Max was frowning and wanted to get up.Liz got on her knees and pushed on Max"s shoulders with her palms, using her bodyweight to keep him down. "Don"t move. You might be hurt."
"The snake bit me…", he growled weakly.
The stinging sensation in Max"s left calf, just above his riding boot was a giveaway.
If she didn"t know better, Liz would think that he is dying. She almost laughed, but she stopped herself because there is a possibility that he hurt his back.
"It"s a common garter snake. You will live. But you will need a teta.n.u.s shot."
Liz"s comment made him open his eyes and look at her. Max thought how his current situation is… not manly at all. But he was glad that Claudia is gone, and he didn"t mind that Liz is holding onto his shoulders.
"Let me do a quick check on you… promise not to move a muscle.", she told him.
He wanted to nod in response, but she told him not to move so he smiled.
Max closed his eyes when Liz"s fingers moved at the back of his neck while suppressing his urge to pull her down for a kiss. Since he met her he found her attractive, and now that she is seriously focusing on his wellbeing he found her... irresistible. He allowed her to bend his legs at the knees.
"Why did you send her to the clubhouse? She could have called the ambulance from her cell phone."
Max"s question made Liz stop her movements for a second.
"She was noisy.", Liz responded with a smirk and resumed her actions.
"I didn"t hear you stop her from going.", she added after a second.
He chuckled. True, he didn"t stop her because he would trade hundreds of Claudias for this one-on-one checkup with Elizabeth.
A faint noise was heard from the direction of the clubhouse. Human voices spoke in urgency.
Max grabbed a handful of pebbles from the trail and threw them at the back of the Liz"s horse, making it flinch and run away.
Liz looked up toward the horse who was heading down the path swiftly without a rider.
"What…?", she didn"t finish her question. His arms wrapped around her and he rolled both of them further away from the trail, into the bush.
"You shouldn"t move!", Liz reminded him. She was thinking about his potential injury first and it took her a second to process what happened. And that she is on top of him.
"I"m fine.", he responded with a whisper, his eyes locked on hers.
They were so close that she could smell the sweet mint from his breath. Probably from the mint chocolates which come with the bill at the restaurant. She also had one, and they are tasty.
"What if there are more snakes?"
Her question made him glance around nervously.
Liz stifled a laugh.
"It seems that someone is afraid of snakes…", Liz teased.
Max looked at the woman on top of him and wondered if she realizes in what position they are. So many others would do a community service to be in his embrace like this and Liz... is teasing him. Did she drink a Max-immunity potion? How can she not be fl.u.s.tered? Is she not finding him attractive? Not even a little bit?
Liz tried getting up, but his strong arms held her in place.
She frowned. "What are you doing?"
Max paused while wondering: what is he doing? He heard the noise and a.s.sumed that those are people that Claudia alerted, and that they are coming their way. And he didn"t want anyone else other than Liz by his side, so… His brain short-circuited from the feeling of her weight on him, and her thin waist under his arm felt good and her soft b.r.e.a.s.t.s giving a perfect contrast to his firm chest they are pressing on… Max blinked few times. What is he doing?
"I"m sorry.", he said. "I just wanted few more minutes with you. Undisturbed.", he admitted.
Liz half-relaxed at his words. As much as she was not comfortable on top of him, the thought that his partner of choice is Quentin, made Liz lower her guard toward Max. While thinking about Quentin, Liz guessed that Max got them here so that they are not found by that noisy woman she sent away. "You don"t want to be with that woman?"
Max inhaled. Did Liz see through him? Max is aware that he is not indifferent toward Liz, but is it so bad that Liz can see it? Well, this is not the time to lie. "Claudia is not important."
Liz understood: the woman is not important because he has Quentin in his heart.
"Max, I don"t want to tell you how to live your life. But are you true to yourself? You should think how your actions are impacting others. She is maybe not important to you, but I can tell that you are important to her and the longer you use her like this, the deeper her feelings will go. Your behavior is selfish."
"You don"t approve?"
Liz reminded herself to keep her mouth shut. Who is she to tell Max not to use random women to cover up his relationship with Quentin? But Liz saw that woman"s amorous gaze directed at Max, and she is sure that there are many others like Claudia, and Liz had to say something.
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"Do I approve you using that woman or any other? No. I don"t approve. I know that you have your reasons, but can"t you think of a better way? Do you need to put all this elaborate show of a playboy who is always in the mood to party and even have a fake girlfriend just to cover up your insecurities? There will always be people who accept you for who you are…" Liz stopped talking when she felt that his grip on her waist is intensifying. "I"m sorry. I shouldn"t have said anything."
"No, it"s OK.", Max paused. "Do you accept me for who I am?"
"Yes.", Liz responded without missing a beat.
A small smirk danced on his handsome face. "I"m curious. What do you think… who am I?"
Liz thought for a second and remembered how Max is quick to catch onto hints, and how he almost begged her to help him stage a show for Sabrina so that she believes he is in a happy relationship, and he admitted that he used her as a fake-girlfriend in front of his family… and she told herself that her opinion of him should not be impacted by the gender of his partner.
"You are smart, and attentive, and you care about your family, and even though you lie sometimes, you do it in an effort not to hurt other"s feelings and you prefer the truth…"
As much as he was holding onto her firmly, his arms went limp. Even with his despicable behavior, she sees so many good traits. Max is confident that Liz sees him in such a positive light only because she is shining so brightly.
Liz used this opportunity to scramble off from him.
"How are you feeling?" She was pressing on the back of his neck again.
Several people were right on the other side of the bush, looking for the person who fell of a horse.
Liz was about to stand up and get their attention, when she felt Max holding onto her hand.
"You need to go to a hospital to get checked.", Liz urged him. "Some injuries manifest themselves hours after they occur, and by then the damage is done."
Max knows that she is right, but he does not want to separate from her. Not yet. "Accompany me to the hospital."
Liz paused. "Don"t you want to call Quentin?"
"If they require a family member to discharge me, like last time… I don"t want Quentin to be there." Max didn"t lie. If Quentin is there, and any of his family members see him, they will give a hard time to Max. The "Quentin the bad influence" is a never ending topic, especially for Max"s father.
Of course, Liz has her own thoughts why Max does not want Quentin by his side in front of his family, but she is not the one to call it out openly. After all, if Max is comfortable talking about him and Quentin, he would not go to such lengths to hide their relationship behind all those girls like Claudia. "I understand. I will go with you."
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