Picking Up the Pieces (Pieces, #2)(53)

A short time later, I pulled into his driveway. Max started unbuckling his seat belt before I even had the car in park, but he fumbled with the door handle.

“You need help getting inside?”

“No, I got it,” he replied gruffly as he opened the door only to have it immediately swing back closed.

“Sure ya do,” I grumbled as I got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side. Pulling the door open wide, I reached down to hook my arm under Max’s and began to hoist him up. God, he’s a heavy son of a bitch.

He leaned back against the rear door, while I closed his. But before I could turn back toward him, I felt his hand roughly grip my bicep, twirling me around and pressing my back against the door I had just closed. He then moved both hands to grip the car behind me, caging me in.

I almost called him out on his rejuvenated sense of coordination but decided to let it go. My skin prickled at his proximity, and memories of what it felt like to have his body pressed against mine flooded my brain. But these were the wrong thoughts to be having right now.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I spat.

He gazed at me for a long time, not saying a single word. Eventually, my body started to relax from the lack of conflict, and he noticed it immediately. “I’m reminding you,” he finally said.

“Reminding me of what?” I tried to pack my voice with annoyance, but I couldn’t hide the genuine curiosity that resided there.

“What it feels like. What we feel like.”

“We don’t feel like anything, Max. We’re just friends. And I’m not even so sure we’re that.”

He moved one hand to tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. The feel of his icy hand reminded me that it was freezing out, but I didn’t feel cold. I wasn’t sure what I felt.

He replaced his hand on the car. “You’re right, Lily. We’re not friends. We’ll never be friends. Because, deep down, you know we’re so much more.” He leaned in, his lips on a crash course toward mine.

And I wanted it. I wanted his lips on mine so badly, I was nearly consumed by the thought. Until I remembered that this was how Max operated. He took. Whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it. He had taken my common sense last year, he had taken Adam, he had taken every ounce of friendship I had offered him, and now he was trying to take even more. And I may not have had such a problem with that had it not been for the fact that Max never gave anything in return.

So, just as his lips were about to connect with mine, I turned my head away from him. The realization of just how one-sided our friendship was filled me with such unfathomable rage, it made me shake. I had been so f*cking blind. All of this time, I had been making the effort, trying to be a good friend, to help him get his life together. Then I tell him what I need: time. And instead of respecting that or discussing it with me like a normal person, he decides to ignore my needs and take what he wants. Again.

“I’m done with this, Max.”

He pulled back from me and hung his head. “I’m sorry, Lily. I know. We’re just friends. I’m drunk and got a little carried away. It’s fine. We’ll—”

“No, I mean I’m really done.” I turned my head and waited for him to return my gaze. “With the friendship. With you. With all of it. I won’t risk my future on someone who clearly cares so little about me.”

His eyes narrowed and his voice was barely above a whisper. “How can you say that?”

“Because it’s the truth. Everything you do, you do for yourself. The rest of us are merely players in the all-consuming story that is your life. But I’m done being in your story, Max. It’s about time I started starring in my own.” With that, I pushed his arm out of my way and walked around to the driver’s side. Just as I was about to get into my car, I hazarded a look at him. He had backed away from my car, his head bowed, his hands fisted in his pockets. “Goodbye, Max.”

I jumped in my car, turned the ignition, and sped away from his house. And even though I was determined not to look back, that was one battle I was never going to win. My eyes darted up to my rearview mirror before his house was out of sight. And there he was, still standing in his driveway just as I had left him.

And I realized why I needed this clean break from him. He was too busy standing still, while I was desperate to move on.





Chapter 20: Max


I reached up to adjust my tie one last time before entering the reception. A few more hours and I can get out of this thing, I thought. I liked being in a suit about as much as my dog liked it when I’d get drunk and put him in one of my old hockey jerseys. As I strolled toward the open bar, I took in my surroundings. The ballroom was expansive with floor to ceiling arched windows along one wall. And the decor matched the feel of the historic hotel: deep gold striped wallpaper wrapped around the room, and dark wood trim accented each doorway. On the round tables sat centerpieces of red and white roses, and tasteful white Christmas lights created a soft glow in the otherwise dim room. “Who the hell has a wedding on New Year’s Eve, anyway? That dumbass ruined an awesome holiday for the rest of his life by agreeing to make it his anniversary.”

“No shit,” Brian laughed, before turning away for a moment to order two beers for us. “But Greg’s been a dumbass since elementary school, and Yasmine has him completely *-whipped." Brian paused to take a drink. "At least the worst part’s behind us though. I hate ceremonies. And the fact that it was a Catholic one didn’t help. They’re so f*ckin’ long, and since I’m Jewish, I have no idea what the f*ck’s even happening.”