Double Date (AU/CC/Adult) [COMPLETE]

[Double Trouble]

Winner-Round 13



Double Date

Author(s): Double Trouble



Banner by: Us

Rating: Adult

Category: AU without Alien

Pairing: M&M / M&L

Type: Comedy / Smut

Disclaimer: All characters and plot lines that appeared in the series or in the books are not ours. The concept of Roswell does not belong to us either. They all belong to Melinda Metz, UPN, yada, yada, yada…

Summary: What happens when two friends from college spend the summer together and they brings their best friends along with them?

Link to our trailer – made by us:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVMV_pOE ... annel_page


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Author´s Note: The fic is based on the Summer Challenge on Roswell Heaven. (Challenge rules: http://roswellheaven.yuku.com/topic/4652 )

Vote for us!


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Part 1

The alarm clock blaring at five o’clock in the morning was a rude reminder that summer break wasn’t all about being lazy and having fun, but Maria DeLuca rushed for no one and that included Father Time. She hit the snooze button and rolled back over, easing into sleep without the slightest hesitation. She repeated the process two more times but before sleep could embrace her again her cell phone rang and she made a blind grab for it. She flipped it open, brought it up to her ear, and mumbled something that the caller recognized as what passed for a ‘good morning’ in the DeLuca language.

“G’mornin’, Sexy.”

The deep rumbling voice, gruff and filled with affectionate amusement, traveled through the phone and straight to every desire she had where he was concerned.

“Michael! Why’re you callin’ so early?” He snorted and she could practically see his ‘are you kidding me?’ look.

“I’m hopin’ you’ve come to your senses and you’re gonna be flyin’ home later today.” He sighed when she didn’t automatically jump to give him the answer he wanted. “C’mon, Maria,” he begged. “You left me here with Max and he’s threatenin’ to drag me out to some stuffy, boring, waste of time art thing that’s in town.”

“You don’t go anywhere you don’t wanna go so don’t give me that bullshit.”

“Fine.” She knew him too well for him to get away with a lie.

“I told you, Liz is my best friend and her dad needs the help over the summer and it’ll give me time to spend with her; we haven’t seen each other since we left for college.”

“Thought I was your best friend?”

“You’re my best guy friend and you’re completely irreplaceable,” she assured him. “Now, why are you really callin’?”

“You said you start your job this mornin’… I figured I’d wait until you’d hit the snooze button two or three times before I gave you a call.”

His laughter sent waves of heat rushing through her body and she shivered as she immediately recalled the steamy dream he’d had the starring role in just minutes before. She had gotten used to her attraction to him and instead of ignoring it completely she carried on an incredibly incendiary relationship with him in her subconscious.

“What time is it?” she asked, not even bothering to look at the clock.

“California time or your time?”

“I really have no need of California time right now, you ass,” she muttered, her tone teasing.

“You said your shift starts at six, right?” He nodded when she grunted into the phone. “Uh-huh, let’s just say you’d better get your ass in gear.”

Maria rolled out of bed and glanced at her reflection in the mirror over her dresser, making a face at herself as she headed for the bathroom. “My ass is officially in gear, Michael. You never get up this early, so go back to bed.” She started the shower and went back to her room to grab her things.

“Think of me when you’re shakin’ your ass for tips today.”

“It’s a small town diner, you dirty-minded perv… there won’t be any ass-shakin’.” His laughter sent shivers down her spine.

“Talk to ya later, Sexy.”

Maria tossed the phone on the bed and glanced at the clock before hurrying to shower and get ready so she could get to the diner and help out with the morning crowd.

*****

Michael Guerin ran a hand through his hair and dropped his phone on the bed beside him as he went over the conversation in his head. He didn’t know why he kept doing this to himself, but she was like an addiction he couldn’t shake. And didn’t really want to, he admitted silently.

Even in a different time zone all it took was her voice over the phone and his traitorous dick leapt to attention. “Bastard!” He tossed the insult at the offending body part as he tried to figure out his next course of action. What the hell was he gonna do all summer without her around to flirt with and tease? Hell, he could flirt with any girl, but there was just something about her that made it so much fun.

A sound from the front room in the apartment caught his attention and he got out of bed, knowing his temporary roommate was suffering from insomnia again. After a quick and painfully frigid shower he went out to find Max moping in the living room.

“Okay, look, Evans, you’ve been draggin’ your ass around here for the past week and it’s time to snap out of it.”

The dark-haired man slouched down in one corner of the couch glanced up at his friend and he shrugged one shoulder.

“I realize your roommate hooked up with your sister and you came here so you wouldn’t have to worry about walkin’ in on them while they’re getting it on – “

“Michael,” he protested. God, he did not need that image in his head!

“Look, man, I’m just sayin’ I realize that would make any guy wanna lose his lunch, but this whole I’m-depressed-and-I’m-gonna-bring-the-rest-of-the-world-down-with-me mood is fuckin’ killin’ me! So, just, tell me what happened or I’ll call Isabel and ask her.”

Max glared at him because he knew Michael would call his sister without another thought. “Rebecca dumped me.”

“And?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“What’s to understand? The girl was a bitch and nobody liked her anyway.” He shrugged. “You dodged a bullet if you ask me.”

“And I didn’t ask you, did I?”

“You’re mopin’ around in my apartment. That entitles me to not only have an opinion, but it gives me the right to express said opinion.”

“That is one more reason why you’re single.”

“I’m single because I choose to be.”

“You’re single because you’ve got a serious hard-on for your best friend – “

“My apartment, Max,” Michael interrupted. “You’re allowed to have your own opinion, but you don’t have any right to express it.” And that was the end of that conversation. “I’m gonna go get somethin’ to eat; you wanna go?”

Max shrugged and got to his feet. “Lemme grab a shower and get ready.”

Michael relaxed once he was left alone and he suddenly remembered he needed to find his shoes so they could leave.

*****

Maria entered the restaurant through the back entrance and she looked around at the employee’s lounge. Some things just never changed, she thought as she put her stuff into her old locker.

“Maria!”

A large smile spread across her face as her best friend from childhood hurried through the swinging doors. “Hey, Chica!”

After lots of happy screaming, excited squeals, and exuberant hugs the two girls stood back to look each other over.

“Livin’ on the West Coast definitely agrees with you,” Liz Parker declared.

“It does, doesn’t it? You can’t go wrong when the sun shines year-round though. What about you? How’s the East Coast?”

“The winters are freezing! I spent half the school year freezing my ass off! Not to mention there’s an extreme shortage of hot guys!”

“Told you to choose a school in Cali, babe, but did you listen? No.”

“Alright, bust my chops over that later. The breakfast rush is startin’ so we need to get to work. Let’s hit the club tonight and catch up.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Maria was so glad to be home for the summer. She needed some time to clear her head and she desperately needed her best friend’s advice in regards to a certain spiky-haired man who refused to stay out of her dreams.

*****

The Club, as it was called by locals, was located at the south end of Main Street and as the only nightclub in Roswell it was packed on a nightly basis. Since it was Thursday the music was being handled by the deejay, but on weekends they always had a live band. The temperature in the building was only slightly cooler than it was outside due to the number of bodies squeezed inside. The music was loud and pounding, the dance floor was jumping, and the conversations were carried on at a decibel that rivaled that of the music pulsing through the club.

The girls pushed their way through the crowd to get to the bar, settling on a couple of stools at the end of the counter and ordering drinks from the man tending bar. Liz lifted her eyebrows in surprise when the man openly flirted with Maria and she didn’t respond in a similar manner.

How weird was that? She ordered a Tequila Cosmo and Maria ordered a Blue Margarita before they settled back to watch the bartender mix the drinks. Liz let her gaze slide over the man, letting her thoughts wander into fantasy territory for several minutes before an unsubtle nudge from her friend brought her back to reality.

“Seriously, Liz?” Maria muttered. “The man has to be in his thirties.”

“Maybe, but you’d never know it by that body.” She rolled her eyes when Maria just snorted. “Okay, age aside, why aren’t you mentally undressing him? Or at the very least, flirting with him?”

Maria shrugged. “Not my type,” she said dismissively. She glanced at him again. Was something wrong with her? The guy was definitely hot, but she wasn’t interested in flirting with him.

“Not your type?” Liz turned to look at the man in question again. He was hot! He was ripped, toned, fit, and she’d be willing to bet you could bounce a quarter off of his tight ass! “You’re an imposter! What the hell have you done with Maria?”

The other girl laughed and nodded in the direction of the bartender when he placed their drinks in front of them. “Tonight, my friend, I just want to spend time with you and not with a man. Okay?”

“Uh-huh,” Liz said doubtfully. “I think you’ve got some talkin’ to do, so start spillin’, DeLuca.”

“Well, where should I start?” Maria asked with a big grin. She couldn’t wait to tell her best friend every small detail about the past year and Michael was a really big part of it.

“I think you should start with whatever – or, maybe I should say whoever – put that big smile on your face.”

“Well, you know the first couple of weeks were so boring and lonely when I got there last year. And you would know ‘cause I called you almost every night and cried into the phone that I missed you. Sorry about that again, it was a little crazy... I know.” Maria grimaced when those memories came back.

“Oh, please... if you recall you weren’t the only one crying into the phone. It took some time to get used to bein’ in a different state, different culture, and bein’ so far away from home... I know all about that!”

“I told you about a guy named Michael, right?”

“Um-hmm... the campus flirt, right?”

“Well, yeah, he was at first. But we’re actually really good friends.”

“How good is ‘really’ good?”

“I would say he’s my best guy friend.”

“So, no makin’ out, no sex... just friends?”

“What?” Maria choked on her drink. “Of course we don’t make out!”

Liz laughed when her friend hurriedly grabbed a napkin to wipe her mouth. “But you want to,” she said in a sing-song voice.

“NO!” she denied, but it didn’t take long for her to give in. “Well, he’s hot!” She glanced at the bartender again. “Much hotter than him, by the way, but I decided to keep it on a friends-level basis only.”

“You decided to keep him on the friend leash,” Liz mused slowly. “Okay, what’s wrong with him?”

“Well, he tends to be superficial... with women at least. He doesn’t bother to get to know any of his little flirtations any better. He just wants to get laid and then move on to the next girl.”

“So, your basic horn-dog... and that is a problem why exactly? I thought you weren’t lookin’ for anything serious while you’re in college?”

“Right… and I’m not lookin’ for anything serious. But, he’s fun, Liz. I like his manner and the way he lives his life. We had a lot of fun during the year and I would’ve been bored shitless if he hadn’t been there. If I had just jumped his bones in the beginning... then he would’ve just turned away afterwards like he does with every other girl.”

“Sounds to me like you like him... more than just a friend. You’ve kept him from his usual hi-and-goodbye by becoming his friend, but you want more.” She pulled the little straw out of her drink and chewed on it thoughtfully. “Do you fantasize about him?”

Damn, she should’ve known that Liz would see right through it. “Sometimes,” she admitted. Almost every night, she added silently.

“Sometimes,” she repeated slowly. “You look awfully flushed for just the occasional fantasy with this guy.”

“What do you want me to say, girl? He’s fuckin’ hot.”

“Tell me you’ve got a pic.”

Maria fumbled around in her bag until she had found her cell. “Of course.”

She held the phone up, showing off the pic she had taken a few weeks ago.

Liz took the phone and turned it slightly to get rid of the glare from the overhead lights. “Mmmm, he is hot; a little more rugged than I like in a man, but definitely hot.” She scrolled through some of the other pictures and stopped on one of the guy, shirtless and carrying Maria piggyback. “What’s the story here?” she asked, handing the phone back to her friend.

Maria glanced at her phone and laughed as she remembered that day. “We were at a beach party and it ended up being so boring that we decided to go swimming and I stepped on one of those sea urchins, so he had to carry me home.”

“Well, you don’t look to me like you’re in any pain, girl.”

“It just hurt when my foot made contact with the ground.”

“Uh-huh... and bein’ wrapped around all of that naked skin?” Liz glanced at Maria knowingly. “Tell me you didn’t enjoy that.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Of course I enjoyed it.”

“So, you want him but you won’t go for it because you think he’ll dump you afterwards, right?”

“Kinda,” Maria admitted and took a huge drink of her margarita.

“You think he feels the same?”

“No.”

“You don’t think he’s attracted to you?”

“No, I think he is attracted, but he’s also attracted to a lot of other blondes on campus, too.”

“And you guys have never done anything?”

“No, never. We almost kissed once, shortly after we met.”

Liz flagged the bartender down and ordered another drink before letting her curiosity take the lead. “So, you’ve had one almost-kiss? That’s it? What happened? Why didn’t it even make it to a real kiss?”

“We got interrupted and a few minutes later I saw him flirting with another girl. That’s when I decided to keep him on the friend leash.”

“Minutes later? After almost kissing you?” Liz took a drink and shook her head. “No wonder you haven’t let anything happen.” She paused, listening to the music for several minutes. “Okay, but you’ve hooked up with other guys since you met him, right?”

“A few times, yeah, but most of them weren’t even worth a second date. What about you? There have to be a few hot men on the East Coast.”

“Well, you know Kyle and I broke up a few months after we started college... the long distance thing just didn’t work well for either of us. I tried to just focus on school for a few months and not worry about guys, but after a while I just had to break loose and shake things up. So, yeah, there have been a couple of guys... nothin’ serious, but they were fun while they lasted.”

“Uh-huh,” Maria grinned at her friend. “You know, the good thing is we’ll have the whole summer to hang out together. No guys to worry about.”

“True... no confusing relationships or confusing guys... just the two of us getting our heads on straight.” Liz sighed as she stirred her drink. “You ever wonder if there actually is a Mr. Right out there, Maria?”

“There probably is,” Maria said and picked her drink up. “Cheers to that.”

Liz clinked her glass against her friend’s and took a long drink before glancing around the club. “Well, one thing’s for sure; we’re not gonna find Mr. Right in Roswell, New Mexico.”

“No, but maybe a couple of guys will find us,” Maria said and nodded in the direction of Billy Darden and one of his friends, who were making their way through the crowd to join them.

“Ewww, Maria... Billy and his friend? Are you kiddin’?”

“Come on, Billy’s lookin’ pretty hot here lately.”

“Okay, well, he’s not a total zero or anything, but...” She glanced at the phone Maria had left lying on the bar. “You’re goin’ from Mr. Fantasy to Billy Darden?” she asked, her voice dripping with disdain.

“That’s the best that Roswell has to offer and seriously, I’m not spendin’ months here without having sex.”

Liz shoved the phone towards Maria. “Then for God’s sake, girl, call Michael... I said Billy wasn’t a total zero, I wouldn’t recommend having sex with him.”

“Well, what about some dancing then? ‘Cause they’re gonna talk to us pretty soon.”

Liz shuddered at the thought of dancing with Billy’s friend... and she already knew she would get stuck with his friend because Maria was watching Billy like a hawk. Ungh! The things that she was willing to do for a friend. She had to force down her feeling of revulsion when Billy started a smooth conversation with Maria and introduced his friend, Chris. They had all gone to high school together, so introductions weren’t really necessary.

She was tempted to grab Maria’s phone and run to the ladies room to make an emergency call to this Michael guy that Maria was friends with. She didn’t know him, but she’d be willing to bet he’d come running if he knew about this turn of events. Something about him spoke of a possessive personality, but unfortunately she was being dragged out on the dance floor before she had the chance to put her plan into action. Chris was like an octopus with no rhythm, she thought as she shoved his hands away from her ass.

“So, Billy, what’ve you been doin’ this past year?” Maria asked while dancing with him.

He shrugged, not really interested in making small talk. “Not much.”

He let his hands brush against her sides, testing the water to see if she was receptive to more. “How’s California?”

“It’s fun, I’m glad I decided to go there.”

Billy controlled the urge to move in closer when she edged back a step or two. He just hated it when women made him work to get laid, but he should’ve known she wasn’t gonna make it easy. “You home for the whole summer?”

“Uh-huh. Yeah, I missed Roswell and my friends from the campus all went home for the summer break, too.”

“So, we’ve got plenty of time to get to know each other.” He smiled crookedly. “I’m lookin’ forward to spendin’ some time together.”

“Well, you might get lucky with that,” Maria answered and smiled saucily.

Oh, he was counting on it! Billy thought. He smiled back and kept his thoughts to himself. “Got any plans this weekend?”

Liz was in dance floor hell as she removed Chris’ hand for what had to be the tenth time. “If you do not keep you hand off of my ass, I’m gonna rip your arm off and beat you with it!” she threatened, growling indignantly.

Maria glanced at Liz and recognized that she definitely needed some help. She wasn’t enjoying dancing with Chris and it was obvious why. The guy was a total zero on the dance floor and he was all hands. “Hey, wanna get a drink?” She ignored his earlier question in favor of changing the subject.

“Sure, a drink sounds good.” Maybe if he could get a few drinks in her she’d be... friendlier.

“C’mon girl, let’s let the guys pay for a few drinks,” Maria said to Liz.

“If this guy puts his hand on my ass once more, Maria, I’m outta here.”

“I’m not gonna leave you alone again, I promise. I’ve aroused Billy’s interest, that’s all he’s gonna get tonight.”

Liz laughed and the girl’s gave each other a high-five as they reached the bar and ordered another round of drinks.

[Double Trouble]

Eva: There’s more to come!

Cool, we’re glad to hear you’re catching our updates here! We’ll be updating frequently and of course, the fic is complete!

Alien_Friend: Thanks! The girls have a great friendship and you don’t have long to wait before the boys show up.

sarammlover: We’re glad you’re excited! And, the fic is complete!

destinyc: Thanks, glad you liked the trailer!

*BLONDIE*: It’s gonna go… all the way!

keepsmiling7: Thanks!

Natalie36: It’s gonna get better, too!

kismet: Glad you’re lovin’ it! The boys will be arriving soon. Thanks, the vid was fun! We’ll be posting three times a week – Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday!

LilLoucfer: Thanks!

mary mary: Thanks, we’ll be back very soon!

begonia9508: Thanks!


Part 2

Michael just barely kept from physically picking Max up and tossing his ass through the door of the club. The guy had been moping for the past two weeks and he was ready to kill him.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d pull yourself together long enough for me to enjoy myself tonight,” Michael growled. “People are startin’ to think I’m hangin’ out with a corpse.”

“I didn’t ask you to bring me with you,” Max reminded his friend. He wasn’t in any mood for another club night, but on the other hand, he was glad that Michael kept distracting him.

Michael sighed and shook his head. “I honestly don’t get why you’re like this over that head-case dumpin’ you.”

“You don’t get it ‘cause you’ve never had a single serious relationship with anyone but yourself, Guerin.”

“She made you miserable, Max!”

“Shut up,” Max growled as they took a seat at the bar.

“Fine walk around with that stick up your ass. I’m gonna go see if I can find some sweet thing to hook up with.”

“You know, they have names; you don’t have to call them things.”

“Well, since I don’t know which lucky girl’s gonna get a piece of me tonight then how could I possibly know what her name is?” He made a face at his friend and turned to scan the crowd.

“Pfff, as if you would remember her name by tomorrow anyway.”

“It’s sex, Evans, not a marriage proposal.” He turned to look at the other man. “You do remember what sex is, don’t you?”

Max ignored his friend and ordered two beers when the barkeeper asked for their orders.

“Mikey,” a female voice called from a few feet away.

“Great,” Max muttered when he recognized the voice that belonged to Courtney Banks, a total pain in the ass who always showed up when Michael was around.

Michael grimaced when her voice – that always reminded him of nails on a chalkboard – sent chills down his spine, but he pulled his expression into one of welcome as he turned around. “Courtney, you’re still in town,” he said, genuinely surprised. “You wouldn’t be lookin’ for a hook up tonight, would you?”

The girl walked over to her favorite man, placing a hand on his chest. “If it includes you and me naked in the shower,” she whispered into his ear.

“Oh, no,” he laughed, trying to cover the feeling of nausea that rolled through him. “No, no, I’ve already got a date for tonight. But, my good buddy Max here... the man desperately needs to get laid, so I thought if you were feelin’ generous...”

Max looked up at them in horror and kicked Michael under the table.

“Max?” Courtney asked in disbelief. “No,” she shook her head, “he’s hot, but look at him.” She was disappointed with Michael’s suggestion and left without another word. “Asshole,” she muttered to herself.

“I do not need your help to get laid,” Max snarled, relieved that he had escaped Courtney’s clutches.

“Yeah, whatever,” Michael replied and leaned back to have a better look around the club.

“Guerin, your pants are glowing,” Max said, gesturing to the cell in Michael’s pocket.

Michael pulled his phone out of his pocket, paying little attention to the caller ID as he flipped it open and held it up to his ear. “Guerin’s Sex Shop, what’s your order?”

“Hi... I’ll take a dildo... and make it a large, please,” the female voice on the other end replied teasingly.

“Hey, Sexy!” he greeted, happy to hear Maria’s voice. “Ya know it only comes in the extra large size,” he bragged.

She laughed. “What’re you doin’?”

Max rolled his eyes when he heard the flirtatious tone in Michael’s voice. Only one girl ever got that particular tone out of him – Maria DeLuca.

“Nada,” Michael answered, his attention focused on the call now. “You’ve been gone for months. When’re you comin’ back home?”

“I am home, Michael! But I’ll be back in Cali when classes start again.”

“If you were home I wouldn’t be bored outta my skull and draggin’ a corpse around with me to go clubbin’.”

“You miss me, huh?”

“Does the desert miss the rain?” he muttered. “Of course I fuckin’ miss ya... so come home and amuse me.”

“You know I can’t do that. I have to work here. And by the way, I like my hometown and I am havin’ fun with my best friend.”

“And I’m happy for you, I am, Maria, really... but, I’m stuck here with mopey Max.” He added just a little bit of a pout into his voice. “Don’t you miss me?”

Hell, she missed him like crazy. “Sometimes,” she replied, smiling into her cell.

Only sometimes? he wondered. Damn, he missed her all the time. “Hey, Max needs to get laid... recommend someone who’d be willin’ to screw his sorry ass.”

“You need some serious help,” Max muttered as he grabbed his beer and walked away.

“Hey, I’m just tryin’ to help you out, you ungrateful bastard!” Michael yelled after him.

“Don’t be rude, Michael.”

“I’m not bein’ rude. Look, Rebecca the Bitch dumped him and he needs to get over it.”

“He might just need some time to deal with it.”

“He needs to get laid.”

“Alright, you know what, I don’t wanna hear about that. I think I’m gonna head to bed now.”

“Alone?” He mentally cursed himself for asking the question but he bit his bottom lip as he waited for her to answer.

“Maybe,” she answered secretively.

Maybe? What’d that mean? “You can tell me.”

“I could, but I won’t. Good night, Mikey G. And don’t forget to use a condom.” She hung up before he could say anything else.

Oh, no, she didn’t! He hit the redial button and waited to see if she’d answer.

Maria knew he would call again and she smiled, but decided to just leave him hanging.

Michael waited impatiently for it to go to voicemail, knowing she was playing with him. “That’s just cold, Maria... and just so you know, I am not hookin’ up with Courtney tonight. You just remember that payback’s a bitch... and you’re gonna meet her next time I see you.” He closed his phone and looked around for Max as an idea took root in his mind.

“Stop bothering me or I’m goin’ home,” Max said when Michael joined him again.

“Okay, got a deal for you.”

“What kinda deal?” Max asked skeptically.

“Let’s rent a couple of motorcycles and take a road trip. We can camp out at night to save money on the hotel and we’ll get a room when we reach out destination.”

“Destination?”

“Well, yeah...” Michael hedged, taking a drink of his beer. “Ya know... where we’re gonna go.”

“And where are we gonna go, Michael?” He knew the answer before he had even finished asking the question. “Oh, no, buddy, we’re not goin’ to Roswell.”

“Why not?”

“’Cause that town is a total cliché and I’m not looking forward to bein’ exposed to more of the Maria and Michael flirtation show. No, thank you. But ya know what, you should go to her. I’m stayin’ here.”

“If you go, I won’t say another word about you getting laid. And, seriously... you probably couldn’t find someone to screw in that little town anyway.”

Max rolled his eyes. “We stay on the road for at least a week until we go there.”

Michael grimaced at that thought. “You wanna spend a week campin’ out? You do know that it would only take a couple of days to get there, right?”

“Damn, Guerin, can’t you just say okay for once?”

Another whole week without Maria around to amuse him. “Fine, Evans, if you’ve just got your heart set on takin’ a week-long road trip then we’ll do that.”

“You’ll survive another week without her, Guerin,” Max said and grinned for the first time in a long while because he knew that was the only reason why Michael had brought up the idea of a road trip.

“Hey, man, you’ve never really hung out with her. She knows how to have a good time.”

“And why don’t you two get over with the flirtin’ and just fuck?”

Michael nearly choked on the swallow of beer he had just taken. “What? What the fuck is wrong with you? Me an’ Maria, we’re not like that.”

“Seriously Michael, you can’t tell me you’ve never thought about her that way.”

“I didn’t say I never thought about it; I said our relationship isn’t like that.”

“And you’re sure you two want it that way?”

“Look, I go out with girls I fuck and then forget. Maria’s not like that; she’s my friend, understand?”

“Well, y’know, there is the possibility of fuckin’ and still bein’ friends… you know the word? I think it’s called relationship.”

“Nope.” Yeah, maybe he thought about it sometimes... okay, a lot of times, but he didn’t wanna lose her friendship and he knew that’s what would happen if they ever hooked up.

Max let the subject drop, it was unnecessary to try to convince Michael about something when he’d already made his mind up.

“So, we’ll plan the trip out tomorrow, pick the motorcycles up in the afternoon and hit the road on Monday mornin’?”

“Okay, sounds good.”

“Y’know, Maria’s got a friend in Roswell...”

“Guerin!”

“What? I’m just sayin’.”

“If you try to hook me up again I’m gonna tell Maria you want more than her friendship.”

“She’d laugh in your face.”

“I wouldn’t count on it.”

Michael snorted. “Maria wouldn’t believe you.” What if she did though? he wondered. Would she be interested?

“Well, I’d start with tellin’ her that you talk about her all the time...”

“Whatever. She knows I talk about her all the time. She likes it that way.”

“Well, if you say so.”

“I do say so, now drop it.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

*****

Liz hurried out of the house when Maria pulled into the driveway to pick her up. “Hey,” she greeted her best friend when she opened the door to the passengers’ side, “do we really have to go to this thing?”

‘This thing’ was the party at Billy’s house that Maria had insisted on going to despite all of her attempts to change her mind.

“Yes, we have to go... he’s the hottest thing this town has to offer, Liz, and as I’ve already told you – I am not spendin’ almost three months here without havin’ sex.”

“But, slimy Chris will be there and I swear I’m gonna freak out if touches my ass again,” Liz complained and slouched down in her seat. It felt like the good old days – just the Jetta, Maria and her. She smiled when she remembered all the things they had experienced in this car during high school. Oh, if this car could talk!

Maria grinned at Liz’s tone; she sounded completely put out. “So, use some of that kung fu, martial arts, self defense shit you learned last semester in that class you told me about... make him cry like a little girl if he puts his hand on your ass again.”

Liz sighed. “Oh, yeah, sounds like a lot of fun for tonight.”

It was time to pull the friend card. “I’d do it for you, Liz.”

“Hey, I’m here, ain’t I?” Liz asked and grinned.

Maria laughed. “I’m so glad you talked me into coming home for the whole summer.”

“Uh-huh. You weren’t that excited when I asked you at first.”

“Well, I live in Cali, Liz... lots of ocean, beaches, and very hot and nearly naked men on said beaches! This is...” She looked around at the desert surrounding them. “This is Roswell!”

Liz laughed. “C’mon, girl, I’m your friend. I know you weren’t thinking of beaches and naked men… well, maybe one naked man.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talkin’ about.”

“How often have you called him since you got here?”

“Him, who?”

She pinched Maria’s arm. “You know exactly who I mean.”

“No idea,” Maria denied.

Liz grabbed her friend’s cell from where it was lying in the console between her and Maria’s seats. “Uh-huh, let’s see what interesting text messages he’s sent you.”

She flipped the cell phone open and punched a few buttons until she found her destination. “So, he calls you Sexy, huh? Interesting.”

“Why is that interesting?”

“Nobody calls a friend that.”

“Michael does... and besides that,” she tossed her hair and grinned at Liz, “I am sexy.”

“Hey, what about me?”

“Well, he’s never seen you, so...” She trailed off, deliberately misunderstanding.

“Funny,” Liz muttered, sticking out her tongue.

Maria laughed at Liz’s antics as she turned right at the next intersection. “Have you had your eye on any of the guys in town?”

“Are you kidding me? There’s like a 10 percent total of complete losers in the US, and they all live around Roswell.” Liz rolled her eyes. “Kyle Valenti was the only worth-a-second-look guy in town, but I haven’t seen him around.”

“Does that mean you guys are still friends after breakin’ up?”

“We’ve called each other a few times over the past year, so, if you wanna call that bein’ friends, then yeah, we are.”

“Uh-huh, and if he showed up over the summer would you hook up with him?”

“Nah,” she shook her head, “I don’t do ex-boyfriends.”

“Really? But, I thought you said he was great in bed?”

“He was, but we both went through a difficult time after we broke up and I don’t wanna go through that again.”

“Point taken.” Maria shrugged one shoulder. “We should go up to Albuquerque this weekend, hit the clubs up there... maybe you’d have some luck.”

“Sounds cool.”

Maria pulled into the driveway and the party was already in full swing judging by the way it was spilling out onto the lawn. “Looks like we’re in the right place.”

“If you say so, but I doubt that this,” Liz motioned to the people on the front lawn, “is the right place, or where I wanna be, but hey,” she lifted her hands up in defense, when Maria started to protest, “I won’t complain.”

“It’s funny how that sounded exactly like a complaint.”

“DeLuca, get your cute ass over here,” Billy called from the porch.

Liz rolled her eyes. “Here we go.”

“He may not be the smoothest thing on two feet,” Maria admitted, “but he does have good taste in women.”

Liz grumbled under her breath, but she put a smile on her face and followed Maria until they reached the porch. When Maria started to flirt with Billy, Liz quickly side-stepped and went inside in search of something preferably high in alcohol content.

*****

Michael tossed a few more logs on the fire and leaned back against the large boulder he had claimed as his seat for the evening. He popped the top on the cold bottle of beer that he pulled out of the six-pack he had picked up at the last town they had gone through. He glanced over at his friend when he unrolled his sleeping bag and stretched out on top of it with a book he had pulled out of the saddlebags.

“Dude, you’re readin’ on a road trip,” he complained.

Max glared at him before turning his attention back to the thick book in his hands. “I think I’ve earned the right to be left alone with my book after you tried to trade me to that cashier for a six-pack.”

“Hey, man, she wasn’t buyin’ the fake ID and I really wanted a cold one.”

“Whatever… Stop usin’ me as a bargaining chip.”

“I didn’t tell her you’d sleep with her – “ He rolled his eyes when Max rolled over and propped himself up on one elbow so he could read his book. “You can’t read in the dark.” A second later he heard a small click and realized that Max had one of those little lights that people clipped on their books. God, he was such a nerd sometimes! “It’s your turn to make dinner.”

They had been on the road for three days and Max hadn’t snapped out the mood he had been in for the past few weeks. “Dude, seriously... about dinner...”

“I can’t hear you, Michael,” Max said, trying to ignore his friend.

“And yet you respond to my comments.” He rolled his eyes. “You wanna beer?”

Max held out his hand without looking up.

Michael considered just pouring the beer over Max’s head. He was not going out of his way to actually participate in this road trip beyond being there physically. He leaned over and shoved the beer in the other guy’s hand and then leaned back against his rock.

Max sighed heavily after Michael just stared at him for several minutes. “Fine, what’ve we got for dinner?” He put his book aside and sat up on his sleeping bag.

“Same thing we have every night... meals in a bag... just add hot water.”

“Great, tomorrow we stop in a town somewhere for dinner. I’m already sick of this.”

Michael shook his head. “Why’d you agree to come with me if you were gonna be completely unsociable and irritable the whole time?” He kicked a small rock near his left foot. Okay, MRE’s weren’t exactly gourmet cuisine or anything, but it was a road trip for Pete’s sake!

“Just to make you suffer from Maria-deprivation.” Max chuckled when he saw Michael’s face and he was sure his friend would deny it.

“The only thing I’m in danger of bein’ deprived of is intelligent conversation,” Michael said, refusing to acknowledge the insinuation that Maria was somehow necessary to his existence.

“Uh-huh, then why do you call her three times a day?”

“I have no choice since you’ve chosen to be mute for most of this trip so far.”

“Okay, whatcha want?” Max glanced at the different bags of food. “Macaroni and cheese, macaroni and tomato sauce, soup, or, um, we’ve got spaghetti and meatballs?”

Michael shrugged. “Mac an’ cheese.”

“Great choice,” he said and threw the bag in Michael’s direction as he took the one with the spaghetti for himself. “Where’re we headin’ tomorrow?” He put some of the hot water in the bag he had just opened and then leaned forward to pour the rest into Michael’s dinner. He wrinkled his nose. Calling these things dinner was really too kind.

Michael pulled his map out of his back pocket for a brief consultation. “Well, since you’re determined to drag this out... we could check out the Grand Canyon, maybe go white-water rafting.”

“You ever done that?”

“No.”

“Uh-huh.” Max was skeptical. White-water rafting without any experience?

“What? I know how to swim, I’ve been canoeing...” He shook his head. “Okay, we could just settle for hiking then.”

“Alright, how many miles to get there?”

Michael checked his map. “By my guestimations, couple hundred miles.” He stirred his dinner and then took a bite, grimacing at the taste... or the lack of taste. They were definitely stopping somewhere to eat tomorrow night; he was past ready for a thick, juicy steak.

Max almost choked on his food when he saw Michael’s face. “Tastes like smelly feet, huh?”

“That might actually be an improvement.” He couldn’t wait to see Maria! He knew she’d take pity on him and cook him something worth eating.

“Um, Michael...” Max pulled his outstretched leg back to his body and gestured in the direction of Michael’s left boot.

Michael followed Max’s gesture and he froze when he saw the tarantula creeping up over the toe of his boot and he swallowed hard. He hated the stupid things, but he couldn’t exactly scream like a girl with Max sitting across from him either because he would just laugh like a big fool.
What the hell was he gonna do? he wondered. If he didn’t do something soon Max was gonna open his big mouth and say something rude.

“Damn, Guerin, if you don’t hurry, it’s gonna crawl up your leg.”

Michael reacted purely on instinct, kicking his foot out and launching the furry thing away... and right at Max.

“What the hell...” Max jumped to his feet and looked around furiously. “Guerin, what the fuck do you think you’re doin’?”

“What’s the matter, Evans? Afraid of a little spider?”

Max quickly located the little devil right on his sleeping bag, long legs spread out like it was staking a claim. “Shut up, you didn’t look very comfortable with it either.” He trampled down on the spider several times until he was sure it was dead.

Michael watched Max, laughing as he did his version of some sort of convulsive dance and then made a face when he saw the mess all over the sleeping bag. “Hey, I think one of those legs is still movin’.”

“Watch out, it might just make its way over to you again.”

“So, maybe tomorrow night we’ll spring for a room,” he suggested, hiding a shudder. “We’ve been on the road a few days and I could use a real shower.” And if that meant not camping out with tarantulas, well, that was just a bonus.

“Agreed,” Max said, crouching down to get the rest of the dead creature away from his sleeping bag.

“You could cook those up... have some fried spider legs to go with your dinner.”

Max took one of the mentioned legs and threw it at him. “Wanna try it first?”

Michael smacked the back of his head against the rock when he tried to dodge the furry appendage Max had just hurled at him. “Max! What the fuck are you doin’?”

“Payback.”

“Payback,” he muttered, kicking the offensive limb away and pushing a pile of sand over it. “You need to find some hot chick and get down an’ dirty so you can get your sense of humor back.”

“Hmmm... yeah, maybe I’ll ask Maria about it,” Max teased, knowing that Michael would never be able to stand that thought.

Michael’s expression suddenly became deadly serious. “You keep your hands and all other body parts away from her... you don’t even suggest hookin’ up with her.”

“Uh-huh. Why?”

“Because she wouldn’t give your sorry ass a second look and I’d hate to see you getting humiliated like that.”

Max snorted. “Whatever.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.

“You can just say that you don’t want anyone to touch her ‘cause you want her all to yourself.”

“Stick to what you know, Evans, and mind your own fuckin’ business while you’re at it.”

“Maybe you should call her, ya know, to make sure she isn’t dating someone else before we get there. Won’t be healthy for the other guy.”

“Maria and I do not check up on each other like that; she does her thing and I do my thing.”

“How did it end up like that anyway? I mean, did you two just decide to be friends?”

“We’ve never really talked about it. It could’ve been more at one point; we nearly kissed, but we got interrupted and then another opportunity presented itself. Anyway, she’s my friend... if we had sex it could totally ruin that, so...” He shrugged. “She’s my friend and I don’t really wanna lose that.”

“Another opportunity? Like another girl?” Max was curious. It wasn’t typical for his best friend to be close to a woman like this. And he wanted to know why Maria was so different for him than all the other girls he had met.

“Well, what other opportunity would I be talkin’ about?” he snapped. “I’m not hittin’ for both teams, Evans.”

“I’m not sayin’ that.” Max relaxed onto his sleeping bag again. “I was just wondering what makes Maria so special for ya?”

Michael shrugged and leaned his head back to look up at the stars above. What made Maria special? Every-damn-thing. “Hell, she’s what every other woman’s lacking... she’s hot, she’s smart, she doesn’t take any shit from me, she loves to have a good time... she’s the real deal, the whole package, and she gets me.”

“Sounds like you’re describing the perfect woman.”

Yeah, he was, and that was precisely why she could never be his. “I’m beat,” he said before Max could ask anymore questions. “I’m gonna turn in so we can get an early start in the mornin’.”

Max knew he was avoiding any further questions and he left it alone for now.

[Double Trouble]

destinyc: The boys are ridin’ in with this next update.

No worries, the girls will be there!

begonia9508: Like Laurel and Hardy, huh? Awesome compliment! Thanks!

Yes, in this mood, Max would depress anyone.

mary mary: Thanks, we’re glad you enjoy our sense of humor!

nibbles2: We’re glad you enjoyed the trailer!

Look for the boys in this next part.

Natalie36: There will be plenty of M/L moments to come.

keepsmiling7: Michael is anxious and he won’t have to wait much longer. We’re glad you liked Michael’s response to his phone call!

Alien_Friend: Hmm… look for that question to be answered soon!

If anyone can pull Max out of his sad, sad mood, it’ll be Liz!

*BLONDIE*: They’ll be all together in this next update! Max and Liz… let’s just say, she goes after what she wants, lol! Michael and Maria will take a little more work.

kismet: That meeting happens in this next part. Please, let your imagination run wild!

We’re glad you like the banter between the guys – they’re something, aren’t they? Thanks, glad you enjoy our sense of humor!

sarammlover: Yes… if that’s the best thing Roswell has to offer… However, the boys are about to arrive in this next part.


Part 3

Michael unrolled his sleeping bag and crawled inside just as his phone started to vibrate. He glanced over his shoulder, relieved to see Max already deeply involved in his book again and he flipped his phone open to check his messages. He pressed the button to open up the received file and waited impatiently for it to load. The little envelope opened up and he grinned at the picture that filled the screen. Maria knew how to have a good time, he thought again, smiling as he shook his head.

He didn’t recognize the location, so the picture was obviously a new one. She was sitting in what looked like someone’s backyard, holding a bottle of beer up towards the camera, and wearing a smile that was so inviting that it made him miss her even more.

He stared at the picture for several minutes, lost in thought. He switched the phone to text mode and started to type in a new message.

Hey, Sexy, save one of those for me.

He sent the message and waited to see what she had to say next.

Maria smiled when she felt her cell vibrating in her pocket and took it out. Yeah, it would be so much better if he was here. Maria glanced around and noticed that the party was really boring.

Why? You planning to be here soon? I wish you were.

She sent the message and sighed.

Michael looked down at the new message and grinned. He debated whether he should tell her and then tossed that idea away; he wanted it to be a surprise.

I wish. Out on a road trip with Max and he’s not nearly as fun as you are.

Yeah, Maria could imagine how boring a road trip would be with a mopey guy at your side. And sleeping outside like that? No, that wasn’t her style.

Send me a pic? I’m starting to forget what you look like.

Michael’s eyebrows shot up at her request. There was no chance of getting a decent pic now, it was too dark. But, he thought, he had a one from earlier that day that he’d had taken while waiting for Max to come back out of a gas station they had stopped at.

He scrolled through his saved pics and pulled up the one with him leaning back against his motorcycle and he nodded. “Not to be conceited or anything, but I do look good in this one,” he muttered, attaching it and sending it to her.

He was wearing a tight black tee shirt, faded blue jeans, and a pair of leather riding chaps... yeah, he definitely looked good. She’d like that one.

Maria’s heart rate increased when she saw the pic he had just sent to her. Damn, he looked so hot. How was it possible that he had turned out to be her best friend? Now that she hadn’t seen him for a while, it was hard to imagine that and she wasn’t really sure how she was going to react when she saw him again after summer break.

Michael was waiting impatiently for a response and when he didn’t immediately get one he sent one of his own.

Well?

Maria bit her lip when she saw another message from him. Damn, what should she write? Was it too much to be honest here? But, well, he called her Sexy all the time....

You look hot. I bet you won’t have any problem getting laid on your road trip with you wearing that.

“Well, it’s about time,” he muttered when her text finally came through and he grinned when he read it. There really weren’t any shortage of offers, but he hadn’t taken any of the women up on those offers. He ran his thumb over the keys and punched in the next message.

That’s NEVER a problem.

She sighed when she read his new incoming message. Yeah, there was definitely never any lack of woman around Michael, no matter where they went.

Yeah, trust me, I know that.

Michael grinned at the message that came through and he quickly composed the next one.

Ya miss me?

Should I tell him, she wondered.

Yeah. I do.

“Yes, she does!” Michael shouted, punching the air with his fist.

Max rolled over to look at his friend, rolling his eyes at Michael before going back to his book.

“You miss me, you miss me, you miss me,” he sang under his breath as his fingers flew over the keys.

I miss you, too.

A shiver ran along her spine when she read the one simple line. I miss you, too. She shook her head. What was going on with her? That was Michael on the other side of her cell!

I know you do.

“You know I do, huh?” He laughed at her response. The girl knew how to wind him up. She had no idea how much he missed her, but he wasn’t gonna be a girl about it.

Callin’ it a night, Sexy... got an early mornin’ and a lot of miles to cover tomorrow.

Have fun! Good night, Mikey G.

Michael rolled his eyes and wondered why she insisted on calling him Mikey G... Courtney’s despised nickname for him. Ungh!

“Okay, one more text...”

G’night, Sexy... I’ll see ya in your dreams.

She grinned. Okay one more text couldn’t hurt.

YOUR dreams.

Michael chuckled. “On more than one occasion, Maria,” he muttered as he shook his head. If she knew just how many nights she had steamed up his dreams she’d probably kick his ass.

*****

Liz wandered out onto the back deck, looking for Maria when she realized that she hadn’t seen her for a while. She found her sitting in a deck chair, phone in hand as she stared at the screen. She crept up behind her and looked over her shoulder at the picture of Michael leaning back against a motorcycle.

“Hot,” she muttered.

Maria flipped her phone shut and whirled around. “God, Liz. Tryin’ to scare me to death? I didn’t hear you coming.”

Liz rolled her eyes when Maria nearly jumped out of her skin. “Chances are the entire town will be able to hear you comin’ the way you’re panting after that picture. Horny much, Maria?”

“Shut up, girl,” Maria grinned and pushed her cell back into her pocket.

“Uh-huh, interesting that you’d say shut up instead of denying my statement.”

Maria shrugged. “He IS hot, I don’t deny that.”

“Do you deny that you want his hot body?”

“Do I have much of a chance to?”

“What? A chance for you to get a piece of him?”

Maria rolled her eyes. “No, to deny that I want his body!”

“You can deny it all you want, but that won’t make it true.”

Maria shrugged. “Well, I can live with that. Yes, he’s hot. Yes, I do have hot dreams about him, but no, I don’t give in.”

“Um-hmm... you don’t, not you won’t... interesting choice of words.”

“Don’t try to read somethin’ into it that isn’t there, girl.”

Liz shook her head and dropped the subject. Her friend was in total denial, she thought, shaking her head.

“Did you meet slimy Chris yet?” She didn’t want to talk about Michael anymore – she needed a distraction.

“Yes, he’s writhing on the floor of the game room in agony right now... hoping that all of his man parts are still intact.”

Maria’s eyes widened in shock. “You did that to him?”

“His hands went from south to north like he has any right to the Parker Peaks.”

“Maybe we should just leave. I’m kinda bored anyway,” Maria suggested.

“Don’t leave!” Billy said, overhearing the comment as he stepped outside.

She turned to him, accepting the new beer he was holding out for her. “Convince me?”

Liz rolled her eyes at Maria’s flirtatious tone. There was no way Maria had any intention of staying and they both knew that. She glanced at Billy; well, okay, he didn’t know that.

Billy slouched down against the doorframe and took a drink from his bottle as his eyes ran over Maria’s body appreciatively. “I can promise you a good time.”

Ungh, gag me with a spoon, Liz thought. That was his best line?

Maria played along, even if his way of flirting was kinda sad.

“Tell me more about it.”

Billy smiled, going for smug and missing by a country mile. “I can clear this place out in under ten minutes and you can have me all to yourself.”

“I’ve seen dogs with more romantic moves,” Liz muttered, shaking her head. “Maria, let’s just go.”

Maria glanced between Billy and Liz. Did she really want to spend a night with him? He wasn’t bad looking, but she had dated so many other, better guys over the past year and Billy was definitely lacking in passion, hotness.... Michaelness. Damn. She nodded in Liz’s direction. “You’re good to drive?”

“"Drive... carry you... drag you outta here...” She glared at Billy before turning back to Maria. “Whatever it takes to save you from yourself.”

Maria nodded and got to her feet. She gave her beer back to Billy. “Sorry, but best friends never separate. Come in to the Crashdown for breakfast if you want to.”

Damn it! Parker and her ability to persuade Maria away from him was a constant thorn in his side! “Can I get an order of you on the side?”

Liz made a rude noise and then smiled sweetly. “We should go... I think I’m about to throw up.”

Maria grabbed her car keys and threw them to Liz. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

She didn’t want to, but Liz took the less than subtle hint and turned to leave. She made it a point of bumping into Billy and twisted her wrist at the perfect moment to dump half of her beer down the front of his jeans. “Oh, I am sooo sorry,” she apologized as she hurried inside.

Maria looked at him, surprised. “Sorry, Parker’s a little crazy sometimes.”

Parker was a little bitch sometimes, he thought, but refrained from saying it out loud. “No, no, it’s cool, I’m sure it was totally accidental.”

“Maybe I can arrange some free breakfast for ya tomorrow. You know… all the good stuff from the Crashdown?” She waggled her eyebrows

“Hope that includes my favorite waitress,” he said with a grin.

“Hmmm, let’s see, maybe I can get a few minutes off and we can actually eat together.”

“Sure, I’d enjoy that,” he said even though he’d rather walk across hot coals barefoot. He had no idea why he was bothering with the charade; he just hoped she was gonna be worth all this work.

“Okay,” Maria said and grinned. “Think I gotta go now. See ya.”

Billy watched her go and his back teeth started to grind. He had to find a way to get her away from Parker. That bitch was gonna prevent him from ever getting a shot at getting into DeLuca’s panties. He slammed his beer and went inside for another one, flirting with the next girl to cross his path.

Maria walked out to her mother’s car and glanced at Liz, who was standing next to it, waiting impatiently. “So, where do we go now?”

Liz pondered Maria’s question for a moment before shrugging. “Well, Roswell isn’t exactly the town with the best nightlife scene... I think it’s time for ice cream and conversation. Any thoughts?”

“We could show each other all the pictures we took in college the last year?”

“Cool, that sounds like fun.” And she’d be willing to bet that the majority of the pictures would be of Michael.

*****

Michael’s eyebrows lifted high above his sunglasses when he got a look at the alien-themed café where Maria was working. “Uh-uh,” he muttered in disbelief.

“Oh, yeah, this’s great, Michael. Seriously, I can feel my intelligence taking a severe nosedive the longer I’m here.” Max glanced around, taking in a UFO museum, the ridiculous-looking café, and several other businesses in the vicinity that were decorated with alien themes and he shook his head. “I cannot believe people actually plan vacations around this place.”

“Max, you’re fuckin’ killin’ me with this mood! Now suck it up because we’re goin’ in here an’ I doubt the owners will appreciate it if your depression is contagious and the customers become suicidal over breakfast.” He pulled the door open and walked inside without waiting to see if Max would follow; he knew he would, he’d been doing it since they were in grade school.

The bell over the door jingled merrily as they entered the building and he whistled under his breath when his eyes immediately locked on Maria. The uniform was tacky at its worst, but she managed to pull it off without looking stupid. Her back was to him as she leaned over to point at something on the menu a customer was holding and he let his eyes trail up over her bare legs until he ran into the hem of her short turquoise-colored skirt. He supposed he could forgive the fool who had designed the uniform since it hugged her curves and displayed them to perfection, he thought with a grin.

Max rolled his eyes when Michael moved to stand next to the small counter that held the cash register and he actually ran through several different poses before he finally slouched down into what he had to assume was the ‘sexy pose’. He was just wondering how Michael planned to announce his presence when the man suddenly opened his big mouth and revealed the answer.

“So, Max, rumor has it the sexiest waitresses in town work at this restaurant.”

It was at that point that Maria dropped her order pad on the table in front of the disgruntled customer and whirled around, making the silver antennas on her head bob crazily. The matching silver apron in the shape of a giant alien head was beyond absurd and Max just shook his head when she squealed loudly and launched herself across the room to nearly strangle Michael with a bone-crushing hug.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were stoppin’ in town?” Maria asked, leaning back and thumping one fist against his shoulder. Her gaze traveled over him; snug black tee shirt, tight jeans faded and soft from washing and wearing, his booted feet spaced wide, and his hair spiked and messy just the way she liked it.

Michael just grinned and shrugged one shoulder. “Wouldn’t have been much of a surprise if I had told you I was comin’ by, would it?”

Maria shook her head and hugged him again. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

He laughed at her and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up off of her feet so he could meet her gaze directly. “I couldn’t go the entire summer without seein’ ya, Sexy.”

“How long will you stay?” Shivers ran down Maria’s spine when he looked at her intently.

“How long d’you want me to stay?” he countered, hoping she’d give him the answer he wanted.

“Hmmm, how about the rest of the summer?” she joked.

“Well, y’know... I was actually thinkin’ I might do that.” He nodded at something over his shoulder. “I can’t take much more bonding with my good buddy over there; I’m just about at the point that I need to have anti-depressants prescribed for me just from hangin’ out with him.”

Maria glanced over his shoulder and greeted Max with a nod. “I’m sure you’ll be totally okay after you’ve spent a few hours with me.”

“Oh, God, I hope so,” he groaned, burying his face against her shoulder and inhaling her scent. Damn, he had missed her!

Liz let her gaze take in the tall drink of water slouched against one of the booths as he waited for Michael and Maria to finish their little reunion. Her friend hadn’t mentioned him or shown any pictures of him because she definitely would’ve remembered his face. He was dressed in jeans and boots, a tight white tee shirt, and a pair of sunglasses. His jaw was shadowed from several days worth of stubble and his hair was damp indicating he had recently showered but hadn’t bothered to shave.

She turned around when Maria called her name, introducing her to the infamous Michael Guerin. He was gruff, didn’t go out of his way to make small talk, and his interest was obviously focused on only one person. She bit back a smile when Maria gave him a nudge that lacked any subtlety and she motioned to the man Liz had just been admiring.

“Oh, right. Evans, get your skinny ass over here and be social.” He rolled his eyes when Max took his time joining them. He already knew Maria so he let her introduce their friends to each other.

“Look, I don’t know what they told you, but I’m not interested in a hook up,” Max said as he shook the brunette’s hand.

“Not into brunettes or you just prefer guys?” Liz asked, grinning.

Max dropped her hand and turned to glare at their friends who were laughing like a couple of crazed hyenas. “Did you tell her to say that?” he snapped.

“I knew you were lookin’ pretty pathetic, Evans, but even I wouldn’t have called you gay.”

His gaze swung back to Liz and he shook his head as he scowled at her. “No, not into guys, I actually do prefer brunettes, but I’m just not interested in hookin’ up. And now that all that’s cleared up, I’m goin’ back to the hotel, Guerin.”

“Your friend with anybody?” Liz asked, her eyes following Mr. Tall, Dark, and Defensive as he hurried out of the café.

“Nope, so feel free to go get him.”

“Do you always offer your friends to perfect strangers for sex?” she asked.

Maria shook her head and stepped between them before Michael had the opportunity to let his mouth off of the leash. “Michael is trying in his own bumbling way to get Max out of the rut he’s fallen into since getting dumped by – “

“The bitch who had him by the balls,” he interjected.

“Hmm…” Liz just smiled and went to take an order from a new customer.

“You have no idea what you just unleashed on him,” Maria said, laughing as she shook her head.

“Will it get him laid and outta this depressed mood he’s been in for weeks now?”

She snorted. “Based on the way she was watchin’ him, I’d say the guy’s gonna get lucky whether or not he wants to at first.”

“Can I order my breakfast now?” a customer asked, sounding annoyed.

Liz placed a hand on Maria’s arm, nodding to the customer to let her know she would take care of him and she left her friend alone with Michael. Her mind was already working on a plan to make Max Evans her summer project. “What can I get for you, Sir?” Liz asked, as she walked around the counter.

The door opened behind Michael and he ignored it until he realized that the person who had just entered had stopped right beside him. He glanced at the guy and raised one eyebrow in question. “You need somethin’?”

Billy glanced back and forth between Maria and the tall guy who had wrapped his arms around her. Who the hell was he? “Hey, Maria,” he greeted her and ignored the guy.

“Hey!” Great, she thought, what a perfect time for him to show up.

“Billy, this is my best friend Michael from college. Michael, this is Billy.”

Michael’s gaze became annoyed at the introduction of some random guy that Maria had obviously chosen to pursue over the summer and he made it a point to do his best to crush the guy’s hand when they exchanged a handshake.

Billy bit back the urge to groan in pain.

“Sooo,” Maria said, desperate to get them separated, “you want somethin’ for breakfast, buddy?”

“Yeah,” Michael interrupted, just in case she was talking to the asswipe trying to regain feeling in his hand.

Billy stepped away from them and was glad to see Chris a few tables away. “Hey, Dude!” he greeted him and took a seat.

“Okay, take a seat, I’ll get you a coffee first.”

“Me,” Michael clarified. “You'll get ME a coffee first, right?” He barely glanced up when Max came back in and dropped down to sit in the closest booth, grabbing a menu and burying his nose in it.

Maria grinned now that Billy way out of sight. “Jealous?”

“You can just do better,” he said, refusing to answer that question. Michael sat down in the booth with Max.

“Coffee for you, too, Max?” Maria asked.

Max glared at Michael when he kicked him under the table and he shook his head. “No, thanks. How ‘bout a glass of orange juice instead.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Maria left to get their drinks. “You soooo want Max,” she said as she joined Liz behind the counter.

Liz just grinned, knowing there was no reason to deny it. “Um, hello! How could you not tell me about him?”

Maria shrugged. “If I had known that you’re goin’ for depressed guys now I would’ve mentioned him, but...”

“How much would you like to bet that I can pull his ass out of that depressed mood? Some guys you just know they’re gonna be totally hot in bed and out... and that man?” She growled. “Trust me, he’s good.”

Maria laughed. “Good luck with that. I think Michael would appreciate it if you’re able to get him out of his shitty mood.”

“No problem.” She winked. “Won’t take that long either... he keeps lookin’ this way.”

“Girl, you really gained a ton of self-confidence over the last year, huh?” She grabbed the drinks and started to walk back to Max and Michael before turning to look back at Liz. “Oh, hey, you think you can you take Billy’s table?”

Liz smiled. “Let’s just say that getting away and havin’ the chance to reinvent myself in a completely new environment worked wonders for my self-confidence. As for Billy... I’ll take his table, but I will not be held accountable for my actions if Chris touches me.”

“Be nice girl, he’s a paying customer.”

“And if we were workin’ in a strip club and he wanted to play grab ass that’d be one thing, but we’re not, and if his hand comes anywhere near this body he’s gonna get hurt.”

“Okay, then at least don’t kill him so he’s still able to pay.” Maria walked away then to take the guys their drinks. “Where’re you gonna stay? You already got a hotel room?”

“Yup,” Michael answered, leaning back and resting his arms along the back of the booth. “Had to do somethin’; Max was startin’ to get pretty ripe.”

“Did you guys really spend the nights out in the middle of nowhere?”

“Um-hmm, just us and Mother Nature.”

“Paradise,” Maria muttered ironically.

Michael just rolled his eyes at her disparaging tone and he reached out to tug on her hand. “I’m gonna take you campin’ this summer.”

“Yeah, there’s somethin’ to look forward to,” Max muttered, earning him another kick. “Cut it out, Michael!” He pulled his legs as far back as possible and glanced to the side when the commotion at one of the other tables caught his attention.

“I told you to get your hand off my ass, Chris,” Liz snarled at the guy and slammed his meal in front off him.

Max sighed when he overheard the little brunette’s comment. He had known from her very first word that she was gonna be trouble. He gave it another couple of seconds, and as soon as the guy ignored her warning and reached out to cop another feel he stood up and crossed over to stand next to her.

“I think she told you to keep your hands to yourself.”

“And who are you?” Chris asked, shocked by the sudden appearance of another man he’d never seen before.

“Someone who’s gonna kick your ass right out the door if you don’t stop puttin’ your hands on her.”

Liz liked the fact that sexy Max was protecting her even if she didn’t need any protection.

Chris laughed out loud, but it sounded a bit nervous. “You wouldn’t.”

Max straightened up to his full height and the tee shirt pulled tight over his chest as he towered over the little weasel at the table. “Try me.”

“This place really sucks,” he muttered and threw a few dollars on the table. “I’m outta here, Billy. You coming with me?”

Billy glanced back at Maria, irritated that she had completely ignored him since he had walked in. “Hey, DeLuca, we still on for later?”

Damn, Maria thought, she’d totally forgotten that she was supposed to meet him for dinner.

Michael watched her as she turned to look at the other guy and he saw the momentary flash of regret on her face. He was confident that the look of regret had nothing to do with him.

She couldn’t just turn him down so she nodded. “Yeah, 7pm, right?”

Michael froze. “What?”

Billy smiled triumphantly. “Yeah, 7pm. Want me to pick you up at your place?” he asked, throwing that in because he knew it would piss the other guy off. He was new in town, so there was no way he knew where Maria lived.

Maria thought about it for a few seconds and then shook her head. “No, that’s okay. The restaurant isn’t far from my place; I’m gonna walk and we’ll meet there.”

“Yeah, she’ll meet you there,” Michael parroted. “And you’ll be needin’ a ride home afterwards, so you just give me the address of that restaurant and I’ll pick you up, Sexy.”

“Michael,” she hissed at him, “shut up, okay?” She turned to Billy again. “See you later then.”

He shrugged and slouched down in his seat. Why was he the one getting in trouble? The guy was obviously a loser!

Maria waited until Billy and Chris had left the Crashdown. “Michael,” she slapped his shoulder, “you can be such an ass sometimes.”

“What?!” He held his hands up in question. “That guy’s a bastard who just wants to get his hands on your hot little body and he has no class.”

“Michael, I don’t want to marry him, okay? You’ve obviously never been in Roswell, ‘cause findin’ a sexy men here is rare.”

“Like I care about sexy men,” he muttered. “I’m just sayin’ you could do better.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. I’d better go back to work.” She walked away from him, cursing under her breath. Why the hell had Michael shown up here on the day when she had a date?

“Why’re you givin’ her shit about her date?” Max asked as he sat back down. “You do know you sound like a jealous boyfriend, don’t you?”

“Shut up, Evans. That guy only wants in her pants, okay? It’s obvious and he’s so not worth her time.”

“You do the same thing with girls. How is that any different?”

Michael glanced around the restaurant to make sure Maria wasn’t nearby. “The difference is that I know that I’m mostly an ass to the girls afterwards and I know her, so she doesn’t deserve that.”

“Perfect, so you’re just gonna ride in on your white horse and save her from this guy?” Max rolled his eyes and reached for the menu again. “I’m hungry.”

“Whatever,” Michael muttered, slouching down in his seat.

“See what you did? You’ve got her rattled and now she’s takin’ everyone’s orders but ours,” Max complained.

“Evans, back off, okay? Why don’t you call for your new little chick? Or why don’t you explain why you actually saved Liz from that jerk?”

“She’s not my new little chick,” Max grumbled. “And I just didn’t wanna see her getting messed with like that.”

“Have you boys decided what you wanna eat, yet?” Liz asked as they approached the guys at their table.

Maria had just appeared in the break room, muttering something about Michael minding his own business, but she really had no clue what she was talking about.

Max ordered a big breakfast because he was hungry after nearly starving over the past week. His gaze kept straying to Liz despite his best intentions to remain unaffected by her.

“I’ll just go with a cheeseburger,” Michael said.

Maria rolled her eyes when he crossed his arms over his chest, slouched down, and practically sulked. “Add a large order of fries and a chocolate milkshake to his order,” she said, shaking her head at him.

Michael looked at her in surprise. “You ordering for me now?”

“If all you get is a cheeseburger you’re gonna be hungry again before the hour’s up.”

He smirked at her, knowing that she was totally right about that. “Fine, I’ll take it.”

“Like that was ever in any doubt.”

Michael grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him, so that she was forced to sit next to him. “Hey, I didn’t wanna fight with you or anything. So, if you wanna go out with him, then go and I’ll be quiet. You can call me when ya get home, okay?” Hopefully she would be coming home, he thought.

Maria ignored him for several long seconds. “Alright, I’ll call you... when I get home.”

Liz exchanged a look with Max and she nearly laughed when she saw the pained look on his face. “I take it you’re used to their weird flirtations?”

“Kinda hard to avoid it,” he muttered.

She didn’t doubt that. “We can go to the club afterwards,” Liz tossed over her shoulder as she went to put their orders in.

“The Club?” Max asked, glancing at Maria.

“Yeah, the Club... the only club in town, really. It’s pretty cool though.”

“You’ve got a club here, huh?” Time for payback, Michael thought. “Gotta be some hot girls there, right?”

“Not as hot as Liz and I are,” Maria countered.

“Uh-huh, well, she’s not on my radar and you... well, you’ve got ol’ Billy lookin’ to share your sheets, so I’m gonna have to look elsewhere.”

Great, Maria thought. It was different when they were out together in California because she didn’t know the girls he was flirting with. But here... he would probably end up with a girl she’d grown up with in little bitty Roswell.

“So, as soon as you ditch that zero you’ll meet us at this club?”

“I’d probably have to ask him to drive me over there, ‘cause it’s at the other end of town and my mom needs our car tonight.”

Okay, that wasn’t gonna work, Michael thought. The last thing he wanted to do was spend the evening at a club with Maria while she was making out with some guy.

“So, let me come pick you up after your,” he grimaced, “date.”

Maria celebrated inwardly; that was just what she wanted him to say. “Okay, I’ll call you.”

Michael relaxed when she gave in and said she would call him. That meant that Billy wasn’t getting lucky tonight, he silently crowed.

[Double Trouble]

sarammlover: But, not for long… he will be, hmm… removed, soon.  They’re Michael and Maria – they’ll figure it out!

We’re glad you like Liz here, and you can rest assured that she’ll help repair his balls… wait, we meant HEART, too! Really, we did! Just for the record – that comment was hilarious!!!

nibbles2: LOL, yes, we are!

keepsmiling7: Yeah, Liz didn’t give him much time to make an escape.

We’re glad that part made ya laugh!

destinyc: He’ll be going away soon. Oh, he’s interested…

begonia9508: Yeah, painful is such a good word for what these two guys think passes as flirting!

LOL, glad you’re lovin’ Max here, and don’t worry… Liz fully intends to have a good time.

mary mary: Thanks for reading!

Alien_Friend: Glad you’re lovin’ the guys!

Natalie36: Thanks for reading!

kismet: We’re glad you like Liz here! Yes, denial for Max… but not for long.

Eva: Competition, yes… but it’s gonna be a short race, lol!

*BLONDIE*: Thanks! Billy is pretty disgusting, huh? And the sad thing is that he thinks he’s a smooth operator. It might take a little bit before these two admit anything… they both want more, but they’re both worried that to have it they could end up sacrificing a friendship that they’ve both come to rely on.

Liz is definitely no shrinking violet here – she knows what she wants and she goes after it.

twilight: We’re glad you like Liz here! We wanted to write her from a different angle with this fic… and well, we think we succeeded, lol! Liz has seen Max and she wants him… he might as well deal with it – he’s been targeted, and the hunt is on!


Part 4

Maria glanced at her watch for what felt like the hundredth time. It was only 8pm and she was bored to death. She and Billy hadn’t found one single thing to talk about that took more than just a single sentence and she couldn’t think of any other topic that would get them into a real conservation.

It was so different when she was with Michael. They could talk about anything no matter how unimportant it was for hours and never get the slightest bit bored with it. “How does your meat taste?” she asked to break the silence once more.

Billy had to work to keep from rolling his eyes. He had no idea why he was even bothering to go to so much work just to get laid. Normally, he didn’t bother with a girl for so long, either they put out or he was gone.

He forced a smile and reached for his drink. “It’s not bad, but it’s not as good as what they’ve got to offer in Santa Fe,” he said, mentioning the city where he attended college. “We should go up there, maybe next weekend, spend a couple days together.”

Yeah, so we can have more of these great conversations, Maria thought sarcastically. “Well, next weekend probably wouldn’t work for me. My best friend just arrived in town and he’ll probably stay for a while.”

Billy pushed back in his chair and set his fork down so he could curl his fingers over the edge of the table. “Well, Maria, he’s a grown man, I’m sure he’s capable of amusing himself for a couple of days. It’s not like you guys are together or anything.” He watched her closely. “Right? There’s nothin’ between you two?”

“No, of course not, but he came here to visit me so it would be kinda rude to just leave him alone, don’t ya think?”

“Did he tell you he was comin’ to visit?”

“No, but that’s not the point. He’s my friend.”

“Okay, he’s your friend, but I thought we were workin’ towards somethin’ more than that.”

Huh? Had she missed something?

“And it just kinda seems like since he showed up earlier today that you’ve been pretty distant and uninterested.”

“It’s just bad timing. I’ve missed him a lot and his timing wasn’t very good; he showed up today and I already had a date. But I am here, aren’t I?”

“Oh, yeah,” he snapped, “you’re here... checkin’ your watch every five seconds. What, have you got plans with him later tonight?”

“Well, you’re not very chatty, ya know? And I like to talk on a date.”

“You probably talk durin’ sex, too,” he muttered under his breath.

Okay, that’s enough, Maria thought. “I guess you’ll never find out,” she muttered, grabbing her bag and standing up.

“Not like I’m missin’ anything,” he tossed out carelessly. “You’ve been teasin’ me since you got back for the summer, puttin’ it out there and makin’ me think you were gonna give it up... there ain’t no way any guy in his right mind would put up with this bullshit.” He grabbed the check and tore it in half. “That’s your half. You know what your problem is? You put on a good show, but it all comes down to the fact that you’re just a frigid little tease.”

“She’s just able to discern a real man from a total zero like you,” a male voice said from behind him.

Billy looked up and his face turned bright red when he saw the man stalking towards him, his expression menacing. Oh, hell, he thought, panicked, I hope he didn’t hear what I just said.

Michael grabbed Billy by his collar and pulled him up from his seat to make him take a look at Maria. “Take one last look at a woman you’ll never get and then get your sorry ass outta here.” He shoved him in the direction of the exit.

Maria couldn’t help the smile that rushed across her face when Michael basically chased Billy out of the restaurant and then sat down in her date’s vacated chair. He grabbed the torn check and crumpled it up, tossing it over his shoulder as he flagged the waiter down.

She sat back down when he asked the man to clear his side of the table and then ordered the steak and shrimp before sitting back to look at her. “What?” she asked, just knowing he was about to comment on her pathetic choice in men.

Michael shrugged. “Ya know I hate to say it, but I TOLD YOU HE WASN’T WORTH IT!”

Maria didn’t bother defending herself. What defense was there, really? The ‘I was desperate’ defense? He’d laugh himself stupid over that one. She changed the subject instead and looked down at her unfinished meal, realizing that her appetite had suddenly returned.

“Thanks for the save,” she said as she reached for her fork. “I’m so glad we came up with that system.”

She and Michael had devised the text messaging system early in their friendship. They had an agreement that if one of them had a date and for whatever reason it wasn’t going as planned then they would send a message that simply said SAVE ME! and the other one would interrupt the date and come up with a good excuse for the evening to come to a sudden end.

“Uh-huh, I was, too when you saved me from crazy Pam.”

Maria laughed as she remembered that mistake and then she felt better because Pam and Billy were in the same category, really. She couldn’t resist and leaned over the table to kiss his cheek. “It’s so nice that we can talk about nothing for a whole day without getting bored.”

Michael glanced up when the waiter returned with his meal and as soon as the man had disappeared he grinned at her. “Bored with each other?” He shook his head. “Never happen. Now, what’s the plan since he’s outta the picture?”

“Well, finishing dinner and then joining the others I guess?”

“No long term summer plans?”

“Nope, what about you? Are you and Max plannin’ to continue this road trip with all the outdoor sleeping and driving around?”

“I thought you wanted me to stick around for the summer?”

“Of course I want you to. But Roswell is really boring, ya know? And I don’t want you to stay just because I asked you too.”

“Ah, c’mon, Sexy, the town may be boring, but the two of us could have fun anywhere.”

“I still can’t believe you’re here.”

“Well, I was worried you’d do somethin’ stupid without me around to save you from your judgment that is sometimes... less than intelligent.” He speared a shrimp and held it out to her. “And after seein’ that guy...” He shrugged and waited to see if she would take his offering.

Maria leaned forward and Michael’s eyes darkened when her lips wrapped around his fork and she slowly pulled back, removing the shrimp from the tines. He shifted around, trying to be discreet as he rearranged himself and shaking his head when he saw the teasing glint in her eyes. “You do know you’re a dangerous woman, right?”

She grinned at him smugly. “From what Billy said I’m a frigid tease.”

“Like that dumbass would even know anything about a real woman. He may be the best thing this town has to offer – somethin’ that is no longer true now that I’ve arrived – but it’s obvious that he knows nothin’ about women. He’s probably got a closet full of inflatable ‘dates’,” he said, returning her grin with one of his own.

Sometimes I really could hug him for every word he says, Maria thought, staring at his lips.

Michael tipped his head to one side as he studied her. “What’re you thinkin’?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.” She took a few bites of her meal before she spoke again. “About what you said earlier this morning, I’m not sleeping outdoors, Mikey.”

Michael wondered why she had changed the subject, but he went along with it. “Why not? Scared of the creepy crawlies and the little furry critters? I’ll protect you...” He winked at her. “I’ll even let you share my sleepin’ bag.”

She snorted. “You wish.”

“What?”

“You wish that I’d share a sleeping bag with you.”

Why would she say that? he wondered. They had slept together platonically more times than he could count. He paused to take a drink. “Maybe I do wish... what would you say to that?”

Great, what was she going to say now? She hadn’t expected that reaction. “Well, I would say it’s only natural, ‘cause I’m so sexy.”

Michael shrugged and tamped down his expectations; she was just teasing him. He should’ve known that she wasn’t serious, but he couldn’t stop the tiny ray of hope that had sparked to life in response to her words. “Yeah, that’s true, but you’re just so fun to snuggle up with,” he said, covering what he really wanted to say.

“Are you and Max sharin’ a room?” Was there disappointment in his eyes? She was almost sure she had seen it, but maybe it was just wishful thinking.

“Well, we’re kinda on a budget, so yeah, one room with two beds.” He shook his head in warning. “And before you say it, no, I do not snuggle with Max.”

She snatched another shrimp off of his plate. “I wasn’t suggesting that. You think Max would mind a third person in the room?”

Michael snorted. “Max sleeps like the dead; there could be an orgy goin’ on around him and he’d never know it.”

“Wanna snuggle with me tonight?”

That brightened his evening. “Love to,” he answered honestly. “We could rent a pay-per-view porn and completely embarrass Max,” he said, laughing.

“You know, I don’t think he’d even be surprised; seems like everyone is expecting us to have sex.”

Michael forced a laugh. “Yeah, what’s with that?”

She shrugged. “No one’s buyin’ that we’re just friends.”

“Not even your friend Liz?”

“Nope.”

“Well, they just don’t understand then.” He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and motioned for the waiter, letting him know he was ready for the check. “So, let’s hit that club y’all were talkin’ about.”

“We have to stop at my place so I can change into something else.”

“What’s wrong with what you’re wearin’?” he asked, confused. “Did that prick say somethin’ to make you think it’s not good enough?”

Maria rolled her eyes. “No, but I wanna dance and I’m gonna need more comfortable shoes for that.”

“Oh, dancin’... okay.” Damn, that meant she was gonna be out on the floor with other guys, bumping and grinding to the music.

“You can dance with me.”

“Yeah, because I’m interested in humiliating myself like that. You do remember the last time you dragged me out on a dance floor, right?” He had been drunk, so he accepted none of the blame for that embarrassment.

She laughed. “Yeah, it was fun.” And thankfully, he had been so drunk he didn’t remember that she had kissed him accidently. She had planned to kiss his cheek, but he had turned his head just in time and her lips had made contact for a brief second.

“Fun?” he echoed. “As I recall, it was fast, it was way too hot – and I don’t mean that in a good way – I’d had way too much tequila, and after all that movin’ an’ shakin’ the dance ended, the room started spinnin’ and I threw up... that’s my big memory of that night, Maria.”

“Yeah, you were bad, bad drunk, Michael.”

“Fun,” he scoffed. “Tell that to the people makin’ the mad dash to get outta the way while I was clearin’ the floor.”

“I won’t let you drink that much again, buddy.”

“Still not getting out on the dance floor again.”

“That’s okay, I’ll come to you then,” she said, grinning.

“Yeah?” He grinned and shook his head. “Can I get a lap dance?”

“Uh-oh, you sure you can take that?”

“Girl, I can take anything you can dish out.”

“Then you might get one,” she said teasingly when they started to leave the restaurant.

Michael stared after her as he followed her out into the warm night air. “Uh, really?”

She turned to look at him. “Of course not.”

Damn! “That’s just not right, Sexy.” He shook his head and wondered what the night held in store for them. She had already made plans to stay with him overnight, so he wasn’t worried that she’d hook up with someone else. Besides, he thought, despite her outrageous statements at times he knew she didn’t do random hook-ups.

Maybe the night would give them a nudge in a different direction. Stranger things had happened, right?

*****

Liz ran one hand over her short denim skirt, smoothed out non-existent wrinkles in her white tank top, and brushed her fingers through her hair before taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it. She leaned against one side of the doorframe and reached up to knock on the door to room number 103. She had called Maria to find out where the guys were staying and it hadn’t taken long to figure out that Michael was otherwise occupied and that Max Evans was all alone in his hotel room.

Which was just too sad to contemplate so she had decided that she was going to ask him to go to the club with her. She knocked on the door again, trying to keep it from sounding impatient.

Max heard a slight knock on the door while he was in the bathroom, but he ignored it at first. He had just finished showering and he was about to dry himself off when the knock sounded again. “Damn, Michael, can’t you remember your keys one time,” he hissed and wrapped the small towel around his hips while he walked through the room to open the door. “Lock yourself ou...” he choked when he saw Liz standing in the hallway. “Liz...um... you?”

“Hello, Max,” she murmured in a sultry tone as her eyes raked over his tall, wet, practically naked body.

“Hey, um, what... is somethin’ wrong? Where’s Michael?”

“No, nothing’s wrong. Michael’s with Maria; I just came to see if I could interest you in takin’ me to the club tonight?”

“Um, yeah. Wanna come in?” He could slap himself for his lack of intelligent words.

Liz stepped past him, running the tip of her finger along the edge of the towel where it rode low on his hips.

He felt her slight touch and shivered. There was something about her that was different from all the other girls he had ever known.

“Why don’t I just sit over here while you get dressed,” she said, sitting on the foot of one of the beds.

“Sure,” he said and disappeared into the bathroom again.

“Feel free to get dressed out here,” she called, leaning back on her elbows. “I wouldn’t mind watching.”

Max looked at himself in the mirror and smirked. This girl was just saying what she thought. It was kinda refreshing.

“C’mon, Max,” she teased, “let’s see what you’ve got to offer.”

Maybe I should just walk out there, he thought as he removed the towel. She wouldn’t expect that from him. And, hey, he would probably never see her again after a few weeks, so why not play along with her? He could definitely use the distraction and Michael would surely appreciate it as well. He had to admit his mood hadn’t been the best lately.

Liz drummed her fingertips on the comforter under her as she waited to see if he’d play along. “Max, we’re both adults here... and I think we both know what we want. Question is, are you man enough to admit it?”

Max glanced down at himself. Damn, the girl had given him a hard-on with just her words. He stepped into his jeans to hide the fact that he was already turned on and he walked back out to the living area. He stopped in the doorway and leaned against the frame. “You’re not ashamed to just say what ya want, huh?” He could feel his own self-confidence beginning to grow again after such a long time.

“Why should I be ashamed of knowin’ what I want and goin’ after it?” Her gaze raked over him and she couldn’t hide her disappointment when she noticed that he had gotten partially dressed. “Men do it all the time and they get congratulated for their behavior... women do it and they get labeled as sluts...” She stood and crossed the room, letting her fingertips brush over his ridged abdomen. “I won’t be labeled for taking what I want.”

He followed her fingers with his eyes before glancing up again and meeting her intense brown eyes. “We won’t make it to the club if you keep goin’.”

“Really? Hmmm... it’s tempting and I do wanna know just what you can do with this,” she said, lowering her hand to rub against his erection, “but I wanna see how you move on the dance floor before I give you a test run in bed.” She turned to walk away from him but then paused and looked over her left shoulder. “And, Max?”

“Huh?” He was having a hard time not just grabbing her and pulling her up against him.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a pair of those leather riding chaps, would you?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a pair of ‘em.”

She smiled and nodded. “Good.”

“There a reason you wanna know about the ridin’ leathers?” Max asked as he sat down to put his shoes on.

She turned to look at him and her eyes slid over him suggestively. “Just imagining you in them… nothin’ else, just them.”

Max swallowed hard as he lifted his head to look at her. “Are you kiddin’?” he asked, his voice guttural.

“Too weird for you?” she asked.

“No. I prefer full skin-on-skin, but I can compromise if that’s what gets you hot.”

“To be honest there’s just somethin’ about you that’s got that image stuck in my head and I don’t think I’m gonna be able to shake it until I’ve experienced it.”

This girl was definitely gonna be good for his ego, he thought as he grabbed a fresh tee shirt out of his bag and pulled it on.

*****

Michael walked into the club behind Maria, glancing around to see if there were any hot girls that needed to meet him. He pulled his attention away from the writhing bodies when Maria dug her elbow into his ribcage. “What?” His eyebrows shot up when they reached the bar, joining Liz and... Max? “Hey, man, what’re you doin’ here?” He hadn’t expected to see the man out in public of his own free will.

“Liz kinda convinced me...”

“Uh-huh... okay.” He motioned to the man placing drinks on the counter. “Yo, barkeep, hook us up with a couple of longnecks.”

Maria glanced at her friend. “Convinced him, huh?”

Liz just shrugged, eyebrows lifting suggestively as she grinned.

He made a face at the fruity-looking drink on the bar next to Max’s beer. “What the fuck is that?”

“That is Sex on the Beach,” Liz said, grabbing her drink.

Michael snorted. “I’ve had sex on the beach... and it’s nothin’ like a fruity little drink.”

“Well, the good thing is that with that,” Maria pointed to Liz’s drink, “you don’t have sand all over your ass after you’ve had it.”

“Well, if you do it right you’re gonna have sand on more than just your ass.” Michael glanced around, looking for women who were hot and looked like they weren’t interested in dancing.

“It’s a club, bozo,” Maria said, shaking her head at him. “They’re all here to dance.”

Damn it, why did she always know what he was thinking? That was really scary sometimes. “I can distract them from dancing if I want to.”

Maria had no reason to doubt his smug statement; she had seen him do it on more than one occasion. “Fine, go prowl around for...” She trailed off when she looked up and her gaze collided with the girl who had just walked through the entrance.

Liz turned her head to follow Maria’s gaze when her friend suddenly fell silent and she frowned at the newcomer. She reached out to place her hand on Maria’s arm, letting her know she was there for her. “You should get out on the floor, Maria.” She knew from experience that talking about the other girl wouldn’t be welcome right then.

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna go dance,” Maria agreed.

Michael glanced around, trying to figure out what had just happened and coming up totally blank. There was no time to ask Maria because she took off and hit the floor without another word. “Oh, hello,” he muttered when he noticed the short blond making her way to the bar. His eyes slid down over her body and he nodded to himself.

Liz followed Michael’s gaze and rolled her eyes. Great, a hundred women in the club and he had to choose HER. She stepped in front of him. “Listen, dude, if you wanna be Maria’s friend after tonight, you’d better keep you hands off of that one.”

“Mind your own business, why don’t you. Maria doesn’t care one way or the other who I fuck around with.”

Liz placed her hands on her hips. “I’m serious, Michael.”

Annoyance crossed his features and he mimicked her pose just to mock her. “Oh, well, if you’re serious...” He shook his head at her and grabbed his beer before moving through the crowd.

“Is he always such a jerk?” she asked Max, who was still at the bar.

“What’d he do that makes him a jerk?”

“He didn’t listen to me when I told him he shouldn’t flirt with the bitch he was staring at.”

“Michael only listens to one voice when it comes to flirtin’ with girls,” he said as he watched her moving unconsciously to the music. “And that’s the little voice in his head that tells him if he goes for it he’ll get laid.”

“Well, let’s hope another blond will catch his attention.” She turned to him and grabbed his wrist. “C’mon, let’s dance.”

Max followed willingly, knowing that all he had to do was be himself since she seemed to like him just as he was. He turned his hand over under hers, linking their fingers and spinning her before pulling her close and letting the music dictate their moves.

“You’re a good dancer,” she noticed with some surprise.

He grinned down at her. “If it’s got a beat, I’ve got a move to go with it.”

“Uh-huh.” She wondered what kinda moves he had when it came to sex.

“You’re curious about what I’m like in bed,” he teased, watching her.

“What? Now you can read my mind?” She played along with him.

“Not your mind, no... but your eyes and your body language are a different story.”

He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Just so you know, sex has its own beat, and I’ve got moves that’ll blow you away.”

She had to hold onto him tighter because her knees went weak when his breath hit her skin.

Max felt her arms tighten around him and he growled low in his throat as he dipped his head to kiss her neck. She had no idea what she was doing for his wounded ego, he thought.

“We should’ve stayed in your hotel room,” Liz whimpered.

“Thought you wanted to know what I could do on the dance floor first.”

“Uh-huh, and you’ve already convinced me out here.”

His ego wasn’t the only thing swelling. The song switched to something low and sexy and his hands lowered to her hips as he pulled her closer, letting their bodies grind against each other.

Didn’t Maria say something about Max being mopey and down? She couldn’t see any indication of it.

“What?” Max asked, seeing the questions in her eyes.

“I was just wondering why Michael and Maria said you’ve been in a bad mood lately.”

He chuckled. “Because I have been in a bad mood. I got my ass dumped by the girl I’ve been seein’ since last Christmas because apparently I’m not creative or imaginative enough in bed.” He shrugged. “That hurt more than just my feelings and I haven’t really felt much like interacting with the world since then.”

“I don’t think it’s possible for you to be less than creative or imaginative in bed. Maybe she was just stupid.”

Max shrugged one shoulder. “Much more imaginative and I think we would’ve been crossin’ over into some freaky shit and that’s not really my thing.”

Liz laughed at that. “Freaky shit, huh?”

“Yeah, don’t tell Michael, but I think he was right when he said I dodged a bullet with her.”

“What about another drink? Ya know, I don’t think I can stand much more dancing with ya in such tight quarters since it’s still gonna be a while before it’ll be time to go home.”

He laughed, enjoying her honesty as he took her hand to lead her off of the dance floor. “So, no guy waitin’ for you back at college?”

“Oh, there are a lot of them who are probably waitin’,” she said, amused.

“You are sure of yourself, aren’t you?” He signaled to the bartender and the man nodded, letting him know he remembered their orders.

“Somethin’ wrong with that? I spent most of my life here in Roswell worrying about what other people think of me and I put an end to it.”

Max held his hands up when he heard just a hint of defensiveness creep into her tone. “There’s nothin’ wrong with that,” he assured her. “It’s different from what I’m used to, but I like it.”

[Double Trouble]

mary mary: Liz definitely wasn’t waiting for Max to make the first move. It won’t take them too long.

Eva: Well, we could’ve said that, lol!

Yup, very much a summer fic!

*BLONDIE*: Didn’t take long, did it? He may appear briefly… Yup, we think Max is out of his bad mood, courtesy of Liz.

tequathisy: We’re glad you’re enjoying it! The blond will be identified before long.

destinyc: Michael’s being… Michael.

You just never know, it could end up being more… we’ll see!

Natalie36: The chick he’s checking out is the ONE chick he shouldn’t be checking out!
We’ll find out who she is soon!

kismet: The blonde’s identity will most likely surprise you! We’ll find out what she did pretty soon.

She knows exactly which buttons to push!

sarammlover: We’re glad you love Liz here!

Definitely the wrong skank to be hooking up with!

nibbles2: Thanks! We wanted a different Liz from our other Liz in DT.

twilight: Cool, we’re glad ya like Liz! Max never had a chance!

You’re right to not like her!

crazedearthgirl: Welcome! We’re glad you’re lovin’ our fic! We update on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday!


Part 5

Maria was dancing with some guy she had gone to high school with while she watched Michael go into action. She knew every move he would make as he spotted the girl he had decided was the most likely to go home with him that night. He would saunter up to her in that sexy way he had, talk her ear off and make comments that would make her giggle foolishly, and before long he’d be walking her outside.

She felt sick to her stomach when he approached the girl that had entered the club and sent her night into a fast tailspin. How could he pick her out of every single female in the place?

Michael eased up to the bar next to the blond and he leaned against it, resting his forearm on the counter as his easy, flirty grin slipped into place. “Buy you a drink?” he asked, studying her profile. There was something slightly familiar about it, but he couldn’t pinpoint it.

The girl turned in the direction of the new voice that had asked to buy her a drink and prepared herself to ditch the guy because she wasn’t interested in any of these losers from Roswell.

She was stunned when she saw the sexy man next to her. Who the hell was he? She’d never seen him around before, that’s for sure. She nodded. “Tequila.”

Michael gave the order to the bartender and let his gaze wander over his companion’s body. She hadn’t left anything to the imagination with her choice of clothes and normally he preferred it if girls made him work for it; the reward was always so much more satisfying if they didn’t just serve themselves up on a silver platter.

“So, you home for summer break or you just visiting?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes and looked at him again, lashes fluttering coyly. “Which would you prefer?”

His eyes followed her hand when she reached out to run her fingertips over his arm and he lifted his gaze to trace over her face. She was wearing way too much makeup, which was a shame because it was obvious she didn’t need it. A straight answer would be nice, he thought.

“Did you hear me?” she asked, dipping her head down to meet his gaze. “I asked which you would prefer.”

“Whichever’s true.”

That was an unusual answer from a guy. “Roswell is home,” she answered, and her tone implied that she wasn’t happy about it. “Or close enough anyway.”

“It’s not as weird as I expected it to be,” he said. He was curious about her response. Maria loved her hometown and she was happy to tear into anyone who had anything bad to say about it.

“Well, obviously you haven’t been here long enough then ‘cause it’s odd and boring.”

“Really? I mean, it’s kinda quirky what with all the alien stuff, but that’s where the money is so it only makes sense that they’d promote it so much.”

“Too much, if ya ask me. The whole alien conspiracy thing is a lot of bullshit.”

Michael’s eyebrow quirked and he wondered at the hostility he could hear in her voice. “Not a big fan of the mythology, huh?”

The girl shook her head. “Nope, don’t know why there are so many people out there who are really interested in it.”

He chuckled. “My best friend grew up here and she gets a kick outta this stuff.”

She rolled her eyes at that but stayed silent. A rude comment about his best friend wouldn’t get her anywhere with him.

Michael took a drink of his beer and decided that bitter was not a good look on the girl. It completely transformed her features into something... not attractive. He motioned to the dance floor to get her attention. “You dance?”

“Sometimes, but the music here sucks most of the time.” She lifted her tequila up to him. “What’s your name?”

“Michael.” He tapped the neck of his bottle to her glass. “Yours?”

“Peyton.”

“Got a last name?”

Michael looked up when a familiar hand landed on his shoulder and he turned his head to look at Maria. “What’s up, Sexy?”

“Can I talk to ya for a second?” She glared at the other girl while talking to him.

Is Maria his best friend? Peyton wondered. Now, that would be interesting.

He glanced between the two girls and quickly picked up on the tension between them. Uh-oh. “Yeah, sure.” He winked at the other girl. “Back in a minute, save my place.”

“What d’you think you’re doin’?” She slapped his shoulder as soon as they were out of Peyton’s sight.

Michael tried to duck and only succeeded in bumping into someone else and spilling beer on himself. “What the fuck, Maria?” he growled, but there wasn’t much heat behind the words.

“Why the hell did you have to pick her out of all the girls around here?”

“What’s wrong with her? Damn, since when d’you care who I hook up with?”

“Since you’re tryin’ to hook up with someone I really, really, passionately hate.”

“Well, she didn’t exactly come with a warning label that stated the two of you were enemies. C’mon, Maria!”

“Oh, and by the way, she’s 17, Michael.”

His mouth dropped open and his head jerked to the side so he could look at the girl again. “17?” he repeated stupidly. “No.” His gaze ran over the girl’s body. “She’s not 17.”

Maria shrugged. “If you say so.” She wasn’t sure if Peyton was 17 or 18, but who cared?

Seriously? he wondered. Damn, if she was 17 he was gonna have to get rid of her ass. “17 didn’t look like that when I was in high school,” he muttered.

Maria just rolled her eyes at him.

“Okay, so, you want me to... what, exactly?”

“Stay away from her.”

“Maria,” he whined. “Y’know how long it’s been since I got laid?”

“Ya know, earlier in the restaurant you said you wanted to spend the night with me and now?” She sighed, knowing that she sounded like a stupid, jealous girlfriend. “It’s okay, Michael, go on and find someone to fuck, I’m just asking you to find someone that’s not her, okay?” She didn’t wait for any response from him and left to find Liz. She definitely needed her for a distraction right now.

Michael had to make a conscious effort to close his mouth, knowing it was hanging open because she had taken off before he could even form the first word of his response. He got that there was bad blood between the two girls and obviously that nixed Peyton as a viable hookup for the night. He watched her retreating back and wondered what the story was. She wasn’t just pissed at him for talking to Peyton, she was hurt and he didn’t understand that. Oh, but he would before the night was over. That much was for damn sure. He had to shake his intended hookup and go after Maria but before he could move Peyton joined him.

“So, she’s your best friend?”

“Yeah, you got a problem with that?”

“No, but she might have a problem with you talkin’ to me.”

“She might... got an explanation for that?”

“She didn’t tell ya?” Peyton asked playfully. She was surprised that Maria hadn’t hurried to share the story with him.

His eyes were following Maria as she made her way to Liz. The brunette said a few words to Max and he nodded before making himself scarce. He looked down at Peyton when she spoke again. “I like to get both sides before I form an opinion,” he said vaguely. His attention was drawn back to Maria when Peyton remained silent and his concern moved up a notch when he saw her gesturing wildly as she talked to Liz.

“Think she should tell ya if you don’t have a clue,” Peyton said and with that she decided to disappear. The last thing she wanted to do was give a big history lesson.

Michael shook his head and he turned his head when he felt someone stop beside him. “Max,” he said, surprised. “What’re you doin’ over here?”

Max shrugged. “Liz just told me she needed to talk to Maria and I wasn’t in the mood to hang around alone. Wanna tell me what happened?”

“Man, I don’t know what happened. I was just mindin’ my own business, workin’ it, and next thing I know here comes Maria demanding that I hook up with someone else and then she takes off all upset...” He held his hands up helplessly. “Any clues?”

“Jealous maybe?” Max guessed, unsure.

“Of what?” He suddenly went over everything she had said just minutes before and he slapped his forehead with his open palm. “Fuck, I did tell her we’d spend tonight together... she thought I was ditchin’ her and...” He shook his head. Girls were so goofy sometimes! He wouldn’t be upset if they were supposed to hang out and she got lucky. Yeah, you would, his little voice reminded him. Maybe you wouldn’t be upset, but you would be jealous.

“You told her what?” Max asked, surprised. “Spend the night together?”

Michael shrugged. “What? We sleep together sometimes.” He rolled his eyes when Max just looked at him like he’d suddenly grown a second head. “Totally platonic, dude.”

“Never would’ve thought you two could sleep in one bed without doin’ anything,” Max admitted.

“Why not?”

Max shrugged. “Don’t know. I mean, she’s not really my type but she’s hot, so it has to be hard to keep your hands all to yourself.”

“She’s my friend, Max.” His eyes moved back to her of their own accord and he sighed. Maybe he wouldn’t mind if it was more than that, but she wasn’t interested in him like that.

“And? She’s your friend, but that doesn’t mean you can’t want somethin’ more.”

Michael bit his bottom lip and took a drink of his beer before shaking his head to clear it. Damn, he had almost revealed his biggest secret! “So, what’s up with you an’ Liz? Do I need to find someplace else to sleep tonight?”

Max was well aware of the fact that Michael was avoiding any further discussion about him and Maria so he dropped the subject and grinned. “She’s very... honest about what she wants, but I don’t think we’re gonna go for it tonight, so you don’t have to worry about findin’ another place to sleep.”

“You okay with Maria hangin’ overnight?”

“Sure, as long as you don’t bother me.”

“Well, we weren’t plannin’ to cozy up to you, Evans.”

“Think it’s safe to join them again?” Max asked, gesturing to the girls who had taken seats at the bar.

Michael nodded and they moved through the crowd to come up behind the girls. Max immediately moved to sit beside Liz, quickly picking up their conversation and Michael wrapped his arms around Maria from behind. He hugged her tightly and rested his chin on her shoulder. “You gonna forgive me for bein’ a man?”

She glanced over her shoulder and bit back the grin that wanted to escape her lips. “Maybe…”

“Just maybe, huh?” He leaned back and kissed the top of her head before relaxing his hold on her and letting her just lean into his chest. “Okay, what’s it gonna take to make you love me again?”

“Hmmm, you could dance with me,” she suggested and then laughed because she knew he was grimacing even though she had her back to him.

Michael made a face at that; the last thing he wanted to do was get out on the dance floor... even if it was with her. “Isn’t there somethin’ else? How ‘bout I’ll give you one of my kidneys if you ever need one?”

“Ungh... that’s gross, Michael.” She turned in her seat to face him. “You can give me a massage, how about that?” She knew she was playing with fire because his hands on her body wouldn’t do anything but arouse her.

“My offer to save your life is gross?” He rolled his eyes and savored the feeling of her body against his. “A massage, huh?” He leaned down to let his lips brush against her ear, knowing he was pushing the boundaries of their friendship, but unable to resist teasing her. “Full body?”

She shivered when his hot breath hit the skin of her neck and she glanced into his eyes when he leaned back again. Full body was probably the worst thing she could do to get rid of this weird feeling that she had been having around him lately. “Full body,” she repeated, inwardly smacking herself for it.

Two words was all it took to send every bit of blood in his body rushing in a southern direction and he had to shift his lower body back away from her. “Really?” he asked, swallowing hard.

“Scared?” she asked, grinning even though she felt nervous as hell.

He placed his bottle on the bar and held his hands up in front of her. “These hands are lethal, Sexy. You really want them all over your body, massaging oil into your bare skin... you’re playin’ with fire.” God, he hoped he didn’t sound as breathless as he felt.

Uh-huh, yeah she knew that and she wanted his hands on her body so badly, but she also knew that she had to get away from those thoughts because they weren’t helping in any way. “Well, maybe we should keep it to my backside.”

Michael knew he shouldn’t do it, but he couldn’t stop his hands from sliding around to cup her bottom and give it a playful squeeze. “Well, if that’s all you want massaged...”

Oh boy, that touch alone was driving her insane, how would she survive a massage from those hands? “Want another beer?” she asked him, desperately in need of a subject change.

He really didn’t want to move his hands, but she was letting him know the game was over so he leaned against the bar next to her, bracing his weight on one arm and letting his other hand move to her neck, unconsciously rubbing at the tension he could feel there. “Sure, but how ‘bout a shot first?”

“Sounds good. Whatcha want?”

“Buttery nipples,” he growled.

“Yeah, okay. Haven’t had those in a while.”

Michael grimaced and let his gaze stray to the front of her low-cut tank top. “Me either.” He quickly pulled his gaze away when she tipped her head back to look up at him and he smiled when she just rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Busted,” he muttered with a teasing grin.

She took both shots from the counter when the barkeeper placed them in front of her and she turned to Michael to hand one to him. “I’m really glad you decided to come to Roswell,” she said as she raised her glass to him.

“Me too,” he said, relieved when she didn’t call him on his less than subtle wandering gaze. “Here’s to a summer that’ll...” He locked eyes with her. “A summer that will change our lives.”

“Change our lives,” she repeated slowly, not knowing if he wanted her to say something in response to that as she swallowed the shot down.

Michael nodded when she didn’t take it any further, wondering if maybe he was hoping for something that didn’t stand a chance. He tossed his shot back and put the small glass on the counter beside hers before reaching for his beer.

He had to stop this before he gave himself away; that was two close calls in one day. If he didn’t watch it he was going to end up with the entire town of Roswell knowing that he had a thing for his best friend.

“Hey, Lizzie, wanna go out on the dance floor with me?” Maria asked her friend. The girl was totally lost in Max Evans’ eyes.

Liz turned to look at Maria as if she had lost her mind. Did she look like she wanted to leave Max Evans alone with other women in the area? One look into Maria’s eyes though, and she knew she had to put him on the back burner for a few minutes. She turned to look at Max. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Max shook his head. “Have fun.”

She smiled at him. Why weren’t more guys like this? she wondered. He was so easy going and laid back and she just loved that. She grabbed his chin and leaned in to kiss him fast and hard. “Miss me,” she said, winking as she hurried after Maria.

Max stared after the two girls in surprise. He hadn’t expected a kiss, but he liked it – a lot.

Maria and Liz danced for quite a while before the music changed into something slow and they decided to take a break.

Liz grimaced. “I guess I’m gonna go back and join the guys.”

“Yeah, me too,” Maria nodded. “I’m just gonna make a quick stop in the bathroom first.” She made her way through the crowd, carefully trying to not shove anyone. The last thing she needed tonight was someone spilling their drink on her clothes.

“Already managed to bore yet another guy to death, huh?” a voice said.

“What do you want, bitch?” Maria growled when she recognized Peyton’s taunting voice.

“Well, if your ‘friend’,” she said, emphasizing the word, “is already finished with you I might just have a piece of him.”

“Sorry, but you’re not getting a piece of him. Go screw someone else.”

“I’d think you would’ve learned by now that I always get what I want,” she sneered.

“Not this time.”

Peyton just shook her head. Maria was so delusional about things. “I think that’s just hereditary, y’know? I mean, my mom wanted your dad and, oh, yeah... she got him. When we moved to that shitty little town a few miles away he had the opportunity to maintain his relationship with you and, oh, that’s right... he’s never bothered to really pay you any attention, has he?” Her smile was positively cruel. “You couldn’t even keep your own father interested in you.” She shook her head and leaned back against the wall. “Wow, how much does that suck? I mean, he left your mom for mine because my mom got pregnant with me... if you were of any significance to him, you’d think he would’ve at the very least kept in contact, wouldn't you?”

Her words hurt more than Peyton could probably imagine, but Maria forced herself to maintain a stern face. Michael would have gotten it on with her if she hadn’t asked him to stop. Was her half-sister right about what she was saying? Would Michael also prefer Peyton instead of her if he had the choice?

“If you’re so sure of yourself then go on and try your luck with him,” she snarled, not really wanting to force the other girl’s hand.

Peyton’s smile notched up a bit. “Maybe I will...” She turned her head to look at the man in question. “I’ll just have to decide whether or not I’m interested in bothering with someone who’s spent so much time with you.”

“Whatever,” Maria said, pushing past her to go to the bathroom.

“Bitch,” Peyton muttered as she turned to go back out on the dance floor. On second thought, she mused, pausing and changing direction to go towards the bar instead, maybe later. She moved through the crowd and approached her target, pausing a moment to glance into the mirror behind the bar to make sure she didn’t need to touch anything up first. Nope, perfect as always, she thought.

Michael watched her as she moved through the crowed towards him. Damn, should he talk to her?

She eased her flirty smile into place as she reached out and placed one hand on his arm, giving the muscle there a light squeeze. “It looks like you’re all alone over here,” she said when she noticed that Maria’s snotty friend was busy occupying his friend’s time and well away from them.

“Not anymore, I guess,” he answered casually.

Uh-huh, so predictable, she thought. A little action on the dance floor and he’d be hers. ”Wanna dance?”

Hell no, he wasn’t a dancer and he wasn’t drunk either. “Nope, I’m not into dancin’, sorry.”

“Really?” She leaned back to let her gaze slide over him suggestively. “I’m surprised; I would’ve thought a guy with your body would show it off.” She lowered her voice to a sultry rasp. “I’ll bet you’ve got some amazing moves.”

“Yeah, but they’re limited to the bedroom.”

Maria froze in place when she came out of the bathroom and saw Peyton all over Michael. She should’ve known. Her half-sister would never leave anything alone when it came to her, and Michael, well, he was a guy.

She walked over to them, just to grab her jacket Michael was watching for her. “I’m gonna go,” she said without looking at them.

“Limited to the bedroom, huh? Well, I can – “ Peyton glared at her half-sister when she interrupted.

Michael frowned when he saw her expression and he immediately forgot all about the girl flirting with him. “Maria?”

She stopped, but didn’t turn around.

It was never a good sign if she wouldn’t even look at him; it meant she was more upset than she wanted him to know. He got to his feet and moved up behind her. “Hey, what’s goin’ on?”

“I... I just wanna go home, that’s all. Go ahead and stay here if you want.”

“Hell, no, I’m not stayin’ here without you. Wait for me.” He hurried back over to the counter and tossed a few bucks down to cover his tab, motioned to Max to let him know they were out, and turned to go back to her.

“What’s your hurry?”

He didn’t bother to control his annoyed tone when he turned back to the girl. Couldn’t she see he was in a hurry? “Somethin’ came up, gotta go.” He ran back to Maria, oblivious to the look of irritation that passed over Peyton’s face. “Okay, c’mon, Sexy, let’s get outta here.”

Maria silently shouted in triumph. He had decided to go with her and not to stay there… with Peyton.

[Double Trouble]

*BLONDIE*: You would think, wouldn’t you? But… no. He did make the right choice for so many reasons.

kismet: Maria will tell him… very soon.

destinyc: Yeah, we didn’t think anyone would see that one coming! Glad you enjoyed that little inside joke, lol!

nibbles2: So much better for him! Had he made the wrong choice he would have regretted it!

Eva: And how long do you think they can keep going that way?

begonia9508: Well, Michael really isn’t interested in taking anyone’s advice.

Things are going to get interesting for Max and Liz.

Natalie36: She could’ve been a little more helpful with her reasoning, but she doesn’t really know Michael and felt like it wasn’t her place to explain the situation.

mary mary: She is a little… witch, isn’t she?

sarammlover: No worries, Michael knows what’s good for him, lol!

crazedearthgirl: We’ll see if Peyton makes another appearance. Liz definitely knows what she wants, who she wants, and how to get it!

POM: Michael and Maria will get there. We’re glad you’re lovin’ the story! And just for your Dreamer reading pleasure, we’ll get back to Max and Liz in Chapter 7.

tequathisy: Very good point… not sure Maria would appreciate that thought though!


Part 6

Michael slung his right arm over her shoulders and pulled her up against his side as they walked out of the club and immediately fell into step with each other. “Y’know you’re gonna tell me eventually... so, why don’t you just get it out now and tell me what’s wrong?”

“I don’t really wanna talk about it right now,” she said, hoping that he would just leave it alone.

He pointed across the street at a building with a large green alien head painted on the side. “What’s that?” He smiled when he felt her relax against him. Sometimes it paid to just back off and let her work it out in her own time. He knew she’d tell him when she was ready to deal with whatever it was.

“This, buddy, is the famous UFO museum.”

“Famous, huh?” He bumped his hip against hers and laughed. “How famous is famous? Because I’ve never heard of it.”

“Well, it’s famous when you live in Rowell or next to Rowell, I guess.”

“Ya got any real aliens in there?”

“Well, we can go check it out so you can have a look for yourself.”

“Perfect... I need a new tee shirt. Maybe somethin’ that says ‘I was abducted in Roswell and all I got was this lousy tee shirt’.”

Maria laughed and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m sure you can probably get them in the Museum gift shop.”

“You can get one, too... we’ll have matchin’ shirts when we get back to school.”

“How kitschy.”

Michael glanced around Main Street as they crossed a quiet intersection. “You ever seen a UFO or anything?”

She rolled her eyes at that. Not everyone in Roswell believed in aliens. “Maybe when I was younger and had more fantasies.”

“So, no hot alien love fantasies?” he teased.

“Not if they’re green and slimy, no.”

“Ewww, Maria, I wasn’t implying some freaky sex thing...” He waggled his eyebrows playfully. “Unless you’re into that freaky shit.”

“No, I’m not into the freaky shit, Michael.”

“No? Not even a little?”

“What’s a little?”

He laughed out loud at her question. “How should I know? I’m happy as long as the sex is hot!”

“And what’s hot in your opinion?”

Damn, she would ask a question like that! Here he was, walking back to his hotel room with the one girl who refused to vacate his dreams and she was asking what he thought was hot? “What do I think is hot? About sex or girls in general?”

“Both.”

“Hmmm... I don’t know, Maria. You’re askin’ me to reveal my secrets.” He grinned to let her know he was teasing. “Well, in girls... self-confidence is hot, y’know? Even if they’re not like a perfect 10 in a bikini, self-confidence really makes a difference.” He paused, biting the inside of his cheek before continuing. “That’s not what you expected from me, is it?”

“Well, no, not really.”

“God,” he groaned, “you probably think I’m gay or somethin’ now.”

“Oh, no,” she laughed, “I would never think you’re gay, Mikey.”

“Okay, good, that’s a relief. I mean, I can be just as shallow as the next guy, but...” He shrugged. “I’ll probably make the ‘guy list’ for the other one, though. When it comes to sex... it’s totally hot if the girl really knows how to give a blowjob and she enjoys it... y’know how rare it is to find that combination?”

“No, I don’t know. Thank God.”

His eyebrows shot up at that. “So, would I find you totally hot?”

“Maybe,” she teased.

“C’mon, tell me.”

“Well, it depends, ya know. You can’t really say before you try it.”

“Well, I can say,” he said.

“Huh?” What was he talking about? Maria wondered. Did he think she was hot?

“You said you can’t say before you’ve tried it... well, I’m just sayin’ I ain’t gotta try it.”

“Well, me neither, ‘cause we’re friends,” she said and punched him in his side.

“You’ll never know if you don’t try,” he teased. He knew he was pushing it – again – but he wanted to see if she was ever gonna give him any kind of a hint to let him know if she might be interested.

“Uh-huh, tempting,” she replied, grinning.

He laughed, hoping she couldn’t tell that he was relieved by her answer. “So, I told you, now you tell me... what d’you think’s hot?”

“You,” she blurted out without thinking and then regretted it.

“Me?” He glanced at her and decided that she was teasing him and he rolled his eyes at her. “Seriously, Maria.” He shook his head at her. “You could do a lot worse,” he said smugly. “Because I am pretty fuckin’ hot.”

Yeah, you are, she thought. “No, seriously, Michael. You, I’m not teasing. First time I saw you, HOT was all I could think of. It just turned out that we’re better as friends.”

“Imagine the trouble we’d cause if we ever hooked up.”

“It wouldn’t last long, I guess.”

“You don’t think we’d ever work as a couple?” He was genuinely interested in her opinion.

“You and a relationship? Pff...” Was there some other motive behind his questions, she wondered.

His steps slowed and he dropped his arm from around her shoulders as he turned to look at her. “You don’t think I’m capable of bein’ in a relationship?”

“Well, not from what I saw this last year, dude.”

“Oh, well, c’mon, Maria, those were just hookups... that’s different.”

“Different from what?”

“From a relationship.”

“You ever had one?”

“That is not the point. The point is that I know the difference between a hookup and a relationship.”

“What would make the difference for ya?”

“Well, first off, I’d stick around the next mornin’.” Okay, he thought, that might not have been the best way to state his understanding of relationships versus hookups.

“You seriously have to work on that if you want to convince me,” she said laughing. “Hey, we’re already at the hotel.”

Michael’s mouth dropped open as he followed her into the front lobby, pulling his key card out of his pocket. “We’re on the second floor,” he said as he gathered his composure. “And just for the record, stickin’ around the next mornin’ would be a big step for me.”

“Well, hopefully you won’t send me away in the morning then,” she teased.

“Why would I send you away?” He punched the button to call the elevator and turned his head when the night manager stepped out of the office and she leaned forward to see who had come inside.

“Good evening, Maria,” she greeted, glancing meaningfully at the clock before looking back at them.

Michael rolled his eyes. It only stood to reason that she would know most of the residents – it was a small town.

“Hi,” she called back as they stepped into the elevator. “I know you won’t send me away, ‘cause we haven’t had sex.”

“Wouldn’t send you away if we did,” he muttered under his breath.

“What’d you say?” Maria turned to look at him.

“Huh?”

She rolled her eyes. “Michael!”

Oh, shit! “Um, just wonderin’ if you wanted the bathroom first.”

She was pretty sure that wasn’t what he had said, but she pretended to believe it. “Yeah, thanks.”

They stepped off of the elevator and he used the key card to gain access to his room, shoving the door open and holding it so she could enter ahead of him. “My stuff’s in my bag,” he said, knowing she’d go after one of his tee shirts to sleep in.

Maria nodded and searched for one of his shirts. She found a black Metallica one and decided that it was the right one for her. “Alright, where’s the bathroom?”

Michael pointed towards the archway on the other side of the second bed and watched her until she had disappeared. He pulled his shirt off and tossed it on the dresser before searching for the remote that should have been on the nightstand, but wasn’t.

He could blame that on Max, but locating the remote buried under one corner of the comforter on his bed had him rethinking that accusation. He flipped the television on, tossed the remote back on his bed, and finished undressing before grabbing one of the pillows and throwing himself down on the bed.

Maria hit the light switch on the wall by the door when she stepped out of the bathroom and her eyes quickly zeroed in on Michael as she reached for her bag. He was stretched out on his stomach, arms crossed under his pillow, wearing a pair of boxers and nothing else. “Make sure you guys don’t leave anything out that might make people gossip.”

Michael opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her. Damn, he loved it when she stayed with him; she always wore one of his tee shirts and he knew her nightly routine as well as he knew his own. “Not that I have anything to hide, but why?”

She snatched the extra pillow off of Max’s bed and added it to the one Michael had left for her, stacking both of them against the headboard and leaning back on them. “Because the women who manage this hotel – one works days and the other one nights – are sisters and they have a tendency to... snoop, and then gossip if they discover anything of interest.” She shook her head when she saw the mischievous gleam in his eyes.

“That wouldn’t have been one of the gossip’s that met us comin’ in, would it?”

“Uh-huh.”

“So, by mornin’ there should be some juicy gossip over pancakes at that cafe where you work... gossip about you spendin’ the night with some hot young stud.” He grinned unrepentantly and his gaze followed her hands as she used some kind of lotion on her legs.

“Yeah, maybe... but it’s okay. No shame if someone thinks I really spent the night with you. And Amy knows anyway.”

“How’s she doin’?” he asked. He had met Maria’s mother on several occasions over the past year at college and he got along well with the woman.

“Just fine.” Maria rolled her eyes. “She’s been dating a man for several months now and they’re gonna go away for vacation soon.”

“You met the new guy?”

“Yeah.” She put the lotion aside and made herself comfortable on the bed, unaware that the tee shirt she was wearing slid up when she shifted around.

Michael’s mouth went dry when the hem of the tee shirt inched up, presenting him with more of that delectable DeLuca skin and his hands curled into fists beneath his head. She had no idea what she did to him and after their earlier conversation he wasn’t exactly sure how to move things forward. He tried desperately to grab onto some random topic for conversation and drew a complete blank.

Instead his traitorous thoughts connected with his vocal chords and he groaned. He quickly slammed his eyes shut and shifted, praying she would just think he was getting comfortable for the night.

“Are you okay?” Maria asked.

And of course she couldn’t just ignore it, he thought, grimacing internally. “Uh-huh.” Turn the conversation around, you idiot! his mind taunted. “So, you gonna tell me what the deal is with that girl back at the club?”

She sighed. Why the hell did he always have to know everything? “You’re not gonna give up are you?”

“When have you ever known me to give up?”

“Never.” She changed her position on the bed again and crawled up to the end to get the remote. There was just trash on the TV anyway, she thought as she turned it off.

Michael frowned when she turned the television off. “I was watchin’ that,” he complained. Okay, he really wasn’t, but he had sensed the shift in her mood and he knew he would have to take his cues from her.

“Really? What was goin’ on?”

“Hot girls on a beach... some kinda space creature in the jungle chasin’ after them...” He rolled his eyes. “Hot girls, Maria... the plot beyond that is really unnecessary.” He grinned at her because she knew he was making it up as he went.

“You didn’t even look at the TV, so, no hot girls you where interested in. Just the one in your bed,” she joked.

He lifted his gaze to hers and his smile turned teasing. “Wanna put on a barely-there bikini and run around on a deserted beach, hot girl?”

“Jerk,” she slapped him on his arm and crawled up next to him again.

“So... is that a no?”

“Definitely a no.”

Michael shook his head at her and fell silent, waiting to see if she would say anything more or if he was going to have to pry it out of her.

“You should’ve asked Peyton about it. I’m sure she owns a lot of those barely-there bikinis.”

He rolled his eyes at her. “Given the choice, I’d take you over her any day.” He reached out to give her a gentle shove. “You should know that.”

“Even if you didn’t know me?”

“Not know you?” He shook his head. “There isn’t a universe in existence where I wouldn’t know Maria DeLuca.”

“Uh-huh, we didn’t even know each other a year ago, Michael.”

“You didn’t ask about a year ago... but, yeah, put the two of you together and even if I didn’t know you, I’d choose you.” He let his open palm rest on her thigh without thinking about it. “Why would you even ask that?”

She shivered from his little touch. “Well, not all people would prefer me over her. I’m glad you do though.”

“Who the fuck would prefer her over you?” He shook his head in disbelief. Sure, the girl had been cute, but her personality had been missing something essential.

“Our father for example,” she blurted out.

“Whose father?”

“Hers... mine.” She kept her gaze locked on her thighs.

His mind quickly connected the dots. “Wait, the two of you have the same... but, she’s gotta be your age or pretty fuckin' close to it.”

Maria nodded. “Two years younger then me.”

Michael’s eyes widened. Maria hadn’t been kidding when she said Peyton was too young for him; the girl was jail bait! “So, your father...”

She nodded, “Is also her father, yes.”

“But, I thought you said your father left when you were a little... he left your mother for the woman he’d been havin’ an affair with?”

“Yeah, and he’s also stayed with her.”

“So, they also live in Roswell?”

“In Dexter, but it’s just a few miles from here.”

“Well, if she’s comin’ here to hang out, it’s gotta be smaller than Roswell.”

“It is.”

“Okay, so what is her issue with you?”

Maria shrugged sadly. “She just takes every opportunity to tell me that my father doesn’t want me.”

He could see that it was a painful subject for her and it pissed him off that her sister would treat her like that. “Has he kept in contact with you at all?” He must have, right? Living so close?

“No,” she whispered hoarsely.

“Hell, Maria,” he muttered, shifting around and pulling her unresisting body into his arms. She settled against him and her head automatically came to rest on his chest, right over his heart. “Your father’s fuckin’ stupid and if I meet him while I’m here I’m gonna tell him that.”

“He won’t give a shit about it,” she muttered against his chest, enjoying the feeling of his strong arms wrapped around her.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled against the top of her head. “Hey, my dad loves you.”

“Yeah, he’s really cool.”

“He’d have to be... he’s my dad.”

“How’s Danny doin’? Won’t he miss you if you’re gone the whole summer?” She shifted to get more comfortable against him. If it was possible she would slide even closer.

Michael’s right hand stroked over her side and down along her hip in a repetitive motion, his movements unconscious as he attempted to ease her tension. “I’ll see the kid at some point; he’s got a birthday comin’ up at the end of summer, y’know.”

“How old will he be then? Four?”

“Uh-huh. Doesn’t seem possible that he’s already gonna be four. I wanted to take him to Disneyland later this year, before school starts.” He glanced down at her. “Wanna go?”

“If your parents don’t mind; I love Disneyland.”

“First, my parents would never mind you taggin’ along anywhere with us, and second, they’re goin’ outta town for a week at the end of summer for their anniversary so I volunteered to keep the kid while they’re gone.”

“So, you’re gonna be all alone with Danny?”

“Yup, just us Guerin boys for a whole week.”

“He’ll keep you busy.”

Michael chuckled, knowing it was true. “Yeah, I know, and the kid will wear my ass out. I swear, it’s more exhausting to keep up with him than it is to do just about anything else.”

“You’ll do fine,” she said and patted his chest.

“I know, ‘cause you’ll be there to help.”

“I will?” She lifted her head to look at him.

“Why do you say that like it’s a question?”

“Because you didn’t say anything about it before and you didn’t ask me to come with you either. That’s why.”

“Well, the kid’s gonna stay with me at my place and we live like five minutes away from each other.” He came up on one elbow to look down at her. “And what else would you have to do?”

She smiled. “Nothing that I’d rather do instead.”

“Then why’re you givin’ me a hard time about this?”

“I’m not givin’ you a hard time, Michael.”

“Yeah, you are.” He grinned at her and shook his head.

She rolled her eyes and lay down on his chest again. “Maybe I just wanted you to say that you want me to be there.”

“Hell, I always want you around... couldn’t even go more than a couple of weeks without you. Why d’you think I’m spendin’ my summer in Roswell of all places?”

She grinned. “Because you loooooove me.”

“Girl, like you don’t even know.” His heart started to pound and he focused on his breathing, willing it to stay steady and even. His eyes shot open and he glanced down at her, hoping she wasn’t really paying any attention to him.

Maria noticed the tension in his body after a few seconds. Had she said something wrong? Was he thinking she meant it in a romantic way? She hadn’t really thought about what she was saying.

He needed a distraction and quick. “Hey, what’re your friend’s plans for Max?”

“I think she’s just looking for a little fun; a wild summer affair or something.”

Michael snorted. “I don’t know if I’d ever use the word wild in any sentence with a connection to Max... he’s kinda... vanilla, y’know?”

“Well, you don’t know Liz. She’ll be able to bring out the wild side – even from him.”

“We’ll see. I’m tellin’ you, Maria, the guy doesn’t have a wild bone in his body.”

“As you said, we’ll see.”

“Hey, you work every day?”

“Right now, just five days a week.”

“I think I’ll look around for work... I’ll need somethin’ to occupy my time while you’re at work.”

“Yeah, why not? We’ve got several weeks left before ya need to be home to watch Danny. Where’d you say your parents are gonna go?”

“They’re goin’ to the Bahamas for a week.”

“For their anniversary? Didn’t you tell me they got married in the winter?”

“Kate says their anniversary isn’t the day they got married, but the day my dad realized that he couldn’t live without her in his life... that happened at the end of summer.”

“Is there a story behind that?”

“There’s a story behind just about everything, isn’t there?” he asked, teasing. “Well, y’know my mom died when I was eight, I told you that, right?”

“Yeah.” It wasn’t something he talked about very often.

“Kate entered the picture when I was... 13, I guess, and she and my dad hit it off really well. For five years it was just me and my dad and then, suddenly, here was this woman who was always around, doin’ things with us, goin’ everywhere we went... I knew what it meant and I hated her for it.”

Maria nodded, drawing small circles on his stomach. “You didn’t want you mother to be replaced by someone else.”

Michael swallowed hard and shook his head. “No, and it made me mad that my dad would ever want to replace her. It didn’t help that she had a 16-year-old daughter who was perfectly happy to become part of our lives. They tried everything to get me to accept her and my new step-sister Serena, to accept that they were gonna be part of our lives, but I wanted no part of it.” He grimaced as he remembered some of the things he had said to both of them at that time. “I refused to go to the wedding and they ended up getting married at City Hall by a justice of the peace to avoid a scene with me.” He shrugged one shoulder. “That’s one of the reasons why they renewed their vows last year and had that huge wedding ceremony.”

“But you and Kate get along very well, so what changed?”

“She got pregnant not long after they got married... few months or so, and even then I didn’t make their lives easy. Serena had already left for college in Austin so a lot of the time it was just me and Kate around the house because my dad travels a lot. She went into labor in her seventh month and it nearly killed her and the baby.” He sighed as he thought about that night. “I remember comin’ home just as the paramedics were loadin’ her in the ambulance and my dad just looked like he was in shock. Kate was in distress and they were havin’ trouble stabilizing her, so the paramedics couldn’t have my dad in the way... I drove him to the hospital and for the first time I realized how much he loved her. I don’t think he would’ve survived losin’ her or the baby.”

“Oh, my God.” Maria sat up and glanced at her best friend. “I can’t imagine how he must have felt.”

“It was a rough few months, especially with Danny bein’ a couple months premature, but seein’ them pullin’ together and tryin’ to support each other... it made me pull my act together. And then my dad had to go out of town on a business trip after they brought Danny home and the kid started turnin’ blue in the middle of the night ‘cause he couldn’t breathe... we had to rush him back to the hospital and thankfully the problem was caught in time and he was okay. Kate didn’t wanna call Dad because he was in the middle of negotiations and she was so worried about him getting the information over the phone because then he would have to deal with it alone.” He sighed raggedly. “She wanted to call him, I could see it, but she was so worried about how the information would affect him that she decided to wait to tell him when he got home. I realized that night just how much she loved him.”

“Did you talk with her about it?”

“Yeah, I was concerned because I thought she was wrong for not callin’ my dad, but she finally explained it so that I understood why she was keepin’ it to herself... I didn’t really have much choice but to accept the truth.”

“You looked at her differently after all that happened, huh?”

“Kinda hard not to...” He smiled slightly. “She’s a strong woman and she’s good for my dad.”

“Yeah, I like her, too. A lot.”

“Well, you’ve got the same type of strength that she does.”

“I doubt that.”

“You don’t see what I see,” he said, shaking his head.

“I’ve never had enough strength to just go to my father and confront him with the fact that he walked out on me and my mom.”

“I think that’s just a matter of protectin’ yourself.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know... Alright, ya know what, I’m really tired right now and I think that’s enough depressing stuff for one night.”

Michael tugged her closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Get some sleep, Sexy, I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

“That’s good.” She snuggled against him, her head resting on his chest. “I’m so glad you’re here.” A little bit too glad, she thought.

“Me, too. Are you workin’ in the mornin’? You need me to wake you up?”

“No, I don’t have to be at the Crashdown until noon.”

He nodded and ran his hands over her back, easing her into sleep and feeling her body settle heavily against him. He wondered what Max was getting up to with Maria’s friend as he shifted to get more comfortable. Maria snored lightly in her sleep and even though it was a sound that would normally grate on his nerves he knew he could happily listen to it every night if it was coming from her.

[Double Trouble]

nibbles2: LOL, you’re so right!

Natalie36: We will… in this next part.

mary mary: It’s so important for them to take this step before taking the really big step!

destinyc: True, it won’t take much!

And here’s the next Max and Liz scene… enjoy!

*BLONDIE*: So true, but they’re steadily working towards something more!

Eva: That kind of friendship is special and everyone should have at least one!

tequathisy: Thanks for reading!

kismet: You’ll get to meet Danny before long!

And now… the next Max and Liz scene!

begonia9508: That can be very difficult and it can be very hard to find common ground.

sarammlover: They do have a great relationship and it’s only gonna get better!


Part 7

Max walked beside Liz as they made their way along Main Street, heading back towards the hotel where he and Michael were staying. He was tired after all of the activities of the day and he knew he was beginning to realize what a bad slump he had let himself fall into after his ex had dumped him. He glanced up when Liz suddenly grabbed his hand and tugged him into a nearby alley. “What’re you doin’?” he asked.

She pressed him against a wall in a dark corner and leaned against his body. “Well, I suppose Maria and Michael are back at your hotel room, huh?”

“Knowin’ those two, yeah, chances are good that’s where they’ve ended their evening,” he said, his warm breath gusting against her ear as she turned her head to glance at a passing car.

“That’s not fair. They don’t need a place to make out,” Liz complained.

“Don’t think so?” he asked, trying to control his breathing. This girl was so direct and he liked it, but he wasn’t used to it.

“Well, I think they secretly want each other and they’re just hidin’ behind their friendship.”

His eyes traced over her features and he swallowed hard when he saw her eyes darken. “That kinda nixes my place,” he muttered gruffly. “What about yours?”

“My younger cousin is here for a visit. I have to share my room with her, so.... no chance.”

“That’s too bad,” he murmured as he glanced around. “I’m more of an indoors kinda guy when it comes to sex.”

“Really?” she teased. “Any chance that I can change that?”

Max grinned and shook his head. “I doubt it. Behind closed doors is one thing, but out in the open...” He shook his head again. “Huh-uh, I don’t get off on the thrill of getting caught.” His hands came up to cup her cheeks and his eyes met hers. “When I’m with a girl I like to focus all of my attention on her and not have to worry about whether or not someone’s gonna catch us in the act. I made the mistake of getting drunk at a college party when I was in high school. I had just turned 17 and a bunch of the jocks stripped me down and tossed my naked ass right out in the middle of a room full of people... people were not drunk enough to forget about that and neither was I.” He shrugged. “Ever since then, I really just kinda prefer privacy when it’s time to get naked.”

Liz chuckled. “I doubt that there’s anything on your hot body that you should be embarrassed about, but I can understand your reasons. Sooo, what now?”

Max felt his self-confidence shoot up another notch and he smiled. “You work tomorrow?”

“Yeah, noon to evening.”

“What now? Well, I’m not from around here, so you tell me.”

“Hmmm...” She glanced around thoughtfully. “We can go to the park; it’s not far from here and there’re some nice comfortable hammocks there.”

“Lead the way.”

She grabbed his hand and pulled him in the direction of the park. Okay, so she wasn’t getting laid tonight, but a little make out in the hammock was better than nothing, Liz mused.

Max followed her, enjoying her enthusiasm. After months of being treated like a possession that was taken out and put on display at his ex’s whim this was refreshing. “Have you lived here your whole life?” he asked.

“Yeah, Roswell’s my hometown.”

“Was it hard to leave to go to college?”

“It was at first. I missed Maria and my parents. But, now it’s kinda refreshing to be able to just come home and visit every now and then.”

“Oh, so, you didn’t go to the same college?” He nodded. “Guess that’s why we’ve never met.”

“Ungh, maybe we would’ve turned out as friends just like Maria and Michael.”

Max chuckled. “I don’t know, you’re pretty direct when you want somethin’.”

“That’s right.” They finally reached their destination and Liz pulled him into one of the hammocks.

Max felt completely off balance as he tumbled down beside her and he hoped he wouldn’t do something totally embarrassing like toss them both on the ground.

Liz held onto him when they swung left and right wildly for several seconds. “Wild boy,” she teased.

“Yeah, that’s me.” His tone was slightly sarcastic. “Now that you’ve caught me, what’re you gonna do with me?” he asked.

“Hmmm, let me see...” She turned him on his back and crawled up on top of his body. “You’re not into sex outside, but what about some touching?” She reached between them to let her hand travel over the bulge in his jeans.

He growled low in his throat, wishing for once that he was a little more adventurous. “Yeah,” he grated out when her fingers traced over his obvious erection, “touching is good.”

“Yeah,” she breathed, bending down kiss him deeply.

She wasn’t interested in taking it slow and he couldn’t think of a single good reason to try and change her mind. He let her control the kiss as his hands rested on her hips before slowly moving around to settle on her backside to knead her soft curves.

“Your hands are amazing, you know that?” Liz mumbled against his lips.

Max groaned when he felt her working the button on his jeans. “Wait until I really get them on you,” he whispered before taking her mouth in a rough kiss.

“Uh-huh, what’re you waitin’ for?” she teased, letting her fingers travel into his boxers and along his length.

He kissed a path down to her throat as he shifted his hands, sliding them down over her bottom and running his hands up under her short skirt. He groaned when he came into contact with bare skin and he realized she wasn’t wearing panties. “God, you feel good.” He pulled back and shifted, reluctantly removing his hands so he could shove her tank top up. “Damn, you weren’t kiddin’, were you?” he rasped when he realized that she was wearing a bra that just screamed sex. There wasn’t a shred of material covering her nipples and for some reason that was so incredibly hot.

“I never kid when it comes to sex, baby. Am I allowed to remove your shirt?”

Ungh... this girl was gonna get him into trouble! “Go for it.”

She didn’t waste another second and got rid of the shirt that was separating her skin from his. “Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to come here,” she admitted, grinning, “because it’s gonna be very hard to stop now.”

“Yeah,” Max muttered, “bad, bad idea.” He was so hard it wasn’t funny and knowing that she wasn’t wearing any underwear was not helping the situation. Maybe he should rethink his stand on outdoor sex, he thought. He was seriously weighing his options as his hands came up to cup her breasts when he heard a small sound. “Did you hear that?” he asked, freezing for a moment.

“Huh? What d’you mean?”

He listened for several more seconds and then shook his head. “Nevermind, must’ve been hearin’ things.”

“Little paranoid, huh?” she laughed.

He chuckled as he ran his thumbs over her nipples. “Well, when you’ve been completely humiliated in public you have a tendency to be a little paranoid.”

“Maybe you should just concentrate on me and the sounds I’ll be makin’ soon?”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Despite that annoying feeling that the sound was somehow familiar he ignored it and tugged her closer so he could nip one of her nipples with his teeth. His tongue was just swiping over the distended peak when a blast of cold water hit him from under the hammock and he roared at the unwelcome sensation.

He was trying so hard to get away from the feeling that he upset the hammock and set it to swinging wildly. He made the mistake of grabbing for one edge and did exactly what he had been worrying about earlier. The hammock flipped and he just barely managed to twist his body so that he landed on his back with her on top of him.

Liz started to laugh, looking around at the sprinklers that had come to life. “Not really into water, huh?”

“Told you me and outdoor sex just didn’t go together.”

“Yeah, looks like we should’ve gone to bed when we had the chance to.”

Max quirked one eyebrow at her as the sprinklers continued to shower water down over them. “Next time you get me alone in a room with a bed, remind me of this incident, and instead of goin’ out we’ll see how much damage we can do to the box springs.”

She leaned in to kiss him quickly. “When will I see you again?”

“Tomorrow night?”

“Sounds good to me. Think you can convince Michael to go out with Maria?”

“Not that he needs any convincing there, but, why?”

“I’m looking forward to an empty hotel room.”

“I’ll make sure we’ve got the place to ourselves.”

They both got up from the ground and arranged their clothes. “Okay, maybe you two wanna come in for lunch?”

“Sounds good. Um, about tomorrow night... any requests?”

“Just you and those leather chaps.”

He turned his head to look at her. “You’re serious about those ridin’ leathers, aren’t you?”

“Shocked?”

He tugged his wet shirt away from his back and turned his head to look at her. “Under normal circumstances I’d say yes, because that’s not the usual kinda request I get from girls. While I have enjoyed a fairly active sex life in the past I can honestly say that I have never played dress-up.” Actually it was the thought of his bare ass and other essential parts being completely exposed that made it so weird.

“If it’s too weird for ya then just tell me, ok?” She didn’t want him to be uncomfortable.

“No,” Max chuckled, “I have a feelin’ I’m gonna learn a few things from you over the summer.”

Liz nodded, and moved to stand in front of him, stopping him by laying her hands on his chest. “I just want you to be honest with me. That’s important if we’re gonna have a good time.”

“If at any time I’m not comfortable, I’ll let you know.” He grinned at her. “And if anything sensitive gets chafed from that leather, I’ll be lettin’ you know about that too.”

“I can’t wait for tomorrow night,” she groaned when he kissed her.

“Me either.”

*****

Maria was handing change back to a customer when the bell above the door jingled announcing a new arrival. “Tess!” she exclaimed when she recognized the blond standing behind the customer.

“Hey, chica. Thought I’d find your Cali-tanned ass in here.” She motioned at the restaurant around them. “Just like in high school, huh?”

“Of course.” She walked over to her friend and hugged her.

“So, home for the summer?”

Michael glanced up from his plate when he heard Maria talking to someone. Nice little ass, he thought, amused.

“You know it. What about you? How long are you gonna stay?”

Maria glanced up and caught the direction of Michael’s gaze and she frowned. “Oh, I’ll be here all summer, too,” she said, hurrying to replace the frown with a forced smile.

“Yo, Sexy, introduce me to the new girl,” Michael hollered.

Damn it, Maria thought. Why the hell was he always goin’ after the girls she didn’t want him to?

Tess turned her head and her eyebrows lifted when she saw the two men lounging in one of the booths. “Well, well, well, what have we here?”

“We have my best friend Michael and his best friend Max,” Maria introduced them.

“Best friend Michael,” Tess said, smiling as she sat down next to him.

“Nice to meet you, Tess, right?” The flirty smile eased over his face and Maria had to resist the urge to kick him.

“Tess,” she teased, “rhymes with yes... got a question?”

He leaned back in his seat, letting his eyes roam over the new girl’s body. “Got a boyfriend here in Roswell waitin’ for ya?”

“Are you fishing or asking?”

Maria felt sick as she listened to them flirting and she wondered if anyone was still aware that she was even standing there.

“Asking.”

“Can I get you something, Tess?” she asked, trying to get her attention.

“Well, no...” She trailed her fingers over his arm. “Not yet.” She glanced up at Maria. “No, I’m good, thanks.” She waved her hand. “Go on and do whatever you need to do; I know you’re busy. I’ll just get to know best friend Michael.”

Maria had to control the urge to roll her eyes. “Alright,” she grated out.

“So, Max... Michael... how long are you boys in town for?”

“We’re planning to stay the whole summer break,” Max answered when he noticed that Michael was otherwise occupied with staring after Maria.

Liz came out of the back room and her steps faltered when she saw Tess flirting with the guys.

“Don’t even ask,” Maria said, more pissed than she wanted to admit to.

“I’m not asking,” Liz said, moving past Maria and crossing to the booth where the guys were sitting. She leaned over, cupped Max’s chin and kissed him, making sure there was no mistaking the fact that she had already staked a claim on him.

“Hey, Liz,” Tess greeted in surprise.

“Tess, when did you get home?” Liz asked, acting as if she had just noticed the other girl.

Great, Maria thought when she saw Liz’s action. She had no reason to forbid Tess from flirting with Michael.

“Couple of hours ago.”

Michael watched the territorial display and felt jealousy flood through him. He would give anything to have Maria react that way with him.

“So, what’re you guys doin’ after the Crash festival? I’m planning to have a little party at my house.”

“What’s a crash festival?” Michael asked, shoving an onion ring in his mouth while reading through the dessert menu.

“It’s a party dedicated to the mysterious UFO crash here in Roswell. It’s on Independence Day weekend,” Liz explained.

Michael snorted at that. “Yeah, and I suppose that there’s some goofy-ass costume...” He swallowed down the rest of his mocking comment when he glanced up and saw Maria’s disapproving look.

“You don’t have to go if you don’t like it,” she growled and could slap herself for it. Jealousy was not a feeling she was supposed to feel around Michael.

His eyebrows lifted at her tone and he wondered if she was really that pissed at him just for making a comment. He nudged Tess and motioned for her to move so he could get out of the booth. As soon as he was up he crossed the room to stand in front of Maria. “Hey, y’know I didn’t mean anything bad or insulting about your hometown or its traditions. C’mon, don’t be pissed at me... tell me how to fix it.”

She sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’ve just got a bad headache,” she lied.

Michael’s brow pulled down in a frown and he bent his knees, crouching down just enough to meet her gaze. His hands came up to cradle her face as he studied her pinched expression. “Why don’t you come by after work and let me give you that massage, huh? It’ll help get rid of the headache.”

A shiver ran through her body when he touched her. “Liz told me she and Max kinda want the hotel room on their own tonight. Come over to my place?"

“Amy gonna be home?”

How would she survive this massage? she wondered. “No, she’ll be out.”

Michael could only hope that he could keep a lid on his feelings. It was getting more and more difficult with every passing day. He groaned silently when Maria confirmed that her mother wouldn’t be home and they would be alone.

“So, what about the party, guys? You coming?” Tess asked.

Max glanced up at Liz. “You gonna go to the party?” he asked.

Liz shrugged. “Yeah, why not? Tess has a big pool.”

Max looked over at Tess and smiled. “Looks like we’re in for the party.”

Tess glanced at the four of them. Best friends, my ass! Looks like they’re both taken, she thought.

“So, you wanna go to Tess’ party?” Maria asked, pushing her jealousy as far away as possible.

“Only if you wanna go. Y’know I love a good party, but hell, if you’re not there it’s not gonna be any fun.”

She smiled and got more confident with his answer. “We’re in, too,” she told Tess.

Michael smiled as his fingers massaged her temples, attempting to ease her headache. “There’s my Sexy girl,” he teased, leaning in to kiss her forehead. “How ‘bout I cook dinner for us tonight before that massage? You’ll sleep better that way.”

“Something Italian?” she asked, excited.

“Tell me what ya want an’ I’ll whip it up.”

“Just surprise me. I love anything Italian.” She smiled and hugged him. “You really know what I need, Mikey G.”

“Always, Sexy. And now, I really need a hot fudge brownie blast or whatever alien thing you wanna call it.” He wandered back over to the booth so she could get back to work and he slouched down next to Tess.

*****

Michael followed Maria into her childhood home and looked around as they walked through the living room. They stopped in the kitchen to grab a drink and then she told him to make himself comfortable while she went to take a shower. He looked up when the back door opened and a dark-haired woman entered, rushing inside and bumping into him.

“Michael!” she exclaimed, surprised to see him. “Maria mentioned that you were in town.” She hugged him and then stepped back to look him over. “Why haven’t you come by to visit?”

“Just been adjusting to small town livin’,” he said with a grin.

“Well, we can’t visit now because I’m on my way out; I just needed to stop by to pick up a few things.”

“We’ll catch up later. I’m plannin’ to hang around through the summer.”

Amy patted his cheek as she ran to grab her bag and she returned a moment later. “Are the two of you goin’ out tonight? Or are you stayin’ here?”

“I promised her a backrub; she’s been fightin’ off a migraine all day.”

“Um-hmm,” Amy murmured with a knowing smirk. “Have the two of you finally decided to move your relationship out of friend territory?” She shook her head when she saw the trapped look on his face. “You’re not as subtle as you think you are, sweetie, but sometimes my daughter needs to be smacked upside the head by the obvious.”

His mouth was still hanging open when she left the house, locking the door behind her. As soon as he had recovered his faculties he grabbed his drink and walked down the hall, taking the direction that Maria had taken. He located her bedroom with ease and he went right in, setting the glasses down on the nightstand and making himself comfortable on her bed.

He kicked his shoes off and pulled his shirt off, leaving him in a pair of jeans and a tank top, and he leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes as he absorbed the relaxing feeling that came from being surrounded by her things. He was lightly dozing when Maria walked in, but as soon as she sat on the side of the bed his eyelids lifted and he looked at her.

“Hey, Sexy,” he greeted gruffly.

“Was my mother here? I heard someone talking.” She avoided looking anywhere other than his face.

Michael crossed his arms over his chest and forced his eyes to stay level with hers. “Yeah, she said she had to grab a couple things.”

“She was okay that you’re here, right?”

“Um-hmm,” he answered, deciding that he didn’t need to share the rest of Amy’s comments. “I told her I had promised you a backrub since you’ve been workin’ on a migraine all day.”

Great, Maria thought. Amy had probably seen right through it.

“What’s the matter?” Michael asked, curious about the pensive look on her face.

Maria shook her head. “Nothing. Hey, I’m kinda hungry. What about you?”

“Want me to cook for you before I rub you down?”

Maria’s stomach turned upside down when she glanced at his big hands. How was she gonna get through this without showing her feelings? “Uh-huh.”

“Alright.” He rolled out of bed and got to his feet. “How hungry are you?”

“Very! I haven’t really eaten anything all day!”

Michael shook his head at her. “C’mon an’ keep me company then.” He checked the cabinets and refrigerator, his mind mentally running over what he could make that wouldn’t take too long. After a few minutes of thinking he started pulling things out and placing them on the counter. “You workin’ tomorrow?” he asked.

“No, I’m off tomorrow.”

“Yeah? What’re we doin’?”

“You wanted to see the UFO museum, so we could go there?”

“Cool, I wanna find somethin’ for Danny. The kid gets a kick outta getting presents in the mail.” He opened the refrigerator door and paused, glancing back over his shoulder. “Would you prefer chicken or beef?”

“Chicken.” She observed Michael as he moved around her mother’s kitchen, his movements so confident. Does he cook for other people? she wondered.

“Perfect.” He pulled a pack of chicken breasts out and tore the pack open, placing it on the counter next to a bowl. His movements were quick and efficient as he quickly made the preparations; he cracked a couple of eggs into a bowl and whisked them, filled a plate with flour and another one with bread crumbs, and set a frying pan on the stove, turning the heat on and pouring olive oil in to heat.

While the oil was heating he coated the chicken in flour, dipped it in the egg mixture, and then rolled them through the bread crumbs. As soon as that was done he started placing the chicken in the pan, letting it fry while he washed his hands.

“How was work today?” he asked, listening to her recount her day as he set a pot of water on the back burner to boil. He pulled out a rectangular baking dish that he poured tomato sauce into before setting it aside and going back to the refrigerator for the ingredients for salad.

He checked the chicken and carefully turned them and went back to the salad. Once the Caesar salad was ready he covered the bowl and placed it back in the refrigerator. The water started to boil and he added the pasta with just a splash of olive oil to keep it from sticking together. He checked the chicken, determining that it was ready and he removed the pan from the heat.

“There was a group of men who really got on my nerves. They weren’t satisfied with anything.”

He was turning to place the breasts in the baking dish when her words registered and he paused, one breast halfway between the pan and the dish as he looked at her. “Were they just bein’ a bunch of pricks or did they do somethin’ that bothered you?”

He arranged the chicken in the dish and poured the remaining tomato sauce over the golden breasts and then covered them with slices of mozzarella cheese and then slid the whole thing into the oven. He stirred the pasta, pulled a loaf of garlic bread out of the freezer and set it on a baking pan so it would be ready to go in the oven as soon as he pulled the chicken out.

“Just bein’ pricks, I guess.”

Michael looked at her, tipping his head to one side as he studied her. “They regulars?”

“No, never seen them before.”

“Good, ‘cause if they were regulars I’d be sittin’ up there waitin’ for ‘em next time you’re workin’.” He turned the heat off under the pasta and dug around in one of the cabinets until he found a colander to drain the pasta. He grabbed a couple of oven mitts and pulled the chicken out of the oven, setting it aside so he could slide the bread inside.

Maria chuckled. “I’m a big girl, Michael.”

“Not disputin’ that, but if I catch some guy harassin’ you, I’m gonna kick his ass.” He found the cabinets with the plates and set a couple out, filling each one with pasta that he topped with the chicken and sauce. He pulled the salad out of the refrigerator, set it on the table with the dressing, and then slid a plate in front of her. “How’s that for service?” he asked, winking at her.

He placed a couple of salad plates on the table and while she was filling them he nosed around in the refrigerator for a suitable wine to go with dinner. He silently praised Amy’s choice of wines as he selected a Merlot, carrying it over to the counter and pulling down a couple of wine glasses that he filled before putting the bottle away again.

He set the glasses on the table before taking the bread out of the oven and cutting it into slices that he slid onto a plate. He sat down across from her and reached for the dressing, pouring it over his salad and then handing it to her.

“I could get used to this, ya know?”

Michael grinned at her as he cut into his chicken and pasta and took a bite. “Yeah, not bad, huh?”

“It’s delicious!”

There weren’t many people who knew he could cook because it wasn’t exactly the kinda thing he advertised about himself, and now he was kicking himself for not telling her sooner.

Why’d he have to be so perfect? she wondered

“How’s your headache?”

“A lot better.”

He nodded. “Good. Y’know ya need to eat,” he gently chastised.

“Yeah, but some days it’s so busy you just don’t have a chance to eat.”

“Not a good enough excuse, Sexy... your curves are perfect the way they are.” He smiled at her and shook his head. “It’d be a shame to lose ‘em ‘cause you’re not eatin’ right.”

If my curves are so perfect why doesn’t he ever try to go further? she wondered but quickly pushed the thought away.

Michael took a drink from his glass when she remained silent. How many hints did he have to drop before he finally accepted that she wasn’t interested?

“Ya think my body is perfect?” Damn, she just wasn’t able to drop it.

“Um-hmm.” He stuffed another bite of chicken in his mouth and chewed slowly as he looked at her and he felt his body temperature rise. “You’re curved in all the right places, and speakin’ as a guy – and not just your friend – those curves are perfect. Some girls think they’ve gotta be like some non-existent size for guys to find them hot...” He shook his head. “That’s not true at all... think about it; who wants to be pressed up against a girl without any meat on her bones? Y’know how uncomfortable that is?”

“No, I don’t know. Because I’m just snuggling with you tonight and you have an awesome body.”

He grinned at her compliment. “Well, take my word for it, bein’ skin to skin with a girl who’s all skin an’ bones... huh-uh, Sexy, gimme a girl who has curves. And just for the record, it’s totally unattractive if I can count every single rib she’s got.”

“So, it must be hard for you to lie next to me without touching me,” she joked, but secretly hoped he would say yes.

Oh, boy, how to answer that one? “It’s not easy,” he admitted, biting his bottom lip as he waited to see what she would say in response to that.

Her heart almost stopped when he said what she had been wishing for. “For me either.”

Michael froze with his fork halfway to his mouth. Had she really just said what he thought she said? He slowly lowered his hand and swallowed hard as he met her gaze. “Hard for you to have me layin’ next to you or... hard for you to keep your hands to yourself?”

Oh, god, that’s so not right, she thought. “The second… sometimes.”

He lost his grip on his fork and it landed in his plate, clattering loudly. His heart was pounding and his breathing was ragged. What should he say now? He had been waiting for so long for any sign from her that she was interested in maybe moving their relationship into something more and she had just put it out there.

Maria noticed his shock. Damn. Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to tell him. What if he was gonna start acing weird now? “It’s okay. I mean we’re both sexy and know it. It’s not weird. Right? Just because we think about it doesn’t mean we actually have to do it. Right?”

Michael pushed back in his chair and after a moment he moved it closer to her. “Can we be totally serious and honest here? Could you ever see anything more than friendship developing between us? I’m not sayin’ right this minute or anything, but... in the future, could you see it as a possibility?”

Was he asking because he was horrified she would say yes or because he wanted her to hear her say yes? Maria didn’t know what to say. “I... I don’t know. What about you?”

That insecurity started to rear its ugly head when she stammered out another question without answering him. Maybe it was just a matter of timing, he thought. She had sort of admitted that she was interested, but she was also tired and answering his question with a question implied that she wasn’t really ready to deal with the changes it would make to their relationship.

“I think maybe it’s getting late and I owe you a massage. It’s been a long day, you’re exhausted, and that’s kinda makin’ for a weird conversation.” He smiled, trying to hide how much it hurt to put his feelings back on the shelf… again. “Why don’t you go on and get ready and I’ll clean this mess up,” he suggested.

Maria wasn’t sure what to think about his reaction. Maybe he was right and they should forget about it for now. “Okay, I’ll be waiting for ya in my room.”

[Double Trouble]

kismet: A picture of Max in his leather chaps, huh? Hmm…

Liz wasn’t taking any chances with another thinking Max was available.

You make a very good point… if they admitted their feelings too soon, the fic would be over that much quicker.

mary mary: Don’t worry, they’ll get past it! Yup, Liz wasn’t taking any chances.

tequathisy: They’ll figure it out, promise!

Eva: Well, don’t start smashing heads just yet! Brain damage won’t help them get there any faster.

sarammlover: Tess isn’t interested in going after guys that’re already taken. Liz knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to go after it. Michael and Maria will get there.

keepsmiling7: We’re glad you’re lovin’ Liz!

Yeah, we don’t think Liz will have any complaints either, lol.

nibbles2: LOL, well, we promise it’s not gonna take near as long for Michael and Maria to get together here.

destinyc: Yep, these two aren’t letting their fears or insecurities hold them back.

You just never know…

POM: Stop teasing, huh? LOL, no promises! (If possible, huh? Well, chances are good that Max will be good for more than just once, lol!)

*BLONDIE*: Ah, they’ll get it together. It’s just gonna take some nudges from a few well-meaning people.

begonia9508: Amy called that one, didn’t she?

Yep, Liz is certainly making things more interesting for Max.


Part 8

Michael just barely controlled the urge to stomp around the kitchen and just throw the dishes in the sink. Why did he keep doing this to himself? Damn, he had seen her hook up with guys over the past year. If the girl wanted anything besides friendship from him she would’ve said or done something by now. He turned the water on and started rinsing the dishes before stacking them in the dishwasher. Fuck, what if her little admission wasn’t anything more than her trying to avoid hurting his feelings? God, how pathetic would that be?

Maria walked to her room and let herself fall on her bed. Damn, what had just happened in the kitchen? Things between Michael and her had been getting kinda weird since he had showed up in Roswell. She had to get some control back. He was probably just teasing and flirting with her and she was beginning to take it seriously. It had to stop.

Yeah, and that little pep talk wasn’t gonna help any damn thing with a massage looming on the horizon, she thought ironically.

He finished up in the kitchen, dried his hands, and tossed the towel over on the counter before flipping the light switch off and heading back towards her bedroom. Now he had to make it through a massage... his hands on her body... He sighed and made a quick stop in the bathroom before going to her room.

He paused on the threshold, swallowing hard when he saw that she had turned all of the lights off with the exception of the bedside lamp. She was stretched out on the bed, waiting for him and he couldn’t stop the momentary fantasy that altered the moment and made him wonder what it would be like if he were approaching her with the intention of giving them both a night of pleasure. He quickly shook that off before his body had time to follow up on those thoughts and he cleared his throat as he stepped inside, announcing his arrival.

“You already done?” She had almost drifted off to sleep.

Oh, yeah, he was done, alright, he thought morosely as his eyes traveled over her body. “You want the full treatment?” Michael asked, hoping and praying that she only wanted something basic like neck, shoulders, and back. He wasn’t sure if he could take anything else after that conversation in the kitchen.

Yeah, she wanted it, but she knew she couldn’t say it because it would drive her crazy. “Nah, just my back.”

Michael could’ve happily melted into a little puddle of gratitude at her answer. “Well, if you’re sure that’s all you want.” He winced when his mouth spoke without consulting his brain... again.

That’s all I can stand, she thought.

“You gonna leave the shirt on or...”

“You need it to be gone?”

He bit back a groan because he knew he was playing with fire. “Well, that’s your call.” He shrugged, hoping she wouldn’t see how much he wanted to touch her without anything between them.

“Well, I think it would only be in the way, huh?” She sat up on her knees and pulled the top over her head.

Michael cursed his big mouth even as his heart started to race. She was wearing a bra and he had seen her in a bikini often enough that it wasn’t really anything new, but, damn!

She lay down on her stomach again without even looking at him. I’m gonna make it, she said to herself. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Well, that makes one of us, he thought as he glanced around. “Oil, lotion?” he grated out, not seeing either one.

She reached down to the floor with her right arm and grabbed the body lotion. “Here.”

Michael accepted the bottle as he settled down beside her, letting his right palm skim over her back and shoulders. “You’re too tense,” he commented, frowning since she couldn’t see him.

“That’s why you’re giving me the massage, right?” To be honest, she was so tense because he was going to touch her.

“Huh?” He hurried to continue when he realized his mistake. “I mean, yeah, yeah, of course that’s why.” Fuck, Guerin, pull yourself together. He set the lotion aside and shifted to swing his right leg over her body as he settled over her hips. He leaned forward to unclasp her bra and for the first time in years he fumbled like a complete virgin. “Sorry,” he muttered when it finally released, baring her back and giving him plenty of room to work.

“Tricky, huh?” she teased. It was time to liven up the mood.

Michael grunted, incapable of articulate speech right at that moment. He ordered his dick to behave as he popped the top on the lotion. Everything was fine until she shifted beneath him and her perfectly curved backside brushed against him, making him squeeze the tube too tight and he squirted out a handful of lotion instead of just a drop.

Now what? he wondered, annoyed.

“You gonna start anytime soon?” Maria asked, wondering what he was doing behind her for so long.

Damn it! What the hell was he supposed to do now? It was gonna be obvious that he was turning into a complete klutz if she realized what he would done and then she’d make some teasing comment about him being... he gritted his teeth... premature.

He glanced around in frustration and eventually settled for lifting himself up on his knees and shoving his hand in his front pocket, wiping as much of the stuff off as possible. He grimaced as the cold stuff was absorbed by the material and pressed against his skin. Great, that was just fuckin’ great. Now, on top of everything else he was gonna smell like raspberries, strawberries, or some other fruity thing that was in no way masculine.

He winced when he settled over her once more and the lotion filling his pocket squished against him. He warmed the lotion in his hands before placing them against her shoulders and beginning to work on the tension there.

Maria took in a sharp breath when his hands met her skin the first time. Hopefully he hadn’t noticed it.

His eyebrows shot up when she inhaled sharply and he relaxed his touch for a second. “Sorry,” he muttered, “but if we’re gonna get you to loosen up, we’re gonna have to work those knots outta your muscles.”

Pfff, as if her breathing had anything to do with her muscles.

He leaned forward over her and pressed a kiss to the muscle in question. “I’ll be as gentle as I can,” he promised before putting his hands back to work.

Oh, God, she had to bite back a groan. Kissing wasn’t helping. You have to relax, she told herself, but her body wasn’t cooperating.

It was pure torture to have his hands on her like this, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything. He kneaded her muscles, hands moving from one group to the next as he worked all of the tension out of them.

Maria finally managed to calm down a little after she got used to his hands on her back. “This is good,” she admitted.

Michael could feel the tension slowly leaving her body and he was constantly fighting the desire to let his hands move closer to the sides of her breasts. He was so close... all he had to do was let his fingers extend just a little bit further... Stop it! he mentally shouted and forced his hands to move further down her back instead.

“I think you’re just about as relaxed as I’m gonna get ya,” he said as he reached out to hook the tiny clasp on her bra. “You should get some sleep and I think I’m gonna go grab a quick shower.” And, please, God, let the water be freezing cold, he thought as he carefully eased off of her and climbed off of the bed.

“Already?” she complained. Now that she was finally enjoying it he stopped. That was not fair. She already missed his touch on her skin.

Already? he repeated silently. He was so hard he was reaching the stage where it was starting to hurt. “Unless you’re wantin’ me to do more than your back,” he said.

“Well, ya know, I walked around the Crashdown all day, my feet and legs are gonna hurt soooo bad,” she exaggerated.

Michael’s dark eyes slid down over her legs, appreciatively admiring the toned muscles and once again letting him mind wander into dangerous territory. “Think so?”

“Well, if you don’t want to it’s okay. You’ve done pretty much everything for me this evening.”

“No, no, I’m on top of it.” He groaned and shook his head at his choice of words. Could he be any more obvious if he tried?

“On top, huh?” She grinned. Yeah, that was more like it. Maybe she could tease him and one day... Michael wouldn’t resist anymore. Yeah, keep dreaming, DeLuca.

He sat down and pulled her legs across his lap, grimacing at her when she started teasing him. C’mon, Guerin, get back in control! he ordered himself.

“Well, y’know, I do enjoy bein’ on top, but I can go either way.”

“Right now, I just need you down there,” she gestured to her legs and winked at him, turning over so that she was lying on her back now.

He dropped his head forward and closed his eyes for a moment, praying for control. Damn, what he’d give for her to really mean that!

He pulled his composure together and looked at her. “Down there, huh?” he teased. “Just how far down would you like me to go?”

She let her head rest on the pillow and closed her eyes to hide her arousal. “Well, I’ll give you full access to my legs and feet.”

He turned so he was facing her, letting his long legs rest on either side of her body so he could watch her while he worked the muscles in her legs. He grinned when his bare feet ended up next to her breasts and she just looked at him. “What? I need room to work.” He wiggled his toes. “Wanna rub my feet?”

She made a face. “No.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. I’d prefer to just enjoy your massage.”

“Well... that’s just mean.” He shifted his foot back and deliberately brushed it against the side of her breast.

“Hey,” she slapped his foot, “watch what you’re doin’, these parts of the body are sensitive.”

He grinned unrepentantly and repeated the move, using both feet this time. “Soft, too,” he said with a grin.

She sighed. “Not funny, Michael.”

“Alright,” he sighed. “Sorry.” He ran his hands over her right leg, working the calf muscle for a while before moving further down to her ankle. They were so delicate, he thought as he paused for a moment to stare at his hand where it cradled her foot.

“Don’t stop, Michael.”

He squeezed his eyes shut when her words brought another scenario to mind, a scenario that was in no way this innocent. He used his thumbs to massage all of the pressure points on the underside of her foot and he shifted when her other foot rubbed against the inside of his thigh.

He grumbled under his breath as he glanced at her, trying to decipher her expression. Did she know what she was doing? Was it deliberate? Or was she just enjoying the massage that much?

Maria inwardly shouted in triumph when the little rubbing motion on his inner thigh made him obviously uncomfortable. Maybe he wasn’t as cool as he pretended to be.

Michael quickly finished with her right foot and carefully placed it well away from the family jewels before grabbing her left foot before she inched any closer to his enthusiastic dick.

“You’re doin’ great,” Maria mumbled.

He glanced at her sharply when he detected the teasing tone in her voice. He was almost positive that she knew what she was doing to him. “So, tell me about the UFO museum,” he said, hoping to distract her.

“There isn’t much to tell, Michael. It’s just a lot of stuff dedicated to the crash. Cheesy, kitschy, but still very cool.”

That was not distracting him and he was having a hell of a time avoiding her right foot when she lifted it up to rest on his thigh and then started up with the rubbing thing again. He jumped when the side of her foot brushed against his erection and he could feel the sweat starting to creep along his back. “And the festival thing? Anything special about it?”

“Well, we wear costumes, there’ll be live music... that’s pretty much it.”

“Costumes?”

“Yeah. Sexy costumes for Liz and me, of course,” she grinned.

“Uh-huh,” he said slowly, already having a bad feeling about what she had left unsaid.

“We’ve got these tight green alien overalls. You guys gonna like it.”

“Um, let’s just say no and get that outta the way right now.” Green tights, he huffed silently. Was she kiddin’?

She glanced at her nightstand and grabbed a photo from it. “Here, this picture is from last year.”

Michael leaned forward to take it and the move made her foot shift so that the arch was pressed right up against that traitorous part of his body and he froze as his dark gaze met hers.

“Oops,” she said with a saucy smirk.

Oh, shit! Should he say something or just act like it was no big deal? After a moment of charged silence following her comical little comment he took the picture from her and eased back. He shrugged and forced his gaze to lock on the picture. “What’re you wearin’ here?” he asked, choosing the cowards way out.

“The green alien costume.”

His eyes traced over her form in the picture, slowly admiring the way she filled it out and a moment later he handed it back and shook his head. “If that’s the costume you dared to suggest I wear, you’re out of your mind.”

She looked at him in surprise. “What? Why?”

“Your curves look awesome outlined like this, Sexy, but mine... let’s just say that aside from the fact that I would never in my life wear tights, there’s also the bothersome little fact that somethin’ like this would totally put my equipment on display in a way that I wouldn’t really appreciate.”

She laughed out loud. “You might be right about that.”

“I might be right?” he repeated. “If I turned this bod loose in public wearin’ somethin’ like that I’d have to have a bodyguard because I’d be fending off the girls that wanted to get their hands on this bod as well as their angry parents.” He shook his head and grinned at her. “It would be a tragedy all around.”

“Well, I’ll go with those then and we’ll find somethin’ else for ya.”

“Uh-huh, you do realize that I wouldn’t do the costume thing for anyone else, right?”

“I feel honored.”

“But, I’m not wearin’ anything with tights.”

She rolled her eyes. “Relax, you don’t have to.”

“Okay.” He reached for her left foot and started to rub it again.

“It’ll be fun.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, “it will be.” Even if he didn’t really enjoy costume parties he knew it’d be fun just because she was there.

Okay, time to test him about Tess, she thought. “And after that we’ll go to Tess’s party at her house.”

“Now, pool party, that’s a different story,” he said, grinning. “Pool party means you’ll pull out one of those itty bitty bikinis that just drive the guys wild.”

Good, he hadn’t made any comments about her friend. “Of course I do.”

“Tess said that party’s a couple weeks away?”

“It’s on July Fourth.”

“So, a little less than that.” He nodded. “Y’all got a place to swim around here? I don’t know if I can wait two weeks for the bikini to come out to play.”

“Yeah, there’s a lake by Frasier Woods.”

“A lake by the woods, huh?” He waggled his eyebrows playfully. “We could go skinny dippin’.”

“Uh-huh, think you can handle naked Maria?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows.

He released her foot and studied her for nearly a full minute before he shifted onto his knees and crawled up over her body. He placed his hands on the mattress on either side of her shoulders as he met her green eyes directly. “I can handle anything you wanna throw my way,” he rasped as a slow smile spread across his face. “The question should be, can you handle me?”

Maria stared up into his brown eyes, which looked down at her intently. She bit the inside of her cheek as her gaze traveled to his lips for a brief moment.

He lowered his head and pressed a kiss to her forehead before flopping over onto his back beside her. “You wanna watch a movie? Or, maybe do somethin’ else?” He hadn’t missed the path her eyes had followed, but he wasn’t pressing his luck any further tonight. He was going to wait and see what happened over the next few days to see if he should move forward.

For a moment she had thought he would kiss her and she felt disappointment wash over her when he didn’t. “Yeah,” she coughed slightly, “let’s watch a movie.”

He nodded, accepting her answer. “Ya wanna get it ready while I run take a quick shower?”

“Yeah, okay, got any preferences?”

“No chick flicks.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Michael nodded and rolled out of bed, quickly making his exit and heading for the bathroom and the shower. She was slowly killing him! There had been a couple of times when he had been certain that she wanted things to go in a different direction, but there was just enough hesitation to make him back off.

She stared after him when he left the room and she sighed. That had been so close!

*****

Max glanced over his shoulder when he heard the knock at the door and he took a deep, cleansing breath as he turned back around. He had never in his life felt as stupid as he did at this moment, he thought as he stared at himself in the mirror.

He had no idea what she could possibly find hot or sexy about him in a pair of leather chaps and nothing else. Seriously, it was not attractive! Feeling self-conscious he grabbed his tee shirt off of the counter and pulled it on, letting it fall down to cover the part of his body that were out on display.

Liz waited impatiently at the door. She was curious to see if he would open it wearing just those leather chaps.

Max pulled the door open and glanced around nervously, motioning for her to hurry and come inside. What was she waiting for? he wondered when she just stood there.

“You’re cheating,” she complained and pulled at his tee shirt.

Max jumped and slapped her hand away. “What’re you doin’? Someone could see – “

She splayed her hands on his chest and pushed him inside, closing the door behind her.

He stumbled backwards and his hands shot down to prevent the tee shirt from riding up and exposing him.

Liz frowned when she recognized his hesitation. “What’s wrong, baby?” She leaned in closer to press a kiss at the corner of his lips.

Max started to relax at the first touch of her lips against his and he slowly released his death grip on the tee shirt to wrap his arms around her. “Just be patient with me,” he whispered against her lips, “this is completely new territory for me.”

She smiled against his lips. “Okay. This is new to me as well, just for the record.”

“So, the leather thing...?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s just somethin’ that gets you hot in relation to me?”

“Of course.”

“Oh.” He grinned and tugged her shirt free of her waistband so he could slide his hands up under it to trace over her skin.

She groaned softly and let her head rest on his shoulder. “I’ve waited for this all day.”

“That makes two of us,” he muttered gruffly, relieved when his body started to react to her. He had been feeling so foolish that his ability to become aroused had worried him.

“You really know how to touch me,” she mumbled, her hands wandering down to the hem of his tee shirt.

Max swallowed hard and forced himself to remain focused on her and nothing else. He distracted himself by getting rid of her shirt and tossing it on the dresser so he could trace his fingers over her breasts above her bra.

“That’s gotta go,” he growled, releasing the front clasp and letting her flesh fill his palms.

“This one as well,” she said, pulling his tee shirt over his head and glancing down his body slowly. “God, Max, do you even know how hot you are?”

He glanced down at himself, wondering once again how this was hot. “Why?”

She let her hands travel over his stomach. “Because you’re well-toned in all the right places, because your skin is sexy and tanned, because your arms look so strong... should I go on?”

Okay, ego stroking was good, he thought as he shook his head. “Huh-uh,” he practically squeaked when she followed up by brushing her fingertips against his erection.

“Um Max, before it’s too late to ask, you got any protection?”

“Yeah, in my wallet,” he said absently, reaching around for it and then realizing he didn’t have any pockets. “Um, hold on.”

He turned to walk into the bathroom to grab the jeans he had been wearing earlier and pulled his wallet out before going back out into the main room. He flipped it open and frowned when he checked all of the folds and realized he was out. How was that possible? he wondered. He hadn’t been with anyone in more than a month!

Michael, he thought. Bastard! “Uh, small problem...”

She pressed her fingers on his lips. “It’s okay, I’ve got some in the car. I’ll go get them.” She grabbed her shirt again and pulled it on before she left the hotel room in a hurry.

Max looked around, wondering if he should stand there or lay down. She was really into this leather fantasy, and for whatever reason it made her hot, so he wanted to make the night memorable. He finally settled for lounging back against the dresser, bracing his weight on his left hand and propping the other on his hip.

Yeah, that really looks stupid, he mused. He glanced down at himself and grinned when an idea hit him.

She wasn’t in the mood for a lot of foreplay; he could tell that just like the night before she was ready to get straight to the main event. The least he could do was give her what she wanted. He wrapped his right hand around his cock, giving it a couple of good strokes, bringing himself to full hardness.

Damn, that felt good! He let his mind wander, imagining that it was her hand instead of his own and his eyes slid closed as he tightened his grip just slightly. He heard the electronic beep that released the lock and he lifted his head, grinning to show her that he was ready to play.

The high-pitched scream of a woman on the downside of 50 was not what he had been expecting, and he hurried to grab his discarded tee shirt to cover himself.

[Double Trouble]

Yasmania: Welcome to our little world! Poor Max, right? Thanks, we’re glad to hear you’re enjoying DD and DT!

destinyc: Yeah, not what Max and Liz were hoping for either!

LOL, Michael the condom thief! Bad, bad boy!

begonia9508: No, not what the intruder was expecting at all! Liz will be right back.

He’s trying to get there.

mary mary: The intruder is about to be identified. Yeah, quite a sight!

Natalie36: Well, please, don’t disrupt that visual! Glad you’re enjoying the story!

spacegirl23: Glad you’re all caught up!

Steam up your screen, did it?

kismet: LOL, well, good thing for Liz you aren’t the one who just walked right on in then!

Not sure Max is really gonna be in the mood after that.

You’re so right!

And a thousand apologies… didn’t even realize today was Wednesday! Emergency update!!

sarammlover: Yes, poor Max, indeed! The poor guy is not having any luck, is he? Michael and Maria will get there – the story is almost at the halfway point, so it won’t be too much longer.

*BLONDIE*: Glad you love this story! Well… not sure Max is gonna be in any shape to help move Michael and Maria along after this latest disaster.

tequathisy: We’re pretty sure Max will get over it.

nibbles2: Now there’s an idea!


Part 9

Max felt his face flush bright red and he nearly swallowed his tongue as he tried to figure out how to get himself out of this mess. “Uh, ma’am, I’m uh...”

“You little pervert!” she shouted, her voice filled with righteous indignation. “This is a good, clean establishment with a good reputation – “ She turned to the side when someone hurried up the walkway and she frowned when she recognized the young woman.

“What’s wrong?” Liz asked. The woman’s scream had been terrifying and she winced as she entered the room. Oh my God!

Max stood on the other side of the room, desperately clutching a shirt and trying his best to cover himself while the older woman blasted him for being a sexual deviant. The poor guy had turned so red that it couldn’t be healthy for him. His humiliation only notched up another level when Liz entered the room.

Liz suddenly recognized the woman in the doorway; she was a friend of her mother’s. Great. “Um, Carol, what’re you doin’ here?”

Carol Griffith stared at the young woman who had stepped into the room as if she had any business being there. “Young lady, I don’t think your parents would appreciate knowing that you’ve been hanging around some pervert.”

“He’s not a pervert,” Liz defended him.

“Young men of good standing do not stand around in hotel rooms with their business on display.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

Carol nodded at the towels in her hand. “We got a call for more towels in room 108.”

“Uh-huh, well, as you can see this is room 103.”

“Is something wrong?” another woman asked from the hallway. Different people had called the reception desk to report that they had heard loud screaming on the second floor.

Liz sighed. Great, now one of the managers of the hotel was there as well.

Max listened as the two women stood in the open doorway and discussed his sexual proclivities and if he had been capable of making the earth open up and swallow him whole he would’ve done it.

After several minutes of hushed tones the second woman sent the other one away and then turned to face him. Her disapproving gaze raked over him and she shook her head in disgust before informing him that he had 15 minutes to vacate the premises.

She turned to look at Liz. “I would suggest you go home before anyone finds out you were here.” She glanced at Max once more. “15 minutes. If you’re not gone I’m calling the sheriff.”

Max just nodded and walked into the bathroom to find his clothes while struggling to keep himself covered. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror and sighed. So much for trying out his wild side, he thought. Great, and now on top of everything else he was gonna have to call Michael so he could come get his stuff.

“Hey,” Liz said as she entered the bathroom. “You okay?”

Max stared at the floor as he finished fastening his jeans, something that was not a problem since he was about as far from aroused as a guy could get. “Yeah,” he muttered, “great.”

Liz stepped up towards him and put her hands over his. “Listen, Max, nobody knows you here and pff... let ‘em think what they want, okay?”

He sighed and started shoving all of his stuff in his bag, carrying it out into the main room and throwing it on the bed. He grabbed his cell phone and stared at it, wondering how he could possibly tell Michael they had been kicked out without telling him why.

He looked up when Liz spoke, trying to reassure him. “I know how small towns operate, Liz... somethin’ like this is prime rumor material and we’re not even gonna be able to get another room around here.”

She shrugged. “I’ll just tell my parents you’re a friend from college and you need a place to stay. I’m sure they won’t have a problem with that. And Michael can stay with Maria.”

Max finally lifted his head and his gaze locked with hers. “You think your parents would be cool with that?”

“Yeah, why not? Well, they won’t let us share a room, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Well, since my nuts have fully retracted and it’s quite possible that getting it up won’t be happenin’ for a while, I think that’d be fine.”

She smiled. “I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem.” She brushed her lips against his. “I’ll call Maria and tell her to send Michael over here and you start getting your things together, okay?”

“Uh-huh, and you’re gonna explain it how, exactly?”

“Well, the truth, I guess, just without the details.”

“Perfect... I’m sure Michael and Maria could use a good laugh.”

“Max, it’s all good.”

He snorted. “Yeah, easy for you to say... you weren’t the one standin’ up here with all your stuff hangin’ out while some old lady screamed at you about bein’ a pervert.”

“Nope, but I’m still willin’ to spend the summer with that pervert,” she teased.

A slow smile eased its way past the painful humiliation and he started to see the humor in the situation. “The whole summer, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, maybe I’ll survive the summer then.”

“I’m sure you will,” she said and walked back into the living area to call Maria.

*****

Maria was pulled out of a light sleep when her phone started to ring and she crawled over Michael so she could reach for it. She flipped it open and mumbled a greeting into it. “H’lo?”

“Hey amiga, it’s me.”

“Wha’s up, chica?”

“We have a little problem here.... Michael has to come here to get his stuff. The boys were kinda kicked out of the hotel.”

“Huh?”

“He has to hurry! Explanation later! Oh, and can Max stay at your place tonight?”

“Yeah, of course, but you’re explainin’ just as soon as we see each other.”

“I will.”

Maria rubbed her forehead against Michael’s chest, loving the feel of his big, warm body pressed against her. “Michael,” she mumbled.

Michael grumbled at the disturbance and tried to roll over, but couldn’t since she was nearly lying on top of him.

“Hey, wake up,” she whispered into his ear.

He growled an annoyed, “What?”

“You just got kicked out of the hotel and you need to go get your stuff outta the room. I told her Max could stay here tonight; he can sleep on the couch.”

“Kicked out? What? I’m not even there.”

“But Max and Liz are there.”

He forced his eyes to open but before he could really focus on what she was saying or what was going on he realized that Maria was pressed against him. It felt right, like that was where she was supposed to be, and he had stopped questioning that feeling. “Max and Liz are at the hotel and we’ve been kicked out... what were they doin’?”

Only now did she notice that she was practically sitting on top of him. Damn, what was she doin’? “I don’t know, but if you ask me.... hmmm, loud sounds of pleasure, maybe?”

He rolled his eyes as he brought his right arm around her, letting his hand rest on her hip. “You think she got Max to go over to the wild side?”

Oh, no, now he was holding her against him.... and she suddenly realized how their bodies were lined up. “Probably… yes.”

Michael bit back a groan when she shifted just enough to wake up the rest of his body and he tugged on her hand, tumbling her forward and away from the part of his body that was beginning to express interest. “Alright, keep the sheets warm and I’ll be back before long.”

Maria was surprised by his quick movement, but she had a feeling she knew why he was in such a big hurry all of a sudden. “Okay, don’t leave me alone too long,” she said, amused.

“Never,” he promised as he put his shoes on and grabbed her keys. He held them up and jingled them. “So I don’t have to wake you up when we get back.” He reached back to pat her leg as he stood up. “Miss me.”

“Will do.” She snuggled against her pillow again.

Michael watched her from the doorway for a few moments before he forced himself to leave. He was gonna kill Max, he thought as he hurried outside.

*****

Michael stomped along the hallway and swiped his card, unlocking the door to his room and pushing his way inside. He glared at the packed bags and shook his head when he saw Max sitting on his bed looking like someone had just kicked his puppy.

“What the fuck did you do?” he snapped. “How do you get kicked out of a hotel room?”

Liz came back out from the bathroom. “Hey, Michael,” she greeted as she walked over to Max and crouched down in front of him. “Okay, I guess I’d better go. I have to look after my little cuz tomorrow morning while my parents go to Santa Fe.”

“Um, hello? Do you see me standin’ here tryin’ to figure out why my ass has been kicked out on the street when I wasn’t even here?” Michael was annoyed and he didn’t care who knew it.

Liz glared at him before turning back to Max. “I’ll stop by Maria’s when my parents get back.” She brushed a kiss against his lips and got up again. “Good night, Michael,” she hissed as she left the room.

“Seems like the hotel manager isn’t really open to sex games in her hotel,” Max said.

Michael’s mouth dropped open in shock. “What?” There was no way Max had just said what he thought he had heard him say.

“Some woman, I don’t know why, just walked in here while I was kinda naked...and dressed in those leather chaps.” Max glanced at the ground, waiting for Michael’s smartass comment.

He stared at Max, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to come up with a suitable response. “Wait, so you’re tellin’ me you guys were goin’ at it and you, the most vanilla person I know, wasn’t wearin’ anything but a pair of ridin’ leathers?” He laughed, unable to avoid picturing that scene. “Seriously?”

Max groaned. “Shut up, Michael.”

“No, c’mon, now... you were wearin’ a pair of chaps without pants and all your... equipment was just wavin’ in the wind?”

“If you talk to anyone about it, I swear I’ll kill you.”

Michael thought about what Maria had said about the hotel being managed by two gossiping sisters and he shook his head as he started shoving his things in his bag. “I really don’t think you’ll have to worry about me runnin’ my big mouth. I think this’ll get around without my help.”

“Can we please not talk about this anymore?”

“Yeah, no problem, sweet cheeks.” He grabbed his bag and hooked the strap over his shoulder before tossing his keycard on the nightstand. “Can we go before you fuck up any more of my night?”

“What’ve you done? Had sex with Maria? I doubt that.”

“Y’know what, do not start shit with me tonight, Max.”

“Whatever,” Max muttered and grabbed his bag as well. “Let’s go.”

“This doesn’t fall in the ‘whatever’ category, Evans. Maria had a long day and she got woke up because you had to decide to take a walk on the wild side.”

“She’s still in her bed, isn’t she? So, no reason to be pissed, Guerin.”

“What part of she had a long day and you woke her up are you not comprehending?”

“You know what... let’s just not talk.”

He was so annoyed that he ignored Max as they walked down to the parking lot where the motorcycles were parked. He remained silent as he swung one leg over the saddle and started the engine, not even waiting to see if his friend was keeping up with him as he led the way to Maria’s house.

Damn it, what a shitty night, Max thought as he tried to keep up with Michael.

*****

Liz sighed as she listened to Maria ranting in the seat next to her. She hadn’t expected her plans for a hot summer fling to cause this many problems.

“Don’t sigh, Liz. I’ve got all the rights to complain and you’ve got none. You know that as far as I’m concerned it’s enough to experience the great outdoors just by drivin’ with an open window.”

“Look, I’ve already apologized like a thousand times and you’re still pissed at me.”

“I just don’t know why you had to make out in the break room. Everything was great. Your parents had agreed that Max could stay with you, Michael could have stayed with me and then... you knew your parents would flip out if they knew Max wasn’t a college friend but more like a lover.”

“Well, at this rate we’re never gonna make it to the lover category,” Liz grumbled. She grimaced as she remembered the scene her father had walked in on... not exactly a position that any man wanted to catch his daughter in.

Maria rolled her eyes. “Out in the middle of nowhere you can be sure that nothing will disturb you.”

“Every time we get close we get caught and both times Max has been the one with his pants down... pretty soon he’s just gonna say the hell with it. I’m not sure how much more embarrassment the man can take.”

“Believe me, Liz, there is no one out there! You can go all the way with him and the only things you’re gonna disturb will be the woodland creatures.” Maria brushed her hair behind her ear with one hand. “I can’t wait until tomorrow.”

“Well, you and Michael will be there, too.”

“Um, no! The great outdoors and I are not good friends and I will not be stayin’ out here overnight, not even for Michael. But, if I was, do you think either of us would care whether or not you’re getting your freak on in the next tent? No, we wouldn’t.” She sighed, wishing that Michael was going to be staying with her instead of camping out in Frasier Woods with Max. “Well, my mom’s gonna be leavin’ for vacation in the mornin’, so the guys can hang at my place when she leaves.” She chuckled. “Mom’s cool an’ all, but I don’t think she’d be all that understanding if she caught the two of you goin’ at it while Max is wearin’ a pair of leather chaps… and girl, what is up with that?”

Liz slid down in her seat and groaned. “I don’t know. I can’t explain it, there’s just somethin’ about him that…” She growled low in her throat and shook her head. “I don’t know, it’s just really hot.”

Maria laughed and glanced at her friend. “Hey, it’s cool if that’s your thing. I’m still not sure how you convinced Max to go along with it.”

“He’s actually very cooperative,” she said with a smile. “He just needs the right incentive to motivate him.” She sighed again. “I really am sorry, Maria. I know how much you’ve enjoyed spendin’ time with Michael.” She reached up to tuck her hair behind her right ear. “So, is anything goin’ on there?

“Huh? What d’you mean?”

Liz turned to look at her friend, her expression clearly stating that she wasn’t buying into the innocent act. “I mean the fact that you like him as more than a friend, Maria.”

“There’s nothing going on between Michael and me, Liz.”

“I didn’t say there was anything going on between you... what I’m sayin’ is that you want more from him than friendship.” She waggled her eyes playfully. “You want that man in a totally sexual way.” She paused, waiting for the denial she knew was coming. “Go ahead, tell me it’s not true.”

Maria sighed. “I’m not saying that I don’t think of him in that way. I just know that it’s not gonna happen.”

“Why? What’s stoppin’ it from happening?”

“Well, I don’t know Liz,” she glanced at her friend for a second before turning onto the small road that would lead them to Frasier Woods, “maybe the fact that Michael doesn’t care about relationships. He doesn’t even really date. He just stares, picks up a quick conversation, fucks and says adios, okay?”

“Uh-huh, and have you noticed that he treats you differently?”

“Yeah, because I’m his friend and that’s all there is to it. He doesn’t see me in a romantic way.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “Have you ever even paid any attention to the way the two of you are always touchin’ each other?”

Maria remembered the night before when Michael had given her a massage and she shivered.

“No, how do we touch?” she asked, pretending to be clueless.

“Like lovers... like you’re completely sure of yourselves and of each other... like you know you’re completely safe with him and he knows he’s safe with you.”

“Huh? What are you talking about, girl? Like lovers? We don’t kiss, we don’t hold hands.”

“Doesn’t matter... the touches? You guys have that trust and it’s not just the ‘he’s my best friend’ kind of touching.”

“You know what, let’s just not talk about it, okay? The last thing I need right now is to wonder if you’re right or not. I just want to have fun!”

“Get naked with him and I bet you’ll have fun,” Liz tossed out with a smirk.

“Liz.” Maria glanced at her warningly before she stopped the car. The guys had followed them on their bikes and were just about to arrive at their campsite for the night. “Change of topic. Now!” she demanded.

“Fine, but you might wanna cover your ears tonight because if I have anything to say about it, Max Evans and I will be doin’ our best to scare the local wildlife.”

“I already told you, I’m not stayin’ the night.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “Okay,” she said, her tone saying that she didn’t believe her.

A little while later Maria sat down on the blanket she had taken out of the Jetta and motioned for Liz to take a seat next to her. “No need to help them, I’m sure they’ll do just fine without us,” she said and watched in amusement as Michael and Max tried to build up their tents.

Michael took a step back and stared at the tent, his features annoyed as he tried to figure out why it didn’t look anything like the one in the picture. His gaze dropped to the bits and pieces leftover from the assembly as he scratched his head. Well, there were always pieces left over, he thought, but there did seem to be quite a few of them.

“How is this supposed to work?” Max hissed in his direction when he realized that his best friend was struggling with the stupid tent as well.

“Fuck, I don’t know... you’re goin’ to school to be a doctor, shouldn’t you know how to put things together?”

“Humans, Michael, not things.”

Michael rolled his eyes... well, don’t you use steel plates and screws and shit to put shattered bones and stuff back together?”

“Whatever. What’re we gonna do now?” He glanced at the two girls on the blanket and cursed. Now, how embarrassing was it that he couldn’t even build up a tent?

“Okay, it cannot be this difficult... you must’ve missed a step or somethin’,” Michael said, entirely placing the blame on Max.

“I haven’t missed a damn step.”

“Then why do we have so many pieces leftover? And why are the tents not lookin’ anything like the fuckin’ pictures?”

“Is there a problem?” Maria called sweetly, already knowing the truth.

“Yeah, the fuckin’ directions are written in twelve languages and the one that’s most difficult to interpret is the one that’s in English,” he snarled.

“Need some help?” Liz grinned.

“Why?” Max asked warily. “You know how to put a tent together?”

“"No, we don’t need any help,” Michael interrupted, irritated.

“Well, I was a girl scout.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “I was a girl scout,” he mimicked in a high-pitched girly voice. He threw the instructions down on the ground and stomped over to where the girls were sitting. “Hey, girl scout, give up your spot and go put the tents together with your boy toy.”

Maria took a small stone from the ground and threw it at him.

“Better watch it,” he growled, dropping down to take Liz’s newly vacated spot.

“You don’t have to be so mean, Mikey!”

“I’m not bein’ mean. Why’s she gotta be such a fuckin’ know-it-all?”

“Because it’s obvious that you two are lost.”

“So? You weren’t jumpin’ up an’ down over here, tellin’ me I was doin’ it wrong.”

“Yeah,” she grinned, “’cause it was really funny to watch, ya know? I’m wondering how you managed to build these tents up on your road trip though.”

“We didn’t use tents... just the sleepin’ bags. We didn’t even buy the tents until this afternoon while we were waitin’ for you to get off from work.”

“You slept outside? Ewww!”

“Yeah, wasn’t that excited about it either... y’know how I feel about bugs.”

“Then why don’t you just come home with me tonight, Michael?” she complained.

“Because I can’t just leave Max out here to fend for himself no matter how much I want to.”

“He’s not alone.”

Michael glanced over at the other couple and rolled his eyes when he realized that the pole Liz was messing with wasn’t related in any way to building a tent.

How was he gonna get out of answering her question? Hell, did he wanna be camping out here in the middle of the woods when there was a perfectly comfortable bed back at her house... a bed with her in it? Fuck, no! But, that was also part of the problem. It was getting harder for him to keep things platonic because he wanted their relationship to be more than it was.

He had no intention of doing anything remotely sexual in the great outdoors. “So, stay here tonight. We can hang out around the campfire, make s’mores, and talk about those two.”

She shook her head. “Nope. Ya know I love you, Michael and I would do a lot for ya, but sleeping outside with spiders and bugs isn’t one of those things.”

His heart thumped madly in his chest even though he knew she hadn’t meant it in a romantic way. “But, I have a tent... we don’t have to sleep outside.”

“I’m gonna stay until you guys go to bed and then that nice little Jetta will take me home.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “You’re just gonna leave me out here on my own with the two of them?” He shuddered. “Your friend’s already gotten Max into a pair of ridin’ leathers... without the benefit of a pair of jeans underneath... and you wanna leave me alone with them? You have any idea what could happen to me?”

Maria laughed and smacked his arm before leaning against his shoulder. “You’re still free to decide to go home with me.”

Damn it... right back to that topic! “Nah, I’d feel bad about leavin’ him out here. I know Liz is here with him, but she won’t be stayin’ indefinitely, and he needs the company.”

“Alright,” she said, kind of relieved. Maybe it was a good idea to spend a night in separate beds.

“I’m hungry... how’re you at cookin’ over a campfire?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re always hungry, aren’t you? And horny. But, yeah, I’m kinda hungry, too.”

Don’t say it, don’t say it, don’t say it! Michael couldn’t resist... he tried, but his mouth refused to obey. “And horny?”

“Yeah. And don’t deny it either.”

He swallowed hard. “So, about dinner...”

“I packed some sandwiches and sausages.”

His ears perked up at that. “Yeah? So, unpack the food, woman... I’m hungry!”

She rolled her eyes and got to her feet. “You take care of the fire and I’ll go get the food.”

Michael scrambled to his feet, not even questioning why he moved so fast when she told him to do something. He hurried to collect enough wood and kindling to get the fire started in the pit at the center of the site. She was walking back towards him just as the fire caught and started to burn and he stood up to watch her pick her way through the trees surrounding them.

There was a tickling sensation on his right hand and he ignored it for a moment, looking down only when it continued. His eyes widened when he saw the tiny spider crawling over his knuckles and he hurried to brush it off, right into the fire. He threw the log in his hand onto the ground and rubbed his hand against his leg as he tried to hide a shudder.

He glanced around, reassuring himself that no one had seen his reaction to the tiny creature. His chest puffed up as he straightened up and nodded to himself. “That’s right,” he muttered under his breath, “I’m the man.”

[Double Trouble]

kismet: LOL, hope your dreams were pleasant!

Yeah, as if the hotel wasn’t bad enough! Sunday’s update should make you happy!

LOL, that’s true, but it may not come to that.

Michael is not fond of insect life.

True, it may not be safe for him to be left alone in the woods with them!

destinyc: Nah, he’s not ready to throw the towel in just yet.

Let’s just say… keep an eye out for Part 11 – Max and Liz might just see a change in their luck in Sunday’s update!

nibbles2: Who knew?

sarammlover: Yeah, he’s just not fond of critters. You may just get your wish.

Alien_Friend: Welcome back!

Part 4 – We’re glad you like Liz here! We sooo agree with you! Max is more fun like this, huh?

He’s Michael… he’s gotta get himself into some situation or other!

Part 5 – Yeah, we don’t like Peyton either. Nope, that would’ve put Michael totally in the doghouse!

Well…

Part 6 – After the lack of stability in DT we thought it was only fair to give him the complete opposite here! He does make an awesome big brother (and we will get to meet Danny soon!)

Ungh, very fine line and it’s such a big risk – they could end up with it all or they could lose it all, so, like you said… why rush it?

Part 7 – Now they just need to figure it out. They are dragging their feet, but they’ll get there eventually!

Part 8 – LOL, we totally agree! Some people just have the worst luck when they try to engage their wild side, lol!

Michael and Maria are both scared to take the risk because neither of them wants to lose their friendship, but at the same time, they both want more.

Part 9 – Nope, but their luck should be changing soon… keep an eye out for Part 11! True, he wasn’t doing anything publicly, but… it could actually work out to their advantage.

Natalie36: LOL, glad to hear that was just “almost”!

*BLONDIE*: Well, hopefully Max will make it through their little camp-out without any embarrassing moments, lol. Michael and Maria will get there.


Part 10

“Michael,” Maria called, sounding annoyed. “Why’re you just standin’ over there when you can see I’m loaded down with stuff?”

He opened his mouth to protest, but what was he gonna say? Maria, look, I was in a battle for my life! Yeah, she’d laugh at him over that one. Instead he hurried to give her a hand, taking most of the stuff from her.

Maria watched him when he took almost everything from her and placed the stuff around the fire. Had he ever refused anything that she had asked for? she wondered.

Michael started poking through the bags, frowning when he didn’t see the promised sandwiches or sausages. “Um, Maria... where’s the cold stuff?” He grabbed a cream-filled chocolate cupcake out of one of the bags and opened it, eating half of it in one bite.

“Cold stuff’s in the cooler, Michael,” Max said, motioning over his shoulder. “We’ll go get it outta the car.”

“What’s up with the two of them?” he muttered as he found a bag of chips and opened it too.

“Summer fling,” Maria answered, watching him pace around. “From what Liz told me they’ve agreed that it’s just a summer thing.” She shrugged as she walked over to check the tents that were now standing upright on opposite sides of the camp. “You should probably put your sleepin’ bag inside and close it up so no unwelcome visitors go in and make themselves at home,” she suggested.

“That’s a good idea. Let me go grab it and then we’ll see about makin’ somethin’ to eat.” He nearly ran to get to his bike so he could retrieve his sleeping bag before some evil creature took up residence in it.

He paused when he reached the vehicles and caught Max and Liz rutting against each other on the hood of the car. He shook his head and walked past them, grateful that they were at least still fully dressed and he didn’t have to see either of them naked. He took his sleeping bag, placed it on top of the cooler where it sat in the trunk, and lifted the entire thing out. He carried it back to camp and set it down on the ground with more force than was necessary.

“What’s wrong with you?” Maria asked.

“Nothin’. Why do they have to keep goin’ at it in front of everybody?” he grumbled. “Do they have to flaunt the fact that they’re havin’ sex while…” He bit his lip to keep from revealing his real gripe. Do they have to flaunt the fact that they’re havin’ sex while we’re not? That was his real problem; he could care less if Max was having sex or not, what bothered him was that he wasn’t having sex because the one woman he really wanted was either totally clueless or just wasn’t interested.

“Don’t be grumpy, Michael,” Maria teased as she opened the cooler and pulled a sandwich out, unwrapping it and handing it to him. “Here, sit down and eat this.”

“What kind is it?”

“The kind you like, you ass.” Her tone was affectionate despite the words. She grabbed another sandwich and a couple of beers before going over to sit next to him.

“You’ve gotta stay and hang out with me tonight, Maria.”

“Huh-uh… not an outdoors kinda girl. Me and Mother Nature are not good friends; we merely tolerate each other because we have no other choice.”

Michael slouched down against a large rock and took a big bite of his sandwich, nodding when she handed him a cold bottle of beer. “We’d be in the tent,” he muttered.

Damn it, she could already feel her heart melting. Be strong, Maria! “Come on, Michael. I told you we should stay home, but you wanted to come here, so you have to deal with it. It’s just one night and then Amy will be outta town and we can all stay at my house.”

“Yeah, I still think it’d be more fun if you’d stay with me tonight.”

I wish he meant that the way it had sounded, Maria thought.

“You’re leavin’ me out here with a couple a sex freaks,” he complained.

“At least I’m gonna stay until you go to bed,” she offered.

“Uh-huh, you gonna tuck me in and kiss me goodnight?” he teased.

“Yeah, maybe,” she teased back. I’m not losing this game, Michael, she thought.

His eyebrows lifted and he looked at her. “Yeah? ‘Cause it’s okay if you want to.”

“Okay. I’ll make it a real wet one then.”

Michael made a sound that was somewhere between a choke and a cough and he shifted around to get more comfortable. He glanced at her and saw the mischievous gleam in her eyes. Oh, she wanted to up the stakes, huh? “Yeah, make sure there’s a lot of tongue.”

“It’ll be my pleasure.” She was glad when the other two came back to join them at the fire. This teasing game between her and Michael had to stop.

Michael was disappointed when the other couple came back and he didn’t bother trying to hide it. “Please tell me you’ve managed to have sex,” he snapped.

“Shut up,” Max said, not really annoyed because his attention was focused on Liz. He sat down on one of the blankets around the fire and pulled Liz down into his lap.

Great, now they could sit here and watch Max and Liz make out all night, he thought, irritated. He kicked a rock with his foot and leaned forward to pull the cooler closer so he could grab another sandwich.

Maria noticed that Michael was upset and she had a feeling it was because she was leaving while he stayed here with the horny couple.

Michael took a drink of his beer to wash his second sandwich down as he stared into the fire. The last thing he wanted to do was spend the entire night with the other two screwing their brains out several dozen feet away.

“Hey,” she leaned back to have a better look at Michael, “everything okay?”

He glanced down when Maria spoke up. “What? Yeah, everything’s great.”

“Doesn’t look like it.” She lay down and rested her head on his thigh.

“Just gonna be lonely tonight’s all,” he murmured as he ran his fingers through her hair without even realizing it.

She hated that he could melt her heart with a single word or gesture.

Michael glanced up at the sky overhead, feeling his mood take even more of a nosedive when he realized that darkness was falling and Maria would be leaving soon.

“What do I get if I stay?”

His head snapped to the side and he looked down at her. “Whatever you want,” he answered honestly.

“Uh-huh.” Was he serious?

“Just name it.”

“Can’t think of anything right now.” Well, I could, but it’s nothing I can just say, she thought.

He just shrugged. “That’s okay, I’m good for it.”

“Can you give me another beer?” she asked, holding her hand out for it.

He leaned over and pulled one out of the cooler, uncapping it and handing it to her.

“Thanks.” She sat up again and took a long drink, preparing for a night in hell.

“Hey, Ria, wanna head down to the lake and go skinny dipping?” Liz suggested.

Michael stifled the groan that tried to surface at the thought of Maria naked and wet. He wouldn’t be able to hide his reaction to her like that.

Max, on the other hand, was perfectly happy to speak up. “I’ll go,” he offered.

Michael shook his head. “Huh-uh, no way, the two of you can go or the two girls can go, but you’re not goin’ with both girls.” He glared at Max and shook his head. “Besides, no one even invited you.”

“Yeah, why don’t you take Max along with you? We wanted to eat anyway.”

Liz decided not to comment on the fact that Michael had just inhaled two sandwiches. “You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Max and Liz got to their feet in a hurry and Maria rolled her eyes at them when they disappeared into the woods. “They’re so horny. Unbelievable.”

Michael’s comment was unintelligible. “Where’s Amy goin’ for vacation?” He needed something to distract him.

“She and her lover want to drive through the country.”

“My dad and Kate have been talkin’ about doin’ that when Danny gets a little older.”

“Yeah, it’s kinda cool, as long as you sleep in a hotel.”

“Just do not like the campin’ out thing, do you?”

“Nope, not at all!”

“Well, it’s not exactly at the top of my list either.”

“It’s not? Thought you enjoyed this,” she gestured around the place. She leaned forward to grab on of the sticks with a sausage on it. “Want one?”

“Yeah, hand it over.” He glanced around and shrugged. “I don’t mind it as long as things with multiple legs don’t come crawlin’ out, but somehow they always seem to show up.”

“Don’t go into detail, okay? Or I’m goin’ home.”

“So, you’re gonna stay the night? Really?”

She grabbed one of the sausages and slipped back to rest her back against the rock next to Michael. “Yeah, I don’t think I can leave you alone with those horndogs.”

“I appreciate that. You do realize that Max is really into her, right?”

“You think this could get serious between them?”

“I don’t know. On Max’s end, yeah, definitely; he’s not the casual type. What about your friend?”

Maria shrugged. “Well, she didn’t use to be the casual type, but she’s changed a lot since she’s been in college.”

“I know he’s a grown man and he’s fully capable of handling his own business – in spite of his actions the past few days – but he just got out of a relationship with the biggest bitch I’ve ever known and he doesn’t need to get trampled on like that again.”

“What’re you suggesting? Should I talk to her?”

“Hell, I don’t know. I mean, it’s his business, I just don’t wanna see the guy get hurt.” He shuddered. “Not to mention, you’ve met his sister... Isabel would murder me in my sleep if anything happened to him while he was with me.”

“In your sleep, huh?” she teased to downplay the jealousy that automatically came up when Michael mentioned another woman.

“Yeah, and the girl is deadly... I should know, I grew up with her and Max and if you piss her off you’re lucky if you live long enough to regret it.”

“Did you hang out a lot when you were younger?”

“All the time... we grew up next door to each other.”

“Just like me and Liz.” She suddenly started to fan air with her right hand in the direction of her mouth. “Damn it, I burned my tongue.”

“Put a piece of ice on it.”

“Ice? We don’t have ice, do we?”

Michael looked at her as if she’d lost her last working brain cell as he held his beer up. “How d’you think the beer’s stayin’ cold? It’s in the cooler.”

“Ewww, Michael, I’m not putting that ice in my mouth.”

He laughed. “Want me to kiss and make it better?”

Yes! her mind screamed. “You want to kiss my tongue?”

God, he’d kiss every part of her body if she’d let him, he thought. “What if I do?”

What if he does? Good question. “That would be a little weird, huh?”

“Would it?” he countered.

“Well, I also burned my finger, how about you kiss me there?”

He held his hand out to her wordlessly, his dark eyes completely serious.

She slowly offered her hand to him.

Michael took her hand in his and he never broke eye contact as he lifted it up to press his lips to her fingertip. “Better?” he whispered huskily.

Her heartbeat rose at his intense look. She just nodded and then felt like a complete fool because she couldn’t say anything.

He released her hand and sat back before he did something really stupid like just pull her into his arms and really lay one on her.

She tried to hide her disappointment when he just continued to act normal again. Why did he just tease her over and over again?

Michael got up to put another log on the fire, crouching down next to it for several minutes while he pulled himself back together. She had no idea what she did to him and it was slowly driving him out of his mind.

“What was that?” Maria asked, alarmed when she heard a strange sound.

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear that sound?”

“Maria, honey, if I’d heard the sound, I wouldn’t have said ‘what’ in response to your question,” he teased as he sat back down.

“You’re so annoying sometimes.” She slapped his back when he just grinned at her and shrugged without apology.

Maria winced when she heard the sound again. “Did you hear it that time?”

Michael tipped his head to one side and chuckled. “Oh, that’s just a coyote.”

“Just a coyote?” she repeated in disbelief.

“Yeah, but as a rule they avoid contact with humans.”

“I don’t believe that. Maybe they’re hungry, Michael.”

“You don’t believe that,” he repeated. “Well, I’m tellin’ ya they don’t come near people, but if you’re that worried about it you can get closer and I’ll protect you from the big bad coyote.”

“Well, I doubt that you could protect me if that beast attacked us, but it’s getting cold, so maybe you’ve got some body heat for me?” She knew she was playing with fire again and she shouldn’t do that, but she couldn’t help it.

“I don’t know if I wanna share my body heat with you now that you’ve said that,” he grumbled, knowing he’d give in before long.

Oh, so he was gonna act cool again. Okay, she could do that, too. “Alright, guess the fire might work just as well.” She slid forward to get near the burning wood.

Michael frowned when she started to gravitate towards the fire and he lunged forward to grab her, pulling her back with him. He leaned back against the rock, letting her settle back against his chest as he brought his knees up to bracket her body. “I’m a lot more fun to snuggle up with.”

“Yeah, you are,” she admitted as she made herself comfortable. She loved to be in his arms. It felt so... right.

He sighed contentedly and wrapped his arms around her as she squirmed around. Michael smiled when he realized that Maria kept looking around the campsite as if she expected some wild animal to come crashing through the woods at any moment.

“I hate to be outside in the woods at this time of a day,” she cursed, trying to get even closer to him.

“Why? You’re perfectly safe with me.”

“I know you’re right, but still...”

He chuckled and his hands rubbed over her arms as he tried to warm her up.

She let her head rest against his chest and sighed. It felt so good to be close to him. Was it wrong that it felt good? Friends didn’t normally sleep in the same bed or touch each other the entire day the way that they did, she was aware of that.

Michael smiled when she started to relax but a sound out in the woods had her tensing up again. “Relax,” he whispered against her temple. She hooked her arms around his knees, hugging them to her body and keeping him as close as possible as if she were afraid that he would get away from her if she let go.

“I’m trying!” She shook her head to leave all thoughts of disgusting creatures in the woods alone. “Distract me, Michael.”

So much easier said than done, he thought. Oh, there were a lot of ways he could distract her, but all of them led in a direction that she didn’t seem to be ready or willing to pursue just yet. “Tell me what kinda jobs you’ve got around Roswell... I looked around today, but didn’t really find much.”

“Well, there’s the gas station not far away from Roswell, out on the highway. Oh, yeah, and there’s the cheese factory, of course.”

“The cheese factory?”

“Yeah, they often give jobs to students over the summer.”

He shook his head. Like he’d ever work at a place that made cheese! He let his hands settle on her thighs that were bare beneath the hem of her shorts, and he slid his palms over her soft skin. “Uh-huh, doesn’t sound like a Michael kinda job.”

It took all her strength to not lean into his touch. “No, not really, huh?”

“Huh-uh. Seriously, Maria, can you see me makin’ cheese?” He snorted and leaned back, letting his fingertips trail along her thighs at the edge of her shorts.

Oh, God, does he even realize what he’s doin’ to me? “No,” she said. Her brain wasn’t working very well.

“Good, we’re in agreement about that then.” He shifted down slightly and his hands moved higher, settling on her sides where her shirt had ridden up.

She inhaled sharply when his rough hands came into contact with her bare skin again. It felt so right to be touched by Michael, but at the same time, she knew it was something that was a definite no-no for friends. What should she do about it? Nothing, she decided. Maybe he wanted more, too, and this was his way of showing it?

Michael held his breath, waiting to see if she would say or do anything to either encourage or discourage him.

Maria tried to relax a little, which wasn’t easy with Michael’s hands on her body. She wiggled around on the blanket to get more comfortable and leaned back against his chest again.

He settled for wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close, resting his chin on her shoulder. “You think we’re gonna be in for a long night with Max an’ Liz in the other tent?”

His breath hit her neck when he spoke and she had to control the urge to turn her head in his direction. Damn you, Michael. “Maybe they’ll just get it over with while they’re down at the lake...” she mused.

He snorted at her theory. “We’ll see.” Damn, if they didn’t it was gonna be one hellishly long night!

“If not we can share my iPod, I guess.”

Yeah, that’s what he wanted to do... share her iPod. That wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind. “Yeah? Got anything good on there? Or are ya gonna stick me with Britney Spears again?” He was still convinced she had done that to get back at him for something he had done to piss her off, but he wasn’t one hundred percent certain that anything he had done had been worth that torture.

She rolled her eyes. “There might be some Metallica on it.”

“Might be?” he questioned. “Because it’s completely disrespectful to put them anywhere close to some pop singer.”

“There IS Metallica on it, okay? But let’s hope Max and Liz will do it quietly.”

“I’m not worried about Max... if I didn’t know any differently I’d think the man had never had sex. I’m tellin’ you, he’s quiet as a damn church mouse.” He rolled his eyes. “Your friend on the other hand...”

She shoved her elbow back in his stomach slightly. “Don’t you dare to say anything bad about my friend!”

“Not sayin’ anything bad,” he grunted when her elbow impacted with his stomach. “Damn, woman, there’s no need to be vicious.”

“Come on, it can’t hurt that much,” she said, but she rubbed his arm where it was still around her.

“Not the point.” He glanced up at the sky, absently looking at the millions of points of light when he noticed something moving from the corner of his eye. “Oh, shit,” he muttered when he saw the spider crawling on the shoulder of his white tee shirt. He hurried to brush it off but it jumped on his bare arm and he gracelessly shoved Maria away as he clumsily got to his feet and slapped at the offensive creature. “Fuck!” he shouted when he realized he had tiny spider guts mashed on his arm. He continued to brush at his arm as he looked around, looking for more attackers. “Do you see anymore of ‘em on me?”

Maria tried to control the urge to laugh out loud but when she saw his terrified face she couldn’t hold back any longer and she started to giggle.

“Not funny, Maria!” he grumbled. He wasn’t convinced that there weren’t others from the fiendish eight-legged army just waiting to attack him. “You’re gonna have to make sure there aren’t any others on me... fuck, they could be under my clothes by now!” He kicked his boots off as he started to pull his shirt over his head, completely oblivious to Maria’s expression.

“You want me to what?” she asked, confused.

Michael wasn’t even having a single sexual thought as he reached for his belt and unbuckled it. “Spiders, Maria! Get with the program and make sure I don’t have any on me.”

“You’re not about to strip down to nothing, are you?”

He froze and glanced at her. “You don’t think they had time to get that far, do you?”

“No!” She shook her head wildly. She couldn’t handle a naked Michael.

“Okay, yeah, I don’t think so either.” He shook his clothes out and tossed them in the tent along with his boots and then made a quick dive onto his sleeping bag. “No more outdoor activities tonight; get in here so we can zip it up and keep the critters out.”

“It was just a tiny spider,” she complained, but followed him.

“And if it bites me I’ll have an allergic reaction and it’ll fuck up my plans to have fun.”

“To have fun?” she asked, interested.

“Yeah, y’know, to do anything that doesn’t suck... if I get stuck in bed for several days because of an allergic reaction I’m not gonna be a lot of fun to be around.”

“Michael, relax, okay! I’ve never heard of anyone having around Roswell having an allergic reaction to a tiny spider.”

“Relax, she says,” he muttered. “The last time I got bit by a spider I got sick as a damn dog.”

She sighed. “Alright, I’m gonna check on you, okay?”

“No, it’s fine... don’t worry about it.” He decided to just roll over and pout. “I’ll just suffer all by myself.”

“Come on, Mikey.” She wrapped her arms around him from behind.

“No, you’re makin’ fun of me.”

“You make fun of me whenever you get the chance to.”

“I really don’t think that’s the point,” he grumbled. He was enjoying the feel of her wrapped around him and if that meant keeping up the game, then that was exactly what he was gonna do.

The bare skin of his upper body felt soft and she trailed her fingers over his chest, unable to resist the temptation.

Michael could feel his breathing becoming shallow with every touch as her fingertips ghosted over his flesh.

“You can’t stay mad at me for long,” she said knowingly.

“No,” he growled. Sure as hell not if she was gonna keep touching him like that!

“So, let me look,” she said and lifted up his arm to glance under it. “Nope, no spiders here.”

Michael was doing everything in his power to keep his body under control while trying to enjoy her every touch.

She rolled him over onto his back and moved his other arm. “Nope, still no spider.”

“Yeah, well, they can be really small, y’know,” he grumbled.

“Uh-huh,” she took his chin in her hand and shifted his head to the left and right. “Still nothin’.”

He met her gaze as he brought his right hand up to cup her cheek. He bit his bottom lip as he wondered about bringing up the subject of them getting together.

She glanced down at him, not knowing what to do or to think about his touch.

“You ever think about that party we went to way back at the beginning of the school year?”

“We were at a lot of parties,” she said, well aware of which party he meant.

“Well, yeah... didn’t almost kiss at a lot of them.”

“True.” She inwardly rolled her eyes at her lame answer.

“So, you don’t think about it?”

Oh, she had thought about it a lot in the past, but should she admit it? She shrugged. “Sometimes.”

“Whatcha think would’ve happened if we had kissed?” he asked, holding his breath as he waited for her answer.

What was this about? Why was he asking this question? “I think we might have gone all the way and then gone our separate ways the next day, ‘cause that’s what you normally do with girls after a night.”

“Oh,” he said quietly. He thought about that for several minutes. “I’m glad we didn’t then.”

Was he hurt? Maria wondered. He sounded hurt. “I think we never would’ve gotten to know each other the way we did if that had happened, right?”

Michael stared into the darkness as he considered her question. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He sighed tiredly. No guessing about it, he thought, he knew she was right. “I guess if we had kissed that night it would’ve only been a matter of time before we went all the way and then it would’ve ended.” He shook his head. “I would’ve missed out on knowin’ you the way I do now and I wouldn’t give that up for anything.”

“Me neither. I don’t know what I would do without you on campus.” She lay down next to him and stared up at the roof of the tent.

“You’d be bored outta your skull,” he said, his tone teasing. He had to turn the subject to something lighter before he just spilled his guts and ruined everything between them.

“True,” she admitted.

Michael bent his left arm behind his head as he listened to the sounds of nature settling down for the night. “You sure Amy’s cool with me and Max both stayin’ at your place while she’s gone?”

“Yeah, she knows you and she knows that we’re friends.”

He grunted and shifted slightly to find a more comfortable spot. “Well, I’m not complainin’ ‘cause sleepin’ on the ground isn’t somethin’ I enjoy.”

“Yeah, I can’t believe I agreed to sleep here.”

“Me either.” He turned his head to grin at her. “You’re not exactly an outdoors-y kinda girl.”

She shook her head. “No, an open car window is outdoors-y enough in my opinion.”

“Well, you won’t hear any complaints outta me if I spend the rest of the summer campin’ out in your bedroom.”

“I hope tonight passes by really quickly. I’m cold.”

The temperature was much cooler at night and Michael glanced at her as he held his arms open. “C’mon over here and share my sleepin’ bag.”

“I have to warn you, I might kick you or hit you during the night.”

“You have violent tendencies that I’m unaware of?” he teased.

“No, I’m just pretty sure I’ll have nightmares out here.”

He hugged her tighter against his body. “I’ll keep you safe,” he promised.

She grinned. “You freaked out because of a tiny spider.”

“It has eight legs, Maria... that’s not normal.”

“Tell you what. I’m gonna protect you from the spiders and you keep the coyotes away, okay?”

“No problem, four-legged critters I can handle.”

She nodded and snuggled against him. “Okay.”

“Okay,” he mocked softly as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Get some sleep.”

She felt how tired she was when his body heat started to warm her up. “It feels good to be in your arms,” she mumbled while falling asleep.

Michael smiled sadly, wishing that she had meant it in a completely different way.