Chapter 16
The couch that Ry had stolen now sat in the small truck that Max hired, and followed behind us as we drove away. Ry had protested the removal of the couch, but he couldn't stop a determined Max.
I'd had to stifle a laugh when Max insisted that Edith take over Ry's luxurious rooms. Max used the removal guys to move the furniture around, and shuffled Ry off to live in the mouldy conditions where he'd left his mother. I wasn't sure how long it would take Ry to shove his mother back to the mould, but Edith seemed strong enough to keep him away.
Everything had happened so fast that it had the most surreal feeling. As Max and I drove away, I wasn't sure what to talk about first.
"I've got to say your family is the craziest I've ever seen." I told him.
"Didn't I warn you about that when I first moved in?" he tried to make a joke but it fell flat with his serious expression.
"Edith knew you were faking nearly everything you said to her." I admitted.
"What?" Max glanced my way.
"This might be a bit of a revelation for you but Edith doesn't like her son. She thinks Ry's a wuss and she wishes you were her son instead. Edith told me all of that. Oh, and don't forget that she found your little story to her quite amusing, but she didn't believe you." I told him what Edith had said.
"Fucking hell, did she really say all of that?"
"Yes. I don't know where you guys got the idea that she dotes on Ry. She loved watching you ruffle him around. It made her day."
"There you go." Max sounded amazed.
"She wanted you to go in there and change everything, which you did. I mean Ry's now stuck in mould city and you've set Edith up in his clean rooms." I told him.
"That's a bit of surprise, but I don't want to talk about Edith anymore."
"What's bothering you?"
I'd noticed his concern furrowing his brow ever since we'd left. He was quieter than I'd ever known him to be. Now I'd started worrying that I'd done something wrong.
"I'm worried for you and Carly. Ry's done something dodgy to be able to fix up his side of the house. He had no money, so how could he make thousands of dollars worth of improvement? The sooner Carly ditches him the better, so she's not dragged into whatever he's attempted." Max admitted and I winced.
"I couldn't make her break up with him, then she'd blame me."
"Yeah, I know, and I don't expect you to mention it to her. Just be extra careful around him." Max warned and I nodded.
We went quiet after that. I watched Max skilfully manoeuvre through traffic and realised I had a ton of questions I still wanted to ask him. Now that I got to the point of needing an answer, I dragged in a huge breath.
"You always seem to want to throttle Ry whenever you've seen him recently. Every time it's almost resulted in violence. What's with you two?" I asked and Max sighed but I saw his fingers grip tighter to the steering wheel.
"Are you ready for the truth? You're not going to like it at all." Max winced.
"Probably not, but try me anyway."
"Ry's been cheating on Carly with this other girl, who's a gamer like him. I found out about it soon after I had a go at him about stealing my life." Max admitted.
I puffed out a breath and tried to consider what to say. Ry was a sleaze and the worst type of human being, so I hadn't held hopes out for him to be boyfriend of the year. Still, Carly didn't deserve to have someone so disloyal to her when she was always loyal to him.
"Why does any woman find that idiot attractive?" I asked with a shake of my head.
"He's a damn good liar, and tells the best tales that he knows about other people's lives as his own."
"Yeah, I've realised that. Somehow his cheating doesn't surprise me. If I told Carly, I'm sure she wouldn't believe me." I sighed.
"Ry knows that I refuse to live my life the way my parents do. He's even more aware after today of how much it pisses me off that he's cheating on Carly." Max told me a tiny facet that I didn't know about him.
"What did your parents do that bothers you so much?" I couldn't resist asking and he pondered my words for a long stretch.
"My parent's marriage was one of convenience. Dad's family had lost all of their money, so he had to marry someone wealthy to redeem the losses. I've never seen them show a polite attitude towards each other, let alone kiss or hug. In public they're like the perfect couple, but behind the scenes is a growing amount of hatred.
"Both of my parents cheat, and they blatantly show it around the household. They always try to one up each other, and it's not fun to be around. I don't even know if my sisters and I share the same father." Max finished his explanation and my heart went out to him.
"Wow, what a terrible situation to grow up in." I sympathised.
"All of my sisters refused to marry for money. They all found someone who they love, so they don't have to end up like my parents. I intend to do the same thing. No matter how many women my father throws at me, I'm not going to marry them just to continue the Brown legacy. The next generation doesn't deserve to put up with all of the bull shit we had to as kids."
I had to admire the determination that Max showed me. It explained a lot about him that I'd never once considered. I now saw a bigger facet of who he was and what he wanted from life. He was a much bigger surprise that I expected.
"That sounds fair to me. It's your life and you should get to live it the way you want to live." I replied.
"You'd think so. I guess my problem comes from my sisters finding love with wealthy men. I'm not going to have that same situation. It'll be another thing my father finds disappointing in me." He stared out of the window with a defeated expression.
I didn't know what to say for a long moment, "nobody's perfect, Max. You should get to be with whoever you want. What gives your parents the right to choose anyway?"
"Plus I make enough money to support a household." Max added, as if that mattered.
"You know the amount of money one has doesn't necessarily make you more attractive to the opposite sex, and you just told me that yourself." I pointed out.
"Some women appreciate dollar signs too much. The important ones don't." Max stated exactly what I wanted to say, so I snapped my jaw closed and nodded.
"Where are we putting the couch, because I don't want it at home if Ry's been using it." I shuddered at even the thought.
"I've got the perfect place. We're going to need it some day soon, so I don't want to get rid of it just yet."
"What the heck would I need another soiled couch for?" I grouched.
"You'll just have to wait and see." He tapped his nose and smiled slyly.
Max refused to tell me where we were heading, even when I asked. His sly smile only seemed to expand the more times I questioned him. I left him to his secrets as I pondered my morning.
When we started heading closer to the ocean and further away from our apartment, I wondered whether I should say something. We lived not far from the beach, but far enough away that most days I couldn't get up the energy to walk out there. If my car still worked it would be a ten minute drive. I used to go to the beach far more often when I had my car.
Max pulled up outside of a huge home with a massive garage. I couldn't see the ocean for the house blocking my view, but the waves crashing against the rocks resounded around me.
"Max, where did you want us to put the couch?" a stranger asked and I turned to see the removalist who had taken the couch from Edith's place.
"In here."
Max walked down the driveway with confidence. He pressed a button on his keys and the garage door smoothly opened. I stood puzzled as the two men removed the couch and placed it in the corner of a vast garage. I saw at least three cars taking up space in there, but there was still plenty of room.
"Where are we?" I asked once the men left.
"This is my place. C'mon in, Honey Bee."
My jaw dropped open and I looked around at this home through much different eyes. The split level brick house hugged the cliff that it sat upon. As grand as Ry's house had seemed, this one had a lot more subtle touches but was just as grand. This house had a more homely feel from the outside than Ry's could ever manage to accomplish.
Max had walked to the front door and opened it while I stared around. He waved me forward with a winning smile. That's when I recalled his words from what seemed like ages ago.
"You said you don't invite women to your home." I blurted out before I'd taken a single step.
"You remember that, huh?" Max asked with a grin. "What else did I say that night?"
"That you don't like people in your space. It makes me think that this couldn't be your place." I concluded.
"It's mine. That night I also said that the first woman to see inside of my place would be my girlfriend."
That made me freeze in place and I stared at him. I then stared harder, stamped down on the hope, and wondered if he said what I thought he said to me. Gulping in a breath, I tried to decide what his ultimate goal would be.
"You're inviting me inside." I knew I sounded like an idiot.
"I'm trying my best, but you're showing me a great deal of reluctance."
"Does that mean?" I gulped again.
"That I want you as my girlfriend?" Max finished my sentence.
"Yes." My breathless word had trouble escaping.
"Obviously, or I would've walked into my house and left you out here all alone," his tone turned teasing, but I didn't know what to say. "If you choose to stay out here, I guess you're not interested."
He shrugged his shoulders, but I saw an unexpected vulnerability in his eyes. When he held out his hand, I took a hesitant step forward.
Burning questions danced on my tongue, but I couldn't manage to say anything. The hope I had tried to squash now flamed to life. He was asking me to be his girlfriend? I had to have heard that wrong.
"You're actually serious about this?" I cleared my throat to ask.
"As I've ever been about anything."
I gulped but took another step closer to his hand that he held out to me. He crooked one finger at me, so I moved closer to him. I still had difficulty accepting the words that had left his mouth. Gorgeous, charismatic, could have any woman fall at his feet Max Brown, chose me. He wanted me and I had no idea why my legs had stopped me moving.
"You're inviting me into your home." I said as if I needed clarity.
"Yep, I thought we should christen my couch." He dropped a wink my way.
I knew exactly what he hinted at and my body leapt towards him. Reminders of the way he kissed and touched me were never too far from my mind.
"Do you want the title or are you only interested in casual sex?" he raised his brows in a suggestive manner.
"I don't have casual sex. Never have and never will, not like someone I can mention." I returned a pointed look his way.
"I think I've met the one woman who can keep my fickle attention longer than any other I've ever met." He turned serious on me.
"You mean me." I pointed to myself.
"Yes."
"Why?"
As much as I wanted to dance around in happiness at his words, something kept me holding back. It was so darn hard to believe that he chose me.
"Because of rule number one." He dropped another wink my way.
"Why does everything come back to the way we met?" I rolled my eyes while he smirked.
"Honey Bee, no woman has ever surprised me the way that you do every day. Now are you coming in or not?" he made one more gesture to the inside of his house.
I made perhaps the biggest decision of my life at that moment. Taking another step forward meant accepting that I wanted the role of Max's girlfriend.
I took that step. That step through his door was either the bravest or craziest thing I've ever done. Time would tell which one of those would win.