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“Neither am I.”
We stare at each other for a few seconds and a loud rumbling noise comes from under my oversized coat. I clap a hand over my mouth to stifle the giggle.
“Good thing there’s a diner right here.” He winks at me and turns off the car.
My shoulder deflate as the sigh expels from my body. He jumps out of the car and runs around to my side, letting me out. I gaze up at him. “I want to believe that you’re really in this.”
“I am.” He leans toward me, pressing my back against the car, his hands on either side of me. “I’m trying to be the guy you need, Sloane. Really trying.”
“Should it be that much of an effort?”
“No,” he murmurs. “It shouldn’t. But it is. For me, it just is. And if you’re okay with that, then I’d like to get you something to eat before you gnaw off your own arm.”
I fold my arms. “Okay. But I’m only saying this because the hunger has effectively wiped out any rational thoughts I may have convincing me to run in the opposite direction.”
“Good.” He laces his fingers with mine, and we walk into the diner. It’s empty, save for the hostess and a waitress who is making coffee. Such a beautiful sight!
Although, once my mind is fully awake, I may realize what the hell I just agreed to.
I breathe in Max’s spicy scent.
Screw it. I know what I’m doing.
Kind of.
The hostess leads us to a table in the back and hands us menus. I flip mine open and my mouth waters at the pictures of fluffy pancakes, crispy bacon, and decadent chocolate croissants.
“So what looks good?” he asks me.
“Um, everything?” I giggle. “I think the last thing I ate was a single Baked Lays chip five hours ago. The I had to run down to X-Ray to pick up a patient. One of the other nurses, my friend Jules, finished the bag for me. Wasn’t that sweet of her?”
“Well, if you’d finished that bag, maybe you wouldn’t have been as willing to come here with me and I’d be sitting here by myself, ready to devour the place alone.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. The hostess hasn’t been able to drag her eyes away from you since we walked in. I’m pretty sure she’d have loved to keep you company.”
Max grins at me. “Would that have made you jealous?”
“Maybe.”
“Good.”
A loud ping comes from Max’s pocket, and he pulls out his phone. He stares at the screen without saying a word, but the smile that had appeared so quickly is gone just as fast. His eyes darken, lips stretch into a thin line.
“Is something wrong?”
He doesn’t answer right away. He grips the phone tight in his hands, his fingertips white. It looks like he’s trying to swallow something down, like there’s something deep inside of him looking to get out but he won’t let it. His entire body tenses, and I’m not even sure if he’s breathing. His eyes are still locked on the screen, shoulders squared.
“Max?” I reach out to graze his forearm and his eyes shoot up spewing fire. The last time I saw that glare was when he ran into Shaye at the mall talking to her psychology professor, and accused her of cheating on Nico. I thought he was going pummel the poor guy. It had been a long time since I’d seen that crazed look in his eye. It probably should have made me run in the opposite direction, but I stayed.
And even after what I heard that guy Pete grunt into his phone, I still got into Max’s car this morning. I still slid into a booth with him at this diner. I still never confronted him.
So here we are. Me and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.
“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” I ask when he doesn’t answer.
“No,” he mutters, raking a hand through his hair. “I can’t.”
A tiny part of me is relieved. If he doesn’t admit to anything, it can’t be real. Or at least, that’s what I want to believe. “Okay.” I close my menu and take a deep breath, silently berating myself for letting him avoid the question. No, screw that! “You know it helps when both people actually contribute to a conversation. Like, I ask you a question and you answer it, then—”