Page 24 of Can We Skip to the Good Part?

“Well, the tea is that Stevie is giddy, talking to all sorts of women. She’s made friends with groups of them at the bar.”

“As we knew she would,” Max said.

Ella nodded happily. “Good for her.”

“The downside is she’s a little overserved, and we should get her out of here sooner rather than later. She told the bartender that spiders should live in tiny apartments.”

“It’s not the worst idea,” Ella said. “What about her car?”

“That’s the thing,” Morgan said. “It’s a whole shuffle. Stevie can’t drive, and we might have to leave her car and?—”

“We can take her,” Ella said without a shred of hesitation.

“And I can bring her back tomorrow to pick up her car. I don’t mind.

” She shrugged, stepping out of the way of a muscular woman in a green cowboy hat, who tipped it to Max.

Ella sent her a see-what-I-mean stare before turning back to Morgan. “I’m the one without a nine-to-five.”

“If you two don’t mind, that would be great.”

“This is the best place I’ve ever visited,” Stevie shouted and danced in a circle, rejoining the group. “The way people dance this way and then that way is my favorite. Like a movie just for me.” She offered a demonstration, hooking her thumbs through her belt loops.

“Glad you had a good time,” Max said, placing an arm around her shoulders. “We’ll drive you home since you’ve had a couple.” Or eight . Stevie had clearly imbibed away her anxieties. Luckily, Max’s two drinks had long fled her system with all the dancing. And kissing.

“You are the nicest,” Stevie gushed. “And we’ve never talked about it, but you are a hot cookie.

” She touched Max’s arm. “OW! Dammit. You got me.” That was followed by Stevie’s extra throaty laugh.

Across the friend group, Ariana’s face came into focus.

She folded her arms and regarded Max with a knowing smirk.

Well, fuck . When Max met her gaze, Ariana raised an eyebrow in a challenge that said just what are you up to?

Max sent back a wide-eyed stare that said calm down, I’ll tell you later , which seemed to appease Ariana. At least, temporarily.

“Shall we get Stevie home before she takes that woman’s hat again?” Ella asked, interrupting their silent exchange.

Max followed her gaze to Stevie, who was returning a backwards baseball cap to its frowning owner. “Oh, don’t pout. You look cuter in it than I do,” Stevie called and then danced what could only be described as an Irish jig.

“Yeah, I’d say it’s time to go.”

Once they’d said goodbye to Ariana, Morgan, and Olive, they ushered a very chatty Stevie to the car.

“Lesbians in that bar are way nicer than I ever would have expected. There was the woman who knew about all the different types of beer. The one who was too pretty to be believed. I really liked the one who gave me her number.”

“Wait,” Ella said, turning around in the car. “You got a number? Stevie!”

“I did. She put it right in my phone. Is that good? These seats are so comfortable, Max. I might sleep here tonight.”

“No need,” Max said. “I know exactly where your bed is. Tell us about the woman you met.”

“She seemed like she was around my age. I liked her eyes. Goodnight.”

Ella swung around to Max, beaming, hand on her heart. “She met someone.”

“Is that the naive romantic in you lighting up all over?” Max winked.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, it is, Maxine. Is your cold, logic-driven heart even in there anymore?” She made a show of craning her neck to find out.

Max pretended to be fixated on the road. “Stevie’s story might have made it grow a size or two.”

“I’m so impressed with you right now,” Ella said in what sounded like her most earnest delivery. “Having actual feelings.”

“I can’t tell if you two are flirting,” Stevie’s voice said, floating in from the back seat. “If so, I say go for it. Whole hog it, Max. Life is too short. Ella is a catch.”

“Thank you, Stevie,” Ella said. “We’re a complicated mess, though.”

“I’m going back to sleep now.”

“You do that.” Max grinned as they pulled into Stevie’s driveway. “I agree, by the way.”

“You agree that I’m a catch or that we’re a complicated mess?” Ella asked. Her makeup had faded, and she stole Max’s breath in a whole new way.

“Yes,” Max said, and slid the car into park. She turned around to see Stevie in her cowboy boots, full-on snoring in the back. “Hey, Stevie. Guess what? We’re home.”

“Hallelujah. So done for. I haven’t moved this much since 1998. I’m dying to get naked and get into bed.”

Ella’s eyebrows shot to the ceiling, and she turned to Max. “Well, well.”

“We’ll get you as far as your bedroom,” Max said, regarding Stevie in the rearview. “But we’ll leave the naked portion to you.”

“You’re good people and kind girls. I can’t believe you did all of this for me. Family,” she said. “That’s what it feels like.”

“Well, that’s what we are,” Max said.

She and Ella shared a private smile before exiting the car.

The moon was brighter than it had any right to be, making the cool, crisp night a beautiful one.

Stevie, moving a little slower than Max was used to, ambled from the car to the house as they followed, making sure she found her footing.

Once they were inside, she waved to the two of them as they stood in her darkened living room.

The digital clock on the end table read 1:03 in a bright-green glow.

“You get out of here. You’ve done your job.

” She turned to head down the hall, paused, and grinned, immediately sending warmth through the room.

“It was a really good night, wasn’t it?”

“It was the best,” Max said. “Proud of you, Stevie. You took a big step.”

“And now you’ve been on your first super gay outing,” Ella tossed in. “You’re a pro now. And maybe someday when you’re ready, you can message that number you scored.”

“I just might. Sylvia. That was her name.” Another smile. “Night, you two.”

“Night,” they each whispered back.

In the darkened room, Ella turned to her. “I honestly thought tonight would be me alone in my pajama bottoms and a Diet Coke with lime.”

“That honestly doesn’t sound terrible.” A beat. “This was better.”

“And enlightening. I think you’re hot, but I had no idea how forcefully the rest of the world agreed with me.” She grinned and held up a conciliatory finger. “Well, maybe I did.”

“I didn’t notice,” Max said without taking her eyes off of Ella. The comment made the smile fade right off her face.

“When you say things like that, all I want to do is kiss you.” Her voice was quiet. She was trying not to disturb Stevie. But her words slid up Max’s spine and inspired action.

She was close enough to Ella to reach out and catch her wrist. She pulled her in until they were pressed together.

Ella’s breath hitched, her hands finding Max’s waist as if drawn there by instinct.

For a moment, they hovered in the space between anticipation and certainty, the air charged with the weight of what was about to transpire.

Then Max closed the distance, her lips brushing Ella’s in a kiss that was slow and deliberate, filled with the longing of things she felt but didn’t say.

Ella sighed against her mouth, melting into her, and Max felt it again—that deep, undeniable rightness.

Like she’d been waiting for this, for her, all along.

Alone in the darkened living room, everything felt different.

There were no eyes on them. The boundaries were limitless, other than the voice inside Max’s head warning her quietly.

She nudged it away. In the same room where they’d shared laughs, ideas, and even argued over the pages of a book, they could now kiss with abandon, disregarding time and space and the rest of the world.

Heat licked its way from Max’s ankles to her elbows to her shoulders to her breasts and beyond.

She savored the warmth of Ella’s mouth, kissing her deeper, exploring with her tongue, ever so slightly at first and then more purposefully.

She pulled back from the kiss and, with one finger, traced the column of Ella’s neck, listening to the quiet sound of her breathing.

She kissed the underside of her jaw and met her gaze in the small patch of moonlight streaming in from the back window.

“Come back here,” Ella murmured, guiding Max’s lips to hers for more.

This time, Max’s hands didn’t obey her instructions, slipping beneath Ella’s shirt to the warm skin of her back.

She needed to feel just some portion of her right this moment.

When she heard Ella murmur encouragement against Max’s mouth, she wanted to touch more.

She palmed Ella’s breast through her shirt, completely turned on by the weight of it, her nipple pressing into her hand through the fabric.

Sexiest fucking thing ever. Her center ached now, and she wasn’t sure what to do about it.

As they kissed, she cupped Ella’s ass, satisfied yet hungry at the same time.

Ella nodded, propelling her. Were they doing this?

Could she actually take things further in Stevie’s living room, of all places?

“You’re a bad influence,” she murmured in Ella’s ear.

“But I can’t seem to get enough of you.”

“I blame you for all of this.” Ella nipped her jaw, the sound of her accelerated breathing intensifying the urgency with which Max moved.

She undid the button on Ella’s pants and slowly slid the zipper down as they kissed.

The forbidden nature of their surroundings somehow only intensified her drive.

When Ella nodded again, she had all the confirmation she needed.

She slid her hand down the front of Ella’s pants into warmth, honored by how wet she was, and determined to make her see stars.

Ella immediately moaned ever so quietly and covered her mouth, remembering Stevie in the next room.

Max nodded and settled a hand behind Ella’s back.

She allowed her fingers to explore, moving through damp folds, relying on soft touches.

Ella’s facial features served as her silent guide.

As Max began to stroke, they found their own hypnotic rhythm.

Ella’s hips began to rock, and her eyes closed.

It was only a short time before her head fell back and her lips parted, their pace now quicker.

Their eyes locked and held just as Ella’s muscles went tight and still in Max’s arms. Her lips rolled in, a shout of pleasure contained.

The moonlight spilled over them like a secret, illuminating the raw, tender intimacy, a soft glow that seemed to seal their bond in that fragile, fleeting moment.

“You’re beautiful when you come,” Max said simply, holding Ella, watching her float back to herself. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Ella exhaled, her hands shaking. “I’ve never done anything like that.” She looked around. “At book club even.”

Max laughed quietly in her ear. “This is so not book club.”

“We’re scandalous,” she hissed, a smile on her face. “But that was a satisfying scandal.” Another exhale and a headshake. “Let me tell you.”

“We need more time and privacy. And soon.”

“What are we doing?” Ella said, going up on her toes and wrapping her arms around Max’s neck. “I feel entirely out of control.”

“In a bad way?”

She met Max’s gaze, her blue eyes reflecting the moonlight. An angel on earth. She slowly shook her head, her hands sliding into Max’s hair as she guided her mouth back down. She brushed Max’s lips with hers once, twice, and then kissed her deeply.

“I should take you home,” Max said when they came up for air. “Because if I don’t, I’m not going to be able to control myself.”

“Should I return the favor?” Ella whispered in her ear. “I want to. I want my hands all over you.”

The words sent an intense wave of heat through Max’s already overloaded system.

She closed her eyes, taking a minute to absorb the sensations that moved through her, and opened them again.

The two of them were, simply put, combustible.

More so than Max had even planned on. “If we start again, we won’t stop.

We both know it.” Reluctantly, Max kissed the inside of Ella’s wrist, returned Ella’s hands to her sides, and took a step back. “See? I keep kissing you.”

Ella laughed. “Then I guess we’d better get out of here.” God, even her whisper was sexy.

“What are you doing to me?” Max murmured, watching Ella walk to the door, buttoning her jeans as she went.

Their interactions tonight had been totally unexpected until she thought about the fact that they’d been navigating a crash course toward each other from the moment they’d first laid eyes on each other.

She didn’t know how this whole thing was going to play out, but there were land mines scattered all around them.

They weren’t a good idea. But Max knew one thing for sure—whatever sparked between them was as irresistible as it was dangerous.

They could go up in flames just as easily from passion as from destruction, and, somehow, that only made the pull between them stronger.

Plain and simple, Max Wyler, who knew exactly who she was and what she wanted, didn’t know how to say no to this.