Roswell Fanatics

Double Dare

Author(s): Double Trouble aka Angel & Steffi



Banner by: Us

Rating: Adult

Category: AU without Alien

Pairing: M&M / M&L

Type: Comedy and a bit Drama / 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: If you play with fire, you might get burned.

Link to our trailer – made by us:
DOUBLE DARE




Part 1

The setting sun cast its orange glow over the ocean, giving it a fiery hue and making the girls sitting on the beach squint behind their sunglasses. California really was the place to be. The long, sandy white beaches stretched as far as the eye could see on either side and behind them was a row of beach houses. The short blonde reached up to shade her eyes when her friend’s quiet sigh reached her ears.

“What’s up, Liz?” Maria Deluca asked as she turned her head.

Liz Parker brushed her long dark hair back over her shoulder before turning to mimic her best friend’s pose, one hand raised to block the sun from her eyes. “David broke up with me.”

Maria bit back the response that immediately leapt to her tongue, knowing that an ‘I told you so’ wouldn’t be appropriate for the moment. She had never cared for the guy, but Liz had been into him so she had tried to be supportive. “I’m sorry, Liz.” She ignored the blinding sunlight to lean over and hug her friend. “Did he give you a reason?”

Liz snorted to downplay her sadness. “He said I’m too boring.”

“What?” Okay, maybe Liz wasn’t the most adventurous person out there, but to tell her she was boring was just downright mean.

Liz glanced out at the ocean and rested her chin on her knees, pulling her arms around her bent legs. “Maybe he’s right.”

“You think you’re boring?”

“Sometimes... I mean, not boring by all definitions, just... hell I don’t know.”

“Did he elaborate on how he thinks you’re boring or just tell you you’re boring in general?”

“I’m pretty sure he meant the sex and partying parts.”

“Hmm... do you think you’re boring in those areas?”

“I don’t know...” Liz glanced at her friend. “Do you think I am?”

“Well, I’ve never had sex with you,” Maria said with a teasing grin.

“Ha ha,” Liz mumbled, not feeling able to laugh honestly.

“C’mon, Liz, don’t get down on yourself like that. Look, maybe you’re not that adventurous in bed... not everyone is. Maybe he’s just a dick.” Like I told you he is, she thought but didn’t say. “And maybe he’s just not the guy who’s gonna bring that out in you.”

“You don’t understand, Maria,” Liz said, grabbing a handful of sand and throwing it at her friend. “I know you don’t like him, but we were together for a pretty long time and I want him back.”

She did her best not to make a face at Liz’s declaration. “Okay,” she brushed sand from her bare thighs, “fine, if you want him back and his only complaint was that you’re boring and you’re pretty sure he meant it about sex and parties... there’s only one thing to do.”

“And that would be?”

“You’re willing to do whatever’s necessary to get him back?”

“What’re you up to?” Liz asked uncertainly. If Maria had that challenging tone she was really in trouble.

“Well, you need to experiment... we’ll find a guy who’s pretty knowledgeable and you can practice on him.”

“Practice on him?” the brunette asked, shocked. “Are you suggesting I should have sex with a stranger to get more... adventurous?”

“What? No! Just... ya know, you can just make out with him.”

Liz bit her lip while she thought about it. “That’s just ridiculous.”

“Why is it ridiculous?”

“Do you really think that’d help me get him back?”

“Well, maybe another guy could show you some things.”

“And who would you suggest? It’s not like you can just pick someone out,” she rolled her eyes. “Well, maybe you can. The men love you.”

“Well...” Maria leaned back on her hands and looked around at the activity on the beach, discarding most of the guys right off. Her eyes settled on a group further down engaged in a very competitive game of volleyball. She watched as a tall dark-headed guy took a drink from his beer before wedging it back in the ice chest and hurrying back to snatch up the ball. “Max Evans,” she stated.

Liz almost choked when she took a sip of her cold drink. “Yeah, right.”

“What? The guy would be perfect. He’s like the campus Casanova.”

“Yeah, but he can have any woman, so why would he even be interested in me?”

“Okay, number one that is the wrong attitude to take. And number two you MAKE him interested in you.”

She turned her head to take a look at the guy in question. He guy looked good, but she couldn’t imagine he could be interested in her. He was out of her league.

Maria rolled her eyes. She could practically hear every argument Liz was building in her mind. “You’re gonna make me do it, aren’t you?”

“Do what?”

“I dare you to hang out with Max Evans... go to... hmm... at least three parties that he’s at and you have to make out with him.”

“You dare me? No, Maria, not a dare again,” the other girl whined.

“Yes, Liz... a dare. Trust me, you’ll thank me later. And the last one was NOT that bad.”

“The last one was stupid,” the other girl laughed. Maria had dared her to wear a nun’s dress during their flight to Tijuana for Spring Break.

“Fine, I’ll even be generous... you can dare me to do something.” Easy one, she thought. She loved Liz, but her dares generally lacked much of a daring quality.

Could she do it? Could she flirt with one of the most popular guys on campus without making a fool of herself? She wanted David back, so maybe a bit of practice would be good? “Oh... okay, let me think.”

Maria smiled in satisfaction. Easy as pie, she mused as she closed her eyes and turned her face up to the sun.

“Oh,” Liz shouted after she had watched the guys playing volleyball for a while.

Maria jumped, not expecting the shout. “What?” She looked up and down the beach, trying to figure out what had Liz’s attention.

“I dare you to get Michael Guerin to go out with you,” Liz said, pleased with herself. “Oh, and not just go out. I dare you to get a kiss from him. With tongue... at his parents’ house.”

“What?” She turned back to the volleyball game and let her eyes linger on the guy high-fiving Max. “Guerin, really? C’mon, Liz, the guy’s a big question mark. No one knows anything about him, he plays Mr. Cool on campus, but there’s something about him... And, kiss him at his parent’s house?”

Liz chuckled. Michael Guerin was the one guy Maria couldn’t get interested in her. She had tried before and lost the battle. “I think that’s a really good damn dare.”

Leave it to Liz to suddenly come up with a really daring dare. She’d rather chew on a jar of nails than try anything with that ass again.

“So? Are you in, DeLuca?” Liz teased. If her friend said no then she wouldn’t have to go after Evans either.

Maria snorted. She sooo knew where Liz was going with her taunt. “You’re not getting outta this that easily.” She reached up to toss her hair back over her shoulder. “I can get Guerin to go out with me and anything else I want him to do. I just wasn’t that invested before.” Liar!

The other girl laughed. “Oh, that’ll be fun to watch.”

“Yeah, as much fun as watching you make out with Evans.”

“So we got a double dare?” Liz glanced at her friend with a challenging gleam in her eyes.

“Sure...”

“Okay,” she brushed some hair out of her face and looked at the guys. Their bodies were sweaty from their exertions in the sun. Yummy. “Now what?”

Maria chewed on her thumbnail as she let her gaze wander over Michael’s toned body. Faded jeans, bare feet, and bare from the waist up. The guy really was perfection on two legs but he was just so defective in the personality department. Ungh

Earth2Mama: Chances are good Max is the guy to bring Liz’s more daring side out. David isn’t exactly Mr. Perfect and Maria will be the first one to point that out. Michael… not interested in Maria? Highly unlikely, lol. We’ll definitely see him open up as things unfold.

L-J-L 76: Thanks! We’ll post every Sunday. We’re glad to hear you enjoyed the vid. All of your questions will be answered… in time.

keepsmiling7: Thanks! Oh, someone usually gets burned in these situations so it’s a matter of how they handle it in the end. Lol, think she’s gonna teach Max a thing or two, huh? You could be right.

Roswell_Dreamer: Thanks! There’s plenty in store for our characters in Double Dare.

mary mary: Lol, yeah, the girls aren’t exactly thrilled with the dare… yet. And David? We’re betting you’re right.

Alien_Friend: Maria has good reason to dislike David.

Michael’s reaction to Maria… will be explained.

This dare has Liz jumping way out of her comfort zone, but we think it’s gonna be good for her.

sptfire86: Lol, we had to write a summer story!

Natalie36: Thanks for reading!

Eva: Thanks!

Lol, the guys just don’t know what they’re in for. Actually, neither do the girls.

begonia9508: Dares have a way of getting people into trouble, lol, so it should be interesting to see how things work out for our gang.

sarammlover: Thanks! Our girls get up to something naughty? Hmm… *thinking*… yeah, you’re right about that, lol!

angiebrenna: Thanks, we’re glad you’re enjoying Double Dare. Lol, yeah, where were these guys in college?

kismet: Michael’s reasons may take a few parts to become clear.

As for Max, he’s noticed her but never really seen her.



Part 2

The party was already in full swing by the time the girls arrived and Liz followed in Maria's wake as she flirted with some of the guys they passed to get to the center of the party where the beer was flowing freely. The guys they were there for were, of course, at the center of attention. She didn't understand how a guy like Michael could've just turned Maria down cold like he had. He always came across as a guy who liked to have fun and most of the time he and Max were in the middle of everything.

But when Maria had approached him he had gone glacial and as much as her friend refused to admit it she knew it had hurt. She was sure there had to be a story there though. As much as he projected an image of fun-loving college student there was an air of secrecy about him, an aloofness that kept people from really getting close to him or getting to know him. The only one that seemed to have been allowed beyond that barrier was his fun-loving trouble-making best friend Max Evans.

She smiled when she recognized the guy from the beach earlier as he walked up to them with a couple of beers held out in their direction.

"Hey, you made it," he said with a grin.

Michael sat up on a boulder watching the people wandering around and listening to the waves break on the beach behind him. He straightened up slightly when SHE entered his line of sight and he took a long drink from the bottle in his right hand. "Why the hell are you here?" he muttered under his breath.

"What’d you say?” Max asked from his spot next to him.

"Who invited Pixie an' Dixie over there to the party?"

The other man followed Michael's gaze and he grinned. "A smart man."

"Smart my ass," he grunted.

"Suck it up, Guerin. She’s not even bothering you. I don’t know what your problem is, man."

He didn't really know what his problem was either. She was hot and sooo his type that it wasn't even funny, but there was something about her that he knew would get to him and for that reason he stayed away from her.

Maria didn’t miss the disapproving glare from the man she was supposed to kiss. Damn it, she really needed to change tactics.

Michael brought his right leg up, bracing his foot on the boulder and resting his elbow on his raised knee as he watched her. He took another swig of his beer and gritted his teeth when another guy approached her carrying a beer and offering it to her.

"Since when does her friend look that hot?” Max asked.

"Who?" Michael asked.

"The brunette with the white top.”

He turned his head, scanning the crowd with a frown. He still didn't see... oh, right. "You think she's hot?"

Max rolled his eyes.

"You've never said a word about her and now suddenly she's hot... why?"

"He's watching, girl. Look at him, but just like briefly," Maria told Liz.

Max was lifting his bottle to his lips when she turned to look at him and he flashed his most brilliant smile at her... just as she turned away. What the fuck was that? He tapped his bottle against the boulder as he went over his options.

Michael grinned. "I don’t know if she thinks the same about you, Evans.”

"She's thinkin' the same thing," he insisted.

"If you say so. I couldn’t care less," Michael shrugged.

"Yeah? Then why can't you take your eyes off of her friend?"

Maria looked around, deciding what to do. Damn, she could have any guy here, why not him? "Can I have your beer?" she asked Liz.

Liz handed the beer over as she cut her eyes to the right to catch another glimpse of Max. Why was it he and Michael were always together? They were such opposites. "So..." she smoothed her hands over the shorts again and glanced back at Maria. "What're we doin' now?"

"Well, I’m going to change my tactics with Guerin. Think you can survive a few minutes without me?"

Liz looked around and shrugged. "Sure, go for it."

"Alright, and stop fumbling around. That makes you look insecure and that’s not the look that we’re going for, right?"

"Yeah." She forced her hands to be still and then fidgeted because she just didn't know what to do with them.

"I’ll be right back. You could get us a better drink since the beer’s awful. I bet with your looks, ya won’t even have to pay for it. Just lean a bit on the bar and shoot a glance at Max now and then. Not too often."

"So do that and they're just gonna hand the drinks over at no charge?"

"If you’re lucky," Maria winked

"Alright. Where do ya want me to meet you once I've got the drinks?"

"Just stay at the bar. I’ll meet you there." Maria turned to go with her new plan as she took the first steps towards Guerin.

Liz watched her for a moment before heading for the area set up as the bar.

From his perch atop the boulder Michael's eyes narrowed when he saw the two of them split up and he wondered if Dixie even knew what the hell to order as she stood in line. Pixie was heading his way and he forced his breathing to settle down as his expression slipped into one of disinterest.

Maria took some breaths to calm down, especially when she saw his distant expression again. She stopped right in front of him, holding the beer out to him. "Here."

He looked down his nose at her as he lifted his nearly empty bottle up. "Got one."

She rolled her eyes. "Just take it, Guerin."

He stared her down, hating the admiration he could feel when she refused to back down. "Whatever, gimme the damn thing," he said as he held his hand out.

She pulled the bottle away out of his reach and looked at him directly. "As much as I’d like to poison you, the beer’s fine." She pushed it into his hand. "Take it as a peace offering."

"Not worried about you tryin' to poison me, Pixie." He glanced at it suspiciously. "You spit in it?"

"Not yet," she rolled her eyes. He couldn’t even be nice to her when she was giving him a beer.

He curled his fingers around the bottle, trying to ignore the bolt of electricity that shot through him when their fingers brushed against each other.

"Listen up, Michael Guerin," she started, "I don’t know what your fuckin’ problem is with me. You act up whenever we meet accidently as if I’m stalking you and we both know I’m not. I’m also not ugly, not disgusting or whatever. So it’s pretty clear the problem’s you. So whatever you’ve got against me now’s your chance to tell me or get the hell over this shit."

The slightest hint of a smile lifted one corner of his lips. "I never said you were ugly or any of whatever else you just said." It was kind of hard to resist her but he knew he had to.

"I know you didn’t. That’s not the point." She turned to rest her back against the boulder he was sitting on and glanced around to ignore him.

"Ya know, it's a big beach... if I'm so fuckin' insufferable maybe you should go stand somewhere else."

She turned to look at him. "I didn’t say you were insufferable," she told him and walked off.

"Well, I guess she told you," Max snorted. "You are kinda insufferable at times and I really don't get why you act like that with her. You don't treat anyone else the way you treat her."

Michael still didn’t know what to say as he stared after her. What the hell had that been?

*****

Liz followed Maria's instructions as she ordered a couple of drinks even though she felt stupid. There was a reason why she never did stuff like this. Having a boyfriend saved her from getting into these situations. It really stung that David felt like she was boring. He had never been bothered by the way she was before so why now? She had not seen the break up coming and that just made it worse. She was surprised when the guy handed the drinks over and smiled as he told her they were taken care of.

"Thanks," she said with a slightly confused smile. She turned around and bumped into someone, cursing when one of the drinks sloshed over the rim of the plastic cup.

"I don't remember seein' you at any of the parties this year," Max said as he wiped the alcohol off of his hand.

She tried to remember what Maria had told her. Pretty much just be cool. “Then maybe you just weren’t looking,” Liz told him with a slight shrug. Okay, she hadn’t been at those parties very often, but he didn’t need to know that.

"Yeah, maybe," he said slowly. He would've known if she had been at one of the parties. "You here with anyone?"

“Maria”, she pointed right behind him.

"Right," he said as he glanced over his shoulder. He was familiar with Maria. Unlike her friend, Maria did follow the party circuit. "Kinda meant are you here with a date though. Unless..." he motioned between them. "I mean, you two aren't...?"

She grinned mischievously. “IS that turnin your fantasies up?”

His eyebrows shot up at her unexpected response. "You offerin' to play out a fantasy for me?" His eyes slid over her hotly. "I've got a few of 'em if you are."

“It’s gonna take more than a question for that,” she told him with a wink and stepped aside to hand the drink over to Maria who was grinning at her proudly.

Max nodded. "Fair enough." He motioned to the bartender and took the beer the guy held out. He nodded at the brunette. "Name's Max. You make it to the next party, look me up."

“See you around, Max,” she told him, not promising anything.

He stared at her for just a moment before he took off to find his buddy. Normally Guerin enjoyed a good party but he had been in a mood since they had met up an hour ago.

“That was great, girl”, Maria told her friend, smiling when the guy took off. “That was awesome. Playing with him without really showing interest.”

"Yeah, it did feel pretty good," Liz admitted with a smile. Okay, it was a little bit weird since she had only ever been with David but... yeah, it had felt good.

“Right now you’re more into the dare than I am,” Maria agreed. “Guerin is an ass.”

"What'd he do?"

“Nothing, that’s the problem. He’s just… unapproachable and I don’t know what the fuck his problem is.”

Liz raised an eyebrow. "There's gotta be a reason. Maybe he just had a bad day,"

The blonde snorted. “More a bad life I think.”

Liz laughed. "C'mon, Maria, is he really that bad?"

“He’s stupid,” Maria sipped on her drink.

"Well, that's another possibility."

“Your dare’s really mean, girl. I don’t know if I can do this. I doubt I’ll even get over step one… dating him.”

Liz smiled at the prospect of getting out of the dare. She wouldn't have to go through with it if Maria backed out. "So are you giving up?"

“What? No! I’m just saying that it might never happen. Kissing Guerin’s gonna be hard enough, but with tongue and dating and his parent’s house? I doubt that’s even possible.”

“Ya know, we can always stop this now…”

“Uh-huh, you’re trying to get outta this, Parker. Sorry, but I’m just makin’ a fool of myself with Guerin long enough to make you hit on Evans.”

*****

"Do you know those people?" Maria asked when a group of people nodded at them.

"Yeah, they’re in one of my classes," Liz answered.

"You should go and do some talking. Ya know, it’s always good to have some relations and it makes you more popular on campus, so just what ya want."

"What about you?"

"Oh, I think I’m gonna go through my tactics with Guerin."

After leaving Liz to discuss some incredibly boring topic with her classmates Maria
wandered away from the party to walk in the surf. Well, she mused, the topic had seemed interesting to them, but how could anyone come to a party and stand around talking about a Bio project? She kicked at a wave as it washed up over her foot and she frowned. What was she gonna do about Guerin?

"You're kinda far from the party," a male voice suddenly spoke up.

Gosh not him, she thought. The guy had searched for eye contact the whole night, but she had avoided flirting with him. He wasn’t bad-looking, but from what she had heard she didn’t want to get to know him. "I’m thinking.”

He glanced back at the party before looking at her again. "So, must be pretty important if ya gotta get so far away from everyone." His gaze slid over her and he took a step closer to her.

She looked at him, hands on her hips while her long blonde hair fluttered in the wind. "So? You’re far away from the party too."

"No need to be hostile," he said with a smile. "Saw you with Guerin earlier... you two got somethin' goin' on?"

She wanted to roll her eyes but didn’t. No one seemed too interested in messing with Guerin, even she was sure it had been pretty clear there was nothing between them. Hell, the guy couldn’t even look at her nicely. “Maybe,” she told him though.

He smirked, certain it wasn't true. "Well, maybe you wanna get outta here?"

Did she look like she wanted to? she wondered. “No, I’m here with a friend.”

"Ah, c'mon, we can – "

"She said no." Michael's face was cast in shadow as he stared at Blake. The guy was a waste of humanity as far as he was concerned.

Maria turned around, surprised. She would recognize his voice always. What was he doing here? Not that she didn’t like it, because maybe it meant something. Had she finally got his interest?

"No one asked you to come over here," Blake bit out.

"Get lost before I kick your ass." He had no idea why he was even involving himself. She was probably gonna inform him that she didn't need his help.

“I’m not interested,” Maria told the other guy firmly, making it clear that no matter if Michael was there or not she wasn’t going with him.

He shrugged and shot a glance at Guerin. "We'll see." He turned and sauntered off, heading back to the party.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Michael snapped once the guy was out of earshot.

“Wrong with me?” she echoed, confused. “There’s nothing wrong with me, but of course you wouldn’t know that.” Jerk!

"You know how stupid it is to go off on your own like that?" Damn, why was he starting a fight with her?

“Why would you care anyway?” she asked, annoyed. “I can handle this, Guerin. I get bothered by a lot of guys, never needed your help.”

He shrugged and stared at her. If only things were different, he thought. "Next time I won't bother. Guy's got a bad rep for a reason."

"Oh, really?" she teased lightly. He cared for some reason, she had just no clue why. "So whatcha gonna do if I strip outta my clothes and take a dip in the ocean?"

He swallowed hard and forced down the image his mind so helpfully supplied. He motioned to the ocean. "Go ahead," he said carelessly.

She really wondered if she should do it. Her bikini was right under her clothes, but she would be all wet afterwards and no towel… “Fine,” she lifted her tank top over her head, revealing the olive-colored bikini top.

She was really gonna do it. It took everything he had to stand still when she pulled her shirt up and the moonlight fell over her skin.

“Here,” she threw her top at him. “You can hold that.”

Okay, he hadn't expected that. The top smelled just like her and his traitorous body stirred in interest. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited to see how far she would go.

Maria had hoped he’d tell her to stop and that it was crazy to take a dip in the ocean right now, but of course the idiot was just standing there watching. Well, at least he seemed to watch in interest. One point for me!

Slowly she opened the buttons of her jean shorts and slid them down her slim legs before stepping out of them and turning to look at him with a challenging gaze.

"Not bad," he said, sounding bored. He just grinned when she threw the shorts at him. "Really gonna take a dip, huh?"

Maria ignored him and walked down to the water, making sure her ass swayed nicely so he would watch.

He waited until she was knee-deep in the water before he took a step back, smirking at the look of shock on her face when he kept moving farther away. With her clothes still in his hand.

Oh no, he would so not do that! God, please no, she begged slightly, but tried to play it cool. “Do whatever ya wanna do. This’s a beach party, so no one would look at me twice if I show up in a bikini,” she yelled at him. “Ya know… other guys would’ve joined me, but not you. Maybe you’re just gay.”

That stopped him in his tracks and he slowly turned to look at her. "Gay?" he questioned, his voice low but clear.

“Or maybe impotent?” She shrugged with a grin. “Ya know Guerin, ya might play a bad ass at everything, but ya never play it hot an’ dirty and that makes me wonder.” Okay, she wasn’t sure how much this would actually help her with the dare, but she was desperate to know why she couldn’t even get a single flirtatious smile out of him.

He tossed her clothes on the beach. "Ever considered that maybe it’s just you?"

“I did consider that, but then I realized I never see you with anyone else either,” she said. Admittedly, his words hurt a bit, but she wouldn’t show it to him.

"Maybe you should check your notes then." Gay and impotent? All in one night? "Me an' you," he gestured between them, "never gonna happen."

Okay now it really hurt. This wasn’t all about the damn dare. She had tried before to get through to him. “Fine,” she just told him carelessly and turned to face the ocean. Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!

He hated himself for putting that look on her face but if she knew why he did it she'd understand. "Keep your eyes open next time you see me – I'll show you just how gay and impotent I am."

She flipped him off without looking at him.

It wasn't the first time someone had flipped him off and it wasn't likely to be the last but this time it bothered him. "You probably shouldn't stay out there," he said, well aware that on top of everything else she thought about him she would be adding schizophrenic to the list.

"What do you care?" she snapped.

"Fuck, stay out there then." Damn girl, he thought in irritation.

She rolled her eyes but stepped out of the water. She had kinda hoped he would join her, but of course he was no fun. With slow steps she walked over to him and picked her top up from the ground to slide it over her head again before sitting down on the beach, facing the water.

Michael stood there like an idiot. He had no idea what to say or do. Why couldn't she be like every other girl and bore him stupid? At least then he could hook up and take off like he normally did when he felt like it.

Why wasn’t he just going? she wondered.

"Later," he muttered as he shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to head back to the party.

“Or not,” she hissed after him, sighing deeply when he was out of earshot. Gosh, she would never get him to kiss her.

*****

Liz was crossing the quad when she noticed Max Evans. He wasn't studying or eating lunch like most of the students. He was running across the quad chasing a Frisbee that another guy had just thrown. He jumped over a girl lying on the ground with her nose buried in a textbook.

Everything was fine as he jumped and caught the bright red disc. It was when a dog ran in front of him and he tried to avoid kicking the animal that he lost his balance and hit the ground. Just a few feet from where she was standing.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered as he tried to look at his right elbow.

Liz suppressed a giggle. It had just looked too funny how he had landed flat on the grass.

Max leaned back on his elbow, ignoring the stinging pain where he had scraped the skin. "How's it goin'?" he asked with a grin.

“Well, I’m better than you are, I suppose,” she told him and couldn’t hold back her light laughter.

His gaze slid up over her slowly. "Whatcha up to?" he asked.

She was actually planning to study in the library, but Maria would just roll her eyes at her if she admitted that. “Nothin’. Gonna meet up with some friends.”

"Yeah? Gonna be at the party tomorrow night?"

"Depends, which one ya mean?” She really had no clue where the parties were, but she was pretty sure there were always more than one.

"The only one worth spendin' any time at," he said with a grin. "There's gonna be a party down on the pier."

“Well, I haven’t decided yet. There’s another cool party in the city, so we’ll see I guess.”

"Uh-huh," he said as he watched her. "You think there's a party better than ours?"

She let her hand wander through her hair and glanced at her watch as if she had to be somewhere very quickly. “Hey, I’d love to talk longer, but I’ve gotta hurry to meet my friends.”

His eyes followed her when she started to continue on her way. "See ya round," he called after her, biting his bottom lip as he waited to see if she looked back at him. That second look would tell him if she was really interested. "C'mon," he muttered under his breath.

Don’t look back, Maria had said to her, Liz remembered and had a hard following the rule. She pretended to call someone when she took her cell out and pressed it against her ear. Yeah, that would look like she was important, she decided and gave herself a slight nod.

Max felt his smug grin slip when her attention focused on a phone call instead of looking back at him. Damn!

"Yo, Evans, you gonna throw that Frisbee back anytime soon?"

He glanced at the disc in his hand and then back at the guy who had hollered before hauling himself to his feet and brushing the dirt and grass off before pulling his wrist back and letting the Frisbee fly.

Earth2Mama: Oh, Michael’s definitely a mystery right now. But we will explain later of course.

Lol, oh it sooo works with Max.

secretk: Welcome aboard! Fluff is good, lol, and while there is some drama mixed in, there will be lots of fluff here. We’ve gotta have our summer fic.

The plan’s working great for Max and Liz, lol. Not so much for Michael and Maria. At least not yet.

You would be correct, there’s a reason for his behavior. You could be onto something, we’ll see.

begonia9508: Thanks!

Lol, Michael thought so too.

Think maybe Liz is doing so well because her target is one Max Evans?

mary mary: True, but it’s such great fodder for stories.

keepsmiling7: You won’t have long to wait.

Alien_Friend: Lol, Liz is doing well so far. It’s never any fun when the dare backfires, but hopefully that won’t happen right away.

Michael and Maria... always explosive. Question is, how long can he hold out against her?

A couple weeks, huh? Things should begin to be pretty interesting by then.

Eva: Think that has anything to do with the fact that Max is her target? Michael’s definitely on the run based on his response to her, lol.

sarammlover: Lol, Michael making you mad? Shocking! Maybe this next update will provide a tiny glimpse of his better qualities? Yeah, it’s never any fun putting the moves on and getting shot down. Liz... she’s gonna be fun in this one. The confidence may be manufactured at the moment, but David’s just not the guy who was gonna bring it out in her. As for Maria, advice is easier to give than to take and Maria’s blinded by her own actions.

Natalie36: Catching on and quickly, lol.

sptfire86: Thanks for reading!

kismet: Yeah, he isn’t exactly jumping at the offers Maria’s made.

Liz is doing very well. Think she’s doing so good because Max is her target?


Part 3

Liz opened the door when Maria knocked, almost expecting her friend to tell her to change clothes again. “Hey,” she greeted the blonde girl.

“Hey to you to,” Maria answered and checked Liz’ outfit. “You look good.”

The brunette smiled, relieved. “I went out shopping after class since you didn’t have time.”

“Uh-huh, definitely worth it. The skirt’s really bad-ass. Where’d ya get it from?”

“Oh, actually the skirt isn’t new,” Liz said and grabbed her bag. “Just the top.”

“Really?” Maria checked her again. “The green goes nicely with your hair, but I can’t remember you ever wearing that skirt, girl.”

“Well,” Liz used her hands to push the denim fabric a little further down, but it refused to cooperate. “You probably know it, but it was much longer before. I just cut it off.”

“Ohhh, I like that,” Maria laughed.

Liz nodded and rolled her eyes as she turned to check her reflection once more. It felt weird to be wearing something so... so... not there! She studied her image and decided that she did look really good. Of course, they should probably go before she lost her nerve, she decided as she ran her fingers through her hair once more.

“You look good, chica, now let’s go! I’m starving.”

Liz glanced around her room, thankful that she didn’t have a slob for a roommate. “How’re things with your roomie?” she asked as they stepped out into the hall and she pulled the door closed behind them.

“She’s a bitch like usual.”

“I don’t know how you got stuck with someone like her.”

“I already talked to someone about it. I told them she needs to go, but they didn’t give me much hope that it’d happen anytime soon, so I think I’m just gonna try to stay outta the room as much as possible.”

“Yeah, you’d think they’d try to match people by personality or something,” she said as they walked downstairs. “So... I kinda ran into Max Evans earlier today.”

“You kinda ran into Max Evans?” Maria repeated, amused. “Did you talk to him?”

“Yes, I talked to him. I didn’t just stand there gaping at him like an idiot.”

“You are so funny, Liz. So what’d you say? Did you talk to him first?”

“Um...” she frowned as she tried to remember. “Well, no, but he kinda landed at my feet. It wasn’t exactly witty banter but I did talk to him. He asked if I’d be at some party at the pier tomorrow.”

“What’d ya say?”

“I acted like I hadn’t heard anything about the party at the pier... okay, that wasn’t that hard,” she admitted. “Since I don’t really pay much attention to where the parties are. Anyway, I played it cool, acted like there were other parties to consider.”

“Very good,” Maria chuckled. “I’ll bet he was totally stunned you didn’t just shout ‘HELL YEAH!’.”

“He did look kinda shocked... I think. He was playing it pretty cool too.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m pretty sure he was totally pissed that you didn’t tell him yes right away.”

“Really?” Was that a good thing?

“It was the best thing you could do, girl. Now he’ll wonder what he did wrong or why he isn’t already getting through to you. Good job.” Maria made a face. “I wish I was as half as close with Guerin, but it’s really hopeless.”

“Well... maybe Michael’s just...” She made a face. Okay, she really had no idea. “Maybe it’s just gonna take some time.”

“Or maybe he’s really gay,” Maria huffed.

The girls made it to the restaurant in less than half an hour. They had reserved a table a few days ago since the place was pretty popular with students from the nearby campus.

“Uh-huh, like you really believe that,” Liz snorted.

“Well, it’s the only logical thing that comes to mind.”

“Yeah, maybe, but you don’t believe it.” They took their seats and ordered drinks before being left alone with their menus.

“I wish he was though, at least then it would make sense.”

“Maybe he really likes you. Ya know, like when you’re little and a boy likes you so he pushes you or does other annoying things to get your attention.”

“But we’re not little anymore, Liz. If he liked me then he wouldn’t act the way he does. He hasn’t even smiled at me once or whatever. So I’m just gonna believe he’s gay so I’ll feel better.”

Liz just smiled and shrugged. “Whatever makes ya feel better.”

“Uh... don’t look now, but your ex just entered the restaurant, girl.”

“What?” She downed a quick drink of water. “Who’s he with?”

“I don’t know, some guy friends.”

“Well... that’s better than some other girl.”

“He’s coming over,” Maria hissed to prepare Liz just before he could hear it.

David came up to the table, giving his ex the once-over and lifting an eyebrow in surprise when he caught sight of her thigh below the hem of her short skirt. Somehow he had expected her to be in her dorm room studying... in an old pair of sweats or something. “Liz. Maria,” he greeted, with barely a glance at her. He knew she couldn’t stand him so there was no point in pretending like they were friends.

Liz leaned back in her chair, resting one arm coolly on the backrest. “David…”

Maria smirked at the expression on his face. Idiot looked like he was about to choke on his tongue.

“You’re looking... good,” he said after a moment.

She glanced over him. He looked fantastic as well but she wouldn’t tell him that. “Thanks,” she said.

He cleared his throat. “Right, well,” he smoothed a hand over his shirt, “will you be home this weekend?”

“Home?” she asked with a frown. “At my parents?”

“Well... at the dorm, visiting your parents... whatever.”

She shrugged. “Weekend’s like years from now. We’ll see.”

He frowned at that answer. Since when did she not plan to do one of those things if they didn’t have prior plans?

Maria bit back a laugh. Liz was doing great and David looked like he just got hit by a truck.

“Well, I guess I’ll get back to the guys. I just wanted to stop and say hi.”

“How nice of you,” Maria said.

“Yeah well, have fun,” Liz said and turned to face Maria again. It was so hard to be that cold to him, but she knew she had to.

David stood there for several long seconds, trying to figure out what had just happened. Had she dismissed him? He reached up to scratch his head as he walked back to his friends.

“That was great, Liz. He was stunned.”

She just grinned and opened her menu up. “He did look shocked, didn’t he?” she said as she shut it once more.

“Hell, yeah. He was totally confused, his expression was priceless.”

“Okay, but I feel kinda bad treating him like that.”

“Don’t. He’s the ass, not you, remember that.”

“Right.” She gnawed on her bottom lip. “That is right! I’m not the one who broke us up.”

“Yeah. And I bet he’s already kicking his own ass for that.”

Liz smiled. Maybe Maria’s plan wasn’t so weird after all.

“Okay, now that I boosted your ego you’re gonna boost mine. I really need someone to tell me Guerin’s just stupid.”

“Maria, the guy has to have some serious defect if he can’t see how great you are.” She shook her head when the waiter approached, holding her hand up to let him know they needed a few more minutes. “Everyone knows how true that is and if he can’t see it then he’s worse than just stupid.”

The other girl smiled. “Thanks.”

“Feel a little better now?”

“Shhh,” Maria pressed her index finger to her lips when she heard some other girls talking at the neighbouring table.

Liz lifted an eyebrow when one of the girls started up a running commentary about the guy she had been with the night before. She started to ignore it until she heard Michael’s name and she shifted slightly to get a look at the girl talking.

“Max Evans invited us over to his apartment when the party on the beach slowed down and we kept partying over there with maybe 50 other people? I was so lucky to get invited, I can tell you.”

Her eyes rolled. Of course his name would be linked with a party and a bunch of hot girls. Why had she let Maria dare her into going after Max Evans out of every guy on campus?

“Me an’ Natasha, that’s it,” the other girl was explaining to her friend. “So we were just there an’ having a good time, but things got even better.”

“Don’t keep us in suspense, girl,” a short redhead insisted. “What happened?” Her eyes widened. “Don’t tell us you hooked up with Guerin?”

“Really?” another girl demanded. “Did you?”

Maria mentally kicked herself for listening to their conversation and hanging onto every single word but she couldn’t stop.

“I soooooo did,” she finally said happily and high-fived her friends.

She sighed as she finally turned her head to get a look at the girl bragging about the night before. Tall, dark hair, big boobs... yeah, no wonder she couldn’t get his attention.

“Obviously not gay, huh?” Liz asked carefully.

“Obviously,” she muttered. “And it’s kinda hard to compete with that.” She nodded at the other girl. “I’m not gonna get any taller, dye my hair, or get breast implants just to impress him.”

“This doesn’t have to mean anything,” Liz assured her. “Maybe that girl’s lying anyway, we don’t know that what she’s saying’s true.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” It didn’t really make her feel any better though.

“What if I come up with a different dare for you?”

“Tempting, but... Maria Deluca never backs out on a dare.”

“Well okay,” Liz said, giving her an encouraging smile.

“Let’s just order dinner and try to ignore them.”

****

Maria rubbed her temple as she slumped down in her chair in her philosophy class. She had felt the damn migraine threatening all morning and it was one of those days when her medication didn’t seem to be helping at all. She propped her elbow on the right side of the desktop and wondered why it felt so much like being in high school. Educational facilities must get all of their furniture from the same supplier at a bulk rate, she decided irritably.

She ignored the noise several rows back as Michael Guerin led his minions in a discussion about the team practice the night before. He and Max Evans were both on the college baseball team and listening to him talk it sounded like the practice had gone so well that it was a sure sign they were going to win the rest of their games for the season.

She switched tactics, rubbing her forehead when the professor came in and slammed the door to get everyone’s attention. He pulled a stack of papers out of his briefcase and his brows pulled down over the bridge of his nose in a deep frown. She sighed when he started out with his usual speech about how disappointed he was in this class because they obviously didn’t understand the great philosophers.

“And you, Miss Deluca,” he said as he stopped next to her desk and slapped her paper on the surface, “if your understanding about life is as intuitive as your understanding of philosophy I can only speculate that you’ll be single, pregnant and taking orders at some local restaurant.” He shook his head derisively. “This work is an insult.”

She slouched down further in her chair as humiliation and anger washed over her. Well, that wasn’t helping the damn migraine any, she thought with a frown.

“You’ve got nothing to say about it?” the professor asked, stunned when the girl in front of him stayed quiet.

“Would it matter?” she bit out.

“Probably not,” he shrugged.

Michael frowned at the man in front of them. He was sure DeLuca had a weird idea of life, but who did he think he was to tell her she had a future as a single, pregnant waitress?

Maria winced when the pain intensified, the overhead lighting making it even worse. “You know, maybe it wasn’t the best paper you’ve ever read, but it still deserved a better grade than this shit,” she snapped, the migraine making her more snappish than normal. “And even if that was how my life turned out – not that it will – but I’ll bet I’d still be a helluva lot happier than you are.”

“It actually deserves a grade that doesn’t exist yet,” he said dismissively and moved on to the next student.

“What a dick,” Michael muttered under his breath.

“Anything you wanna share with the rest of the class, Mr. Guerin?”

“Yeah, there’s no reason to talk to your students like that. Maybe if your class wasn’t so damn boring people would be more interested.”

Maria smirked slightly at that. As much as she wished the guy to hell right now, he really had just said the truth. Damn, if she wasn’t feeling so fucking miserable right now she’d applaud him.

“Mr. Guerin, perhaps you should turn your attention to Socrates and Plato and defend your girlfriend at a more appropriate time.” He slapped Michael’s paper on the desk in front of him. “As you’ll see, you could do with more study time of an academic nature.”

“My what?” Michael asked, horrified.

“It’s true,” another student from a couple rows over spoke up. “We want to be treated with respect as well.”

As much as Maria wanted to say something she had to focus on fighting off the nausea that accompanied the migraine as it continued to worsen.

“You get the respect you deserve,” the professor said. “And this class won’t need to worry about that expectation any time soon.”

Michael shot a glance at Maria, wanting to see her reaction to the professor’s girlfriend comment. She didn’t seem to care though. To be honest she looked pretty awful.

She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Why had she even come to this class today? She should’ve just stayed home in bed, but no, she just had to find out what her grade was on that stupid paper. A paper she had spent hours and hours writing only to get a crap grade on it. She rubbed her forehead, hating the way it felt so cold and clammy.

“Hey, you okay?” a girl next to her asked.

“Fine, it’s just a headache.”

Had to be a bad headache, Michael thought when he overheard the little conversation.

Maria glanced at the door to the classroom and wondered if she could make it to the bathroom. She just knew she was going to end up throwing up soon and she’d rather not do it in front of the entire class. I’m gonna try it, she decided and got up, grabbing her bag so she could leave, but the floor below her suddenly seemed to move and she had to grab onto her chair.

Michael was up out of his chair before there was even enough time for him to register the move. He pushed past the annoyed professor, ignoring whatever he was saying as he rushed down to grab Maria’s arm. “C’mon, DeLuca, lemme get you outta here,” he muttered.

She felt too dizzy to tell him where to shove his help and right now it was good to have someone taking care of her. She leaned against his side weakly and hoped he wasn’t just messing around with her. That would be so embarrassing.

“You need to go to the nurse’s office?” he asked, not sure what was wrong with her.

“I just wanna lay down,” she groaned, the headache getting worse with every step she took.

“How close is your dorm room?”

“Block D.”

He frowned. “Okay, that’s probably too far as bad as you look.” He glanced around and suddenly scooped her up in his arms, heading for the exit.

“What’re you doin’?” she mumbled. “Don’t move so fast, it hurts.”

“Maybe getting some fresh air will help.” He used his shoulder to push his way outside and he slowed down at her request. He carried her across the quad to a bench set up in a shaded area and laid her down on it.

“Gosh, I’m so sick,” Maria rolled a little to the side in case it came to the worst.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Migraines.”

“Oh. Don’t you take meds or somethin’ for ‘em?”

“They don’t always help.”

“Well, that sucks. Anything else help?”

Why the hell was he here? On the one hand he didn’t seem to care less about her and on the other he did. Laying down was good and not moving around felt even better, so she was finally able to breath calmer again. There was even a little smirk on her lips. “Maybe a kiss.”

The fresh air and being horizontal seemed to be helping; her color was coming back and she no longer looked like she was about to throw up. He made a face at her as he bit back the urge to follow through. “Yeah, not gonna happen.”

Her smirk got little bit wider since she had already known the answer. “Too bad you’re not into blondes.”

“Say what?”

“You heard me, Guerin.”

“What makes you think my attraction doesn’t include blondes?”

She frowned. If it included blondes, why didn’t it include her? “Am I that ugly in your opinion?”

He studied her features. Her eyes were closed and he didn’t know if it was to avoid looking at him or because her head was still hurting so badly. “I never said you were ugly,” he said quietly.

“But you don’t want me either,” she said just as quietly. “It can’t be my personality either, because when I hit on you the first time, you hadn’t even known me for longer than a heartbeat.”

“Look, you wouldn’t like me if you got to know me... this way it saves us both the trouble.”

She smiled slightly with her eyes still closed. “You’re a bad liar, Guerin.”

“You’re callin’ me a liar?” he snapped.

“Owww,” she held her head. “Don’t be so fuckin’ loud.”

“What makes you think I’m a liar?” he repeated quietly.

She opened her eyes a bit to look at him, studying his features for a while. “I think what you’re really afraid of is that I’d like you too much.”

“I’m not afraid of anything,” he said, shaking his head.

“Then why do you assume I wouldn’t like you?”

Because after a while you’d learn the truth and you’d decide my life’s too complicated, he thought. “Because I know who I am.”

“You’re the only who knows that though,” she said and closed her eyes again.

He slammed the door on the thoughts that reared up at her words. “Stick to what you know, DeLuca.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I know you make out with other girls at parties, but somehow I’m not good enough for you… and I’m not even talking about a relationship here.”

“A relationship?” He snorted. Yeah, he’d really put himself through something that wouldn’t work out once the truth came out. “Look, just believe me... you wouldn’t wanna bother with me.”

He wasn’t really giving her a reason why he didn’t want her and it bothered her. “Stick to what you know, Guerin,” she threw his own words back at him.

“I’m tryin’,” he muttered.

She rubbed her face and slowly sat upright. “I know it’ll take lots and lots of strain for you to bear with me any longer, but you think you could help me to my dorm?”

Michael sometimes wished he was different... that his life wasn’t so complicated, that he was the kind of guy she’d want to stick with if she got to know him. But he knew the truth and it was better to let her just think he was a jerk from the beginning than to get involved, let himself care about her and then have her walk away. He held his hand out to her to help her up. “C’mon, I’ll try to suffer with your presence for a few more minutes.”

“You’re so generous,” she said and took his hands, ignoring the wave of butterflies in her stomach when they touched.

“Yeah, well... don’t get used to it,” he mumbled. It annoyed him that he felt a protective wave wash over him when her small hands slid into his.

mary mary: Yeah, lol, and we think he knows it.

Earth2Mama: It could end up being the first time Maria’s ever not completely hated a migraine.

David’s pretty baffled with this new Liz.

begonia9508: Lol, you could be right about that.

Yeah, that guy shouldn’t be in that position.

Natalie36: He’s really not gonna make it easy.

Jan: Yep, Michael will revert to form. He doesn’t want any involvement with her. We’re pretty sure Maria’s gonna get it out of him though.

Thanks!

secretk: Thanks!

David deserved it, didn’t he?

Lol, maybe not but he’s gonna give it his best shot.

keepsmiling7: Hopefully Liz will notice that David is exactly the same.

nitpick23: Oh, it’ll be explained in time. Max knows but he may not be connecting the dots.

You hit that one right on the head! David broke up with her because she wasn’t adventurous enough and she shouldn’t have to change to keep him, so hopefully she’ll realize that.

A dare on the guys‘ side of things, huh? We’ll see.

sarammlover: Lol, Maria seconds that. Although right now she thinks its the other way around and she wants to know why she’s not good enough for Michael. Liz is doing well with her dare and David’s reaction to seeing her with Max would be priceless.

Eva: You’re right about Michael. He’s genuinely friendly and caring but for some reason he continues to push Maria away. But he just showed his hand so now we’ll see what Maria does with this new information.

Lover of Metallica: We’re hoping to see that same thing for Liz. Sure, she’s playing out her dare and part of it is an act, but we’re pretty sure that some of it’s real and has just been waiting for the right guy to come along to reveal itself.

We agree. If that professor had gone off on her like that on a day when she wasn’t feeling so crappy she would’ve gone off on him.

Michael revealed a little more than he wanted to but he couldn’t just sit there and let her suffer.

Lol, we’re pretty sure you’re right about that girl at the restaurant.



Part 4

Maria and Liz slipped out of their shoes when they arrived at another random beach party. It was the weekend and they had both spent the day before relaxing and working on Liz’ tan. They hadn’t seen the guys pretty much all week since Liz had refused to go to a party without Maria that she had been invited to.

“Gosh, I wish I hadn’t talked so openly to Guerin when he saved me from my headache. Now he knows for sure that I’m interested in him, so I lost all my cards. I can’t play the unapproachable, I can’t play the offensive, I also can’t do the mysterious woman. It’s hopeless.”

“At least he didn’t say that you’re ugly or whatever, so there’s still hope,” Liz tried.

Maria shoved the thoughts about Guerin away. “We’ll concentrate on the Max part today. I wanna spend a party without worrying about the jerk who doesn’t know what he’s missing.”

Liz glanced at the people scattered in groups on the beach, knowing Max would likely be in the biggest one. He and Michael both had a way of collecting groupies. “Well, I’m sure he’ll be busy with a bunch of people.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about that. This new dress of yours will get his attention sooner or later.”

“Maria, what if he really starts to like me? Maybe it’s kind of wrong what I’m doing... you know, using him like this.” She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “Am I over thinking?”

Maria grinned. “Yeah, because first off men don’t care about stuff like that, and second, he doesn’t care Liz. He’s a womanizer.”

“Guess it’s a good thing I don’t really like him like that then, huh?”

“Oh yeah, never get attached to men like him.” You have room to talk, DeLuca, she told herself.

“Um, okay, but Michael’s the same way and you really like him a lot, Maria. If he ever opens his eyes and sees you would you be able to not get attached to him?”

“I guess I don’t have to think about it, because it’s never gonna happen.”

“Well, what if you succeed in this dare? I mean, wouldn’t that kinda put you in a position to get attached to him?”

“I see it this way: IF it ever happens that I complete the mission of the dare, I don’t have to worry about it, because he’d only take me to his parents’ place if he really was attracted to me too.”

“Okay,” Liz said uncertainly. She nodded at a group in the distance when she finally located their reason for being at the party. Well, her reason anyway. Maria actually enjoyed going to parties.

“Ready to rock an’ roll?” Maria wiggled her eyebrows.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

“Come on,” Maria walked forward, swaying her hips to the beat of the music and greeting a few people she knew from classes.

Liz knew a lot of the people from classes, but not well enough to say she really ‘knew’ them. She followed Maria’s lead though, making small talk with a few of them as they crossed the beach.

“He’s already watching,” Maria told her friend with a wink as they stopped at a bar to get some drinks.

Liz turned just enough to catch a glimpse of him without letting him know she was looking. “It’s a shame he’s such a womanizer,” she murmured as her gaze slid over him unconsciously.

“The hot ones are always, Chica.” Maria handed her friend a drink. “Sisters over misters.”

“Too bad.” Not that it really mattered, she mused. She was only doing this because she wanted to get David back.

“Let’s get a bit closer to dance.”

“Yeah.” She enjoyed dancing although she liked it better when she had a partner. Not that Maria wasn’t a great dancer, because she was, but it just wasn’t the same without a guy. David. She meant David.

They walked through the soft sand with their bare feet and stopped at the part of the party where most of the people were dancing and having a good time. “We shouldn’t just go out like this because of a dare,” Maria decided. “We should do this more often just because.”

Liz looked around, enjoying the feel of being out and doing something new. It wasn’t like she was a shut-in or anything, but she and David didn’t really do a lot of going out unless it was dinner and a movie. “Yeah, maybe we should,” she mused.

“Maybe you’ll forget about David then,” Maria told her with a wink.

“Well... but, that’s kinda the whole point of this thing though.”

“Yeah, I know. Just want you to remember that there are also other possibilities out here besides him.”

She rolled her eyes. Maria would probably explode with joy if she totally gave up on David. For some reason she had just never liked him... and that had been from the very first time they had met.

“Evans has already noticed you; it’s just a matter of time until he talks to you again. Maybe you can get an invitation to one of those private parties at his apartment after the other parties slow down?!”

Liz gnawed on her lip. “Do we even know what goes on at those parties?”

“Well, no, that’s why we want to go there.”

“What if it’s like some kinda weird stuff?”

“Like what? Drugs? Sex?”

“Well... it IS college, Maria and we don’t know these guys that well.”

“If it’s weird then we just go, Liz. Don’t worry about it. They do that all the time and did you ever hear anything weird about them?”

“I don’t know, Maria... call me weird, but I just like to know what I’m getting into.”

“It’s probably just people hanging out, drinking, talking about football a lot, and yeah, it’s probably also about sex. But that doesn’t mean anyone would expect you to have sex, Lizzie.”

“Right, I know that. I mean, I’m not intending to do that anyway.” She glanced at Max again before her gaze darted away. “At all.”

“But you’ve gotta admit you think he’s hot.”

“I’d be a liar if I said I hadn’t noticed and I’m not a liar.”

Maria grinned and let her gaze wander over the man in question. She was stunned when she found Michael standing next to Max looking at her.

Max didn’t even take his eyes off of Liz as he spoke to the silent man standing next to him. “Why don’t you just hook up with her, Michael? What’s the harm?”

“It would harm my sanity,” he told his friend and turned to look at one of the other guys when he offered him a beer.

He snorted and shook his head. “You do know if you weren’t so mysterious she’d probably stop hangin’ around, right?”

“What’s so mysterious about telling her that me an’ her is never gonna happen? Leaves no room for mystery in my opinion.”

“You’re a big question mark and that drives girls crazy. No one around here really knows you and you keep it that way intentionally. That one right there?” he nodded at Maria. “She wants to know what makes you tick.”

Michael looked at Maria again and wasn’t surprised to find her looking back at him. “Guess she’s just gonna have to give up.”

Max gave a sharp bark of laughter. “Yeah, that’ll happen.”

“Leave me alone with DeLuca, will ya?” the other guy snapped and walked off.

Max just rolled his eyes. Guerin had it bad and he had a feeling things were about to get VERY interesting.

*****

Max wandered around as his gaze scanned the beach for one person in particular. The party on the beach was winding down and they would be moving things to the apartment but not everyone was invited back to his place. He spotted his target standing alone and started walking towards her.

Liz had found a spot to sit back and relax while she waited for Maria to finish making the rounds. She knew her friend had been hoping for an invite to the private party that would continue after the beach party ended but so far no one had approached either of them about it.

“Lookin’ a little lonely over here.”

“My feet just hurt a bit,” Liz lied.

His gaze dropped to her feet where they were buried in the soft sand. “That’s a shame. We’re about to head over to my place to party an’ I thought maybe you’d wanna go along.”

To be honest she felt more in the mood to go home, but if Maria found out she said no to THE INVITATION, she would kill her. “Who’s we?”

“Bunch of the guys from the team, bunch of the girls from the softball team, and of course, a handful of other select people... like you.”

Wow, she was a select person, she thought with an inner eye roll. “Is it cool?” she asked as if it was nothing special to get invited to Max’s apartment.

“Is it...” He stared at her for a moment, certain he must have misunderstood. “Of course it’s cool.”

“What about Maria?”

“What about Maria?” he repeated. “Oh, yeah, she can go too. She an’ Guerin can antagonize each other all night... that should entertain people.”

Liz got up. “I’m gonna go find her, not sure how much she’ll appreciate Michael being there, but I guess she can deal with him,” she told him with a cool shrug. “Where should I meet you?”

Max hooked his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the parking area further up the beach. “You guys drive here?”

”No, we walked.”

“Wanna meet us up in the parking area and you can catch a ride with us? I drive a black jeep and I’m parked close to the beach.”

“Sure, we’ll be right there.” Liz went to find Maria and didn’t have to search long. “Guess what?”

Maria excused herself from the group she was talking to. “What’s up, Chica?”

“Seems like we got an invitation.”

“An invitation to what?”

“What do you think, goofy?”

“Wait... no way... Really?!” she squealed excitedly.

“Uh-huh, we’re supposed to meet Max at his car.”

“You’ve been busy,” she said with a smile. “I approve.”

“I didn’t do much, but we need to go.”

“Planning to try an’ get Evans alone at his place?” Maria teased and waggled her eyebrows.

“What? No!”

She smirked. “Okay, if you say so. C’mon, we can get outta here.”

“Okay.” Liz wasn’t half as excited as her friend, but she tried at least.

“It’ll be fun,” Maria assured her. “We don’t have to stay long if you don’t want to but we have to put in an appearance.”

“Yeah, we’ll do it,” Liz nodded and followed her friend.

They made their way up to the parking area and quickly located the jeep. She felt her excitement fade slightly when she saw Michael leaning back against the front fender. “Great,” she mumbled under her breath.

“Yeah, well he’ll be there.”

“Of course he will be.” She glanced at the keg in the backseat on the passenger’s side and then at the space remaining. “We’re not gonna both fit back there.”

“Maybe Michael drove here in his own car?” Liz wondered aloud.

“He could have but with my luck he didn’t.”

“Hey, ladies,” Max smirked at them. “Gonna be a little tight in here, sorry, but it’s only a couple of miles.”

“I don’t suppose you’re driving,” she said with a quick glance at Michael.

“Does it look like it?”

Max smoothly intercepted when he saw the response about to leave her mouth. “So, we’ve got room for one person in the back and... well, someone’s gonna have to ride Guerin.” He grinned at his friend, shrugging at his dark look. “Oops, I meant ride in his lap.”

“No way,” Maria muttered.

Liz glanced at Michael and swallowed hard. The guy was kind of intimidating when he had that look on his face. “At least you like him, Maria,” Liz hissed quietly. “I mean, ya know, kinda.”

“I could have you ride in my lap,” Maria told her friend.

“Excellent,” Michael said, nodding in approval. “Little girl on girl action in the backseat, Evans.”

“You sure, girls? The ride along the beach is kinda bumpy.”

Michael hauled himself into the passenger’s seat and glanced at Maria. “Chicken, huh?” He had no reason why he was practically daring her. The last thing he wanted was Maria DeLuca squirming around in his lap.

“I’ll show you chicken, Guerin,” she said and walked up to him.

Fuck! He should’ve known better. He glared at her hoping she would back off and change her mind.

Maria continued to hold his gaze directly.

“Well, c’mon,” he huffed irritably when she refused to back down from his challenge. “I don’t have all night.”

Maria climbed in the car. Well, at least it was one time he would lay a hand on her.

He grunted when she settled in his lap and refused to look at him. “Why don’t you relax,” he growled.

“Relax?”

“You’re about as tense as a virgin on prom night.”

She shrugged. “Fine,” she said and sat in his lap more fully.

He could kill Evans for making this arrangement. The last thing he needed was to spring a hard-on with her in his lap. He’d never get rid of her if she realized he was attracted to her. “Anyone ever tell you you’ve got a bony ass?”

“Bony?” she echoed, annoyed. “My ass is just fine.”

That was part of the problem, he thought. Her ass was a hell of a lot better than just fine. “Glad to hear you like it so much.”

“I like a lot of things,” she teased slightly.

His eyebrows shot up before he could stop the reaction and his gaze moved over her heatedly. “Like what?”

Oh, so he was playing along, she thought in satisfaction. That was new. “Like big hands touching me,” her gaze swept over his hands.

His hands clenched in response. “Keep goin’,” he growled, unable to stop himself. God, what was it about her?

She leaned closer to whisper in his ear. “Like soft, hot lips on my neck...”

His eyes dropped to her neck, taking in the soft skin there. He nodded, silently telling her to go on.

“Like men with hot bodies.”

He reached up to scratch his neck as his gaze moved over her breasts. “Meet a lot of those do ya?”

“Not a lot, but now and then,” she breathed into his ear.

He lifted his gaze to hers, feeling his heart do a weird flip at the look in her green eyes. He grabbed onto the rollbar when Max jerked into the lot at his complex. He hadn’t even realized they were moving until now.

Maria smirked at him and leaned forward. “Definitely not gay or impotent,” she whispered and pressed her ass against him again before climbing out.

He growled under his breath and then shot a look at Max when he heard the familiar amused chuckle at his expense. “Shut the fuck up, Evans.”

Several more cars stopped and people got out of their cars, carrying kegs and bottles to the front door. Max pushed the key into the lock and opened the door. He made his way directly to the stereo and seconds later loud music filled the room and the party started out of nowhere.

Michael tried to be inconspicuous as he watched Maria. He really couldn’t figure out why a girl who had her pick of guys continued to pursue him. She had to have masochistic tendencies, he decided as he grabbed a beer. Why else would she tease and flirt with him?

“Wow, I think Max’ family is even richer than ours,” Maria said, impressed when Liz and her went through the rooms to inspect the apartment.

“You think?” Liz asked with a roll of her eyes. “How much you wanna bet he’s got someone who comes in and cleans for him? There’s no way a guy like him has an apartment this clean.”

“True, especially not with the parties he has. The place will probably be a total mess in the morning.”

Liz wrinkled her nose. “You couldn’t pay me enough to clean up after him or one of his parties.”

“No problem. You’re not here to clean up his mess; you’re here to get on his ass. Hey, that rhymes,” Maria joked.

Liz snorted. “I wouldn’t quit my day job if I were you.”

Maria shoved her friend slightly and laughed. “Come on. Let’s get something to drink. I need to come up with a plan for Guerin.”

This should be interesting, Liz thought. Well, it would be entertaining if nothing else. Maria came up with some of her more daring schemes over beer.

They got back to the living room or what could be better called party central and made their way to the kitchen, where a long counter separated the living area from the cooking one.

Michael was in the process of flirting with a leggy blonde, one hand on the top of the blender as he made a batch of margaritas when they entered. He knew she was there without seeing or hearing her; for some reason any time she was nearby the back of his neck started itching.

Maria almost rolled his eyes at the girl who was watching in fascinating as Michael made the drinks. One was already done and she used his lack of attention to sneak it from the counter. “Thanks.”

He shrugged one shoulder without looking at her. “Had to lick the rim on that one to get the salt to stick.” He winked at the girl sitting on the counter next to him.

“You got everything you need, ladies?” Max entered the kitchen and leaned on the counter.

Liz smiled, deciding Maria could handle Michael. “You have a nice place. Do you live alone?”

“I used to have a roomie, but somehow the guy never agreed with my lifestyle,” he pointed at the party going on and shrugged smirking, “so I now prefer to live alone.”

“You’re sooo lucky.”

“Guess that means you gotta share your space?” he asked, leaning forward to snatch the second margarita out of Michael’s hand to give it to Liz.

Michael shot an annoyed glare at his best friend and started another batch.

“Yeah.” She took a sip of the drink and her eyes immediately watered. “Wow, that’s strong,” she choked out.

“Michael tends to overdo it,” he told her and winked at his friend.

Michael bit his tongue. He wasn’t a mean person but he always felt edgy when Maria was close by.

“Really?” Maria sipped her drink while she sat on the counter and shot a glance at the man in question. “Hadn’t noticed that.”

He smirked but didn’t look at her. “Spit must be masking the taste.”

Maria rolled her eyes. She knew the drink was fine and he was just messing with her, so she hopped from the counter and went past him, brushing her hip against him before starting to dance with the crowd again.

His eyes followed her without his permission.

“Hey, I thought we were talking,” the girl he has been flirting with protested.

When was he finally gonna go after DeLuca, Max wondered and turned to the brunette in front of him again. He reached up to brush an eyelash from her cheek, chuckling at the way she closed her eyes and wrinkled her nose while he did it.

Liz wondered why just the slight tickling brush of his fingers made her feel all weird. She wasn’t a virgin but she had never been attracted to a guy other than David. “Thanks,” she said with a quiet smile.

“So, whatcha doin’? What classes are you takin’, I mean?”

“I’m getting my degree in biology.” Oh, yeah, now there was a hot topic, she thought. That should send him running in the opposite direction.

Ungh he didn’t know anything about that subject, so he’d better change the topic. “I saw you dancin’ with Maria earlier,” he started, taking her drink out of her hand. “Let’s see how it works out with me, huh?”

Liz swallowed with difficulty and nodded when he took her hand and tugged her after him. “Okay,” she said stupidly.

Maria looked at her friend encouragingly, mouthing a SEXY to her.

Liz couldn’t help but grin back at her. Dancing with someone that wasn’t her ex should feel a lot stranger than it did. Max knew how to keep rhythm with the music though and it didn’t take long before she wasn’t even thinking about David.

He let his gaze slip over her small slim body. The dress was softly touching her skin in all the right places, riding up on her thighs just a bit. Damn.

Liz looked up at him through her lashes, giving him a smile that was unintentionally innocent and seductive at the same time. “So, are you seeing anyone, Max?”

Hell, he was seeing a lot of girls, but that wasn’t probably the way she meant the question. “Nope. What about you?”

Liz shook her head. “No, not seeing anyone either.”

“Lucky for me,” he told her with a flirtatious grin.

She smiled through the light blush heating her cheeks. “I think that’s a good thing for both of us.”

Max liked the way she flirted with him. Sexy, but with a slight bit of hesitation. His arms moved slowly until one of his hands settled on her hip to turn her around so he could press her back against his front.

Well, he wasn’t wasting any time, was he? It wasn’t what she was used to but it was... yeah, it was kinda nice to not know exactly what his next move would be.

Maria was watching her friend. Somehow, Liz seemed really to enjoy the company of Max Evans. Hmm, was this a good or a bad thing?

Liz grinned at Maria when she caught her look. She wanted her to out and have fun, right? Well, that’s what she was doing.

“Next drink will be made by me,” Max whispered in her ear when he watched her make a face after another sip. “Michael sucks at them.”

“He did get a little enthusiastic with the alcohol,” she said with a little smile.

“That’s just because the drink was supposed to be for that other girl,” Max laughed.

“What’s he doing? Trying to get her drunk really fast?”

“Well, yes and no. Not for the reason you’d think. I bet he was just trying to get rid of her.”

Liz nodded, actually relieved. “He comes across as pretty nice on campus so what’s his problem with my friend?” she asked, thinking maybe she could help Maria out since she was having such a hard time with Michael.

Max snorted. “Hell if I know. If I didn’t know him I’d say he’s totally hot for her, but then again… he normally goes after what he wants ya know…?”

She nodded. “Well, that’s definitely the reputation he has.”

“Hey Evans,” some guy called. “We need you over here in the kitchen.”

He rolled his eyes at his friend. Great timing. “Excuse me, Liz. I gotta go see what they broke this time.”

Earth2Mama: Lol yeah. Liz is learning fast how to wrap Max around her little finger.

Major progress, huh? Well progress yes. Mayor… we will see.

keepsmiling7: No more waiting. New part on its way.

Natalie36: How Max will take those news has yet to be seen.

Lol yep, Maria won’t just give up.

begonia9508: Lol, don’t we already know who / what will win.

Oh yeah, the more Liz plays the hard to get game, the more Max’ interest in her will grow.

mary mary: Thanks! The wish went to Angel .

Smac: Liz definitely has Max’ attention.

Lol, we bet Michael secretly enjoyed the ride.

secretk: Lol yeah, Michael was no able to flee from the DeLuca sexiness this time.

Liz definitely found a way to wrap Max around her finger easily.

sarammlover: And the M&M game will just continue today.

Liz is doing very well on her front as well, isn’t she?

Alien-Friend: We have to wait a bit longer to find out about Michael’s past or the reason why he is so distanced now and then.

Liz definitely makes everything right. She already got Max’ attention, now she just needs to play it right.

We will miss ya, but we hope you have fun. We will be happy when ya back!

nitpick23: You could be right about David.

Oh yeah, Liz definitely hits the right buttons to get Max’ attention.



Part 5

Maria wandered through the apartment as the party was starting to slow down. She wasn’t intending to eavesdrop on anyone but when she came to the open doors that led out onto the beach there was no way to not hear Michael’s voice. She peered around the doorframe and saw him holding onto the railing that bordered the patio. He’d had enough to drink that his speech had a slight slur to it.

“No, wha’ I’m tellin’ you is I’ll be home in the mornin’.” He sighed loudly and wobbled slightly when he released the rail to run his hand through his hair. “Would you quit tryin’ to guilt me into comin’ home? Do I fuckin’ sound sober enough to drive?”

Maria bit her lip. Who was on the other end of the phone, she wondered. A jealous girlfriend? Was he taken… like kinda secretly? What if he had a child and that was the mother and he was just staying with her because of the baby? Okay, stop it DeLuca!

Michael hated that his life was so complicated. He listened to the angry tirade coming through the phone and fought hard not to resent the caller. “I don’t need you tellin’ me what to do. I’m a grown man unless you happened to miss the obvious.”

A grown blind man, Maria corrected in her mind.

“No, damn it! It’s one fuckin’ night. You can get by without me pickin’ up around the house or cookin’ for one night.” He was silent a moment before he went off again. “No, you can survive one night without bitchin’ at me about how much your life sucks! I didn’t ask for this either, remember?” he shouted before disconnecting the call. He stared out at the ocean and lifted his bottle to his lips. “Fuck,” he muttered when he realized it was empty.

“Need a drink?” Maria showed up next to him, knowing that it could be totally stupid or it would bring them closer. She offered him a beer that a guy had given her, but she didn’t really care for the brand.

Michael jerked around to look at her, wondering how long she had been standing there. Had she overheard his conversation? He took the beer from her, one eyebrow lifted when he saw that it was already open.

“I just spit in it,” she told him with a wink, just like he had told her earlier.

He contemplated that for a moment before deciding she was bluffing. “Couldn’t be any worse than this cheap crap,” he said with a slight smirk.

“It’s really awful,” she made a face and shuddered.

“Yeah, I don’t know who bought this crap.” He snorted. “I know it wasn’t Evans.”

“Obviously someone with no taste,” she shrugged.

He leaned back, grateful for the support post behind him. He’d ingested enough alcohol that he wasn’t feeling so hostile and he let his gaze travel over her. “Why do you keep talkin’ to me?” he asked finally.

She grinned slightly. “I don’t know. I like challenges I guess.”

“You think I'm challenging?” He frowned at that.

“Well, you don’t make it easy to talk to you. And you have something against me while I have no clue what it is.”

“You think I’ve got somethin’ against you?” He didn’t. Just the opposite. He couldn’t find anything wrong with her.

“Or you just like to annoy me,” she told him and walked down the few steps that led to the beach.

He smirked and pushed away from his support post to follow her. “You’re kinda hot when you’re annoyed,” he said unintentionally.

She laughed softly at his confession. “How much have you had to drink, Guerin?”

“I’m still upright so not enough.”

She turned to look at him while she walked backwards. She used her hands to hold her hair out of her face when the wind blew slightly from behind. “Why’re you following me? I’m not gonna take a dip at night again.”

He shrugged. “Free country, right?” He pulled his shirt off and dropped it on the beach. “Maybe I’m gonna take a swim.”

Her gaze swept over him in the moonlight. Damn, he was so freaking hot. Of course he would decide to play the game TONIGHT. Grrr. “Go ahead.”

He grinned stupidly as he reached for his belt, yelping when he upended his bottle and poured beer down the front of his jeans. “Uh-oh... That just don’t look good,” he mumbled as he brushed at the wet spot right over his crotch.

Maria laughed. “Now you have no choice but to get rid of your jeans, buddy.”

He thought about that for a minute before shrugging and dropping the now empty bottle on the ground. “Okay.”

Oh my God, he was really doing this, she thought and watched him revealing his bare legs.

Michael smirked in satisfaction when he looked up and saw her watching him. Hell yeah! He lifted his right foot to pull his jeans the rest of the way off but his equilibrium was compromised by the alcohol in his system and he ended up falling back in the sand.

“Definitely too much to drink, Guerin.” She shook her head. “Was that your secret girlfriend earlier, beggin’ you to come home?”

He frowned at the stinging pain in his right hand. “My girlfriend,” he mumbled as he squinted at his palm. “Think I cut my hand,” he said, watching the blood creeping out from the small wound.

She crouched down and looked at it. “What’d you do?”

He shifted around to look at the sand, reaching back to pick up a seashell. “I don’t know... this maybe?”

“Think you’re gonna survive?”

He lifted his gaze to hers as he held his hand up to her, knowing somewhere in the tiny sober part of his brain that he was playing with fire. “Wanna kiss it an’ make it all better?”

Okay, his brain was obviously not working anymore, Maria thought. THIS was NOT Michael Guerin like she knew him. “Ungh kissing your blood away. No, thanks.”

He looked down at his hand, frowning. “S’not that bad.” He turned his hand to the side, examining it closer through his fuzzy gaze. It wasn’t, was it?

“It’s still gross,” she made a face. “I could kiss somewhere else though,” she told him after a second. Okay, either he would agree in his slightly drunken state or he would laugh at her, she thought.

He stared at her when her voice dropped and his mouth fell open as the options started coming to him. “Somewhere else?” he asked dumbly.

Or he would ask a stupid question, she added to her list of possibilities.

He wiped his hand off on his jeans that were halfway off and his attention was drawn back to the beer soaking his crotch. “I was gonna take a swim,” he suddenly remembered.

She hid her disappointment when he didn’t take her offer. Her gaze slipped back to the house. “I guess I’m gonna see if there’s someone sober enough to drive us home.”

He fell back on the sand to look up at her. There was something picking at the back of his mind but he couldn’t get a grasp on it. “You don’t gotta leave... go swimmin’ with me.”

“It’s too cold tonight,” she shook her head. “You shouldn’t go either, Guerin. You’re drunk. Go home to whoever’s waiting for you there.”

He felt like someone had just thrown a bucket of cold water over him at the reminder. He sat up and wrapped his arms around his raised knees as he stared blearily out at the ocean. “Just go,” he bit out.

She had a feeling she had hit a nerve, but what was it? Maria opened her mouth to say something, but held herself back. She had a feeling he wouldn’t tell her about it anyway.

He kicked his jeans the rest of the way off and stumbled to his feet and moved past her to get closer to the water. The sound of the waves was amplified, roaring in his sensitised ears. He looked down as the water rolled up on the beach to gently roll over his bare feet and he tried to remember when he had taken his shoes off and where he’d left them.

Was it safe to leave him alone out here? she wondered.

“You can leave him to me,” someone said and made Maria turn around in surprise.

“Max, I didn’t see you coming.”

He smiled and shrugged one shoulder as he walked down to his friend. “Hey, big guy, you gonna hang tonight?” he asked, already knowing the answer but knowing better than to tell Michael what he was gonna do.

“Yeah, sure,” the other guy replied and looked over his shoulder to check on Maria. She was already on her way back to the house, he realized.

“You know if you’d drop the attitude she could be yours.” He smirked as he took Michael’s arm and turned him, giving him a subtle push to get him moving. “Girl’s hot for you, Guerin.”

“She’s just playin’ games,” Michael said.

“For what reason?” Max snorted.

“Don’t know,” he shrugged. “She liked the challenge I guess.”

“Well, you can be challenging, but I wouldn’t have ya any other way.” He slapped Michael on the back and then had to make a grab for his arm when it threw him off balance. “C’mon, Guerin, your room’s all ready... think you can find it on your own?”

“I think I’m gonna stay on the beach for a few minutes, let the night air help me sober up a bit,” he answered. “Don’t gimme that look, Evans, I’m not gonna take a dip in the water, okay?”

“Uh-huh, see that you don’t. Last thing I wanna do tonight is have to give you mouth to mouth.” He made a face.

“Gross,” Michael muttered.

*****

“Any luck?” Liz asked tiredly when Maria joined her after a few minutes.

“Nope, either they don’t have a car, or they’re too drunk to drive or they already left or they’re not going in our direction.”

“So what you’re sayin’ is we’re stuck here?”

“Yep, seems like,” Maria looked around the room again, but there was no one she knew.

“Great. I’m so tired. We could call a cab.”

“Or you could just crash here. Me or Michael can drive you two home in the morning,” Max said as he approached the girls. “I’ve got several sleeping possibilities on the second floor.”

Maria looked at Liz. She knew her friend probably wouldn’t be comfortable with that. “I don’t know…”

“Yeah, why not,” Liz agreed to her friend’s surprise. Right now she was so tired she would take any offer.

“C’mon then,” he led the girls to the stairs and walked them up. “Here’s one room,” Max opened the door to a small room with a single bed, hoping Liz would take this one. Maybe he could sneak in later?

Liz was so happy at the thought of sleep that she could’ve hugged him at that moment. She glanced at Maria. “Would you mind if I take this one?”

“No, go ahead,” Maria agreed. She knew it would be a horror for her friend if she had to share a room with someone she didn’t know.

“Thanks.” She pushed down the impulse to throw her arms around Evans and hugged her friend instead.

“I’ll show you your room now,” Max said, stepping outside again. “I have some spare toothbrushes. I’ll get you one in a minute,” he told Liz before they left the room.

Liz just smiled at him before turning to look around the room. It was tastefully decorated and nicely furnished. And it was all hers for the night. Honestly, it could’ve been nothing more than the bed and she would’ve been happy, she thought as she sank down to sit on the mattress.

Max and Maria walked down the hallway a bit more before he stopped and opened a room to his right. “You can crash here. There’s a bed or a couch, so you got a choice. And the room even has its own little bathroom.”

Maria looked around, amazed at the sheer number of rooms he had in his house. “This’s nice, Max. Thanks,” she said with a smile.

He opened his mouth to say something else, but decided to stay quiet. “Toothbrushes are in the bathroom.”

“Good place for ‘em.”

“Need anything else?”

“Nothing I can think of.”

“Alright,” he nodded and left her alone to walk into his own room to get a tee shirt out of his closet before going back into the hallway and knocking on Liz’ door. He smirked at her when she opened the door, a little disappointed that she hadn’t lost any clothes yet. “I thought you might wanna have a tee shirt to sleep in?”

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. She had just been contemplating that very thing. Sleeping in her clothes wasn’t that comfortable but she couldn’t exactly sleep in nothing either. Especially not in a strange place. “Oh, that’s very thoughtful of you.”

“That’s the way I am,” he joked and watched her take the shirt from him. “The toothbrush is in the bathroom right across the hall,” he pointed at the door on the opposite of her room.

“Well, a lot of guys might not be like that.” She smiled, her fingers twisting the material. “Thanks, Max.”

“Need anything else?” he asked. Come on, she can’t just let me go like this, can she?

Liz bit her bottom lip as she looked up at him. “Did you have something in mind?” What was she doing? She knew he had a reputation on campus!

Now, that was more like it, he thought. “Lots of things on my mind.”

Oh, he wanted to be a tease. She might not be the most experienced woman around but she wasn’t totally naive either. “Such as?”

He leaned in the doorframe and looked down at her for a few moments in silence. His eyes locked on her lips before he leaned forward slightly to take them into a short but hot kiss.

Liz felt her head swim from his kiss and she suddenly realized just how dangerous this little dare could get. She had no reason to worry that feelings might get involved because he never stayed with any one woman for very long and he seemed perfectly happy to bounce from one girl to the next. But it wouldn’t be that hard to fall for his charm and end up in his bed. She placed one hand flat against his chest and applied just enough pressure to keep him from kissing her again.

Max looked down at her hand on his chest and then back at her. What was she doing?

She stared at her hand, pressing it a little closer when she felt his heartbeat. She was tempted to turn the tables and kiss him but what if she did and it led to more?

Was she pushing him back or teasing him? he wondered but couldn’t decide, which was weird, because normally he had no problem getting his way with woman.

Liz glanced up at him and smiled slightly, wondering just what he was thinking. He had a confused look on his handsome face and somehow that made her feel really good.

Her smile was sexy, he decided. One of his hands moved to settle on her hip and the fabric of her little dress moved a bit upwards at his touch.

She rested her hand over his, running her fingers over the back of his hand and up over his wrist with just enough pressure to keep him from taking his touch any further.

Now what? This girl was a riddle. Did she want him or not?

Liz let her fingernails rasp against his flesh as she met his gaze. “It’s late,” she said, her voice low.

He glanced at the clock behind her on the wall. “Early, if you ask me,” he replied with a wink.

“Semantics,” she said, easily reading the intent in his eyes. “We should go to bed.”

Together? He wanted to ask, but he bit his lip.

Liz was really enjoying having the opportunity to tease him. “Where’s your room?”

“End of the hallway.”

She glanced up at him through her lashes, feeling heat rush through her at the look in his eyes. She added pressure to the hand pressed to his chest. “You should probably head that way then.”

He didn’t know what do with that. Did it mean she planned to come to him later or was she just trying to get rid of him? “I will as soon as I got rid of the other people downstairs.”

She could see the confusion in his eyes and she knew he had expected her to give in to him. “Well, g’night then, Max.”

He nodded, disappointed, but playing it cool. “See ya in the mornin’.”

She nodded and watched him as he backed out of the room, closing the door and leaning back against it as she drew in a deep breath. Damn, she could understand why girls were always tripping over themselves to get his attention!

*****

Maria wandered around the room and inspected it after she had brushed her teeth. Hmm, I’m taking the bed, she decided after testing both the bed and couch. She stripped off her pants, bra and the jewelry she was wearing and laid down in her lacy panties and the black tank top.

Michael kept one hand braced on the wall as he weaved back and forth along the hallway. His gaze bounced over the doors, trying to remember which one he normally crashed in when he stayed over at Max’s place. The cool night air had helped to clear his head a bit but he wasn’t totally sober. He tried a couple of the doorknobs, frowning at them when they didn’t open. “Bingo,” he muttered when one of them finally gave way and he stumbled inside.

Maria heard the door open and close again, but she didn’t turn to look at the person, staying where she was, facing the window. She had a feeling she knew the person behind her though.

He slumped back against the closed door and fumbled with the snap and zipper on his jeans, shoving them down his legs when he finally got them undone. He pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor, tripping over his jeans when his right foot caught on them. “Oops,” he mumbled as he righted himself. His knee hit the edge of the bed and he chuckled drunkenly as he twisted his body to fall over on the bed.

She rolled her eyes at his behavior. He hadn’t even noticed her yet. Jerk.

Michael shifted around, sobering slightly when his elbow brushed against something smooth and unmistakably female. He pushed himself up on his elbows and stared down in the darkness, trying to make out the girl’s features. He finally gave that up and just poked her. “Hey.”

Maria reached behind her and just brushed his hand off.

“Hey, you’re in my room. You gotta get outta here.”

“Not goin’ anywhere, Guerin.” Now that he had spoken it was absolutely clear it was him. But did he know who she was? The room was lit by the moon a bit, but his eyes had to get used to the darkness first.

Of all the girls who could’ve been crashed out in his room it had to be her! “You can’t stay here... the only girls who stay in here are girls havin’ sex with me an’ since we’re not gonna be doin’ that you’re gonna have to go.”

“I was here first,” she rolled over on her back and looked at him.

“Well...” His eyes travelled over her as they finally adjusted and he could make out her features in the moonlight. He swallowed hard, wishing things were different. “You’re just gonna have to go... Max is my friend so that gives me rights to the room.”

She recognized the way he was looking at her and bit her lip to keep from grinning. “I’m not leaving. Feel free to use the couch,” she told him stubbornly and raised one bare leg to brush something off that wasn’t there.

His eyes followed the movement and his fingers itched to brush her hand away and take its place. “S’my room,” he muttered.

Her eyes went over his body lazily. “It’s ours for the night,” she corrected him.

“Ours,” he repeated stupidly. “No, it’s not ours... it’s mine.”

She shrugged with a cheeky grin, turning over again to show him her backside.

He groaned at the view and then mentally kicked himself when he realized she had to have heard it too. “You’re killin’ a perfectly good buzz. Go sleep on the couch.”

Maria ignored him. That groan had had nothing to do with killing a buzz. What the hell was wrong with him? If he wanted her, why wasn’t he just going for it? “Why? Because your blood’s all rushing south?” she teased.

Yeah, well... there was no denying that. His boxers weren’t doing a thing to help hide that fact. “My friend, my room, my bed... what are you not understanding about this?”

“Gosh Guerin,” she turned to look at him again. “If you’re not intending to do what any other man would do, then shut up and sleep.”

He just barely caught himself before his mouth dropped open. His gaze travelled over her and his lips turned up in a smirk as he decided to turn the tables on her. He shifted and moved faster than he probably should have as he came up on all fours over her.

She was surprised by his quick move and swallowed hard when he stared down at her. The long chain with what looked like a razor swinging from the end was almost brushing her chest.
Michael stared into her eyes, wondering what she would do if he just kissed her. He slowly lowered himself over her until their bodies were so close he could feel the heat coming off of her.

The blood rushed through her veins fast. Would he finally put a move on her? Her gaze locked on his full lips while her mind was already running over the possibilities of how they would feel on hers.

He lowered his head, his breath brushing against her lips but not making contact.

God, what was he doing? She was desperate to touch him, but she forced her hands to stay where they were, in case he was just playing games.

He moved so that his forearms were brushing against her bare shoulders. “Sure you don’t wanna take the couch?”

“I’m good here, thanks,” she told him and moved slightly under him to get more comfortable.

He hissed sharply when she brushed against him and he resisted the urge to just let his weight settle against her. “I have no intention of just sharin’ my bed with you platonically.”

She reached between them to take his chain in her fist. “Never said anything about platonically.”

He was totally backing himself into a corner, he realized as he tipped his head to stare at her hand fisting his chain. She wouldn’t say no. All it would take would be one word, one move from him and there would be no question of whether or not they would have sex.

He wasn’t moving, he wasn’t touching her or anything, she realized and let go of his chain again slowly and disappointed. It was a mystery why, but he wasn’t intending to do anything with her. If she looked too desperate she would make a fool of herself again.

Michael eased back slightly, letting his fingertips rasp along her upper arm and watching in fascination as goosebumps broke out over her flesh. The temptation to take this game further was strong but he knew it would be a mistake.

She didn’t look at him when he moved away to hide her hurt feelings. This wasn’t just a stupid dare for her. She wanted him, but he was either ignoring her or making fun of her.

He clenched his hands into fists as he raised up on his knees and looked down at her. “Gonna get some sleep now,” he mumbled as he swung his left leg over her and got off of the bed.

“Yeah, I bet,” she muttered and turned to face the window again.

He threw himself down on the couch and propped his feet up on one of the arms. He rested his forearm over his eyes and sighed deeply. Why couldn’t he just go for it? Why couldn’t he just forget about everything else and just take what he really wanted? What she so obviously wanted as well? He thumped his fist against the cushions in frustration.

Maria fumbled around on the bed blindly until she found the thin blanket and wrapped it around her, so he couldn’t see her body anymore. He didn’t deserve to see anything.

Michael turned his head to the side when he heard the blankets rustling and he rolled his eyes when she pulled the covers over herself. Yeah, didn’t erase the image from his mind, he thought with a roll of his eyes. If only it was that easy.

Earth2Mama: Lol, it’s frustrating the hell outta them too.

We’re still waiting to discover the person’s identity.

keepsmiling7: You could be right about that.

Eva: He is that. He’s keeping his reasons close.

Lol, that was pretty much everything the had in store for our foursome.

begonia9508: Max is definitely used to girls falling at his feet so Liz could be good for him.

Michael’s definitely hiding something but he hasn’t said we can reveal it yet. He feels his reasons are valid so we’ll see.

mary mary: Lol, well, that’s what she thinks right now anyway.

There’s always a chance this kinda thing could backfire.

Michael’s not ready to show his hand just yet so we’ll have to wait and see.

secretk: Well, she’s definitely got him intrigued.

Michael does have some mystery surrounding him. Those are all good guesses... we’ll see if one of them is right in time.

sptfire86: Lol, glad you’re enjoying our summer fic!

Natalie36: That’s definitely one possibility.

We’re pretty sure the longer Liz spends with Max the less she’s thinking about David.

nitpick23: No doubt about that!

Things may be just about to take a turn...

sarammlover: Yeah, we can’t really deny that one. Michael’s deal... well, he’s keeping that one close to the vest for now. Expect things to get hotter.

kismet: Do you have any doubts that she won’t? lol

We love to keep the mysteries up for w while…




Part 6

Maria was leaning on the counter in Max’s kitchen the next morning, filling a mug with the fresh coffee she had made. The house was quiet, a stark contrast to the party from the night before, and with the windows open she could hear the sounds of the waves breaking against the beach. She rested the edge of the mug against her lips as she stared out at the ocean thoughtfully, letting the sight and sounds calm her.

She lowered the mug and turned her head to the side when she heard someone coming into the room and she smiled at her best friend. “How’d you sleep?”

Liz shrugged. “It wasn’t my bed but I still slept pretty well. Hey, can I get one of those?”

Maria nodded to the cabinet over the coffee pot. “Mugs are up there.”

“Thanks,” Liz grabbed one and poured coffee in it. “God, I’m still tired.”

“Long night?” Maria teased.

“No,” her friend said with a grin. “Not what you think anyway.”

She chuckled. “Tempted?”

“Well, I’ve gotta admit he has his qualities,” Liz admitted.

Max stopped on his way into the kitchen when he heard what Liz had said and he grinned. Oh, yeah, she was damn right about that.

Maria sipped her coffee and pulled her gaze away from the windows to look at Liz. “Qualities, huh?”

“Nothing compared to David of course,” the other girl added quickly, “but his kiss felt good.”

On the other side of the doorway Max was frowning. Nothing compared to David? he mouthed silently. Who the hell was this David guy?

“No, of course,” Maria agreed with a roll of her eyes. “Whoa, wait, you kissed him?” She shook her head at Liz. “You’re holdin’ out on me, girl. Spill.”

“He kissed me first,” she corrected. “It was just a short one though.”

Yeah, because you wanted it that way, Max thought with an eye roll.

“Uh-huh, and whose decision was that?”

Liz sighed. “Mine. I just… couldn’t so quickly.” She looked at her friend. “Don’t say anything.”

“Hey, you’re making a lot of progress on your dare.” She rolled her eyes. “I swear, Guerin’s not gonna be anywhere near as easy. The guy was so close last night and he might as well have been in a different state. I just can’t seem to get through to him.”

Dare, Max frowned. What the hell were they talking about?

“But you... you’ve got your dare almost done. Evans is so interested in you,” Maria continued.

“He is interested,” Liz agreed. Something she hadn’t anticipated, she thought.

“Yeah,” Maria sighed. “I’ll never get that tongue kiss from Guerin that you requested.”

Oh, these girls were worse than he had expected, Max thought.

“Ah, c’mon, Maria, it’ll happen. What guy can resist you for long?” She winked. “Besides, I don’t think you’ve ever not gone through with a dare.”

“Obviously Guerin can resist me.”

“You’re not gonna let him win.” She took a drink of her coffee and made a face before adding more sugar.

“And you’re gonna get David back. Evans is the right guy to get more adventurous with. Remember how your ex acted in the restaurant? He already regrets breaking up with you.”

“That’s true. And it’s pretty obvious that Max is... adventurous.”

Oh, you can count on that, Max thought and backed up to find his friend. He walked up the stairs and jerked the door to the room where Michael was sleeping open.

Michael groaned when noise interrupted his sleep and he was ready to yell at the woman who had shared a room with him when he noticed his friend. “Evans, what the hell, man?”

“You do anything with Maria last night?” he demanded.

“What?” he asked, confused. He rubbed his face with both hands to wake up.

“Did you do anything with her last night?” he asked, deliberately speaking slowly.

“Fuck no! What were you thinkin’ locking me up with her anyway?”

“Hey, I didn’t lock you up anywhere with her,” Max snapped. “And let’s stick to the point.”

“What’s your problem anyway?” Michael got up to look around for his clothes.

Max kicked the pile of clothes Michael had left on the floor over to him. “I just overheard Maria and Liz talkin’ in the kitchen... them bein’ all into us? Man, that shit’s nothin’ but some fucked up dare they’ve got goin’ on.”

The other man froze in place. “What?”

“I’m not kiddin’, man. I just heard ‘em in the kitchen talkin’ about it.”

“Gimme the details.” He grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head while he waited for Max to share the rest of the story.

“There’s some guy Liz was talkin’ about... I don’t know if he’s an ex or what, but apparently I’m an experiment in her learnin’ to be more adventurous. As for you... all I got was that some part of Maria’s dare includes tonguin’ you... how much more there is, I don’t know.”

Michael felt his anger rise hard and fast. And he had felt bad for hurting her feelings last night, he thought bitterly. She was playing it good, he had to give her that much. “Bitch.”

“Yeah, fuckin’ sucks. I think I really could’ve gotten into Liz.” He grinned at the unintentional double meaning. “What I mean is I think I really could’ve liked her.”

“Like really liking her?” his friend asked doubtfully.

“Yeah, guess that’s not goin’ anywhere though.”

“Yeah, because now we’re gonna have payback without them even realizin’ it.”

His eyebrows lifted in interest. “Got somethin’ in mind?”

“They made a dare about us so we’re gonna turn the tables on them. Make it to our advantage.”

“So... like a reverse dare?”

“Exactly,” Michael snapped his fingers. “So if DeLuca dared her friend to use you as a test for bein’ more adventurous, I dare you to get Parker to fall for you. The girl’s easy. Take her out, compliment her, move slow, and she’ll be all yours in no time.” He grinned evilly. “Then ya drag her to bed and after that you drop the bomb.”

Max leaned back against the door, stroking his thumb over his bottom lip. It was a cold plan. Calculating and merciless. But was what the girls had done any better? “So your dare would be what? Doin’ everything with Maria BUT tonguin’ her?” He frowned. “How’s that gonna get ‘er back for this?”

“You got a better idea? Feel free to share ‘cause I’m open at this point,” Michael said. Right now he was so mad at that woman he’d do anything.

“No, I don’t have anything better. So what’s the plan? Fuck her an’ drop her? Or play it out longer?”

“Well, she’s gonna be after me as long as she’s not getting my tongue, right? Guess I’ll take my time then.” He already knew he would regret it though.

He smirked and shook his head. “Guess I’m gonna have to drag my heels on this one and hope like hell she knows what she’s doin’ between the sheets.” He slapped Guerin’s shoulder. “You’re a lucky son of a bitch, ya know that?”

“Me?”

“Man, you’ll be fuckin’ like bunnies... I’m only gonna get one shot.” He rolled his eyes. “So, when’re you gonna know when to drop her ass?”

“I’m gonna be generous and wait for you. We can bust them together.”

Max laughed and high-fived his friend. “Enjoy yourself then, buddy, ‘cause I’ve got a feelin’ I’m gonna have fun with this game.”

“You can count on that,” Michael agreed.

“Guess there’s no reason to wait to get started.”

“No, I guess not,” his friend agreed and zipped his jeans up. “So where are they?”

“In the kitchen.”

“They’d better lock their panties up then,” Michael grinned.

Max just laughed and pulled the door open. “Have fun.”

“You too. Well, as much fun as you can get outta this that is,” he snorted. “That might ruin your rep for a while.”

“Damn, that’s a good point. Wonder how long it’s gonna take for me to get in her panties.” Shit, he could be looking at a long dry spell.

They both laughed and had to catch themselves before they got downstairs and into the kitchen where the girls were.

“What’s so funny?” Liz asked as she cleaned her mug in the sink while Maria was sitting outside on the steps of the deck facing the ocean.

“Joke,” Max answered. “Dirty joke and not one that should be told in mixed company. Michael has a filthy mind so I’ll spare you.”

Michael shoved Max as he passed him and walked over to the open doors, his eyes moving over the girl sitting on the steps. Could he go through with this? Yeah, he decided determinedly, he could.

“So, how’d you sleep?” Max asked and stopped directly before Liz. She was still wearing his shirt and damn, it turned him on.

Liz smiled up at him. “Really well for being in a strange bed. What about you?” she teased.

“The thought of you in the other room kept me up for a while,” he winked at her. Okay, that was a lie. He had been asleep in no time after going to bed.

“Sorry to hear that.”

“So,” he leaned over to get a mug for his coffee. “I was thinking we could go out for dinner tonight?”

Her breath caught in her throat when his body came so close to hers. “Um... go out?” She mentally kicked herself. Way to go, Parker, you idiot! “Dinner would be nice.”

“Yeah?” He smiled at her warmly. “You want me to pick you up?”

“Would it be out of your way? I can meet you somewhere if you’d rather.”

“That’s no problem. I know you girls like high heels and I wouldn’t make you walk all the way,” he took a sip of his coffee.

“Oh, well...” David wasn’t as tall as Max and he preferred it if she didn’t wear high heels because it put them at nearly the same height. “Then yes, I’d like it if you’d pick me up.”

“Okay, you can write your address on the corkboard,” he pointed at the wall behind her. “Would seven be okay?”

“Seven would be heaven.” She wanted to slap her hand over her mouth in mortification. God, she had NOT just said that!

Seven would be heaven? He had to laugh at that. “Okay.”

“Wanna tell me where we’re going?” Probably someplace nice if he assumed she would be wearing heels.

“I haven’t decided yet,” he said and it was sincere. He had to make a few calls first. “Just dress sexy like you usually do,” he told her with a wink and used two fingers to play with a strand of her hair. “I like it when you wear your hair like last night.”

Like she usually did? She was definitely going to have to consult with Maria because she was pretty sure that if he was talking about the way she usually dressed he was either blind or being kind.

Maria glanced up when someone walked out on the porch, expecting Liz but finding Michael instead. She turned to the ocean again without greeting him. His rejection from last night still hurt a bit.

“Hey,” he muttered gruffly as he came to stand behind her, his knees grazing her back lightly.

She moved slightly forward to escape his touch and kept ignoring him.

Damn, now that he had succeeded in pushing her away he had to reverse gears. “So... um... want me to get you a cup of coffee?” He winced at that pathetic attempt.

She lifted the mug that sat next to her on the step to show him that she already had one.

“Oh, right.” He sat down on the step behind her, careful not to touch her as he planted his feet on either side of her.

What was he doing now? she wondered. Was he playing his favorite I’m gonna make you hot and then leave you cold game again?

“Got classes today?” he asked after a moment.

She rolled her eyes and turned to look at him. “Why? Do you care?”

Play it cool, Guerin. Shift gears too quick and she’s gonna be suspicious. He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“No classes today,” she finally said and glanced at her cell. She had tried to call a friend to pick them up, but she hadn’t called back.

“Expectin’ a call?” he asked, wondering if she was just using it as an excuse to get rid of him. “Boyfriend maybe?”

“Yeah, maybe,” she snorted. As if he didn’t know that she had no one.

He scratched his chin and wondered how to go on. “So um... how you getting home?”

“I don’t know. Calling a cab maybe.”

“Oh. Well, I can give you a ride home. If you want.”

“Why? So you can play your hot an’ cold game again?” she snapped. Damn, she hadn’t meant to bring it up, but apparently last night bothered her more than she wanted to admit.

“Look, that whole thing last night...” Yeah, he could use the ‘I was drunk’ line but they both knew that was bullshit. He swallowed hard and allowed honesty to creep into his words. Well, it wasn’t like she would ever know it was real and it was the only chance he would ever get to tell her. “I was a dick, okay? Most girls just want a piece of me and then they move on... and you’re not like that, so... I don’t know what you want.” Okay, it wasn’t the whole truth, but most of it was.

“How do you know I’m not like that?”

He shrugged uncomfortably. “You’re different from the others, okay?”

She didn’t know what to say to that, so she stayed quiet and wrapped her arms around her knees. The mornings on the beach were a bit cold and she shivered slightly.

Michael stared at the goosebumps raised on her chilled flesh and hesitated only a moment before he rubbed his hands over her arms and pulled her resisting body back against his chest.

Damn it, she cursed silently when her body immediately reacted to his touch. She was afraid he would just play another game with her, but even though she had her doubts she let him touch her. This was closer than she had ever gotten to him.

“Ya know if you sit out here long enough you’ll see Uno.”

“Huh?”

“Seagull that comes around every mornin’.”

“You give names to seagulls?”

“He’s got one leg... he deserved a name.”

She grabbed her mug and warmed her fingers on the still hot exterior. “Uh-huh.”

“You don’t believe Uno’s out there?”

“I’ll believe it,” she told him, “when I see him. Is it a him?”

“Hell, I don’t know how you tell a male from a female bird. I just kinda figured it’s a male.”

“You figured. If it’s a she she’ll be pretty upset with you,” she laughed. It was weird to have a normal conversation with him and she couldn’t lose the unsure feeling about it.

“Yeah, well... Uno, male or female, is a fighter and every mornin’ he shows up to pick out his breakfast.” He left out the part where he tossed food out for the bird if he was there at the same time

“So you’re here a lot.”

“Evans likes the company... guy’s lost without me.”

“Poor man,” she said without much sympathy.

“Max?”

“Yeah.”

He stiffened automatically. “If my company sucks that bad why do you keep tryin’ to talk to me?” he snapped.

“What?” She frowned. “I just said that because he’s really hopeless if he needs someone to not be lost.” Gosh, she hadn’t even really thought about what she said.

“Oh, I thought you meant... nevermind.”

“And just for the record: I didn’t try to talk to you this morning. YOU came out here.”

“I didn’t mean this mornin’, I just meant in general.”

She looked down at her hands on her mug, lost in thoughts. True, she had kept trying. Was it paying off now or was he gonna be dumping her in the next few seconds?

“Why d’you do that anyway?”

“Because I think you’re different,” she shrugged.

He snorted. “Yeah, I’m different alright.”

She just shrugged. As long as you don’t know what he’s up too, don’t share too much, she reminded herself.

He stared out at the ocean, squinting when the early morning sunlight bounced off of the waves. “Doin’ anything tonight?” he asked finally.

“Not really.”

“So... maybe you wanna go out.”

“Go out,” she repeated stupidly.

“Yeah. You ever had dinner on the pier?” He just knew she was gonna tell him where to stick his invitation. “If you like Italian there’s a great little place down there. Or there’s other stuff too.”

She didn’t know what to do. Was this real? What if she agreed and he didn’t show up? Or even worse, what if he just laughed outright?

Hesitation couldn’t be a good sign, he decided. “Me, I love Italian. They make a five cheese tortellini that’s outta this world and their manicotti’s pretty damn good too. If you like cannelloni you’re guaranteed to love theirs.” Hell, now he sounded like a damn advertisement. He shrugged. “Just if ya wanna go. Nobody’s puttin’ a gun to your head.”

“I know the restaurant. We could meet there... That way she could get there early and watch to see if he showed up.

“Okay, cool.” Yeah, she’s not gonna want you to pick her up with the history the two of you have. She probably thought he was gonna ditch her there or something lame like that. “Around 7:30pm? Or do you prefer an earlier dinner?”

“7:30pm is fine,” she said. Was she really making a date with Guerin?

“The restaurant’s casual, which I guess you already know if you’re familiar with the place.”

“Yeah, I won’t wear anything fancy.”

He nodded. “Cool.” Honestly, he avoided dressing up whenever he could.

This’s just... weird, she thought again.

What if she was just agreeing to a date to get back at him? Nope, he could turn on the charm when he wanted to, just with most girls it wasn’t worth it. He had thought she was worth it and he had fought that nicer side of himself from surfacing around her – the charm wouldn’t have been an effort. Now though... knowing what he knew it wasn’t coming as easily as before.

“Look, your friend arrived.” Maria pointed at Uno.

He lifted his head and stared at the large bird as it swooped down and made a landing that was slightly stilted. It hopped along as it searched for something to eat and Michael smiled slightly when Uno turned its head to look up at the beach house.

“He’s calling for you: Michael come and feed me,” she mimicked the bird with a croaking voice.

He snorted and got to his feet. “Be right back.”

“You’re not really gonna...” she trailed off, “...you are.”

He disappeared into the house and a few minutes later returned with a couple slices of toast that he broke up into smaller bits as he sat back down behind her. “Watch him... he knows it’s comin’.”

Maria shook her head in amusement and watched the scenery before her, a bit disappointed that he wasn’t as close as before, but not moving closer herself.

“Here,” he handed her a few of the pieces of bread he had torn apart. “He’ll come up here and take them.”

“Ya got him taught, huh?”

“He just knows where to get a free meal,” he said with a quiet snort. He pulled his hand back and tossed a piece of the bread out and watched as Uno flew across the beach to land within a few feet of the deck.

“I think he looks more like a her.”

“What? Why would you say that?” He watched the seagull snatch up the bread and devour it hungrily.

She shrugged with a slight grin. “Just to disagree with you.”

“Yeah, well, you’re wrong then,” he said and pinched her side lightly.

“Hey,” she giggled, “don’t do that.”

“You’re ticklish,” he said, amused in spite of himself.

“Oh, yeah, and I can get really mad about it.”

“Mad... why?” he asked, repeating the move.

“Michael!” she laughed.

“So, if I keep doin’ it an’ you get mad... what’re you gonna do?”

“I’m gonna kick your ass,” she said, knowing she wouldn’t have a chance against him.

“Hmm...” He tossed the rest of the bread out to Uno and then used both hands to pinch her sides. “So go ahead... kick my ass,” he growled in her ear.

She leaned forward and pressed her arms to her sides to limit his access while she tried to get away from him, laughing.

“Oh, yeah, ‘cause that’s gonna work,” he laughed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. He pinned her against his body and then reached down to pinch her right thigh just to see if she was ticklish there too.

“That’s unfair,” she complained breathlessly, ignoring the weird feeling she was getting from his touches.

“Yeah?” He smirked when he wrapped his hand under her thigh and squeezed it and she started to squirm around.

“Yeah,” she nodded. That touch hadn’t been a tickling one though.

“So do somethin’ about it,” he challenged.

“I can’t even move an inch,” she tried to move forward, but failed.

“So how’re you gonna kick my ass?”

“"Later... when you least expect it.”

He snorted. “Yeah, I’ll be waitin’ for that.” His hand relaxed on her thigh and he rested his chin on her shoulder, the light stubble on his cheek rasping against the skin of her neck.

“You need a shave.”

“You offerin’?”

“Nooo, thanks.”

“Then you’re gonna have to suffer with my scruff.”

“Why do I have to suffer with it?” she teased, knowing it was a risky question.

“’Cause I’m not plannin’ to shave right away.”

“Ya know, I just going out with shaved boys,” she told him. Could it be called going out between them?

He snorted. “What, you don’t like whisker burn?” he growled and rubbed his cheek against her skin again.

She ducked away from him as well as she could. “Noooo.”

“So you don’t like it if a guy marks you?”

“Not if he’s just doing it to burst his male ego”, she told him.

“And if it’s not about braggin’ it up in the locker room?”

“Then it would be about what exactly?”

He shrugged. “Hell, it is an ego thing but that doesn’t mean a guy’s gotta run his mouth about it.”

She just shrugged and continued to watch Uno. The bird seemed to be unsure if he or she could trust them.

“You could be right about Uno ‘cause a guy would snatch the bread up and run. Only a female would stand there weighin’ the pros and cons.”

“Sometimes it’s better to think twice,” she told him, reminding herself. What was going on with Guerin?

“Yeah, I guess. Especially when you’re plannin’ somethin’.” Like taking a dare to screw someone over.

They both glanced up when Liz and Max joined them outside. The brunette’s eyes widened when she saw Maria in the arms of the other man.

“Michael offered to drive us home.” Actually he had just offered her, but who cared.

Michael stared at Uno, watching the wariness in the bird’s movements. “Guess we should get a move on,” he muttered.

“Yeah, I think I need to crash on my bed for a while,” she agreed.

He rubbed his cheek against her neck just enough for the stubble to rasp against her soft skin. “Think of me while you’re tangled up in your sheets,” he growled and got to his feet.

A shiver ran through her whole body, but tried to hide it and grinned at him coolly. “Why? To get disappointed like last night?”

Her teasing tone caught his attention and he had to remind himself that she didn’t really mean it. She was just screwing with him because she was bored. “What if it had gone differently last night?”

“Then you’d look a lot more satisfied right now,” she told him with a wink.

“Could be true.”

“So, you gonna let me drive your Dodge Ram?” she teased, knowing he would say no.

“Hell no!”

Max smirked at that. Michael would never let a chick get behind the wheel of his precious truck.

“Yeah, thought so, killjoy!”

He shrugged carelessly. He had never let anyone else drive the Ram and sure as hell not a chick! They were called woman drivers for a reason... and that reason was their complete lack of driving skills.

Eva: Yeah, that’s what they say… and here it’s so fitting.

Yeah, probably not the smartest thing for them to do.

It could be a big mess… we’ll see!

secretk: Yes, it is!

Lol, not their brightest move to date.

Just getting things out in the open is best, but if one must play games, then all the players should at least know they’re playing.

Sounds like you’ve got it tied up… now we’ve just gotta see how it plays out.

Thanks, that’s what we were going for.

begonia9508: Yeah, not their brightest move.

Oh, Maria’s definitely suspicious of Michael’s sudden behavior change. As for Max and Liz, well, we’ll see, lol.

Natalie36: Lol, yeah, this could get interesting.

Earth2Mama: This will definitely make things worse… but more interesting, hehe.

It seems like they can’t get out of this without getting hurt, right? We will see how our gang will do…

L-J-L 76: Thanks! Well, does every Sunday count as “really, really, really soon”? Payback could be ugly, we’ll have to wait and see if things go according to plan.

keepsmiling7: Chances are good.

nitpick23: It could get ugly.

Smac: Lol, not a smart move. Max has some changing to do, too. Taking things slow might just teach him a thing or two.

Yep, we think you’re right.

mary mary: A distinct possibility.

Alien_Friend: Complicated is the name of the game.

Lol, she does… and Max doesn’t get it.

We’ll have to wait and see how long it is before the girls figure out that this dare is a two-way street.

Thanks!

We’re glad you’re back. Coming home after being away is always nice.



Part 7

“You sure you wanna wear that?” Liz asked while she bounced up and down on her bed, glancing at Maria uncertainly.

“Oh yeah.”

“Why?” She frowned. This wasn’t her friend’s usual style. “And why do I have to wear this dress then?” Maria had loaned her a nice black dress that fit her body well. She just felt so… overdressed.

“Because you’re going on an official date with Max,” the blonde answered and chuckled. “I still can’t believe he asked you out. That’s pretty cool. You must’ve made a big impression on him.”

Liz smiled proudly. “But your date’s official as well, isn’t it?” Maria had decided to wear a pair of tight blue jeans and a tight black tight pullover, combined with a black cap on her head. This was so not her style usually. “I mean, you don’t look bad or anything, just so different.”

Maria snapped her fingers. “Thanks, that was my goal.”

“Why?”

“Because this way I can get there and sit somewhere without him even noticing me.”

“I thought on a date you would actually have to notice each other,” Liz rolled her eyes.

“Yeah and I will reveal my presence… if he shows up.”

“Oh, so you’re just hiding in case he doesn’t show up for your date?”

“Kinda, yeah. This way he won’t even notice me in case he’s watching from afar, ya know?”

“You do know that this’s kinda crazy, right?”

“I don’t trust Guerin! He was acting out of character this morning and I’m still not sure if that was real or not.” Maria glanced at her watch. “Okay, gotta go, I wanna be at the pier a little early.”

“Alright,” Liz sighed.

“Hey, no need to be nervous. It’s just Max Evans.”

Yeah, just the most popular guy on campus, Liz thought. “I just haven’t dated a lot lately.”

“Well, one more reason to enjoy the night, girl!”

“Have fun too.” Liz waved at her friend when she slipped out of her dorm room. She got up from the bed to take the hundredth glance in the mirror. Max would definitely like her look, but hopefully Maria had been right and she wasn’t too overdressed here.

A knock on the door sounded. “Liz?” a muffled voice called.

“Come in.”

Christina popped her head into the room and looked at her. “Are you going out?” her roommate asked.

“Yeah.”

“I thought you and David broke up?” She came into the room. “Wow, you look amazing.”

“It’s one of Maria’s dresses.”

“So, David? What’s going on?” Christina asked.

Liz loved her roommate, but she was just too nosy sometimes. “It’s not David.”

“Someone I know?”

“Max Evans,” she told her, knowing she would find out anyway.

“Max Evans?” the other girl asked in disbelief. “THE Max Evans?”

“Well, I guess…”

“Damn, how’d you do that? Oh, wait, let me guess, Maria?” Christina chuckled. She had never understood how the two girls could be best friends. They were like day and night. While Liz was the nice, academic-oriented student without much more excitement than a biology class, Maria was the party girl who always hung out with the cool people.

“Yeah, it’s kinda her fault.”

“I think I should go out with you more often too,” the other girl joked and shook her head. “That dress will blow him away.”

Max knocked on the door to Liz’s dorm room and reached up to rest his hand on the doorframe. It was really too bad that he was going to have to dump her ass after getting her into bed. Before learning about that dare he had thought she was different from the other girls he hooked up with, but she was just as calculating as the rest of them. He ran his hand over his goatee and then shoved his hand in his pocket when he heard the lock turn.

“Hello, Max,” Liz looked up at him, trying not to smile too shyly.

His eyes traveled over her slowly before he lifted his gaze to hers. “Wow, you look great,” he said with a smile. And damn, she really did.

His words gave her some more self confidence and she straightened up. “You look pretty good too.”

He just grinned lazily. “Ready to go?”

She nodded and grabbed her bag. “All ready.”

He offered her his arm and she took it with a smile, her hand settling comfortably in the crook of his elbow. “I should’ve asked last night, but do you have a favorite type of food?” He shrugged. “Chinese, Mexican, Italian... American?”

“I love everything but Chinese,” she told him. “My parents used to eat Chinese a lot when I was younger, so I kinda got sick of it.”

“I had called in a reservation at Brannigan’s. They’ve got an excellent menu. Well, unless you like seafood ‘cause they don’t serve that.”

“I can live without seafood I think,” she told him and glanced around when they stepped outside.

He pulled his keys out of his pocket and pressed the button to disable the alarm. The familiar chirping sound was accompanied by the headlights flashing on his black Jeep Wrangler. He opened the passenger’s side door and held his hand out to her.

Wow, so he could also be a gentleman, she mused and settled into the seat. “Thanks.”

She looked surprised, he thought. He was always polite but on the rare occasion he went out on real dates he really watched his manners. He closed the door and went around to the other side to slide in behind the steering wheel. “How was your day?” he asked, trying to remember if she had said she had classes that day.

“Slow. I was still tired when I got home so I just crashed on my bed and didn’t really leave it until it was time to get ready again.” Okay, that was a lie. She had been studying for her biology test next week, but that was just too lame and boring.

“Sounds a lot more fun than my day,” he said with a wink. “I had a couple errands to run first thing this mornin’ and then Coach put us through a tough practice. He’s pretty ticked about losin’ that game Tuesday night.” Well, the practice part was true. His errand had actually been meeting with his math tutor but how embarrassing would it be to admit that?

“When’s your next game?” She wasn’t that interested in sports, but she should pretend, shouldn’t she? Well, and it wasn’t like watching him getting all sweaty while practicing would be torture.

“Tomorrow night at 7pm. It’s a home game. Do you go to the games?”

“Sometimes,” she lied.

“You should come sit behind the dugout. I can get you a couple tickets. I assume Maria goes with you?” He doubted she had ever been to a game or even knew what a dugout was. He pulled up in front of the restaurant and smirked at the people lined up and waiting to get in. He tossed his keys to the valet as he opened Liz’s door. “Watch the paint job, chief.”

She accepted his hand and smiled at the other man, when Max didn’t really pay any attention to him. His skin felt soft, she realized. “Yeah, I think Maria would go to.” What the hell was a dugout?

They bypassed the line and walked inside to the reservations desk. The woman browsing the list of available tables glanced up when Max cleared his throat. She smiled at him when he gave his name and after verifying the reservation motioned for someone to show them to their table.

*****

Maria glanced at her watch. It was only 7pm, so she still had thirty minutes before Michael would show up. Well, if he shows up, she thought and glanced around to find a good place to hide until she was sure she wasn’t making a fool of herself.

Yeah, that’s it, she decided and walked over to a bench near the pier not too far from the restaurant where they were supposed to meet. She sat down and checked the place. From here she had a good view over practically everything. She would definitely see him when he arrived.

A little bit more relaxed, she leaned back and propped her feet on the bench, wrapping her arms around her knees. Maria hoped he would show up. Of course, she would play it cool, but it would hurt if he had just been playing with her. If he came, he really liked her right? What else could it mean? She was still confused about his behaviour this morning – it was as if he had changed overnight. But maybe something had just ‘clicked’ in him last night when they had been so close…

Maybe the mysterious caller was the reason why he was always holding back? Who had it been? she wondered. Her theory was still a secret girlfriend or a former girlfriend. Would that be a problem if she and Michael ever got serious? The ex would definitely not like her as the new girlfriend!

She rolled her eyes at herself. Now she was totally losing her mind. Think straight, DeLuca. He probably won’t even consider being your boyfriend.

Michael pulled up in front of the place he had suggested for dinner and wondered once again what he was getting himself into. He scanned the street, looking for her car for several minutes before he realized he had no idea what she drove. He reached out and turned the stereo down since it was loud enough to rattle the windows in the cars around him. Not that he really cared but the old lady in front of him who was older than dirt looked like she was about to go into cardiac arrest.

Maria heard the sounds of Metallica from far away and looked around, grinning when he saw his truck. Oh, yeah, that was Michael Guerin.

Michael looked to his right and smiled to himself when he saw her sitting on a bench not far away. He got out of the truck and pocketed his keys as he walked over to her. “What’re you doin’ over here?”

“I was here earlier than expected because I was meeting a friend before,” she lied. “I love to sit by the ocean.”

“You’ve gotta good view here,” he said with a nod.

“There’s a place just across the way that sells pizza by the slice. We could order some and then sit somewhere by the ocean?” she suggested. Somehow she would feel better with him outside rather than stuck in a room.

“You’d be cool with that?” he asked, surprised. That would be kinda nice since going out to dinner was more like a date and getting a slice of pizza was more like hanging out.

“Sure. It’s nice outside and I never get sick of the beach.”

“I don’t either.” He looked around and nodded at the boats on the water. “You ever been out?”

“A long time ago,” she said, not really remembering when exactly.

“Did you like it?” He motioned to the pizza stand and they started walking to it.

Maria followed him with a smile. Wow, he really came. He was wearing faded blue jeans and a black tee shirt. To be honest they looked a bit like they had dressed alike since she was wearing blue jeans and the black pullover combined with the black cap. Perfect match came to her mind, but she just shook her head at the thought, amused. “Yeah, it was nice.”

“Maybe we could go sailing on Sunday. Or Saturday. We’ve got a game that afternoon but we could go out in the evening. There’s a quiet cove about 20 miles out we could check out.”

Maria was surprised by his offer. They hadn’t even started their first date and he was already planning the next? “Do you know how to sail?”

“No, I just thought I’d ask for no reason.” He rolled eyes at her. “Yeah, I know how to sail.”

She shoved him slightly. “I just want to know if it’s safe to go with you,” she teased and glanced over the menu. “I’d vote for Saturday then.”

“Cool.” His gaze raked over her. “Make sure you bring a bathing suit... unless you swim nude.” He grinned. “That’s okay too.”

“Yeah, you wish,” she snorted and pointed at the pizza with bacon. “That one.”

“Can’t blame a guy for trying.” He motioned to a pizza with pepperoni and jalapenos. “It’s better hot.”

“Yeah?” She lifted her eyebrows. “You sure about that?”

“Positive,” he insisted.

“It’s better hot,” she repeated with a smirk.

“Women and food, two things that should be hot.”

The waiter who took their orders smirked at Michael’s comment and shot a glance at Maria. She looked up at her date and snorted, tipping her cap back to meet his eyes. “If you say so.”

“You should take that as a compliment.”

“I know I’m hot,” she said with a smirk while they waited for their food to get ready.

He snorted. “Yeah, I guess you do.” He glanced up at the menu board. “You wanna beer?” he asked, nodding at the waiter to let him know to pull one for him.

“Yeah, I guess, no reason to be fancy with pizza on the beach, huh?”

He shrugged. “Not really.” Besides, what went better with pizza than beer?

It took another few minutes before their order was ready. Michael paid for it and took the bag out of the other guy’s hand.

“So, where should we go?” Maria asked, tipping her head back to look at him. Damn, he was so huge and she was wearing flat shoes.

“They have benches down on the pier. Or there’s a picnic area a little further down the beach.”

“I’d prefer the picnic area,” she told him.

“Don’t like feeling like you’re moving while you’re eating?”

“Not really.”

“You get motion sick or something?”

“If ya wanna sit on the benches, then go ahead, we can do that too.” Gosh, why did he ask her where she wanted to sit and then asked why she didn’t want to sit at the other area?

“No, I’m cool with a table.”

They walked the few minutes to the picnic area in silence while the smell of the pizza made her stomach growl. “I’m starvin’.”

He smirked. Most girls seemed to think they were giving away a state secret if they admitted they were hungry. “I could probably polish off a whole pizza by myself. Didn’t get a chance to grab lunch today.”

“You’re not getting mine.”

“Don’t like to share, huh?” He shrugged. “That’s okay. You’d probably spit on it anyway,” he said with a teasing smirk.

She laughed. “Yeah, you never know, Guerin.”

****

“Not good?” Max asked when he had watched Liz several silent moments. She was using her fork to push her food around her plate.

“Huh?” She glanced up, feeling trapped. She had been lost in thoughts about how wrong it was to have this kind of a date with a man she was just using to get her ex back. Okay, Max Evans had a reputation that wasn’t that promising. He was a womanizer and probably came here a lot – with a different woman each time of course. Still, didn’t that mean she was just like him?

“Is your food not okay?” he repeated.

“Oh! Yeah, it is.”

“You sure?” He smiled at her with that smile that also showed his perfect teeth and made her knees weak.

She flashed a smile back at him, hoping he wouldn’t see her light blush. He had a way of looking at her that made her nervous on the one hand, but excited on the other. “Yeah, it’s actually really good, I’m just not that hungry tonight.” Well, to be honest she was hungry, but the dress Maria had loaned her was so tight that nothing else was going to fit in there. With each new bite she took, she felt like it would burst at any second. How embarrassing would that be?

Totally unfair that Maria could wear jeans and pullover, she thought. Although she wasn’t interested in changing places with her friend. Guerin was really hard to handle from what she could tell. “You want a bite?” She gestured to her plate since his was already empty.

“Will you feed me?” he asked cheekily.

Oh hell! Feed him? What was he thinking? If you want David back you need to be more adventurous! She could hear Maria’s voice in the back of her head. “What would you like to taste?” she asked playfully.

He leaned a bit forward over the table and looked at her. “Would you slap me, if I say you?”

A shiver ran along her spine and her stomach made a weird twist at that. Would she slap him? Hell no! She leaned forward just like he had done and braced one arm on the table. “Would you kiss me if I said no?” Way to play with fire, Liz! she told herself, but couldn’t help it.

His grin grew at her question. Oh, yeah, that’s the way it should always be, he thought and closed the small distance between them to take her lips in a small, teasing kiss that was over way too soon in her opinion.

She opened her eyes slowly again and looked at him, biting her bottom lip. “I think now you deserve the slap.”

“I do?” he asked, surprised.

She grinned. “Yeah, short kisses like that are forbidden, don’t you know that?”

He was relieved. “It’s just a promise of more for later. I doubt they’d appreciate much more in here,” he nodded to a waiter.

She glanced at the man who had obviously an interest in them. “Do you really think they’re so stuffy?”

Max shrugged. “Do we care?”

Liz laughed and shook her head slightly. It was all he needed to know to lean in closer a second time and kiss her again. His lips brushed lightly over hers first before settling fully against hers. He reached out to place one hand over her smaller one on the table, squeezing it lightly.

She felt dizzy, but didn’t break the kiss. His lips were so soft, a stark contrast to his goatee that brushed against her skin. Somehow it felt totally different from the way David had kissed her. Max seemed to vary the pressure, tone and angle of the kiss with every second… something her ex had never done.

They were interrupted by a cough coming from a person right in front of him. Max was the one who ended the kiss slowly and glanced up at the waiter, who was now directly in front of him. “Sorry, sir, but I’m going to have to ask you to stop this. We don’t tolerate insults like this here.”

“Insults like this?” Liz echoed in disbelief. “The only insult here is the pimple on your face, which is glowing like Rudolph’s nose.”

Max, who had taken a sip of his drink, almost choked on it and burst out into laugher. It only made the waiter angrier. “You should go now. Want me to send the bill to your apartment, Mr. Evans?”

Oh yeah, he definitely came here often, Liz thought when the waiter obviously knew his address. But well… that was none of her business and considering the reason she was there, she had no room to complain about it.

“Sure.” Max stood up and held his hand out to Liz. “Maybe we can get dessert somewhere else, huh?”

“Yeah, someplace where they’re not so uptight,” she answered, glaring at the waiter. She let him guide her outside and they both started to laugh again when they smelled the fresh air.

“I swear, I’ve never been out with a woman that dared to say THAT to a waiter.”

“Hey, it was the truth, didn’t you see it?” she defended herself.

“You couldn’t just not see it,” he said, still laughing.

“See, it was disgusting. They shouldn’t let him work with it. I thought every minute it was going to burst. Gross!” She made a face.

The girl was definitely more fun than he had expected, Max decided. Too bad she was just playing games with him. Not that he really complained about being used for make outs. He glanced at his watch. “What ya wanna do now? The night’s still young.”

begonia9508: Think it’s only one or the other?

Earth2Mama: The dares will definitely backfire. The question is how badly… hmmm.

Eva: Think Michael and Maria will be the first to get things out in the open, huh? We’ll see.

secretk: These games are certainly being played on both ends now.

Real feelings will be invested… and in some cases, already are.

Exactly right! The dare was necessary in some ways to get these two couples to see each other, so without the dare… it probably wouldn’t have happened.

The dare is going to really give them an opportunity to get to know each other, but the downside is that troubling little fact that everything is built on the dare. For Michael and Maria, the attraction existed pre-dare, but they’re gonna have to deal with the dare before they can move forward. Max and Liz, they’re starting out from scratch, but they’ll have to deal with the same thing.

mary mary: We think you’re right, lol.

keepsmiling7: Lol, yeah, she doesn’t have a clue when it comes to baseball.

We’ll see what they do next in this update.

Smac: There is a lot of pretending and acting going on, but all of that has a basis in reality. They’ll bring out the best – and at times, worst – in each other.

Alien_Friend: Think Liz might spill, huh? We’ll see.

Let’s see how the rest of the dates go.

sarammlover: Well, they went into it with the intention of proving a point… will it stay like that? Probably not, lol. We’ve still got a ways to go before we find out who’s gonna come clean first.

nitpick23: Oh, it won’t be easy for him to play the game and walk away. We don’t think that’s gonna be easy for any of them.

The dare has definitely given them all a push in the right direction, the question now is how they’ll handle things once they’ve started to really care for each other and the truth comes out.

AlysLuv: Thanks for reading!

futuremrsmcdreamy: Thanks! The outcome should be interesting… and not necessarily what our couples are expecting.



Part 8

Michael pointed at a table under a shade tree. “How’s that one?”

“Looks good,” Maria agreed and walked over to it, sitting down on the table, feet propped on the bench as she faced the ocean.

He straddled the bench on the opposite and took a drink of his beer before sitting it on the table. “So what’re you doin’ tomorrow?”

“I’ve got some classes tomorrow, one in the morning, two in the later afternoon.”

He nodded. “You into any sports?” She was fit but she didn’t strike him as particularly athletic.

“I go jogging on the beach sometimes, but that’s pretty much it,” she moved to straddle the bench as well, facing him, and grabbed the pizza.

“I’ve got an Economics quiz tomorrow and then I’m out for the day. Well, other than practice in the afternoon.”

“You guys have to practice a lot, huh?” she mumbled after a bit of her hot pizza.

“Yeah, almost every day. Coach is pushing hard after that loss the other night.” He chewed on his pizza for a minute. “You ever go to the games?”

“Sometimes,” she answered. Okay, she practically watched them all, but obviously he had never paid attention. Jerk!

“Sometimes? We have the best team this college has seen in several years.”

Maria smirked. “Yeah, but girls just go there for one reason: To see hot guys. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best team over or not.”

He grinned. “That’s cool.”

“Like to show off for the girls?”

“Hell, if the girls want a show I’ll give it to them.”

“Yeah, it’d be such a shame if ya didn’t,” she teased and ate more of her pizza.

He held his arms up and flexed his muscles. “Would be, huh?”

Maria just rolled her eyes at him and let that pass without comment. She turned to the ocean and watched a mom and her son walking hand in hand along the beach, pointing at a boat on the horizon.

He shrugged and lowered his arms, reaching for his pizza and taking a big bite.

“Ouch,” she mumbled around a piece of pizza when the kid she had just been watching had turned loose from his mom and fell to the ground, face first.

“That’s gonna leave a mark,” Michael mumbled.

She giggled. “I just can’t watch it when those little munchkins are so clumsy.”

“Some of ‘em are pretty clumsy.” He shook his head. “They eventually grow out of it.”

“Yeah, but until thats happens I just wanna pack them up in a lot of absorbent cotton.”

He shook his head. “Wouldn’t make things any better for ‘em. They’ve gotta learn to stand on their own and know you’re there to keep ‘em safe.”

That got her attention. Was her suspicion about him having a secret ex and a kid right? “Speaking from experience?”

He shrugged and chewed on a bite of crust thoughtfully.

Great answer, she thought. There was definitely something that he was hiding. Would she be okay with him having a kid with someone else? “Here,” she pushed her leftovers towards him. “You can have it.”

“Not as hungry as you thought you were?” he asked as he snagged the slice.

“I just saw the hungry look in your eyes and thought it could just be the lack of food,” she told him with a shrug and hid her smile when she lifted one foot over the bench to turn to the ocean again.

“I can eat like a horse any time of day.”

“Most men do that.”

“I don’t know what most men do. I just know what I do.”

Nothing, she thought but didn’t say it. That’s the problem.

Michael watched her as she stared out over the ocean, her gaze still following the little boy and his mother. “You like kids?” he asked.

“I sit for my brother’s child now and then. The little girl’s only two and you have your hands full with her, but I love her.”

“Yeah, well, at two they’re into everything. Older brother, I guess?”

“Yeah, but only by a year. Kyle Valenti, you might know him. He’s actually my stepbrother, but our parents have been together since I was 7, so I consider him my real brother.”

“Oh, right, he’s the one who got Tess Harding pregnant, right?” The guy was pushing ahead with his football scholarship and the couple was managing to hold their relationship together even with a kid in the mix. That was hard enough to do when kids weren’t involved.

“Yeah, I think Mom’s still freaked out that he made her a grandma so soon,” Maria smirked.

He smiled and nodded. “Moms don’t like stuff like that. But she probably loves that little girl like crazy.”

“There’s nothing not to love about Nayla,” Maria agreed. “He’s a good dad. I never would’ve guessed it, considering how he used to live before this happened, but he’s changed a lot.”

“Yeah, well... when you have a kid dependent on you it’s a no-brainer. You kinda have to grow up and put them first.”

And again she wondered if he was talking from his own experience. It would make sense… His hesitation towards her even though she had a feeling he was attracted to her… his obsession with his privacy…. “Yeah.”

“You want kids? Well, ya know, one day.”

“Sure, after college one day, if I find a decent man who could be a good father.”

He nodded. “Yeah. After college.”

Gosh, could he be any more mysterious, she wondered. It bothered her that she knew nothing about him, but she knew asking wouldn’t help.

He took a drink of his beer and shifted around to brace his forearms on the table as he looked at her. Sometimes he wondered at the urge he felt to open up to her but he resisted it once more. His life was complicated enough without doing that and then regretting it later on.

Maria turned to look at him when she felt his intense eyes on her. “What?”

“You’re hot,” he blurted out.

First she frowned and then she grinned a bit. “Well, thanks.”

He shrugged. He hadn’t meant to say that. It was true. Damn, it was true, but he hadn’t meant to just put it out there like that.

So she was hot, and now? Was he finally putting a move on her? What the hell did he want her to say or do? If she was forward he turned her down, if she held back, he told her she was hot.

Michael dropped his gaze to his beer and slowly turned the bottle between his fingers. He really had no idea what to say to her. If things were different he might... well, no, he probably wouldn’t be any better off.

Her sigh when he didn’t do anything came out louder than she had expected it to be and she hoped he hadn’t heard it. It was frustrating not to know what was going on and it made the situation kinda awkward. She turned around on the bench, resting her back against the edge of the table and using her lower arms to steady herself on the top.

Michael cleared his throat and scratched his jaw. He sucked at small talk. “Are you close to your family?” He winced. Yeah, way to go, Guerin, just bounce from one topic to the next and make her think you're psychotic.

“Yeah, I don’t have a big one. Earlier it was just Mom and me and then Jim came with Kyle. I do love the boys as if we were really related.”

“Your parents live close by?”

“Just a few miles from here,” she nodded.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I’m not good at small talk and I don’t usually make much of an effort, so my skills are pretty rusty.”

She nodded. “What about your family? Are you from around here?” She has absolutely no clue.

“Born and raised.” He nodded at the ocean. “Which is part of the reason why I know how to sail. Can’t grow up by the ocean and not learn.”

“I grew up here and didn’t learn, thank you,” she shoved him lightly.

“So maybe I’ll teach you,” he said, relieved to be away from the subject of his family.

“Yeah, I’m blonde but I think I can do that,” she joked.

He smirked and shrugged one shoulder. “It’s fun if you know what you’re doin’. Get out there without a clue and it can turn dangerous.”

“I’d better not dump your ass in the ocean then.”

“That’d suck. Guess then you’d have to jump in an’ save me.”

She snorted. “Yeah, not gonna happen. I don’t wanna be shark food.”

“Dump my ass in the ocean and you’re gonna be more than that.”

She let her head fell back to look at him. “Are you makin’ threats?”

“Nope, just sayin’ I’d have to do somethin’ if you tossed me in the water.”

“Like?”

“Like...” he leaned in closer to her until his hand was brushing against her arm. “What d’you think would be a suitable punishment?”

“Oh… I don’t know…”

His thumb started to rub patterns against her skin and he rested his chin in his other hand as he met her gaze. “No?”

“I’m sure something will come to you in time,” she told him, her gaze locked on his lips. God, she wanted to kiss him so badly.

“Oh, I’m sure it will,” he murmured, unable to take his eyes off of her.

Her neck started to hurt when the position got uncomfortable. If he doesn’t do anything anytime soon I’m gonna smack him, she thought frustrated.

Michael pulled back slowly, knowing if he continued the way he was he would end up kissing her and really complicating everything. “Well, I’m gonna have to get goin’ here pretty soon.”

She frowned. THAT was not what she had been looking for right now. “Going?”

“Yeah, got some things I’ve gotta take care of.”

“Things…” Of course he wouldn’t say anything else. “Fine,” she said, frustrated. “Go.”

“Look, you don’t gotta be mad about it. It’s just somethin’ that came up unexpectedly earlier and I’ve gotta handle it.”

“What is it?”

How could he explain Ben to her? He couldn’t, not really. It wasn’t something any girl would want to deal with and she wasn’t gonna be around for long anyway. He shook his head. “Just somethin’ personal,” he muttered finally.

She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, I think I’ve gotta do some personal stuff too.”

He rolled his eyes. Now she was gonna be pissy.

It took all her strength to not yell at him. “Goodbye, Michael.”

“Hey, what about Saturday night? We’re still on for sailing, right?”

She turned to look at him again and shrugged. “I don’t know yet. Maybe personal things might get in the way.” Okay, now he would officially know she was hurt, but well, she was. For a few moments she had thought it would be different this time, but then he had turned her down. Again.

“Look, it’s not somethin’ I can just blow off.” And he didn’t even know why he was trying to explain himself to her.

“Whew,” she said, pretending to be relieved. “Thank God, you can blow me off instead, huh?”

“I’m not tryin’ to blow you off, Maria. Damn, it’s just somethin’ that’s gotta be taken care of.”

She looked at him intensely, trying to find any hint that he wasn’t just playing with her, but she couldn’t find anything convincing enough.

“It’s just...” He shook his head. “I can’t explain.”

Yeah, of course he couldn’t. “I’m going home now.”

He shrugged. “I’ll be lookin’ for you at the game.”

She just nodded, not sure yet if she would go. Wouldn’t it mean torturing herself even more?

“We can head out to the marina from the game.” He shrugged. “If you still wanna go.”

“I don’t know yet, Michael,” she told him honestly.

“Look, I won’t cut out early.”

“Yeah, unless you have to leave before we even get started.”

“Kinda hard to leave when we’re out on the ocean. Look, it was either cut the date short or just not show... I took a shot and thought somethin’ was better than nothin’.”

It felt like a nothing though. He hadn’t even kissed her or at least wrapped his arm around her like this morning.

He studied her, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Okay, he had to cut the evening short, but was that any reason to get all mad at him? He reached out and took her hand, stopping her when she looked like she was about to walk away. “Maria, look, there’re gonna be times when I have to cancel last minute or I have to cut dates short. That’s just the way my life is right now. I’d like to see you Saturday, go sailing an’ just enjoy an evening out.”

He did sound sincere, but could she really trust him? And what was the mystery around him? Her gaze wandered to their interlocked hands. “That’s gonna be your last chance, Guerin.”

“You’re gonna have to understand that there’re gonna be times when I gotta cut out though, Maria.”

“No, I don’t. Not as long as you’re hiding the reason from me.”

“I’m not gonna explain myself... we don’t know each other well enough for that.”

“Just saying that you can’t expect my understanding like this, with no explanation.” She shrugged. “I’ll let you off the hook for now.”

“It’s not the first or last time it’ll happen, that’s all I’m sayin’.”

“Well, it’s definitely the first time that a guy’s run off from a date with me in,” she glanced at her watch, “wow, an hour.”

He cleared his throat, embarrassed. “That’s why I don’t date seriously. I don’t usually know until the last minute that I’m gonna have to change my plans.”

“Keep your mystery up, huh, Guerin?” she said, trying to not be mad at him.

“Maybe later... when we get to know each other better.” Yeah, like that was gonna happen, he thought.

She nodded, “Okay.”

“Okay.” He motioned to the parking lot. “You need a ride anywhere?”

“Are you gonna let me drive your truck?” she teased.

“Yeah,” he snorted, “not happenin’.”

“Then I’m gonna walk.”

He frowned. “Because I said you can’t drive the Ram?”

“Not really. I just wanna walk along the ocean for a bit since I’ve got plenty of time now.”

He actually felt bad about ditching her but he really didn’t have much choice. “Well... alright. I’ll keep an eye out for you on Saturday.”

“Yeah, you better.”

He smirked softly. “Catch ya later, Maria.”

“Bye, Michael,” she said quietly, her last bit of hope for a kiss dying when he let go of her hand.

Michael watched her expression change as he released his hold on her and he felt bad for leaving her without an explanation. Stay strong! his inner voice shouted. She’s only hanging out with you because of a dare, don’t feel bad for her!

She turned to leave, taking the opposite direction. Even though he had tried to explain it to her, she felt like she was being ditched and the fact that he had just tossed a ‘catch ya later’ was not helping to get rid of the feeling.

“Hey, Maria,” he called before she had taken more than half a dozen steps.

“Huh?” She turned around again.

“I know it wasn’t much of a date but I did enjoy spendin’ time with you.”

She smiled a bit. “Thank God, we didn’t go to one of those fancy restaurants. That would’ve really been embarrassing.”

He cleared his throat. “I’ll try to do better about the timing next time.”

“Yeah, and maybe about something else as well,” she winked at him.

“Somethin’ else?” he asked, trying to sound clueless.

“You’re smart. You’ll figure it out.”

He smirked. He knew what that something else was and he wasn’t sure how long he could put off kissing her.

*****

“Wow, it’s pretty nice here,” Liz admitted when Max led her towards a cliff that towered high over the ocean. She could hear the waves of water crashing loudly against the rocks below them.

“The sun will go down right over the ocean there”, he pointed to their right. “We just have to wait a while, but it’s worth watching.” He hadn’t brought a girl here before since this was a place where he went when he needed some peace from everything and everyone. But it was kinda romantic here so it was just what he needed for this girl.

“I bet,” Liz nodded, enjoying the wind on her face. They had stopped at her dorm again so she could change into some comfortable clothes and shoes. It felt much better not being wrapped up in the way-too-tight dress. How did Maria survive a whole night in it?

“There’s a little overhang in the rocks. We have to climb down though. You wanna go down there?” he asked, letting his hands wander over her bare arms.

“Is it safe to do that?” So much for being adventurous, she thought with an eye roll.

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll help you down. I’ve gone down there a lot of times before, it’s really no problem.”

“Okay,” she turned around to him face him slightly and smiled. “Let’s do that then.”

He bent his head to look down at her, getting lost in her eyes for a moment. The girl was different for some reason. He just didn’t know what it was. Yes, she was beautiful and she had a great body and all… but other girls on campus, a lot of girls to be honest, had that going for them too. Maybe it was just the fact that she had bet on him with her friend, he decided. It made things interesting. Would he be able to make her fall for him? His hand reached out for hers and took it in it. “Come on.”

They got a blanket from the car and made their way down the small path to the overhang Max had mentioned. He helped her to climb down the last bit to get there. “Just put your foot down now,” he said and after a second of hesitation she did it.

His hands came around her hips protectively when she made it down to him. “Okay, I’ve got you.”

“Thanks,” she whispered. The climb down hadn’t been too difficult and the overhang was wide enough to stand there safely. Still, she liked his arms around her. “How did you find this?”

“My brother showed it to me when I was younger.”

“I didn’t know you have a brother.”

“He’s almost 6 years older than me, so you’ve probably never seen him before.” Max let go of her slowly and took the blanket to spread it on the ground. “Wanna sit down?”

“Yeah,” she nodded.

“Okay.” Hhe guided her a few steps forward and sat down first, back against the rocks behind them before taking her hand again and leading her between his legs, where she could sit and use him as a backrest.

Liz crouched down slowly and turned to face away from him as she tried to get comfortable. “Wow, you really have a nice view of the sunset from here.”

“Yeah,” he agreed and leaned forward to wrap his arms around her waist. “Come a bit closer and you can lean against me.”

“Okay,” she wiggled around to downplay her nervousness about it, which was only rising when she felt the heat of his body against her backside.

Max bit back the groan, when she brushed against parts of his body that were totally aware of her right now. Damn, he was pretty sure it had been accidental, but with this woman, he never knew…

“So, tell me something about you, Liz Parker,” he said after they had settled down. Even though he could imagine better things than small talk right now, it just had to wait with her.

“Whatcha wanna know?”

“Something about the person you are. Habits, good or bad, something that makes you the girl you are.”

What a hell of a question, she thought. What could she probably tell him that wouldn’t bore him to death? “Uh... I’m a good listener I think,” she started and immediately rolled her eyes at it. Yeah, what a way to start. “Oh, and Maria says I can be really funny at times when you don’t expect it.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I just saw that happen in the restaurant when you screwed with our waiter. I doubt I can ever go back there.”

“Oh, really? I’m sorry, I…”

“Nah, it wasn’t that good anyway. And you were right, that thing was an insult.” He used his hand to brush her hair away from one shoulder to lean down and press a kiss to her bare neck.

She shivered at the touch of his hot lips against her skin. “Yeah…”

“So… those are good habits, what about the bad ones?”

“You expect me to have bad habits?” she teased, leaning her head to the side so he had better access to her neck. It surprised her how easily she could lose track of time and memories about the dare when she was with him.

“Everyone has bad habits,” he told her and ran the tips of his fingers over her shoulder, pulling the strap of her dress away from her shoulder slightly.

She thought about it for a moment, as well as she could while he was touching her. “My roommate says I snore when I’ve had a few drinks. Not like really loud, just like…” She imitated the sound and immediately felt stupid again.

Max laughed against her bare shoulder and bit her flesh softly, before his lips wandered to her ear. “Somehow that sounds sexy.”

Liz laughed. “No it doesn’t.”

“Okay,” he had to laugh as well. “I admit I just said it to make you feel better.”

She turned her head to look at him and smiled. “Well, thanks for trying.”

His eyes immediately wandered to her lips, which looked just as soft as they felt. “I think you can add another thing to the good habits,” he told her softly. His hand came up to cup her cheek.

“What’s that?”

“You’re a good kisser.”

Am I? she wondered. No one had ever told her she was… well until now.

He saw the thoughts running through her mind and smiled slightly. Her face was so open and she probably had no clue about it. His thumb swept over her cheek in a soft manner before he leaned in to brush his lips against hers.

She could feel the heat in her body rising, something she hadn’t felt in a very long time and now Max Evans, of all men, brought it out again. After shifting around slightly to a more sideways position her hands grabbed his shirt to hold him close.

It was easy to read her mind when her body was so responsive, he thought and touched her lips with his again, more intense this time to make it a real kiss.

Liz moaned softly when his tongue swept out to beg for entrance and she gave it to him without a second thought, letting him deepen the kiss the way he wanted. He was controlling the kiss, but she didn’t worry about it because she kinda liked the way he was leading. Sexy but without force.

They broke the kiss a little breathlessly when his phone started to ring. “Ya don’t wanna answer it?” she asked, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

He leaned his forehead against hers and smiled. “No.” With a slight switch of his seat and a quick move of his hand he let his voicemail answer it. He nodded to the ocean. “Almost time for sunset.”

Natalie36: Glad to hear you’re all caught up! The four of them are a major handful!

mary mary: Michael’s role here should be interesting. As for Liz, she may have gotten more than she knows how to handle, but she’s gonna give it her best shot.

Thanks!

Earth2Mama: Who Ben is will be revealed later. Yeah, you probably already knew that, huh?

M&L are definitely playing with fire here.

keepsmiling7:Appears to be...

Smac: Ben’s identity will be revealed but not for a bit. We will get to meet him in this part though. Knowing about the dare does make him question Maria’s motives and it’s something he can’t just ignore.

Max does like Liz but that dare is still between them and he can’t just forget about it. It might be a while before the girls find out that the guys know about the dare and they’ve got a dare of their own going.

Alien_Friend: Definitely someone involved. We’ll meet Ben in this next part.

The boys are definitely reacting differently to their situation.

Tess and Kyle do have a kid and we’ll get to meet her too. We wanted to try something different here.

The next encounter’s coming right up!

secretk:Yup, one more clue comes out.

Ben’s identity won’t be revealed today, but we will get to meet him in this part.

We’ll see a lot of Michael’s conflict here. Getting to know Maria better while knowing about the dare is going to make it interesting. Michael and Maria are both going to have a difficult time keeping things on a level playing field.

Max does know how to be a gentleman and he can be romantic even though he’s a player. It’s true, even in light of the dare, Max took a chance taking her someplace that holds meaning for him. Liz is experimenting and stepping out of her comfort zone with Max, but he makes her want to pass those boundaries.

Kyle and Tess are together and they have a little girl, we wanted to do something a little different with them this time out.

Eva: Good question, but not one that’ll be answered today. We will get to meet Ben today though.

You’re right about Maria... she wants to solve the mystery of Michael Guerin.

Things are clicking between the two couples. The dare is there between them, but it’s not enough to stop real feelings and emotions from developing.

sarammlover: Isn’t it? Lol. We’re pretty sure you’re right about those feelings. You know it’s only a matter of time before it comes out about the dare... on both sides.

begonia9508: Oh, it’ll go on this way for a bit... until the truth comes out anyway.

besomeoneyoulove: A petition, huh? Well... we appreciate it, but we’ll probably stick with Sundays.

LovelyPOM83: Glad you’re enjoying the story. They’re definitely all falling for eachother and not all of them are aware of it.



Part 9

“I am so sorry, Michael,” Isabel said as she opened the front door. “I know you had plans for the night and I wouldn’t have called if I had another option, but I have to go in because I’ve got two people out sick.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he told her and stepped inside. “Where is he?” The question was unnecessary because he could already hear him.

“In the kitchen. He’s refusing to eat his dinner,” she sighed. “Maybe you’ll have more luck with him.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Alright, I’m going upstairs to get ready for work,” she said and left him alone to hurry and get ready while Michael crossed the living room to swing the door open to enter the kitchen.

Bentley looked up when movement caught his eyes. He was upset because he was trapped in his highchair. His little face was red from crying and several items from his dinner were spread around the floor. He calmed down just a bit when he saw Michael in the door and he mumbled something only he would know the meaning of it.

“Hey, little man,” Michael said in a soft tone and walked over to take him out of his chair. “Are you being difficult again, huh?” He tickled the boy’s side, making him giggle while his tears started to dry.

Ben took a handful of his shirt into his sticky fingers.

“Ungh, this’s one of my best shirts, you know… You’re lucky my date’s already over because I couldn’t show up like that.”

“Why is he always so calm with you?” Isabel complained when she joined them.

“Because he loves me more.”

She snorted at him. “How was your date?”

“Short.”

“Ungh, I’m sorry.”

“I said its okay.”

“Yeah…” Isabel walked over to the boys and ruffled Ben’s hair. “G’night sweetie,” she kissed his cheek and turned to Michael. “It could be late before I get home. The club’s been crazy busy lately.”

He nodded. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Alright. You know where to find everything. Oh, and it’s bath day, so you two should have lot of fun.” She grinned.

“Yay,” Michael cheered without much excitement and looked at the boy in his arms. “What about dinner, buddy?”

Ben hid his face at his neck, not answering his question. “Guess that’s a no.”

“It’s okay. He did eat a bit so if he doesn’t want more then let him be,” Isabel said and waved before she walked out the door.

“Boys night, huh?” Michael rubbed the little boy’s back. He could tell he was tired and it would probably take no time at all to settle him for the night after a warm bath. “Let’s go upstairs and I’ll clean up your little mess later.”

“Boo Boo,” Ben suddenly whined and pointed at something across the room.

“Where is he?” Michael looked around for the boy’s teddy bear, a stuffed animal that had to go everywhere with him. He found it on the floor next to the highchair and picked it up, placing it in Ben’s outstretched arms.

They walked upstairs where Isabel had already set everything out for the bath. The pyjamas, shower gel and lotions where already set up on the changing table next to the tub. He turned on the water before setting the boy down to undress him.

“Huh-uh, we’re not gonna cry,” Michael told him when he scrunched his face up as soon as he started pulling on his clothes. “You don’t wanna be stinky. Girls don’t like stinky boys.” His mind wandered off to Maria for a moment. What would her reaction be if she saw him like this?


*****

Max knocked the door and leaned against the doorframe until his friend opened for him. It was past eleven and he had taken his date home a few minutes ago. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Michael said tiredly and opened the door wider. He was exhausted, it had taken forever to get Ben into bed tonight, even longer than usual.

“How’s little man doin’?” Max asked as he walked into the living room, setting two beers on the table that he had just bought at the gas station.

“Finally sleeping.”

“You don’t look like the night was fun at all.”

“Ben threw a fit when it was time for bed,” Michael fell back on the couch while Max took the armchair. “I had to read a story twice before he finally went to sleep.”

The other man made a face. Ben was cool and all but little kids weren’t really fun when you were in college and wanted to party. “An’ your date with DeLuca?”

“Was basically over before it got started.”

“So guess that means you didn’t get laid.”

Michael snorted. “No.” And he wouldn’t have gotten laid no matter how long the date had been.

“Too bad. Blow job maybe?”

“What? Fuck no, Evans. I had to leave right after eating.”

“So ya gonna tell me you didn’t do anything with her?”

He just shrugged. “You gonna tell me Parker spread her legs?”

Max laughed even though he felt a bit bad about talking about her like this. She’s just playing games, he reminded himself. “No, I was a perfect gentleman and just kissed her.”

Michael made a snoring sound and let his head fell back on the couch, grinning when it annoyed his friend.

“That reminds me,” the other guy said and got his phone out. He dialled a number and waited for the other person to pick up.

“Hello?” Liz answered the phone.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said back, his tone amused.

Michael rolled his eyes when he realized what his friend was doing. It was just the way Max handled women. He went out on a date with them and then called them shortly before they went to bed to make sure they would think about him all night when they went down on themselves.

“Max,” Liz was surprised to hear from him so soon. “Wow… I didn’t expect you to call um… so soon.”

“Yeah, just making sure you got home safe.”

The brunette smiled and threw the blankets back to slip into bed. “I did.”

“You goin’ to bed?” he asked when he heard something rustling in the background.

“Yeah, fresh air makes me tired.”

“What’re you wearing?”

Michael took a long drink. This wasn’t anything he wanted to overhear.

Liz lightly blushed at his question and looked down at herself. A pink nightgown with a teddy bear on it. Great. “Just a black tank top and panties.”

Damn. Max bit his lip. She’d look good in those. “Any chance you could send me a pic?”

Hell no! She laughed, amused. “Maybe next time.”

He smirked. Yeah, he hadn’t expected her to do it. “Alright. Sleep well. I’m gonna call you soon.”

“Tonight again?” she asked cheekily.

“You never know.” He hung up again and shoved his cell back in his pocket, shrugging when Michael glared at him. “What?”

“What are you wearing? Seriously?”

“Shut up. Maybe you should call DeLuca to heat things up as well.

“I don’t even have her number, man.”

*****

Michael parked the Ram in front of Max’ apartment and pressed the horn two times to announce his arrival. He glanced at himself in the mirror and made a face when he saw his tired eyes. Yeah, totally fit for the game, Guerin. The last few days had been exhausting. Things at home had been busier than usual, the coach had put them through training hell, and tests in classes had gotten the rest of him. He didn’t feel like being on the field today or doing anything else. But yeah, he couldn’t just do that. The guys needed him and if he told Maria DeLuca he had to cancel she would probably never talk to him again.

Well, of course there was her stupid dare, so she’d probably still hang around, he mused. His thoughts were interrupted when Max opened the door and jumped into the front seat. “You look like shit.”

Michael growled when he put the truck back in gear to start driving again. “I need the sailboat after the game.”

“Huh-uh, no way. I was planning to take Parker on a trip this evening.”

“Well, too bad,” the other man drove around the corner and stepped on the gas, “but I promised DeLuca I’d take her out today and she’ll give me hell if I back out.”

Max laughed. “I still can’t believe that I got farther with her shy friend on the first date than you did.” Liz played it cool most of the time, but he could see that some of the things she said and did weren’t natural coming out.

“Shut up. I could’ve gotten her all the way:”

“And what exactly was stopping you?”

Yeah, Michael, his conscious taunted, what’s stopping you? “Just like the way she gets all mad that I didn’t do anything with her. She’s so sure of herself and the fact that I let her suffer bothers her.”

“So it’s all about payback, huh?”

Michael frowned. “Yeah, sure! Is it something else for you?”

“Hell no,” Max denied. “They deserve to suffer and if that’s the way you wanna play it…” He couldn’t understand it though. His friend could be having sex the whole time.

“Whatever. Like I said, I need the sailboat tonight. Take Parker for a walk on the beach or somethin’.”

“Or we could go together to Sunset Cove? You know my dad owns a cabin there. We have a grill, some hammocks and I bet the girls would love to hang out together.”

“Great, the first date was just a big fuck up and now you want the second to be spent hangin’ out with you an’ Parker.” Michael thumped his thumb against the steering wheel in agitation. Once more he tried to shove his conflicted feelings about Maria away, but the damn things didn’t wanna stay in their box.

“Why don’t we let them decide? They’re gonna be sittin’ behind the dugout.”

Yeah, and with his luck Maria would say yes to all of them hanging out. Maybe that was the better option though. If they were all there then it would help keep a lid on what he felt around her, keep it in check maybe. He snorted derisively. Yeah, right! “Why don’t you just focus on your game, Evans. You’re pitching against Harrington and that guy’s record is one even you haven’t upset.”

“Gonna change that tonight,” Max said with certainty.

“Yeah, you’d better. If Coach puts us through another week of practice like this last one I’m gonna hit somethin’.”

“You should focus you energy on other… possibilities,” Max teased.

“I don’t need to focus on that shit. That much is a guarantee.” It was just the rest of it that was bothering him.

“Chill out, man,” his friend said and got out when Michael stopped the truck again. He only lived about a mile from the field so it was a short drive

*****

“I’ve never sat here,” Liz said when she and Maria walked to sit behind the dugout.

“Well, this’s new for me too, girl.”

Liz watched the players as they jogged out to take their places on the field after the national anthem was sang. She didn’t know that much about baseball but she did know that Max was the pitcher and her eyes followed him as he walked in a circle around the pitcher’s mound, occasionally digging his right foot into the dirt. “So, what’re you and Michael doin’ tonight? Or have you decided whether or not you’re going out with him?”

“He wanted to go sailing after game,” Maria told her friend and pulled her sunglasses out of her bag when the sun blinded her even though she was wearing a baseball cap with the team logo on it. “But I haven’t seen him since our last date or whatever you wanna call it, so I have no clue if that’s still on or not.”

“That’s funny,” Liz mused aloud. “Max suggested that we go sailing tonight too.”

“Yeah?” Maria asked, her hopes that Michael would come to talk to her sinking, “then I guess Michael’s backing out on me again. Not that I’m really surprised.”

Liz frowned at her friend’s tone. “Maria, are you sure you wanna keep up with this thing? I mean, I don’t want you to end up getting hurt if things don’t work out.”

“Don’t worry about that Liz. I’m not doing this because of the dare,” she promised. “It was just a reason for me to try again, ya know?”

“Yeah, but...” she bit her bottom lip. “Maybe they both just happened to ask us to go sailing at the same time.”

“I guess we’ll find out later, huh?” Maria forced a smile.

“Yeah.” She motioned at Michael when he stretched his arms over his head and then pounded his right fist into his gloved hand. He was wearing sunglasses against the late afternoon sun and she saw him motion to Max and grin.

Max checked the batter and nodded to the catcher, before he winded up for the pitch.

“I should probably try to get some rules of the game in my head,” Liz said.

“It’s all about watching hot men. Who cares about rules?”

Liz shrugged. “I don’t know... wouldn’t it make the game more enjoyable if we knew what was going on?”

For her part, she was just enjoying it just watching Michael. If only he would pay attention to her as well. She forced her eyes away from him. “You could ask Max about it. I bet he’d like it if you were interested in his sport.”

Liz nodded. “True, and he obviously knows about the sport.” She smiled when the guy at the plate swung and missed the ball for a third time and the crowd around them cheered loudly as the guy walked back to the dugout. “I guess that means he just struck out?”

“I’m so proud of you,” Maria grinned.

“So I’m right?”

“Yes. Your man is just unstoppable.”

Liz smirked. Her man. Okay, she shouldn’t like the way that sounded but she did. They watched the game in silence for a while, jumping to their feet with the rest of the crowd when the third batter got a hit and the ball sailed through the air, heading for the outfield. Michael shoved his baseball cap back and stared at the ball, determining its path before he ran to get under it. The ball was high and heading for the wall when he jumped up, arm stretched high. The crowd held its collective breath as he seemed to hang suspended in the air for several long seconds before the ball landed in his glove with a solid smack.

He dropped back down to the ground, gloved hand held high with the ball tightly held within its confines, showing the crowd that he had possession of it.

The girls started to cheer loudly along with the crowd while the players for the other team sank their heads in frustration.

“They’re much better than last week,” Maria said when everyone calmed down again.

“Yeah. Max said their coach was pretty pissed about that last game.”

“They were really bad the last time, but half of the team was still hangover from a big party on the beach, so…” she chuckled. “Guess they learned their lesson this time.”

“I guess so.” She watched as the teams switched sides and the first player for their team stepped up to the plate.

“Satisfied with the game?” someone asked and took the seat next to Maria on the bench. The girls turned and found Brian Mitchell, one of the players for the football team.

Liz looked at Brian and smiled. “So far. It would help if we understood more about the rules and stuff, but it’s still good.”

Damn, the girl did not know Brian, Maria thought. He wasn’t a bad guy, but once you started to talk to him, you weren’t gonna get rid of him.

Brian grinned and leaned back to rest his elbows on the bleacher behind him. He nodded at the field as Guerin stepped up to the plate and settled into the batter’s stance, bat held above his right shoulder. “He’s gonna knock it outta the park, wanna bet?”

Maria ignored him while she watched the man in question. He was a good player and chances were good he’d do exactly what Brian had said.

Michael watched the pitcher wind up, anticipating the pitch and knowing as soon as the ball was released that it wasn’t the one. He shifted slightly and resisted the urge to swing. The catcher tossed the ball back out and the pitcher tossed it up in the air a few times before pushing his sunglasses up, tugging on the bill of his baseball cap and winding up once more.

It was a flawless pitch and as Michael brought the bat down he swung hard, feeling the vibrations shoot down his arms when the bat connected solidly with the baseball. He watched it for a heartbeat before flinging the bat aside and sprinting to first base. He knew the ball was going over the wall and he smiled to himself as he listened to the crowd cheering as he rounded the bases heading for home plate.

Damn, why did he have to be sooo damn sexy and also soo damn good at sports as well? Maria wondered.

As his foot landed on home plate he took his hat off and wiped the back of his hand over his forehead. He glanced up in the stands, checking the seats over the dugout and smiling when he saw Maria standing there. He lifted the hand holding his hat and waved to her before heading for the dugout to join his teammates.

Her stomach made a weird twist at his gesture and she lifted her hand also, winking at him. God please, don’t let him back out on me again, she begged slightly.

Michael didn’t even register the congratulations and slaps on the back as he took his seat on the bench.

*****

By the end of the game the crowd was out of their seats again. The home team had won 5-3 and the other team was in a hurry to get of of the field with hanging heads. Maria giggled when Brian talked to Liz constantly and the other girl was just rolling her eyes secretly.

Max walked over to the wall and looked up at Liz, smirking when he saw that the girls had been cornered by one of the football players. “Hey, Mitchell, go find your own girl to pester.”

“Man, you know Mitchell can’t keep a girl around,” Michael said as he joined him. “Guy talks more than two girls.”

The other man flipped them off and disappeared fast. “THANK YOU,” Liz shouted as soon as he was gone. “He was stating to tell me a story about his childhood.”

Max grinned. “Never let Mitchell get started. Soon as that guy finds someone willing to listen, he’ll talk all damn day.”

“That warning comes a little too late,” she told him with a smile.

“Maria should know,” he said, knowing for a fact Mitchell had managed to catch her at a party and talk her ear off all night once before.

“I do know, but before I could say anything, Liz had already answered,” Maria shrugged and grinned at her friend. “Sorry, girl.”

Liz rolled her eyes and looked back at Max. “Do you guys both sail?” she asked, motioning between him and Michael.

“Yeah we bought a boat together a while back.” Max nodded. “Unfortunately, we just found out that we both wanted to take it out tonight.”

“And how do you propose to settle that?” Maria asked, fully expecting Michael to bail on her again.

Michael took his hat off and shaped the bill before putting it back on and tugging it down. “We thought we’d see how the two of you feel about makin’ it a double date.”

“That’d be cool,” Liz said without talking to Maria first. “Well, it would be, right?”

Maria nodded. Well, at least if the four of them were out together Michael wouldn’t have much of a chance to take off in the middle of the date. Max seemed happy to spend time with Liz and from everything her friend had told her things had gone very well on their first date.

“Do you need to get home again or are you already ready to go?” Max asked.

“I’m ready,” Liz said, glancing at Maria in question.

“Me too.”

“You can wait for us at Michael’s truck then. We’re just gonna take a shower.”

“Can we get the keys?” Maria teased.

Michael shook his head. “You’re not getting behind the wheel of the Ram.”

“He’s no fun,” she grumbled and took her bag.

“The day Michael lets any girl drive his truck we’ll all know he’s a goner,” Max said with a smirk.

“Well, as long as I get the keys before,” she said with a saucy grin.

“You get his keys an’ next thing we know you two’ll be getting married.” He gave Michael a shove and saw the dark look he got in response.

“We’ll wait at the Ram,” Maria said finally and gestured to Liz to get going.

Michael shoved Max hard when the girls were out of earshot. “What kinda shit was that?” he snapped.

“Man, relax! I was just making a joke. Why the hell are you so uptight today?”

Michael shook his head and jerked his hat off as he stormed off, heading for the locker room. He couldn’t exactly tell Evans that this whole situation pissed him off because he knew this was just a game and every moment spent with Maria was killing him. Damn, what a chick thing to think!

begonia9508: Thanks! Ben... well, Michael’s keeping that information close, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Earth2Mama: So, wanna share?

Lol, the double date will definitely get interesting in many ways!

secretk: We’ll find out evenually. Michael’s not sharing that information just yet.

Yeah, they’re not exactly being up-front about things.

The double date will be interesting in many ways.

Natalie36: Hmm, Ben’s identity is something we’re gonna have to wait a bit to know. Lol, that’ll definitely be a story to tell, won’t it?

kismet: Maybe... Michael isn’t revealing anything yet, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Yep, looks like things are going to get very interesting.

mary mary: Ben’s identity... yeah, Michael’s keeping that one close.

We’re pretty sure that double date’s gonna be fun.

Smac: Nope, not just yet. Michael’s not sharing just yet.

Yeah, lol, the tide hasn’t yet shifted, but it’s only a matter of time. Max is a work in progress and Liz isn’t the only one that’ll be learning a few new things during the coarse of this dare. Yeah, that’s true, there’s no way a dare like this can end without feelings getting hurt.

keepsmiling7: We’ll see in this part...

Alien_Friend: Oh, he’s definitely falling.

Lol, Ben and Isabel’s identities is something that Michael keeps close and he hasn’t decided to share yet so we’ll have to wait and see. But he would do anything for them.

Max, lol, yeah, he is. But over the coarse of this dare he’ll be learning a few things too. The girls did put themselves in this position, but they really weren’t expecting a counter-dare.

Tess... we think you’ll like her.

Lol, yeah, baseball is a game that can take forever! Two hot guys in particular are the only reason why they’re sitting through the game.

Eva: We agree! He’s the best with kids.

Oh, the sailboat’s not huge by any means, but since Max’s family owns a place on the island they probably won’t stay onboard for long.

Things will eventually begin to get tangled up... it’d be impossible for them not to with these two dares.



Author’s Note: We’ll be taking a vacation break for a couple of weeks, so we’ll be back on September 4th with a new update!

Part 10

Maria walked around the truck and inspected it. Damn it really was nice.

“Why’re you so crazy about driving his car?”

The blonde girl shrugged. “Blame it on Kyle that I have a weak spot for nice cars.”

“Good grief, Maria, you’d need a booster seat to see over the steering wheel,” Liz joked. The truck was huge.

“I don’t care. I just wanna drive it around a little.”

“After what Max said I bet you’d really like to get your hands on his keys.”

She snorted. “Yeah, Michael Guerin won’t even kiss me, but marry me?”

“So... why don’t you kiss him?”

“I don’t know. Normally I would, but somehow he has to take the first step, ya know? I mean, it’s not a secret I like him. He KNOWS I want him to kiss me.”

“Wonder why he’s holding back then.” She reached out to run her fingers over the design etched into the side of the truck. “Any ideas?”

She sighed. “No. He’s hiding something, but I don’t know what it is.” She had her ideas, but she wouldn’t share them as long as she wasn’t sure.

“Wonder what that is.” She leaned back against the truck and stared out across the parking lot. “Hey, you don’t mind us all going out together, right?”

“No, I’m actually glad we’re doing that.”

“You think it’ll make Michael any easier to deal with?”

“I hope so.”

“Max is easy enough to get along with so I don’t really have any problems there.”

“Who would’ve thought that, huh? Do you like him?”

Liz thought about that for a moment. “I don’t know... maybe.”

Maria nodded. “Just make sure you don’t fall for him and then he just dumps you. He’s doesn’t have the best reputation.”

“Right. Well... I’m not gonna do that. I mean, he’s easy to like and all, but I’m just doing this to get David back.”

“You still want him back, right?”

Liz chewed on her bottom lip. She did want him back. Right? “Yeah, of course.” She sighed. “I think I do.”

“Let’s just enjoy the evening,” Maria said when she saw the guys leaving the building.

“Yeah.”

“We’re gonna stop at the supermarket to grab something for the grill, okay?” Max said, putting an arm around Liz’ shoulders and dropping a kiss on her hair.

“Sounds good to me,” she said, leaning into his side without a second thought.

“We’re heading to Sunset Cove; there’s a small cabin where we can hang out.”

“That sounds like fun,” Maria said with a smile. Michael of course hadn’t so much as looked at her as he unlocked his truck and threw his gear in the back.

“We’d better hurry so it won’t be dark when we get there,” he said and got into the Ram.

Maria rolled her eyes and slid into the backseat next to Liz.

Damn, Michael knew nothing about dates at all, Max decided with a slight shake of his head. He climbed in the passenger’s seat and reached behind him to touch Liz’ knee.

Michael started the engine and pushed his sunglasses up before reaching for the gearshift. “You wanna grab the food an’ I’ll run next door and grab the beer?” he asked, ignoring the look he was getting from the passengers’ seat.

“Yeah, sounds like a plan.”

“Alright, let’s get this party started then.”

Yeah, Maria thought. Couldn’t get any worse.

He punched the button and Metallica poured from the speakers as he stomped on the accelerator and they sped out of the parking lot.

*****

“This is your boat?” Liz asked, surprised when they reached their destination at the marina.

“That’s it,” Max nodded.

“Wow…” Maria said, “I expected it to be… small.”

Michael snorted. “Small?”

“Yeah, you know… like a real sailboat… not a yacht.” They were standing in front of a 28-foot Catalina.

“This is a sailboat... it just happens to be a very nice one.” He glanced at her. “How do you even know one boat from another?”

“I don’t know them, I just assumed, okay?” She rolled her eyes.

He shrugged and watched Max shadow the brunette’s every move as he helped her on deck. He grabbed the last box of supplies and handed it up to him. “Here, take this, would ya?”

“Yeah.” Max took it from his friend, shooting him a warning glance.

Maria took a large step up on deck since she was pretty sure Guerin had no intention of helping her.

Michael reached up, his right hand hovering just a breath away from her back to make sure he could catch her if she slipped.

“Wow, it’s really nice, huh?” Liz appeared next to her friend while the boys set things up for them to leave.

“Yeah,” Maria stepped up next to her friend, her gaze wandering over the other boats there. “I’ve never really been here before, weird.”

“Hey, do you need any help?” Liz asked the boys when they walked around the boat to prepare everything.

“Nah,” Max waved her off, “you two can get comfortable and we’ll do the rest.”

“Alright,” she smiled at him and the girls walked along the deck, stopping when they reached a nice open area where they could lay down to enjoy the evening sun.

Michael dropped the line he was untying when his phone started to ring and he glanced at the caller ID before flipping it open. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked as he turned his back to the others and lowered his voice. He listened for a minute and nodded to himself. “Yeah, I’ll be out tonight. Don’t know how late it’ll be when I get home.” He listened for another minute. “No, that’s not a problem. I can pick him up in the mornin’.” He made a sound of annoyance. “Yeah, I’m sure.” He rolled his eyes. “Don’t even worry about it. I can get him ready when I get there.” He was aware of Maria’s gaze boring into the back of his neck as he ended the call. What a time for Isabel to call!

Who the hell he was talking to? Maria wondered. She turned to check on Liz, but her friend was too busy drooling over Max when he took off his shirt. She hadn’t understood everything, but she had heard the words pick him up and get him ready. Just another thing that made her wonder if Michael had a kid at home. Was she right? And if she was, was it a good idea to go after him any longer?

Michael shoved the phone back in his pocket and finished the pre-sailing preparations before he jumped down on the dock to untie the rope that tethered the boat to the dock. He jumped back on deck as Max began to carefully guide the boat out of the marina. He glanced at Maria and saw the speculative look on her face as she watched him. “What?”

She lifted one eyebrow. “Nothin’.”

“Whatever. You wanna beer?”

“Sure,” she turned to Liz again when he disappeared. “Whoa, girl, what the hell is that?” Her eyes widened when she saw her friend undressing to reveal her bathing suit. Well, it was more a bikini with a small line of fabric that combined the neck halter top with the bottoms that had big silver rings on the hips to combine the fabric at the back with that in the front. It was olive and matched her just perfect.

“Not good?” Liz hissed uncertainly.

“It’s hotter than hell,” Maria whispered back and glanced over her shoulder, amused when Max was standing there like a goof, staring.

“Concentrate, Evans,” Michael said and gave his friend a slap on the back of his head.

Max rubbed the back of his head. “Cut it out, Guerin.” He snatched one of the bottles out of his friend’s hand, eyeing the label with a raised eyebrow. “Not your usual brand,” he teased, holding it out of Michael’s reach.

“Anything’s better than that crap at your last party,” he snarled and leaned forward to get the bottle back.

“Hey,” Max yelped and jumped back. “Trying to make an impression on your date?”

“I don’t need to make an impression,” Michael snarled and went to get another bottle.

Maria sat down near the railing and pulled her shoes off. She turned to face the wide ocean in front of them when they left the marina and she let her legs hang from the boat while her hands gripped the railing. The wind was blowing slightly through her hair and she found herself wondering why she was even here.

Michael left the galley and took a deep breath, tasting the ocean air. His gaze sought out Maria and he crossed the deck to sit down next to her. He held the bottle out to her and hooked his arm around the railing. “You enjoy the game?”

Because of you, she thought when he joined her – finally he was paying a bit attention to her. She took the bottle from him. “Yeah, it was nice.”

“And thanks to good old Brian, we know everything about the rules now,” Liz added with an eye roll.

“So...” He scratched the back of his head as he stared out at the ocean and he raised one hand to point. “See those two fins sticking up? Kinda circling each other?”

She followed his gesture. “Yeah.”

“Sharks,” he said with a nod of his head.

“Ungh,” she pulled her feet back in.

He grinned at her reaction. “Don’t worry about them,” he said as he reached over to rub her leg. “The way they’re circling they’ve already got dinner.”

“Well, that’s good,” she said, trying to make her voice sound calm when he touched her.

He grinned at the hitch in her voice. “Not a big fan of sharks?” He chuckled. “Sometimes we’ll see dolphins out here. You might like them a little better,” he teased.

“Oh, definitely,” she nodded and took a sip of her drink, letting her legs sink down again while her gaze swept over the ocean. “It’s beautiful out here.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I love it out here.”

She rested her chin on her arm, which laid on the lowest rail. “The air is much nicer than in the city,” she filled her lungs full of it and smiled a bit.

“Yeah, it’s nice.” He took a drink of his beer. “Get out here and you can forget about every sucky thing going on in your life.”

Were there a lot of those things in his life? she wondered but didn’t ask the question because she was sure it would make him leave again.

“What do you do to get away from everything?”

“I pretty much just go to the beach alone.”

“Nude beach?” he asked with a wicked grin.

She shoved him lightly with a laugh. “No, Guerin, normally I don’t undress when I just wanna think.”

“Too bad.” He shrugged. “But I wouldn’t get much thinking done if you were walking around naked either.”

“Well, thank God I don’t do that then, huh?” She sipped on her beer. “Also... It’s still pretty warm, huh?” She shoved the bottle into his hands and pulled her tank top over the head to reveal a black bikini top.

His mouth went dry and he took a long drink from the bottle she had just handed him. “Damn, girl,” he muttered.

“Hey, that’s mine, buddy,” she tried to snatch it out of his hand again.

Michael smirked and held it out of her reach. He motioned to her jean shorts. “Gonna take the rest off?” He didn’t know why he had to torture himself.

“Maybe later,” she winked at him.

He handed her beer back to her and leaned back, grabbing the hem of his shirt and pulling it over his head.

Damn, now she was the one who was drooling. “Not bad, Guerin.”

He shrugged. He tossed his shirt on the deck behind them and rested his arms on the railing again. “If we can pry Evans away from the helm I’ll show ya how to sail.”

“Cool,” she agreed.

“Yo, Evans, wanna break?”

Max glanced at the brunette lying on deck and smirked. “Sure.”

Michael got to his feet and held his hand out to Maria. “C’mon, I’ll teach ya to handle this thing.” She slid her hand into his and he helped her up, leading her across the deck where Max stood. His hand rested on the wheel, holding it steady while the other guy got out of the way. He moved Maria in front of him and his arms came around her, his hands resting over hers on the wheel.

She wasn’t even trying to concentrate on what he was telling her. The fact that he was so close clouded her mind and made everything around her unimportant.

Michael forced his mind to focus on the task at hand but it wasn’t easy with her so close. “Just keep your grip firm and gentle. You don’t want too much pressure.” Damn, it was getting hotter by the minute!

“Not too much pressure, right,” she repeated quietly. “Don’t leave me alone here!”

“I’ve got you,” he said with a smile. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good.” In more ways than one, she added in her thoughts.

Michael had to squint against the sun reflecting off of the ocean as he released her left hand to point to the south. “We’re maybe 20 minutes out. It’s pretty much a straight shot from here.”

Max joined Liz on the deck after getting a couple of beers for them. “Got everything ya need?” he asked and crouched down to hand her the drink. His eyes roamed over her body.

“Uh-huh, yeah,” she nodded, very aware of his heated gaze.

“Damn girl, think you need a license for that outfit,” he said, smirking.

She grinned saucily. “You wanna see it, officer?”

Oh, she was out to play, he thought. Good. Leaning forward he stole a kiss from her lips before he got up again to get rid of his tee shirt.

Liz watched him, unable and unwilling to avert her gaze. “You need to put some sunblock on.”

Sunblock? He never did that. He didn’t even have it, but when he saw her rummaging around her bag for it, he shrugged. “Wanna help me with it?”

Liz rolled her eyes at him and motioned for him to sit down in front of her. “You should always wear sunblock,” she said, shaking her head at him.

He couldn’t hide the goosebumps when she let her small soft hands run over his broad back. She definitely knew how to touch in a gentle and sexy way.

She was pleased to see his reaction to her touch. She was just as affected by the feel of his skin under her hands. She scooted closer so she could run her hands down over his arms. It would be such a shame to overlook them, she thought.

“I’ll use sunblock from now on if you put it on me,” he decided and leaned back against her, just slightly though since he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable in her seat.

God, she would put sunblock on him any time he wanted. Hell, she’d be willing to put her hands on him even without sunblock as an excuse. She felt herself blush hotly at that thought and she was glad he wasn’t facing her.

“You like hammocks?” he asked after a while in comfortable silence.

“I don’t know. Never had the pleasure. Why?” she asked as she trailed her nails over his shoulders.

“We have some very comfortable hammocks on the island. Maybe after dinner, we can leave the two of them alone for a bit,” he pointed at Maria and Michael, “and snuggle up in one of them.”

“Sounds kinda dangerous. Don’t you need good balance for that?”

“Nah, they’re big,” he told her and sat up again to look at her. “And I’ll hold ya.”

It was no wonder that girls fell for him so easily. He had such an easygoing manner and he knew just what to say and do to put a girl at ease. “That sounds nice,” she said with a smile. Damn, when he looked at her like that it was so easy to forget all about David.

Maria watched her friend after her brain started to work again. Somehow she seemed a bit more into Evans then could be good. She wouldn’t complain if Liz forget all about stupid David, but it was doubtful this guy could make her happy in the end.

Michael followed her gaze and wondered where her mind was. “Whatcha think about sailing?” he asked, deciding he didn’t want to know since it probably had something to do with that stupid dare.

“Hmm, I think I’d rather be the one who’s chilling out on deck than the one who has to control the boat,” she said with a smile.

He moved a little closer until he was lightly pressed up against her back. “Sure about that?” he growled in her ear.

She shivered and couldn’t do anything but lean into him. “You shaved. Finally.”

“Just don’t like facial hair, do you?”

“Not at all, no,” she admitted.

“Guess it’s good you’re not into Evans cause the guy’s got a major hangup about that rug on his face.”

“Definitely not into Max,” she agreed. Hell, she was into HIM, but he was Mr. Cool. Ass!

No, and you’re only pretending to be into me to win a stupid dare, he thought morosely. He reached around her to throttle the engine down and he carefully guided the boat to a safe place where they could drop anchor.

She turned around to look at him, her back resting on the wheel slightly. “Time passed by quickly.”

Too quickly as far as he was concerned. “Wanna go for a swim?”

“Sure,” she said with a smirk and opened the first button of her jean shorts.

His heated gaze followed every move she made and he was tempted to give her a hand. He shook his head and stripped down to his trunks and jumped overboard.

She stood there, surprised by his sudden escape and took a step to look over the railing when he came up out of the water again. “Your loss, Guerin.”

He grinned, feeling more in control of himself. “Only a loss if ya don’t come out to play,” he said with a smirk.

She rested her lower arms on the railing while she looked at him teasingly. “To play? I don’t know, Guerin, somehow I end up pretty much unsatisfied every time I’ve tried, so I might as well stay on the boat to save myself from another disappointment.”

Of course she would say that, he thought. Well, he couldn’t really blame her. They had been close a few times now and he had turned her down every single time. “Don’t make me come and get ya, Deluca.”

She grinned and started to lower shorts slowly. “Maybe that’s just what I want,” she told him with a wink.

He swam around to the side and grabbed onto the ladder, hauling himself up out of the water. Back on deck he shook himself like a wet dog and brushed his hair back out of his face as he went after Maria. “That’s what you want, huh?” he asked as he advanced on her.

She laughed and walked around the boat, back to the railing, to escape from him.

“You’re not getting away from me now,” Michael growled. “You wanted me to come up here an’ get you... I’m comin’ to get ya.”

“Since when do you do what I want, Guerin?” She watched him and took a step away when he got closer, though she wasn’t really trying to escape him.

He neared her slowly and he felt the need to be back in the cold water. Soon. Damn, the panties of her bikini sat dangerously low on her hips.

She saw his gaze on her and immediately felt the heat in her rising up. He looked so hot when he was all wet.

“Since what I want and what you want are the same thing.” He moved closer, backing her up against the railing.

“Uh-huh,” she breathed heavily. “And what do ya think I want?”

His eyes dropped to her chest that was rising and falling rapidly. “Me,” he muttered.

Well it was true, so she didn’t demy it. She didn’t agree though either.

His hands settled on the railing on either side of her and he stepped closer, bringing their bodies into contact. “Say it.”

“Say what?” she asked, pretending to be totally clueless. Oh no, she was not admitting it this time and then have him leave her again without doing anything.

“Admit you want me,” he challenged.

“Why don’t you do it first?”

“Okay.” He shrugged carelessly. “You want me.”

She rolled her eyes at him and used her hands on his strong wet chest to push him away.

Michael glanced down at her hands and shook his head at her. “Need to cool off?” he asked, moving before she knew what he was doing. He scooped her up in his arms and held her out over the water. “Last chance, Deluca. Admit it or you’re going in the water.”

“I wanted to go swim anyway,” he told him coolly.

“Good.” He tossed her overboard and jumped in after her.

Maria gasped when the cold water splashed against her body and she sank deep into the water before she made it to the surface again.

He surfaced, coming up behind her and pushing her under the water before swimming a few feet away.

“Guerin,” she yelped when she came up once more, “I’m gonna kill you!”

He just grinned and cupped his hand, skimming it across the water and splashing her again.

She turned and swam a few feet to put some distance between them until she felt safe from his attack. “That’s not a way to get me to admit anything.”

He shrugged. “Denying it?”

“See… your loss,” she said instead of answering his question. “I was right. We’re both in the water an’ now what?”

Uh-huh, she wanted to be like that. Okay, fine. He swam around her a few times, coming closer with each pass. On the last pass he dove under the water and came up in front of her. He wrapped his arms around her before she could get away. “Still gonna deny it?”

Her heartbeat immediately rose with his close presence. She placed her hands on his shoulders to steady herself, since it was too deep to stand. “I’ve never denied it.”

“That’s not the same as admitting it though.”

“What if I did admit it?”

“Admit it and find out,” he murmured, moving his head so that their lips were almost touching.