Since Forever Ago (19 page)

“I’m going to write you the dirtiest, naughtiest résumé ever,” Max growled into her ear as she let out a loud, shaky sigh and began to tremble in the afterglow.

Fuck yea! Now
my
turn!

Oh shit, this feels good. Holy crap. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. This is the best feeling in the
world
.

Oh God. Almost there. Oh fuck. OH FUCK. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!

And done.

That was fucking exhausting
, Max groaned to himself as he fell onto the bed and pulled Riley into his arms.
Ah, shit, hair in my face. Yuck, it’s in my mouth. Roll her over a little bit so your arm doesn’t fall asleep, either. Yea, like that. Perfect.

Sleepy. So sleepy. But thirsty. So fucking thirsty. Water. Too. Far. Eh, I’m too lazy to get up. And, damn, my arms are fucking killing me. I’m so sweaty too; I hope my sheets don’t smell like shit in the morning. Oh yea, almost forgot. Remember to do laundry tomorrow.

“Max?” Riley quietly called out as she snuggled against his chest. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” he replied, placing a light kiss on the top of her head as his lids began to grow heavy. “Absolutely nothing.”

––––––––

“N
o, put it in the right hand corner. Yea, definitely the right-hand corner.”

“Are you sure?” Max asked, his nose scrunched in uncertainty. “It doesn’t look too cluttered?”

“Nah, bro, it looks like a fucking ad for Pottery Barn or some shit,” Evan breezily reassured him before stuffing half of a bagel into his mouth. “This is seriously pro status right here.”

With a weary smile on his face, Max stared down at the carefully curated tray in front of him. He had stirred awake that morning to the sound of light snoring and had grinned like an idiot when he saw that Riley was, much to his surprise, still in his bed. Being careful not to wake her, he had painstakingly made his way off of the mattress before dashing off to Evan’s room to demand what he should do next.

“Should I go out and get her a coffee? Make her some tea?” Max had asked, nervously pacing the room as Evan sat up in bed and rubbed angrily at his bleary eyes. “Do we even
have
any tea?”

“What time is it?” Evan had merely responded in a raspy voice, scratching at his hair before letting out a monstrous yawn.

“I’m going to Google it,” Max had blurted out, throwing himself into the chair in front of Evan’s computer. “‘Morning after, what to do, girl you like,’” he recited aloud as he typed. “What else?”

“Dude, you’re totally overthinking this,” Evan then muttered under his breath. “Trust me, there’s only one thing that you can and should do—breakfast in bed. Duh.”

And so, Max had hopped into his car and driven around to pick up all of Riley’s favorite things, from chocolate chip bagels and ginger scones to a soy chai latte with extra whipped cream. When he had returned to the house with the various bags and drink tray in tow, a few of his frat brothers had shaken their heads in disbelief at the sight before them. Max Fletcher wasn’t the type of guy to go running around on an early weekend morning, gathering girly shit like scones and soy beverages so that he could stylishly arrange them onto an awaiting bed tray. When had their brotastic douchebag of a friend turned into such a pussy?

“It looks better in the middle,” Max groaned, inching the plate of pastries towards the center of the tray. “No?”

“You don’t know shit,” Evan grumbled in annoyance, promptly pushing the dish back into the right-hand corner. “See? That looks
way
better! But why didn’t you get any flowers? They would’ve totally livened up the presentation,” he added with a roll of his eyes. “Amateur.”

“Fuck!” Max moaned out. “You’re right. Do we have flowers anywhere? The backyard maybe?”

“Nah. We used to have that patch of yellow shit growing back there but Garrett pissed on them when he was drunk and they all died,” Evan said with a frown. “I think we have some weeds, though.”

“I can’t give her fucking weeds!”

“What the hell is wrong with you two?” Jeremy muttered in disgust, staring at them in dismay as he wandered into the kitchen. “Are you going to go shopping for training bras after this?”

“Bro, it’s called being sensitive and charming,” Evan retorted as Max nervously rearranged all of the plates and cups for the umpteenth time. “Not all of us are into the whole smash-and-dash routine, you know.”

“Whatever. Did you learn this shit from Oprah?”

“No, I read about it on some girl’s blog a few months back,” Evan proudly replied. “‘Stuff Guys Do That Drive Girls Wild.’ Pure gold, man.”

“Huh,” Jeremy said with an intrigued look on his face. “Send that to me later, will ya?”

“How funny would it be if that blogger chick was giving the wrong advice on purpose?” Evan asked before letting out a snort of laughter. “Taste of our own fucking medicine, right?”

At this, Max’s face fell, his shoulders drooping slightly in defeat as he held the tray in his hands. There was no way that serving a girl breakfast in bed was the
wrong
thing to do, right?

“Dude, I was just kidding,” Evan said with a groan. “No need to get your panties in a twist. Now stop being such a little bitch, take that shit upstairs and be like, ‘Hold your applause. No need to thank me. Thank
Evan
.’”

After shooting Evan a tiny glare, Max took a deep breath and began making his way towards the staircase.
Of course she’ll like it!
he reassured himself as he cautiously ascended the steps.
How could she not? What kind of girl wouldn’t appreciate a sweet gesture like this?

Riley, that’s who,
he couldn’t help but think as he pushed down the handle to his door with his elbow and entered the room.
She’s going to think you’re super lame! I bet she’ll laugh her ass off when telling Liz about this.

I mean, come on! Breakfast in bed? What the fuck are you doing, Fletcher?
he scolded himself as he stared over at Riley’s sleeping form.
Creeping up on her while she’s asleep with a fucking tray filled with all of her favorite crap? Could you
seem
any more obsessed? You’re going to scare her off! What were you thinking?

All right, just run back downstairs as fast as you can, and she’ll never have to know
, he told himself, turning on his heel as quietly as possible.
Just give all of the food to Evan and make Jeremy drink this soy chai shit, and then all of the evidence will be
—

“Max?”

Fan. Fucking. Tastic.

“What are you doing over there?”

Okay, don’t turn around,
he silently panicked, keeping his back turned to Riley as he awkwardly held the tray up against his chest.
Just pretend that you didn’t hear her and
—

“Helloooo?”

“Uh,” he mumbled out, desperately racking his brain for any ideas on what to do next. “I’m just... um—”

“What are you holding?” Riley’s voice called out curiously. “Why are you dressed? Did you go somewhere? Where’d you go? What’s that wooden thing in your hands? Are you hiding something?”

God, she’s nosy,
he silently grumbled, his knuckles turning white as they nervously gripped the tray’s handles.
What is she, a detective? Why is she giving me the third degree? Why can’t she just
—

“Max,” Riley sternly began. “Turn around.”

“I... I don’t want to.”

You are an idiot.

“What?” she replied, letting out a disbelieving laugh that caused a tingle to run up Max’s spine. “Stop being crazy and just turn around!”

“Do I have to?” he asked, his voice cracking slightly as he did.

Smooth. Really smooth, Fletch.

“Max, what did you do now?” Riley cautiously asked, just as she always had ever since they were little kids on the verge of getting into trouble.

“I didn’t
do
anything,” he sighed out, his back stiffened in horror.

Sure you did. You let Evan talk you into making a huge ass of yourself.

“Then why won’t you just turn around and look at me?” Riley asked in a worried tone. “Did I... did I do something wrong?”

“No way!” he blurted out, instinctively turning around to face her without realizing it. “You could never—”

“Is all of that for me?” she suddenly asked, staring at the array of crap held in his hands as the corner of her lip began twitching in amusement.

“I just, you know, went around and picked up a couple of things,” he replied in his best attempt at a breezy tone while mentally bashing his head against the wall in frustration. “No biggie.”

You’re smothering her. You are
literally
smothering her with organic baked goods,
he chastised himself.
Seriously. What the fuck were you thinking?

“I... I’ve never had anyone bring me breakfast in bed before,” Riley said as she broke out into a big grin. “Well, Audrey
did
throw me a bag of Chex Mix one morning when I was too hungover to get up, but this is
so
much better.”

“You... you like it?” he squeaked out, trying not to turn beet red when he saw that she had his blanket demurely tucked under her bare arms.

Oh God, there are boobs under there.

Riley squinted her eyes at him in confusion, stifling a giggle as she observed the nervous look on his face. “Of course I like it. Why wouldn’t I like it?”

Thank
you
, Evan,
he couldn’t help but think with glee as he proudly made his way over to the bed.
And good job, me
.

“I got all of your favorites,” Max bragged as he took a seat and placed the tray down in front of her. “I even remembered to get you soy in your drink.”

“How... why...” Riley mumbled, scanning the spread set before her before looking up at him with a shy smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” he quietly replied, looking into her eyes with a tiny smirk on his own face.

Wait, should I kiss her? I should totally kiss her. Right now is
the
perfect moment to go in for a kiss
, he frantically thought to himself as they continued to quietly smile at each other.
Yea, just go for
—

Okay, bad timing,
he groaned silently, aborting his mission just as she broke his gaze and popped a chunk of scone into her mouth.
Dammit, Fletcher, why the hell do you have to be so damn lame? Can’t you just make a move without
—

All of the thoughts racing through his head came to a halt when Riley herself leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Thanks again,” she said with a giggle, her cheeks flushing pink. “This was really sweet.”

Max merely let out an odd choking sound, his entire face burning in embarrassment as he stared back at her with widened eyes.
Oh God, don’t die
, he pleaded with himself, nervously clearing his throat as he turned his gaze towards the floor.
And stop fucking turning red! What the hell is wrong with you?

“So,” Riley began, tearing off a piece of a chocolate croissant and handing it to Max. “When do you think we’ll stop being so awkward around each other?”

“What?” he barked back in surprise.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she sarcastically replied, letting out a snort of laughter. “What am I even talking about? You’re being
so
smooth right now.”

“You’re not supposed to say those kinds of things out loud!”

“We can’t just ignore it,” Riley said with a shrug. “If we don’t talk about it soon, one of is eventually going to explode.”

“Ha,” Max retorted a bit too loudly. “Me? Explode? Yea right.”

“Uh-huh,” she dismissively replied. “So, anyway, let’s get some things straight.”

Oh God, she’s breaking it off right now, isn’t she?

“We obviously can’t ‘start slow’ since we’ve already seen each other naked and... stuff,” she began, pausing to let out an uncomfortable cough. “But we should still set some ground rules.”

Phew.

“Definitely,” he agreed with a small sigh of relief. “Fine, I’ll start. Rule #1—let’s try to act like we always have. I mean, everything’s exactly the same, right? Except, now, I just get to hold you whenever I want.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake, you pussy-whipped little bitch,
he bemoaned to himself as he heard the words come out of his mouth.
You sound like a 12-year-old girl.

“Er, yea,” Riley sheepishly replied before shaking her head slightly. “Okay. Rule #2—no more blushing.”

“Blushing?” he repeated, letting out a tiny scoff. “When did I ever even blush?”

Your neck is literally on fire right now, moron.

“Right,” she drawled out, grinning up at him in amusement. “Rule #3—we have to tell each other what’s on our minds. No secrets, no games and no lies. Okay?”

“No drama and no bullshit,” he confirmed with a nod. “Got it.”

“I’m serious, Max,” Riley firmly told him. “I don’t want our relationship to get all weird.”

“And I do?”

“I’m just really scared to lose you,” Riley quietly said. “You know, if this doesn’t work out or whatever. Liz and Audrey said that friends—”

“It’s going to work out,” Max heard himself immediately blurt out in response. “I... I just know it.”

“I hope so,” she replied with a tiny smile.

“I know so.”

“You’re breaking rule #2 right now.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he stated defensively, just as the tips of his ears turned bright red and what he swore was a bead of sweat trickled down his back.

“Sure.”

“All right. Rule #4—no secret usage of dating apps behind each other’s backs.”

“Shut up,” Riley groaned out, rolling her eyes as he burst out into laughter. “Rule #5—no more mentions of dating apps.”

“Rule #6—no more tequila. Ever again.”

Riley fervently nodded her head as she took a sip of her drink. “Rule #7—we’re best friends first and... whatever
this
is second.”