A Gutsy Response

BIANCA

It hadn't registered as quickly as it should've that the basketball team returning from camp meant Max was back too.

Unsurprisingly, Ellie swooned all over him from school up until dinner, but for some reason, I couldn't nudge the feeling that he'd glance at me a lot more than usual.

“I think I'll head to bed now” I excused myself when I noticed how frisky the pair of lovers had gotten, and how unbothered they were that I was on the dining table as well.

Ellie made a half-hearted attempt to call me back. A signal that meant she wanted some alone time with her boyfriend, and I happily obliged.

Drifting into the kitchen to do the dishes, I subconsciously replayed the day in my head.

Wade. Max. Literature Class.

That's when it hit. A cold slap at the back of my spine.

I didn't find out who “he” was. The guy from last night.

My muscles tensed. My lungs constricted without warning. I hadn't even noticed how still my body had become until something cracked in my grasp.

By the time I glanced down to notice, I felt him right behind me.

“Did you mean to do that?”

Max's baritone drove waves up my spine. Without thinking, I let go of the glass tumbler, and he caught it just before it could hit the ground.

Heat rushed up my cheeks. I staggered back in embarrasment, feeling his scent warm over me.

“Sorry I…”

He didn't even interrupt. I just stopped talking. As if looking away would spare me the red-faced moment, I glanced at the sink instead.

Through the corner of my eyes, I saw him tilt. Assessing. Judging.

“Apologies if I spooked you” he said. “But you were gonna hurt yourself if you squeezed any harder.”

I looked back at him and noticed the gaping crack on the glass before he tossed it into the trash.

When he turned back to me, I stared down immediately. The suddenness must've rubbed him the wrong way, because he didn't say anything after that. Just walked off.

And as he did, guilt struck my fiddling fingers.

Why was I so nervous? Especially with someone that was anything but a stranger.

“Max?” I hesitantly called out. He stopped right by the kitchen door, then turned back at me.

“Yeah?”

I composed myself. As best as I could.

“Thank you. For today. With… Wade.”

For a moment… one glimmering moment… I could've sworn he smiled in response.

“Anytime Binx. Goodnight.”

He walked out, and left behind… that name.

Binx. I'd forgotten he used to call me that.

Before… ugh. Not that it matters now.

I finished the last of the dishes, made my way passed the oddly quiet dining table, and back upstairs.

The wooden floorboards creaked underneath my feet as I reached the attic, as if to announce some eerily ominous destiny the closer I got.

I didn't pay it much attention…

…Until I saw the attic hatch open.

My feet stopped in place.

As nosey as Ellie was, she'd never enter and snoop around if I wasn't already in. Besides… she's supposed to be in her room with Max.

Then who's…

A rustle cut through the silence, and my heart dropped to my stomach. Wait. No.

I wanted to rush up the loft ladder, but my body moved slower than it should've. Slow enough to allow me catch his figure sitting on my bed. Back turned to me. And my secret stash on his laps.

One hand held my mask. And the other, my lingerie from last night.

Fuck!

I should’ve run. Avoided this like a bad dream. Begged the earth to open up and swallow me. Instead, I walked into the room… and shut the hatch behind me.

He straightened, hearing me behind him.

“Max. What are you doing?”

He didn't answer. Not at first. Not until he looked back at me with those piercing dark eyes.

“Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?”

I marched down to him, shoving the embarrassment as far down as it could go, and pulled the box out of his reach.

“Give it” I ordered, gesturing to my mask and lingerie. “Give them to me.”

Something playful trotted in his eyes.

“Take them” he toyed.

I lunged in, and he leaned back, shifting to the side until I collapsed first against the cotton sheets.

I turned to look at him, and he towered on top of me, looking down in a way that rolled spikes over my flesh.

I could feel the heat from body, and as if he noticed, he leaned closer. Until his breath steadied over my neck.

“Max—”

“What?”

He said it so innocently. Like he didn't know what he was going. Like he…

“You're the one holding my shirt.”

I suddenly noticed the silk feel to my hand. My fingers already starting to mindlessly wander over his buttons.

Let go. Let go Bianca! Why won't I let go?!

“Does that mean I have permission to this?”

I felt his fingers tug against the hem of my loose, oversized shirt. He slipped underneath, gliding over my skin as it creeped dangerously closer to my nipples.

“Max. Please” I huffed. “We shouldn't be doing this.”

“Then tell me to stop” he traced circles with his nails just underneath my boobs. “Tell me you don't want this. Let go of my shirt.”

I would've. Fuck, I should've. By my body betrayed my mind, and my hands curled tighter into his shirt.

His breath on my neck turned to slime as his tongue painted warm strokes over my skin. His hands ventured forward, cupping my bare breasts while he caressed my nipples.

“Nghhh”

“Shh” he dragged his mouth off my neck. “I'm gonna need you to be quiet.”

He leaned in and captured my lips. Soft. Gentle. Grounding. I could taste the flavours off his tongue, bursting at the back of my throat.

And then, it cracked!

My eyes sparked open, and my body jolted awake. Buried underneath the scent and sweat, my consciousness returned.

That was… a dream?

I ran my hands over my face, then into my hair. No way. Why the hell was I dreaming about that? About him?!

A ding shot across the silence, and my attention tilted to my laptop beside my wet naked body. I must've fallen asleep while…

My eyes caught the message. A new message. The same person from last night.

“Running away?” It simply read.

I don't know if it was the drowsiness still laden in my eyes. Or the stubbornness boiling in my heart. Or the fact that thinking about it just turned my mood upside down.

Whatever it was, I didn't expect my response to be so gutsy.

“I'll see you in school tomorrow. Behind the bleachers. Before class. Be there.”