CHAPTER NINE
MILO
“Sit.” I pointed to one of the chairs by the pool.
Max sat and leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes for a few seconds before cursing and leaning forward on his knees.
“She denied you?”
“For my brother,” Max said sharply.
Shock radiated through my body, making me stagger. “Whoa. Back up, you have a brother?”
“He’s old.” Max looked up and then shrugged. “Graduated like five years ago from NYU. He’s on Broadway.”
“Cool. Have I seen any of his shows?”
Max’s eyes went completely cold.
“Not the time. Got it.” I shook my head. “So Jayne’s a bitch.”
Max burst out laughing. “Yeah, something like that. I was in love with her my senior year of high school.”
“How did you even know her?”
“Summer camp.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.” Max grinned. “I went to one of those really stupid theater camps during the summer.”
“Aww.”
“Shut it.”
“And?”
“And she was there, as well as my brother, though he was an instructor. Apparently she led us both on. I fell hard. At the end of camp I told her I wanted to see her again. She strung me along for an entire year. It wasn’t until the following summer when I was making plans to visit her for a week that she told me she’d been screwing my own flesh and blood behind my back, Reid had no idea so it wasn’t like I could be pissed at him.”
Wincing, I reached for his hand and squeezed. “Well, look at the bright side.”
He gave me a doubtful look.
“Now I’m stuck with her and while you dodged the bullet, my brother stood there and let it hit him square in the eyes.”
“He’s probably still bleeding, poor bastard,” Max grumbled.
“Tell me you don’t still like her.” I released his hand and stood. “She’s crazy.”
“Of course I don’t still like her.” Max rolled his eyes. “You know nothing of men.”
“You keep saying that, but—”
“Rejection’s a bitch, okay? It doesn’t matter if the girl goes bat-shit crazy on you—it’s a pride thing. She led me on, and she cheated, then she dumped me. While she was the one to blame, I never got to yell at her, slam a door in her face, call her a bitch, tell her she had lipstick on her teeth . . .”
“Yeah, you’ve thought about this way too much.”
“It just sucks. When you see your ex you want to win.”
“Win?”
Max sighed and patted his knee. “Have a seat while I explain how the world works, Milo.”
I sat on his knee and crossed my arms.
“Boy meets girl. Boy and girl break up. Boy and girl go separate ways. Fast forward ten years. Boy meets girl at supermarket. Boy wants to look like man, have balls of steel, sport a six-pack, and be driving a Ferrari. Now, tell me girl doesn’t want the same thing.”
“I’ve never wanted balls of steel.”
Max pressed his lips together and waited.
“Fine, if I was supermarket girl, I’d want big boobs, a tiny waist, killer outfit, sick car, and one of those credit cards that has no limit.”
“I rest my case.” Max popped his knuckles. “All I’m saying is, I want to win.”
Jayne’s screechy laughter pierced the peaceful morning air. Max and I cringed simultaneously.
“Winning,” we said in unison, falling into fits of laughter.
Max kissed my forehead and helped me off his lap.
“Max?”
“Hmm?” He put his arm around me.
“You’re not going to like . . .” I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment. “I mean you won’t . . .”
“Spit it out, Milo.”
“Fall in love with me.”
“Damn.” Max pulled away, his face pinched. “It’s like you can read minds! I love you, okay? I’ve loved you for years! I just want to be in your life. God, don’t shut me out! Don’t love him! Love me instead! The plant, Milo! The aloe vera! How can you deny me?”
Somehow in the middle of his speech he’d adopted a British accent.
“Shakespeare theater camp?” I crossed my arms.
“I was the best damn Hamlet they’d ever seen.” Max’s grin spread across his face, his dimples damn near making me want to let out a girlish sigh. “And sorry, I may be a great kisser, and yeah, you turn me on—you’re hot, so what else is new? But love? Yeah, I don’t do that. I’m like one of those guys who girls write about. The rogue.”
“Rake?”
“Yeah, that.”
“Awesome.”
“I’m probably going to die alone.” Max exhaled and put on what I can only imagine was supposed to be a brave face. “But I’ll always have memories of us.”
I pulled him in for a hug and giggled. “We should probably make one of those pacts that if both of us aren’t married before we’re thirty we walk down the aisle hand in hand.”
“Deal.” He shrugged. “I could totally wake up to you for the rest of my life, but I’m pretty sure that it won’t happen.”
“Oh, yeah?” I rolled my eyes. “What makes you so certain?”
Max pulled me in for a tight hug, then whispered in my ear, “Because Colton’s been watching you from the upstairs window for the past twenty minutes.”