Petal [h.s.]

FORTY-FOUR - HEAD VERSUS HEART

Buffy got me tipsy that afternoon.

She tried her damndest to get me fully drunk, but I told her I had to be in the right mind for tonight. I couldn't be drunk when Max showed up, but I could be tipsy. Tipsy was enough for me. It was enough to give me an extra boost of confidence and a warm flush across my cheeks and neck from the tequila. I was feeling good when he showed up.

When I opened my door to find him standing there, I felt like champagne bubbles floating up to the top of a glass and fizzing with happiness. He was still wearing his work clothes, looking devastating in a half done button up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, exposing his tattooed forearms. He held an overnight bag in one hand and a bottle of very expensive tequila in the other.

"My kind of guy. No flowers, just the good stuff." I grinned, reaching out to take the bottle from his hand.

Max leaned over and kissed the side of my head as he passed me, "I had a feeling you weren't the flower type."

My heart clenched up at that sentence. I was the flower type, but only for one man. Not for this man. The thought made me feel sick, but I shoved it away quickly. I couldn't think about Harry tonight. I had to focus on Max. Harry could never be my future.

Max moved through my apartment with the ease of a lover. He had been here so many times in the last month that he knew exactly where to go. He put his shoes in the right place and deposited his bag onto my couch. He moved to Jagger and scratched him behind his ears, smiling when my cat began to purr in pleasure. Jagger had become quite the little traitor, completely forgetting about Harry more and more each time Max showed him affection. He turned to look at me with a slow grin as he began to unbutton the rest of his shirt.

"I was thinking we could order Chinese tonight and watch a scary movie? If you want to. Is it cool if I take a shower?" My eyes dropped from his lips to his chest slowly.

I nodded slowly in agreement as I took him in. I would have agreed to rob a bank right then if he asked me. I was hypnotized by the way his large fingers took on those delicate little buttons to reveal his gorgeous chest. He was in such good shape that it made me feel a little nauseous. I'd never been with a man who was so muscular before. I could count his abs and I think he had more than six of them.

Max's smile grew at my reaction. He started to walk toward me, peeling his shirt off his body as he did, tossing it onto the couch. I forced my eyes from his body and tilted my head back to bare my mouth and throat to him for the taking, and he took.

His lips found mine, his greedy hands slipping down my back and toward my ass. He squeezed handfuls of flesh and the silky material of my pajama shorts, letting out a soft groan when I swiped my tongue across his bottom lip. He pulled back slightly to look down at me, keeping his mouth close.

"You're killin' me, Bells." He murmured against my lips, nudging his nose into my cheek as he kissed the corner of my mouth, and then down to my jawline and to my bare throat.