and seemed to be more at ease. He was thinking about the cliffs and some of our intimate moments that we had while we were there. “I see you can remember a lot of what went on.” Max’s neck turned a light red color, and I knew that I had caught him in a thought that he probably didn’t want to be known. “Do you have any idea why we can read each other’s emotions and feelings when we touch? Do you think it’s because we were in that place at the same time?”
“I have no clue, Mara.” Max rubbed his face and gently tugged on his hair out of frustration.
“When we had our last flashback.”
Max nodded his head that he had seen it too.
“What did you mean when you said ‘I’ve always loved you.’” As hard as I tried, I couldn’t remember him ever saying that to me the whole time we were there. “You never said those exact words when we were there. Why would we have a memory like that?”
“I don’t have the answer to that question either, Mara.” He shifted once again stretching out his legs. “I’m about as clueless in all of this as you.”
“So, where do we go from here?”
“Home. Back to our old lives.”
The way that Max said it made it seem he was asking a question more than giving a definitive answer.
“What if I can’t?” I knew I wouldn’t be able just to go on with my normal life knowing he was out there.
“Then we’ll run away together tonight. We’ll leave all of this behind.”
“Really?” I would so go down that route if he wanted to.
Max shook his head. “We can’t.”
My lips went into pout mode. “There’s nothing I’d miss if we did.”
A soft chuckle escaped through Max’s grave expression. “You don’t even really know me. Well, you do, but not in this real world.”
“Everything that you’ve ever told me was untrue?” I had to get clear on what was the truth and what could’ve been a lie.
“No. Even if I wanted to, I don’ think I could’ve lied to you when we were there.” Max brushed my hair back like he used to do. “Everything I said, and did, and felt was always true there.”
I nodded my head that I believed him. I could sense he was telling the truth, and I was the same way. I don’t think I could be deceitful then or now. It was like I had this need to be honest, something that didn’t come naturally for me. I always had to make up false stories to my parents, to Ashley, and even when Van and I were together.
“Can I try something?” Max had a gleam in his eye, and that cute little smile was making its comeback.
“As long as it doesn’t involve cliff diving right now.”
Max’s body shook with laughter. “There are no bloody mountains around here. Are there?” He opened the door and looked outside. “Nope. You’re safe on that one.”
“Then what?” Now he had my body tingling with curiosity.
“I wanted to do this since you came to my house that day supposedly lost. .”
I rolled my eyes at the way that he said the last part and also because he used air quotes around the word ‘lost.’
Max scooted a bit closer and lightly touched my cheek. I felt his warm breath on my lips as his lips ever so gently touched mine. As our kiss deepened, his fingers ran through my hair, and I pulled him as close as we could get in my small car. My body tingled so much that it felt like lightning bolts were hitting my car every time we touched.
Our breathing was heavy as we broke apart and tried to regain some control.
Max gripped my hand and brought it closer to his heart.
We were now outside, in our special place. Just like always, it was perfect there. Max laid beside me on the grass as we stared up at the sky. His arm was around me, and my head lay on his chest. I rolled over and lay on top of him. He started to caress my back, and I arched inwards with every touch. Our clothes were now off, as our bodies tangled around one another. I felt us becoming one and all the emotions that he felt coursed through me.
“Mara.”
Ashley’s voice outside my car door brought us back to the moment. I looked away from Max and towards my best friend who was standing there waving for me to get out.
“You better see what she wants. It seems important.” Max motioned for me to open the door.
Oh, like what we were doing wasn’t important. I thought Ashley would’ve known better than to interrupt me when I was finally enjoying myself. She was the one who told me to loosen up, have fun. So, I was, and she came along and ruined it all. Another knock on the window and I got out and shot her a dirty look of the irritation that was flowing through me. “What?” I know I sounded like an angry bitch, but she just ruined an exquisite moment.
“What are you doing? Why are you out here all alone?” She looked frantic that she couldn’t find me.
I shook my head at her. “I’m not alone.” I waved my hand back to my car. “I was quite busy with Max.”
Ashley scratched her head. She peeked inside the door that was slightly ajar. “Um, Mara. There’s no one there.”
“What?” I quickly turned around and fully opened the door. Well, holy shit she was right. The spot that Max had just been on was now vacant. “How the hell can he just leave so quick?” I spun back around and looked at the people that were walking up to the house, but I didn’t see him in that crowd. “He was just right here. We were kissing—and…”
Ashley took my hand and shut my door. “He probably went back up to the house. Most likely he had to use the bathroom. C’mon let’s find him.” She pulled me along up the sidewalk and into the house.
I followed her through the house but didn’t catch sight of him anywhere. “I’m gonna go back to my car just in case he comes back.”
“Mara, no.” Ashley pulled at the back of my t-shirt. “I don’t want you out there all alone. There was a girl that was almost raped around here last weekend.”
Oh, so now she tells me the crime report. She was always telling me how great this place was and how I needed to come here. Now, the whole story gets told. There are rapists here and guys and girls here are just the same as high school. “Whatever, Ash. I just need to find Max.” I walked away leaving her watching after me as I searched the house once again.
After ten go-arounds of the house, I still hadn’t seen him. I could ask Katie, but there was a little voice in the back of my head that said to leave her out of this. Ashley was back over at the bar with Sean, so I made that my last stop of the night. “Ash, I’m gonna head to bed, okay.”
“Still didn’t find him.”
I shook my head no.
“I’m sorry.” She let go of Sean's arm to give me a hug. “Just make sure to lock the door. I have a key if I need to get in.”
“Thanks. I will.” I hugged her back.
The hall leading back to the bedrooms wasn’t as crowded as the last time I was back here. I’m just happy that I didn’t see Max coming out of another room with some other girl; that would’ve totally ruined the whole night. Him always disappearing and me not being able to find him in the crowd I could handle. Him being intimate with another girl, especially if it was Katie after she’d been with just about every guy here, I don’t think I could handle.
“Leaving the party so soon,” Max snuck up behind me and whispered in my ear
just as I was opening Ashley’s bedroom door.
I turned around and smacked him on the chest. “You scared me.” I opened the door the rest of the way and motioned for him to follow.
“Are you staying in this empty room all alone?” Max was behind me whispering softly in my ear. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back so that my backside was snug against his body.
“I—uh…” The last part of my answer came out just a tad bit too seductive. How could it not, when Max was nibbling on my neck.
“I guess that’s a yes.” His hands began to run their course up and down the front of my body.
I felt my knees get weak, and everything else in my body felt like it was on fire. “Are you staying?”
Max now had me pushed over to Ashley’s bed and flipped me around so that I was facing him. “I.” He kissed me once. “Wouldn’t.” He kissed me again. “Be.” He unzipped my jeans and pulled them down with ease. “Any.” His hand was now pulling my shirt off. “Place.” He lowered me to the bed. “Else.” His body crushed mine as his lips recaptured our kiss. Somehow, his clothes magically disappeared. He was quite skillful at taking off what he had on while still keeping the moment alive.
I wanted to ask him where he’d gone the times before when he would be there one minute and then gone the next. I wanted to, but that time never came. Every doubt I had disappeared as Max, and I became one. It was so magical as our individual thoughts got mixed around with the others. I could sense everything that he was feeling and thinking. Our time together traveled us back to our place. Our cliff, the only place that we would ever be truly alone.
I don’t know how many times that night we ended up making love. I’m just so happy that Ashley didn’t try to come back to her room. I would’ve hated for our together time to be interrupted. Tonight was the first time since we were back in the real world or today’s time that we were able to be the couple we were meant to be. I fell asleep wrapped up in his arms, finally at peace with everything around me.
Chapter Fourteen
Somewhere In-Between (Breathless #1) Page 10