One of the Guys

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Maxine lay on her bed, with her stomach flat and her feet up in the air. As she lazily flipped through her magazine, a knock sounded at the door. “Come in!” She called, without glancing up.

“Hey, I picked up some dinner.” Tyler said.

“Cool, I'll be out in a sec.”

“Hmm...” Tyler walked over and sat beside her to read over her shoulder. Maxine shut the magazine.

“Can I help you?” She asked, finally looking up at him.

“Just trying to see what you're reading.” He laughed. “Cosmo, huh? I hear there's some pretty dirty stuff in there.” Tyler suggestively wiggled his brows, and Maxine she laughed. “Oh c'mon. Whatever article you were reading can't be that bad.” He reached over and tried to grab the magazine. Maxine laid herself completely over the magazine.

“You might as well just give up. There's no way I'm letting you see this.”

“I never give up, Maxi.” Tyler's fingers attacked Maxine's sides.

“Stop! I-I can't t-take it!” She laughed. She rolled onto her back and that only made it worse. Tyler now had full access to her stomach. He straddled her waist and tickled her stomach. “T-t...Ty, stop!” She screamed, giggling.

“Say, Tyler is my favorite housemate.” He said, pinning her hands down at her sides. Maxine looked up into his bright blue eyes.

“Never.” She said before she flipped them over so that she was on top. Maxi looked down at Tyler and smirked.

“Nice moves,” Tyler smirked back at her. “I like a girl on top.” A throat cleared, and the pair looked up to see three more pairs of eyes looking at them.

“Uh, is everything okay?” Trent asked, eying them. Maxi blushed and scrambled off of Tyler.

“Yep.” Tyler replied emphasizing the 'p'. “It's all good.” He sat up and made his way toward the door. Before he left, he winked at Maxine. Jason and Michael followed him out. Trent stayed behind for a minute. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead closed it and walked away. Maxine stood next to her bed. She blew out a breath and headed toward the kitchen.

The boys were all gathered around a few containers of Chinese take-out. She came to the table and took a plate and a fork. “I wasn't sure what you would want to eat, so I got a little bit of everything.” Jason said.

“Thanks Jase.” Maxine smiled at him. Jason blushed lightly, although she didn't notice. “After living with my three brothers, I've learned not to be picky when it comes to food.” They all shared a laugh. As Trent and Tyler raced toward the couch, Michael stayed behind to talk with her and Jason.

“I don't believe we've been properly introduced.” Mike said, extending his hand. “Name's Mike. I'm best friends with Jason here.”

“Nice to meet you. I'm Maxine, or Maxi, never Max.” She laughed, shaking his hand.

“So are you single, Maxi?” The brown eyed cutie questioned. Her brows furrowed, and she shot a glance at Jason, who was pretending to be interested in the nutritional facts of soy sauce.

“Um, yeah. I'm not seeing anyone or anything, but I'm not really looking either.” With that, she took her fried rice and plopped down on the couch next to Trent. Michael waited until she was out of earshot before getting Jason's attention.

“She so wants you dude!” Mike exclaimed to his best friend.

“What part of that made you think she was interested in dating anyone?” Jason gave his best friend a dumbfounded look.

“She's just playing hard to get, Jase. She wants you to chase her.” Part of Jason thought that Mike was being crazy and that he shouldn't listen to a word he was saying. However, the other part knew that Mike had a hell of a lot more experience with women, and that if he wanted to make any sort of progress, she had to at least try to listen to his friend. What could it hurt? He'd be doing more than what he was doing now.

“Maybe you're right...”

-0-

Trent was confused. When he walked in on his brother and Maxine, he immediately disliked what he saw. He didn't like the way the two of them were so close, and he especially didn't like what he heard. He knew he had no reason to be jealous and that Tyler could do what he pleased when it came to girls, but there was something about her that made him think differently. He sat in the kitchen early Friday, morning with a cup of coffee. That was when she walked in. Her hair was down in waves all over the place. Trent could tell she'd just woken up. She was wearing plaid pajama pants this time, and a dark blue tank top to match. “Morning.” Maxine smiled after a yawn. That was the moment Trent knew he had to put a stop to this.

“Morning, Max.” Trent greeted. Maxi winced at the nickname, but smiled anyway.

"So did you sleep well last night?"

"Could've been better.  I heard snoring coming from the room nextdoor.  These walls are terribly thin, you know?"  Trent was mentally kicking himself.  Of course the room he was talking about belonged to Maxi.  He was pretty sure she knew that too.  He watched as her jaw clenched. 

"Bummer, maybe you should invest in some ear plugs or a sound soother?"  She offered, reaching up for a box of cereal.  The box fell to the ground and Maxi groaned.

"What a klutz."  Trent muttered.

"What did you say?"  She snapped, glaring at him.

“You're up early.”

“Yeah, early bird catches the worm.” Taking a deep breath, she smiled again. It was very hard to be rude to her when she smiled.

“Good to know you use that beak of yours for something.” Maxine's smile dropped. She sat down the carton of milk she'd been holding and stared at Trent. “I mean, with a mouth as big as yours-”

"Okay, I'm ending this conversation.” Her face formed into a scowl as she snatched a spoon from the drawer and stalked off to her room with her bowl. “I'm sorry you got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but I'm not gonna stand here while you take it out on me!” She yelled before slamming her door. Tyler prodded out of his room and sat down next to his brother. “And don't call me Max!” Maxine slammed the door once more.

“What did you do to her?” Tyler smirked.

“More like what she did to me.” He mumbled. Tyler eyed his brother curiously. “Are you...”

“No. I'm with Tammy, and we're in a good place.” Trent didn't know if he was trying to convince his brother or himself.  "Look, bottom line, I'm not interested in Maxine.  If you want her, you'd better make your move before Jason man's up and makes his." 

"Okay.  I just wanted to make sure."  Tyler raised his arms up in defense.  There was a pregnant silence between the two of them.  Then, Trent was the first to speak.

"Are you interested in Maxine?"

"Too soon to tell."  Tyler replied.  "She's smokin' hot, but that's not enough for me.  We're getting older and random hook-ups are not going to cut it.  Mark my words T, my next relationship will be serious."

"Words to live by, Ty.  Maybe you should share your philosophy with Jase."  The two shared a laugh.  Neither knew that they were both having mixed thoughts about the girl a few rooms down.

                                                                             -0-

An-  Short, I know, but I'm setting up for a few things, and I need to establish some relationships.  I want to say thanks to everyone that's reading and commenting.  You are all awesome.  I love hearing suggestions or questions so feel free to message me or leave them in a comment.