Playing Russian Roulette.

You gave me butterflies (you are so cute)
At the mailbox (you had me at hello)
What have I gotten into this time around?
I know that I had sworn I’d never trust anyone again, but I didn’t have to,
You had me at hello.
You had me at hello.

-A Day To Remember.

Every girl within sight was breathtaking. They put me to shame, made me feel… useless. I couldn’t escape it, no matter where I looked. They were crawling everywhere. Moreover, each one looked like a supermodel.

Hair hung down to lower backs to shimmering sheets. Bodies were long and slender, cleavage protruded from skimpy tops and legs miles long extended out from skirts and shorts; not a single girl attempted to cover their perfect figures up. Skin, tanned and pale, was flawless, and eyes of all colors shined beneath the bright sunrays.

Endearing laughs that sounded just as velvety and perfect as the girls looked pierced the air. Soft voices whispered flirtatious comments to boys and bands all around. Limbs moved fluidly, like rippling water, and they walked as if they were on a Paris runway, not standing under the scorching Houston sun as merchandise tents.

They didn’t look the part. They weren’t even sweating! And it was a good eighty degrees in the shade where Craig and I were sitting beneath Escape the Fate’s tent. Now I, Julie Oakes, appeared exactly how a girl in such a situation should.

My forehead had a sheen of swear; my hair, tucked behind my ears, was frizzed, damp, and messy. The shorts I borrowed from Gabrielle were a size too big and had to be help up with one of Max’s faded belts, and that was big as well.

My stilettos were forgotten somewhere beside me. The halter-top Robert, Max, and Devin picked out did reveal a certain amount of cleavage. Not much, but enough to be appealing and attract a few glances from the people captivated by the other girls.

Even Craig was wrapped up in the Sea of Hot Tail. Well, not that it particularly surprised me. Craig was cute! And he was a twenty-four-year-old guy! Of course he would be consumed in the almighty concept of beautiful women flaunting their junk in his face.

I just found it slightly annoying. Slightly. All because no one even noticed I was standing there. Yes, there was another person standing beneath the tent, but none of the girls gave a second glance to me. They immediately zoomed to Craig to flirt.

The men of Warped were drawn to the line that the girls were in, thinking maybe they would have a shot if they caught the attention of one of them.

Therefore, I was left on the right side of the tent with no customers, folding shirts and putting them in boxes with their matches and handing things to Craig when he asked for them before we took a break.

I almost wished I hadn’t abandoned my mini skirt at the boys’ bus. Gabrielle’s shorts were extremely short -- Robert called them Daisy Dukes when I put them on -- so they showed almost all of my legs, but they weren’t very tight.

It made me feel inadequate and out of place. Where did a plain, normal girl like me fit in around all these people? I completely threw off the sexy streak these people had going. Ordinary didn’t cut it.

I took a piece of candy from the tiny bag sitting on the arm of my red camping chair. I popped it in my mouth and chewed, cringing.

Thank the fucking heavens Bryan asked Max to stay behind to play a few more rounds of Xbox. Being present, he would be able to see just how unattractive I was, just how plain and homely. He would give on good look around at the other girls and decide I wasn’t worth it.

Did I blame him? No. If I were him, I wouldn’t give me the time of day when I could bang any one of these hot girls! Hell! Piper Acacia Oakes was no competition; she sank into the shadows, disappeared in the sea.

Ronnie would be the only man that looked at me again. Max would find himself another Saskia in the huge amount of females and never give me another glimpse.

Woo, great. Back to being abused once Ronnie actually got out of jail and back to having a loveless relationship. Once again I would sit in my house, alone, with my self-respect and self-esteem dwindling away.

Ugh. I was beginning to sound like a broken record. Every spare moment I got I focused on negative things, on how ugly I was. I needed to stop or I would never manage to get better. Who cared if I couldn’t attract guys?

I had friends, wasn’t that enough?

Realistically not every woman in the world found love or got married. Granted, it was rare to find one who hadn’t, but maybe I was simply one of those atypical humans. The one who never found her soul mate… or didn’t have one.

My main concerns needn’t be about relationships, but about getting better and learning to love myself as is, not getting into my boyfriend’s former best friend’s pants. Yes, that sounded perfect…

…if Max happened to look around at all the smokin’ tail surrounding him.

I fluffed my hair out from behind my ears and tossed it over my shoulder, plucking another gummy from the bag. I counted each time I chewed, but didn’t taste anything.

I was beginning to drown in the Sea of Hot Tail. It sucked and it felt hard to breathe. I was slowly suffocating in the curvaceous competition wandering around. The sea had too much power; I couldn’t win against it. Me, little plain Piper, was no match for the supermodels.

Erf! Kill me mother fucking dead!

“Hey! Hey, Julie?” Hands seized my shoulders. “Juliet! Craig Mabbitt to Juliet! Earth would like to know how everything is doing up in space, where you are currently located. Please respond back before I have to pour water on you!”

I tore my eyes away from the candy and peeked up at Craig through my hair. He was inches away from my face, his eyes wide and a smile gracing his features.

I playfully shoved him away. “I’m fine, just drowning in the Sea of Hot Tail, Craigafer.” I shook my head and heaved a heavy sigh. “This really sucks.”

“The Sea of Hot Tail?” Craig raised his eyebrows. “Do I want to know what that means, Julie?”

“It’s what I’ve been calling all the hot girls wandering around,” I answered, gesturing at the crowded venue yard over the table. “It’s a large amount of beautiful women, thus it’s the Sea of Hot Tail.”

There was silence between us for a few minutes before his eyes lit up with understanding and he laughed shortly, shaking his head all the while.

“Honestly, I don’t see what’s so funny about it,” I muttered. “It is a perfect name for it, and it fits! A bunch of hot tail that I am just absolutely drowning in. God, I hate it.”

Craig stole the bag of candy from my lap and emptied the contents into his mouth. I whined, stealing the bag back. Every piece was gone, so I crumpled it up and sat it down alongside my purse on the concrete.

I propped my elbow against the camping chair’s armrest and leaned my chin against my hand, watching the singer eat my candy… mine.

“Why are you drowning in it?” he finally asked after swallowing.

“Because! Look at them!” I thrust my hand at the Sea. “And then look at me.” I pointed my index fingers at my face and nodded. “That is why I am drowning.”

Craig cocked his head, pursing his lips. “Really? You’re upset because you think Texas girls are prettier than you? That’s it?!” He threw his hands in the air and yelled out. “I will never understand women and their weird self-esteem issues.”

Oh, you have no idea. I buried my face in my hands and mumbled incoherent words into my palms. My self-esteem issues went beyond the limits of other, normal girls. It always would.

Besides, that was not the reason for my drowning. The fact that Max would eventually come out of the tour bus and see the girls and fall in love with someone else was the reason for my hotness induced death.

“Okay, no.” I dropped my hands to my knees and moved forward. “I’m scared that Max will see all the hot… ass, realize that I’m unattractive, and move on, stop flirting with me, stop paying attention to me, and all that good stuff.”

Craig rested his arms on his knees and leaned closer to my face. “That’s why?”

“Yes.”

“That is nothing to be sad about.” He cupped his hand on my cheek. “Max wouldn’t do something like that to you. You! The one he raves about and has wet dreams about.” Suddenly, he huffed and sat backward against the chair.

I waved my hands frantically between us, begging him to go on. He could not just stop! Not right in the middle of information I was willing to kill for. I interlaced my fingers together and shoved them toward him.

Craig rolled his eyes, but did as I asked. “I promised to keep it a secret, but -- ahh, never mind.” He jerked his head right ways. “Max.”

I snapped my gaze around, my hands still suspended in the air, and a smile burst out on my face. There was Max, striding quickly across the blacktop a few feet away. He looked exactly like he had during our jog, minus his leather jacket, but looking at him made my heart pound.

Everything about him made me feel so strange. It irritated me. For more than one basis, of course, but mostly for the reason that I didn’t have a single effect on him. He made me a blubbering mess. I did nothing to him.

Or maybe I did do something to him and he was just really good at hiding it. I decided to go with the latter.

Nausea reared its ugly head in my stomach as Max started through the Sea of Hot Tail. Each nerve in my body went numb; I was terrified he would look around at them and see, simply see, all the possibilities outside of me.

But he… didn’t. He kept his eyes on me the entire time, and didn’t even give them a quick glimpse. His attention was me, all me, no supermodels! What Craig said had to be true! He raved about me and wet dreams that I starred in because he liked me!

Hell fucking yes! I danced around in my chair, gyrating to the music playing in my head, throwing my hands in the air. Craig joined in, though I doubted he knew why exactly I was having a tiny party reserved for myself.

If Max did like me, then why didn’t he just act on it? The same reason I wouldn’t? Because I was a total coward and refused to be hurt again, refused to launch into a relationship that could result in everything I built for myself to crumble.

Although I did not believe for a second that Max would do what Ronnie did to me. While he was still being a bastard, he was not half as bad as Ronnie was behind closed doors. Now that he was different, he was the guy I dreamed of.

But, he was no exception so what I had been telling all the guys who asked to marry me. He still had to win my heart for me to give him the time of day.

He’s already done that. Okay, win my heart more than he already had and prove that he was unlike any other guy I ever met.

Max closed the gap between him and the tent in a matter of seconds, and I barely saw him come inside and plop down on the ground among Craig and my chairs. I was too ensconced in my happy, happy thoughts.

Nonetheless, he did and immediately draped a hand on my knee and raised an eyebrow up at me. “Why are you dancing?”

Because I love you! “Because I’m happy to see you.” It was not a lie. I just left out what I really wanted to say to him. “I thought you forgot about the date we made this morning.” Gently, I poked his knee with my bare foot.

“No.” He shook his head, his hair flopping atop his head from the action. “I couldn’t get away from Monte. The guy’s insane and bent on beating me in videogames, and he knows it won’t happen.”

“Ha!” Craig laughed. “That really will never happen. He can’t even beat me, and I’m pretty bad at it.”

I had no clue what they were talking about, nor did I care. I couldn’t tear me eyes away from Max and his hand on my knee. Craig had done the same thing earlier, but it gave no effect on me. Max, however, now had certain body parts of me wishing I was naked.

I took Max’s hand and rose from the chair, tugging him with me. I moved my free hand toward the seat in a gesturing motion. “Sit,” I told him.

He hoisted himself up. “That’s your chair. I am not about to take your chair and make you sit on the parking lot.”

“Oh, just sit!”

He did as he was told and plopped down in the comfortable camping chair, looking tense, his hands perched on the armrests. I settled myself into his lapand threw my legs over one of the armrests. I leaned my torso against him, and his arm wrapped around me while his other hand sat itself on my thigh.

I smiled down at him. “Isn’t this better than the cement?”

He turned his eyes toward me…

For the third time in the matter of a few hours, hunger swirled in his beautiful blue eyes. Lust and want was written all over his expression, like he would attack me if we weren’t out in public and if Craig wasn’t sitting a mere two feet away.

It made him all the more attractive, surprisingly. Just how he wanted me and how he made it blatantly obvious in his face, or maybe how he couldn’t control it. It was a possibility that he had no control over his feelings and the lust just appeared in his eyes without him knowing it.

Although I found that hard to believe. He had to know that I made him lusty.

“A lot better,” Max murmured. He exchanged a glance with Craig, but when I turned to look, they stopped whatever they were doing.

X X X X

The Forever the Sickest Kids set started at noon. According to my cell phone, it was approximately eleven thirty-eight and we had to wait for Devin and Stefan before we could head for the stage. And Devin and Stefan were nowhere to be seen.

I cast my eyes up to the sky. The Texas sun blared down on the Warped ‘09 concert, making people strip their clothes off. Boys and men everywhere were ridding themselves of shirts and girls’ shirts, shorts, and skirts were getting shorter.

The eighty degrees must have gone up since the morning. It hadn’t felt this hot when Craig and I first came to the tent, or when Max came over an hour ago.

The sky around the sun held the second most beautiful shade of blue I had ever seen, the first being the shade of Max’s eyes.

Ha, Max was right. I‘m such a suck up.

His eyes were beautiful, though! And I of all people could say that better than anyone else, considering I had been staring into them for the passed seventy minutes almost nonstop.

They were so unique. The color was darker around the outside and lighter as it progressed to the pupil. Inside the actual iris was a design that resembled a cloud spiraling all the way around.

The teenaged boy in front of me held out a bundle of money, making the picture of Max’s face dissipate from my thoughts. I took the seventeen dollars, handed him the black shirt he wanted, and smiled.

“Thank you!” I called as he turned and walked away. He waved over his shoulder before disappearing into the ever increasing group of concert-goers.

He was the last customer in the line, so I twisted around to Craig and Max. They still resided in the camping chairs, water bottles placed in their laps and wicked grins on their faces as they held a quiet conversation.

“Are you guys talking about the hot girls again?” I asked, making them look up at me. “If you are, please stop. I’m beginning to understand why Gabrielle calls you guys dickheads.”

Craig’s mouth gaped open. He looked betrayed, hurt. “She calls us dickheads? Since when?”

“Since forever,” Max answered. “But you are too busy playing with Jellybean to listen to what your ex says about you. She’s not nice.”

I shook my head and perched myself on Max’s knee. I placed my hands on my knees and leaned forward so my ass was the only thing touching Max. “No. She’s not very nice. She thinks you should stop talking about boobs and sex.”

Craig raised his hands in the air and threw his head back, letting out a guttural growl. I laughed, Max echoing me. Poor Craig.

“But I like boobs and sex!” Craig exclaimed. “I see boobs all the time, constantly. And good ones at that. How can I not talk about them? And I have to talk about sex because I don’t get any now. I’m a sexless man. If I didn’t talk about it, I would go insane.”

My hand slammed over my mouth. Shock raced through my veins and I had to stop myself from letting my jaw drop open. Craig Mabbitt, a sexless man? Impossible. Fucking look at him!

I pushed my bangs from my line of vision, letting my eyes scrape up and down the man in question. Nothing about him said that he wasn’t worthy of having girls fawn over him and beg him for sex. He damn well could have any girl he wanted in bed with him in a split second.

So, why wasn’t he plucking them from the Sea of Hot Tail?

“You are totally not a sexless man!” I cried in disbelief.

“I am.” Craig dropped his arms into his lap. “Haven’t gotten laid since I broke up with Gabrielle. Besides, how would I do that with Gabby on my ass every second of the day? She wouldn’t let me go off with a girl!”

Gabrielle needed to shut up and go somewhere hot and fiery. It was no longer any of her business who Craig slept with. She couldn’t stop him! He was grown, they were not together anymore, she had no hold over him.

Honestly, the more time I spent around Gabrielle, the more I hated her. She was not the kindest person in the world and I was frankly getting fed up with all her little comments and her advice.

Now this. Did she really think she could keep Craig from liking someone else? Ah, I ought to have a conversation with her after the set.

I huffed. “Weird is an understatement, dude.” I spread my arms out toward all the girls walking around. “Any one of these chicks would have sex with you. Just pick one. Any one. Everyone needs to get laid, whether Gabby wants to believe it or not.”

Max raised his hand. “I haven’t had sex since I dumped Saskia.”

That was even harder to believe. Max, the epitome of good-looking musicians, lacking in the sex department. It was weird! Had these boys not figured out their fans would let them do various things to them?

I bit down on my bottom lip. Hence I was a piece of steak, and he hadn’t eaten in weeks. God, stop thinking of it like that! And don’t use the word ‘eat’. My hands started shaking on my knees, so I balled them into fists.

“Eleven months,” I piped up, “since I’ve had sex. Haven’t been with a guy since Ronnie went to jail.”

Silence fell among us. Max grabbed my shoulder and twisted me around until I was looking at him. His cheeks had lost all color.

“No fucking way,” he breathed. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not.” I shook my head and patted his cheek. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips, but I refused to let it through.

“Well, that solves your problems.” We glanced across at Craig. “You two can have sex with each other. I’m just screwed--”

My ears started ringing. You two can have sex with each other. Did that really just get said? Had those words left Craig’s mouth? Hopefully I imagined it. Please tell me I imagined it.

But Max heard it as well, because he released his hands from me, crossed his arms over his chest, and slumped further into his chair. I rose hastily and straightened out my shorts, pulling Max’s belt tighter around my waist.

I turned my back on them. I’m not sure what bothered me more, the fact that Craig said it or that Max reacted so strangely to it. I had no issues with the thought. In fact, most of my daydreams consisted of such things.

Then that meant Craig was wrong. Max did not like me, rave about me, or have wet dreams about me. If he shied away from the subject of sex with me, then those looks of lust were figments of my desperate imagination.

I simply wanted him to love me so badly it hurt. The pain ravaged deep within the bowels of my abdomen. I had the distinct urge to double over and throw up everywhere, possibly all over Max’s damned lap.

A few teenagers were lingering at the front of the tent. I blinked through a haze of tears and stepped up to the table.

“Hi,” I choked out. “Can I help you with anything?”

One girl smiled brightly at me. She was the most normal girl I had seen all day, kind of plump with hair that barely reached her shoulders, wearing an oversized t-shirt and baggy, torn capri pants. She thrust her hand out.

I shook it, trying to mirror the smile on her face. She broke the handshake and pulled out a camera from her back pocket.

“Can I get a picture with you, Juliet?” she asked. Her voice was sweet, happy. I wished I had half the happiness she felt in that second.

I nodded weakly. She leaned across the table and I leaned beside her as she lifted her camera in the air and the device flashed. We separated and she stuffed the camera back into her pocket.

“Thank you so much!” she squealed. “I love your web series. You are amazing and your friends are hilarious.”

Friends. Yeah, because that is all I will ever have. Friendship over love. What a life to live and lead. I swiped my hand across my cheek to catch a tear before it became noticeable.

“It’s my pleasure,” I murmured.

“Oh, and my brother wants to meet you!” she added, apparently recalling her relative. She turned and waved for someone to come forth, shouting, “Found her!”

Out of the crowd came a guy about my age with shaggy, dark hair. He was at least six foot, towering over everyone around him, including his short, stumpy sister. Slight muscles bulged from his Metallica shirt and black pants hung nicely on his hips. And they were… well filled out.

Devin and Stefan were tagging along behind him, staring up at him with wide eyes and open mouths. How the hell did they get involved in this?

I draped my hair over my shoulders and stood up straight. He was gorgeous, not to mention he looked sweet as hell, not like a total jerk like some people who were within earshot of me.

“Juliet, this is my brother, Gavin.” The plump girl smiled. “We ran into your friends on our way here and told them we were looking for you. They said you would be at Escape the Fate’s tent.”

I looked up and up at Gavin. The smile he shot me was beautiful, but nothing -- not even a glimmer -- of anything coursed through me. Not a single inappropriate thought entered my head, my fingers didn’t tingle.

My right hand covered my eyebrows. I leveled a stern look at Stefan and Devin as they stepped up beside Gavin. They appeared happy, judging by their drooling and fawning over the eight-foot-tall piece of beefcake standing before me.

Devin flashed me a double thumbs up.

I rolled my eyes and glanced up at Gavin. “Hi, Gavin. I’m Juliet.” I held out my hand. He took it in his strong, warm hand and planted a kiss on the top. Still, nothing. Without being rude, I reclaimed my hand and hid it behind my back.

The distinct sound of shuffling sounded behind me. I flashed a glare over my shoulder to see Craig and Max both standing protectively at my back.

I wanted to throw up. First, he liked me, then he ignored the talk of sex, now he wanted to protect me. His waffling was beginning to piss me off.

All the work I had put into maintaining my anger at a normal level disappeared and I whipped around to Gavin, clinching my fists together.

“Juliet, it’s so nice to finally meet you.” His voice was deep, silky. “I’ve been dying to meet you face-to-face for the longest time, and I was just wondering something.”

“And what’s that?” I tilted my head slightly, batting my eyelashes. Though I felt nothing toward the poor guy, he obviously liked me and it gave me a slight degree of satisfaction to make Max squirm.

“Would you marry me?”

Should’ve seen that coming. I felt Max take hold of my hand, but I ripped away from it and lurched forward. I grabbed Gavin’s shirt, pulled him down to me, and pressed my lips to his mouth. Gavin grabbed my face between his hands and kissed me back.

I tried, I really did. I forced myself to interject some kind of feeling into the kiss, but it did nothing for me. The kiss meant nothing; it paled in comparison to what I felt a year ago while kissing Max. Then, I had felt everything. Now, I felt nothing, like kissing a door or a pillow.

I felt more when I kissed Ghost!

I broke away and wiped my finger beneath my lower lip. “Sorry, dude. I can’t marry you.” I patted his forearm. “Move on. I’m not worth your time, trust me. I’m just a huge ball of mess that you wouldn’t want to get involved in.”

The plump girl gasped, grabbed his arm, and began to drag him away. His legs didn’t seem to want to cooperate as he stumbled along through the Sea, his sister practically yanking his arm out of his socket and ranting on about things I could not hear.

My gaze swept around my friends. Craig and Max now stood on my other side, staring at me. Stefan’s mouth was hanging open and Devin had his arms open, palms raised toward the sky. They all had shock written across his face.

I rested my hip against the table. “What?”

Max broke from his trance first and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me. “You fucking just kissed a complete stranger! Who asked you to marry him! What the hell, Piper?”

I shrugged. Anger graced his features. “I can’t believe he actually asked you to marry him right in front of us!” he continued, letting go of my shoulders.

“You’re way too nice about it,” Craig agreed. He resumed his spot in his camping chair.

I hoisted myself up on the table, crossing my legs Indian style. What was wrong with me? A hot guy was truly interested in me and I couldn’t even fake feelings for him. Instead, I could only think about Max, Max, Max!

Fuck.

Devin shook his head and plunked his backpack onto the table. He rummaged around inside for a few moments and pulled his video camera out. He flipped it open and turned it toward me. “What ‘cha doing, Jay?”

“I’m selling t-shirts!” I answered, grinning. To my surprise, happiness had replaced my anger already. Thankfully. “With Maxie and Craigafer. And the boys are upset that some guy just asked me to marry him. They think I shouldn’t be so nice.”

“You shouldn’t!” Max slung his arms around my shoulders. “They’re never going to stop if you’re nice.”

The connection of our skin made currents of electricity steam through me. That was what the kiss had been lacking, electricity. It was deficient of everything Max caused me to experience.

Time to face facts. No one could replace Max in my screwed up heart. He would forever be there, the thought of him, the memories of our kiss, to haunt me and make me shy away from any type of relationship.

Perfect. Today just kept getting better.

“Hey!” Craig said, bringing me back to reality. “You should wear a fake wedding ring. Gabrielle did before she met me and it makes guys stay away like some kind of plague.”

Ha. Funny. Weird, but funny, and it sounded like a good idea! Only one problem. I did not own a single ring that looked like a wedding band or an engagement ring.

Max wiggled something off his left hand. I glanced at him and saw it was a silver metal band with tiny designs on it. At first, I thought he was simply going to hand it to me, but no. I was terribly mistaken.

Max dropped down to one knee. With a laugh in his voice, he asked. “Juliet, will you marry me?”

“Of course, Max!” I put the ring on my finger and smacked my hands against my face, pretending to cry and sob. “I can’t believe I’m Mrs. Green now! All my dreams are coming true.”

He had no idea how true those words were, how badly I wanted this to be real. Had I not been so stubborn, my pretend crying would have quickly become real.

We threw our arms around each other. From the corner of my eye, I saw the flashing of digital cameras. Many, many of them. I pulled away and saw that a large group had gathered around the table. Stefan was also one of the photographers.

“We have fans already!” I called. “Now we need a couple name! Maxper or Pipex. Or, if we use Juliet, it will be something like Juliax and Maliet.”

Max kissed my cheek. “I like Maxper.”

“Alright, lovebirds,” Stefan interrupted. “It’s time to go to the set.”

X X X X

The Forever the Sickest Kids set was amazing. We stood side stage, singing and dancing and celebrating how lucky we were to be so close to the action. Devin and I danced the most while Stefan recorded us and Max laughed his ass off.

What seemed like mere minutes after we arrived, the final song was announced, played, and Devin and Stefan vacated to put the videos on Buzznet, leaving Max and me alone.

A Day to Remember was playing now. Max had convinced me to stay because he was a fan of theirs. Honestly, I didn’t think he would like them. He just seemed like the hard rock top, but, to my surprise, he knew the lyrics to every song so far.

Their set was almost over.

I wanted it to keep going. I did not want it to end. Max and I were getting along so well! And having so much fun! Dammit, why did sets have a time limit?

“This is a little song called You Had Me At Hello,” the lead singer called into the microphone. “This is for everyone in love out there! So, grab your girls, guys, and sing along.”

In the crowd, I saw exactly that. Guys grabbing their girlfriends and pulling them close as the beginning guitar riffs sounded in the song.

I cast my gaze to the ground. After all the things that happened today, I wasn’t sure if I could deal with a love song.

“You okay?” Max asked from beside me.

I nodded. “Mhm. Just… lonely, I guess.”

“Come here, then.” He wound his arms around my hips, pressing me completely against his chest. I slipped my arms around his neck and we slowly began moving in a mock slow dance.

Couples were doing the same around us, much faster and more elegant, but I certainly did not mind. This dance meant more to me than the air I was breathing, even if it was offbeat and quirky. Did it matter? No. Not to me.

I sighed.

“You had me at hello, you had me at hello.”

The lyrics spoke volumes of truth. He did have me at hello, and even though I swore I would never fall in love with Max Green, I was.

I had, better yet.

And I was willing to forgive him for the mistakes he had made before.