Carter elbowed Riley. "Dude!" He turned back to Max. "Why do you need to get a hold of Grace? What about Lizzie? What do you-?"
"Grace!" Max said loudly, waving his cell as though that would explain everything. "I've called her but her phone's turned off, or she's blocked me, which is absolutely possible, and I wouldn't blame her. I've called Whiskey's but Holly won't tell me anything and Uncle Vince said she left Preston County the day after me, saying something about her photographs. I don't know where she would have gone other than DC, but what the fuck am I supposed to do-"
"Max!"
Max's mouth shut as the sound of his name rattled around the apartment. Expecting to see Carter looking annoyed, he was surprised as hell to see a wide smile pulling at his friend's face. Max stepped back nervously. "What?"
"You want to speak to Grace?" Carter asked, cocking his head to the side. "You need to see her?"
"Yeah." Max ran a hand through his hair. "Seeing Lizzie and realizing that I . . . I have to talk to Grace-I just want to explain that I . . . to tell her that-you know, that . . ."
Carter's smile grew softer. "That you love her."
Max's eyes snapped to Carter's, then to Riley's, and back again, narrowing quickly. He pointed an accusatory finger at the pair of them. "You fuckin' knew!"
Riley snickered and Carter barked a laugh. "Of course we fuckin' knew. I knew the minute I saw the two of you at the damned boardinghouse all puppy-eyed and shit."
"And it was pretty obvious the day Tate and I visited," Riley chimed in, looking pleased as shit.
"And why the fuck didn't you tell me?" Max asked in disbelief. Carter crossed his arms over his chest. "Would it have made a difference?"
"Of course!"
Carter cocked an eyebrow and Riley snorted. All three men knew that answer was utter bullshit.
Max shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I mean . . . maybe."
Carter took a step closer. "You said it yourself. You needed to see Lizzie. I know you, brother. You'll never be swayed or bullied into anything and you had to come to this realization yourself."
Max rubbed his eyes with the pads of his fingers, shuffled to the nearest chair, and dropped into it. "Realization," he mumbled, dropping his head back and glaring at the ceiling. "Is that what this is?"
Carter and Riley sat down on the sofa opposite. "You tell me," Carter uttered. "Do you love her?"
Max swallowed. Whatever was whirling through him damn sure felt like it. "I think so," he said quietly.
It was strange, though. When he'd fallen in love with Lizzie, it was like being hit across the head with a sledgehammer; he'd known it from minute one. This feeling with Grace, however, was more subtle, less obtrusive, less flash-bang, and more like a gentle tingle that covered his entire body and warmed him from the inside out, as though, over time, she'd snuck quietly, carefully, and planted herself into all the dark, barren parts that Max hid for fear of being hurt all over again. It was an altogether satisfying feeling that, until that moment, Max hadn't realized he'd wanted.
"I . . . I miss her," he admitted. "Shit, I can't stop thinking about her and when Lizzie kissed me all I thought about was Grace and how I wanted it to be her."
"What the fuck?" Riley exclaimed at the same time Carter shouted, "Lizzie kissed you?"
Max groaned, flailing and lifting his arms to the heavens. "Focus, guys. Jesus!"
Carter held his hands up in an effort to calm himself and Riley, who suddenly looked murderous. "Fine. Fine," Carter said, rubbing his hands across his head.
Max sat forward, his hands dropping between his knees. "I just . . . the thing that keeps coming back to me is, what can I really offer her?" He looked up at his friends. "I mean, how do I know if I can even give her what she wants? If I'm still what she wants." He thought back to the horrible things he'd said to her the day he left and cupped his hands to his face. "Fuck."
Carter sat back and cleared his throat. "Tell me somethin', when you were together, doin' your thing, did she ever say how she felt or tell you what she wanted?"
Max smiled toward the floor and nodded. "She said all she wanted to do was love me."
Riley shrugged. "Then let her. That's a gift right there, man."
"I want to," Max agreed. "I do."
Carter shifted again, moving closer to the edge of the couch. "I know you think you've nothing to offer anyone, Max, but trust me, you do. If this year has proved anything, it's that you're a strong son of a bitch who can get through just about anything."