Saturday breakfast (2)

Quentin, Olivia, Mia and Bri had a matching 'who-are-you-kidding?' expressions while looking at Elizabeth.

Mia burst into laugh. "You would be much more convincing if you are not waving your bra around."

Bri added: "…and isn't Max holding onto your dress from last night while you are wearing his shirt?"

Olivia is not the one to be left behind: "…and it's obvious that the two of you spent ANOTHER night together."

Quentin kept quiet. He realized that this is a situation where he needs to choose between his best friend and a fiery Goddess and that is a tough decision.

Liz looked at her hand and realized that there is a bra there, and Max is holding onto her dress while she is wearing his shirt and they did spend the night together.

"This… is difficult to explain.", Liz admitted.

"Is there a need to explain?", Max's question made Liz (and the others) look at him.

Max was focused on Liz and his expression was serious but gentle when he spoke: "We are grown-ups, and those four are our friends who should believe us without much explanation. And even if something happened, our friends should be supportive of our relationship and not go into teasing that can draw a wedge between us."

Max was talking to Liz, but he made sure to speak loudly enough so that the others can hear him as well.

If any of them said that they were not affected by his words, they would be lying.

Max is aware that last time everything was great until she found out about that photo which was someone else's doing. He will not allow others to ruin their progress again.

Max saw that Liz relaxed and he interpreted that as her agreement.

Max gave the dress and the purse to Liz and caressed her cheek while saying in a soft voice: "You go and freshen up. Let me handle things here."

Liz looked at Max and there was a small spec of warmth in her chest which was not there before. She didn't know what that warmth is, and she assumed that it's trust because she believed that he will handle the explanation part.

Liz held his hand which traveled from her cheek down and smiled.

"OK", she said and went to her room without looking at the other four.

As soon as Liz closed the door behind her, the coffee machine made a sound indicating that it's done.

Max walked to the kitchen and got six mugs from the tallest shelf in the cabinet and filled them with coffee under the silent gazes of four people.

"I can't carry six mugs. Can someone lend a hand?"

Quentin stood up and went to help Max. Olivia was one step behind Quentin.

"Since when are you the one who handles things?", Quentin finally asked Max when they took their seats at the table.

Max was visually inspecting the vast food selection on the table. "What do you mean?"

"I know you for a long time. You are a guy who avoids or ignores problems. You will handle this? What does that even mean?", Quentin explained.

"What handle? Don't you see that he was only saying that to deceive Liz?" Olivia's tone told everyone that she does not approve of Max with Liz. Well, she is the only one who witnessed how hurt Liz was when she saw that photo and comments online.

"I am not deceiving her.", Max said curtly, and his gaze moved over four faces while he spoke: "We spent the night in my apartment, and nothing happened. If you don't believe it, that is your problem. But I hope that you will not cause trouble between me and Elizabeth on purpose."

Quentin knows that Max changed since he met Elizabeth and that those few days after she told him to keep his distance hit him hard. Seeing that Liz is smiling at Max and she didn't reject his touch means that Max mended whatever was broken.

Bri observed Max and asked: "You fell for Liz?"

Max hesitated, and Quentin took the opportunity to talk to his fiery Goddess: "Fell is a mild word. Since he met Liz he is not even looking at any woman. He tried going on a date or two, but it didn't work out, he left before they finished their dinner. He fell for Liz so hard that he does not care about filling his stomach anymore."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Why are you saying like it's a big deal? The God of hookups had few bad dates and then didn't go out for few evenings? Isn't he only trying score points with Liz?"

"I see that you don't believe me.", Max spoke to Olivia. "I am not trying to score any points with Liz. If I'm trying anything, that is to go back to who I was before she knocked on my car window in the heavy rain to ask if I am OK. Since I met Liz I found that every other girl is dull and they all pale in comparison with her. This is just me stopping to resist the urge to be close to her."

Quentin suddenly remembered how the previous night, the two girls by his side became boring and their closeness was disturbing, because the only woman on his mind was his fiery Goddess.

Mia had enough of this. She wanted to get some answers as well. "OK. Let's say we believe you. What is the relationship status between the two of you?"

Max shrugged indicating that he is not sure. "I would like to say that we are dating, but I believe that would be too much for Liz."

"Good that you acknowledge that.", Bri chimed in.

"So, what will you do next?", Mia probed.

"I want to get closer to her until she accepts me as more than a friend. I am in no rush. But I am aware that our current relationship is fragile, and I hope that you will refrain from anything which makes Liz uncomfortable. I don't want her to distance herself from me again."

"We are not the ones you should worry about.", Mia mumbled with mouthful of quiche.

Max focused on Mia. "What do you mean?"

"Other than your stellar reputation which comes with an ocean of exes, there is a guy who is taking us out for lunch today.", Bri responded.

Max's heart sank at the mentioning of his 'stellar' reputation. He knows what Bri meant and he has no idea how to handle that. But… "What guy?"

"Not only lunch, but he planned the whole afternoon as well.", Bri added and paused. "I forgot his name. A guy from her work."

Max's face darkened. "Christian Snow.", he grumbled.

Bri nodded. "Sounds about right. Dr. Snow. You met him?"

"Not in person.", Max admitted and asked reluctantly: "Why do you think that I should worry about him?"

Mia swallowed before speaking: "He is going beyond coworker pleasantries to have a lunch with her daily. This event today… he wanted it to be he and Liz only, but when she rejected because her friends are here, he extended the offer to us as well. That guy is serious." Mia stopped talking and put more quiche in her mouth.

"What do you mean, he is serious?" Max looked at Mia impatiently. Why is she chewing again? Can't she stop eating until she explains things properly?

"He went through her father first.", Bri responded and gave a knowing nod. "When someone goes through parents and then approaches the girl, he is not interested only in some good time and dating. He is considering marriage."

Max felt that the room is running out of oxygen. The thought of Liz marrying some snobby doctor bothered him. The thought of Liz marrying anyone other than him bothered him more than what he was willing to admit. Max wondered, is he thinking of marrying Liz? He does not know, but he knows that no other guy can have her.

"You need to prevent the lunch!", Max snapped at Mia and Bri.

Mia scrutinized Max. "Don't get ahead of yourself. You are good looking, and maybe you said few nice things in last ten minutes, but Elizabeth is our friend. We will not prevent her from meeting people. And we will not meddle into her affairs unless we believe that she is making a mistake. How much I've heard that Doctor is good looking, he treats her well and has no dirt in his past. Just the fact that both of them are surgeons means that they already have things in common. If you want my honest opinion, he is a better match for her than you are."

Max looked at Bri, hoping that she will help him out.

Bri didn't even look at Max before saying: "What Mia said, goes for me as well. You want to fight for Liz, figure it out. I already told you last night how that was the extent of my help to you."

Max looked at the people in the room. Olivia is openly hostile, Bri and Mia just announced neutrality, that leaves… Quentin. But how can Quentin help? No matter what, it needs to happen quickly. Based on Max's estimate, he has just over two hours to stop that lunch!

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