I close my laptop and start getting ready, Shayne and Liam have a few friends coming over for New Year’s Eve. Max will be joining us, too. I change into the new blue dress I bought, and put on my black boots. I apply some very simple make-up and straighten my hair.
Going out, I find Liam and Shayne both in the kitchen getting some finger food ready for the guests. “Do you guys need help?” I ask.
“Sure do. Take those corn chips and put them in those bowls.” She points to the counter and I see the chips and bowls sitting there. “We’re making buffalo wings, so they should be ready soon. And we’ve ordered two six-foot subs Liam is going to go pick up soon. Oh, and there’s drinks in the fridge out in the garage, can you go get them and stack them in this fridge? We also have wine, and champagne. Um…” she stops talking, and looks around the kitchen as if she’s forgetting something.
“Everything will be great, Shayne,” Liam says as he leans over and gives Shayne a kiss. “Another year, baby. Maybe this year?” He waggles his eyebrows and I know exactly what he’s asking.
I turn away, giving them some privacy as I empty the chips into bowls. The doorbell rings and I go to answer it. “Hello,” Max says standing at the door. “Wow, I’m sorry, Lily, but you’re br-br-breathtaking.” It’s the first time in a while I notice his stutter. He must truly be nervous if I even notice it.
“Thank you, Max. May I take your coat?” His hair has got snowflakes in it, and he shakes it off before he comes in.
He hands me his coat, and kisses me on the cheek. He’s also holding a bottle of champagne, and by looks of the brand, it’s expensive. “For us to enjoy at the stroke of midnight,” he says and hands me the bottle.
“Shayne and Liam are in the kitchen.” I lead him toward the kitchen.
“Max, it’s good to see you. I’m just on my way out to pick up a couple of subs I’ve ordered,” Liam says and shakes Max’s hand.
Once Max and Liam have shaken hands, Max goes around to Shayne and gives her a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll come with you,” Max says to Liam, who’s grabbing his car keys. “We can take my car.”
“Here.” I quickly duck into my room to get my wallet and come out with a fifty and hand it to Max.
He looks at the bill, chuckles and shakes his head. “I’m not taking that,” he says, so surely.
“Here,” I hand the money to Liam.
He too shakes his head. “If he’s not taking it, neither am I.” He points to Max, then adds, “Come on, before they decide we need to buy anything else.”
“Hats. Don’t forget the hats,” Shayne yells to the boys.
“Hats, got it.” I then hear Liam whisper, “Quick let’s get out of here before she has us buying the entire store.”
I stay in the kitchen and Shayne and I continue getting everything prepared. “You know,” she says as she checks the wings. “He really is nothing like Trent. I have to say, I had my reservations about him, but I like him. He’s one of the few I’d say is good people. And regardless of whatever is going to happen with you two, I think you need to have him in your life.”
“He is a good person, and he doesn’t push anything on me at all. He’s just so easy to talk to.”
“How you understand his stutter is beyond me. Even with him saying to Liam he’ll go with him to pick up the subs, I had to really listen to decipher the words.”
“I don’t hear it. To me he’s just Max, perfect as he is.”
“Awwww, Lily has a crush.” She throws a corn chip at me.
“I do not,” I respond.
“It’s okay if you do, it’s even understandable. No one’s going to judge you for it. Max is really a good guy. Just make sure you take enough time for yourself, to discover what it really is you want.”
“Speaking of which.” This is hard, Shayne and Liam have done so much for me, but I have to do it. “Around February or March, I want to find an apartment on my own.”
“What?” Shayne shrieks. “You can’t.”
“You yourself said to discover what I really want, and I can’t do that here. I’m not saying you’re restricting me, because you’re not. But you and Liam need your alone time, and sooner or later you’ll want to start a family, which means I’ll need to leave. And besides, I lived the first seventeen years of my life with a man who abused me, and the next seven I lived with the devil. I need time to find me.”
“Can you afford it, what with your car payments?”