Snapshot · (Roswell Fanfiction) · √

43. Painters

The Apartment

(2003) Max is 18, Liz is 17

"Hey pancake, do you wanna help us out?"

Liz slowly looked up from her book. "What did you just call me?"

Max was leaning against the doorway, his arms folded casually across his chest, his left ankle crossed over his right.

Cocking his head to the side, he asked with a curious grin, "What? You don't like it?"

She stared at him as if he had gone insane. "Pancake? Yeah, right. What's there not to like? Let's see. Pancakes; Round. Floppy. Smeared with sticky syrup. You're right." She broke out in a wide sarcastic grin. "I absolutely adore that nickname."

"Come on, Parker. I thought girls loved being called food things. Like..." His voice lowered huskily as he pushed off the doorframe and walked into the room; his movements slow and deliberate with a seductive crooked smile on his lips, "...honey."

An involuntary shiver raced through Liz's body and she found herself unable to tear her eyes away from his advance as he gradually got closer to the bed she was occupying.

"Sugar."

Max stopped in front of her, looking down at her, unmasked hunger in his eyes. "Sweet pea."

Every nerve in her body began to quiver and an uncontrollable blaze warmed her from the inside out as his gaze began to wander unhindered across her body, pausing in places that had her struggling not to moan out loud. She tried to pull herself out of his spell, tried to look away from his transfixing eyes, but part of the curse he was placing her under was the knowing smirk on his lips. The fact that he knew exactly how much he was affecting her in that very second.

He bent down, bringing his face within breathing distance from hers, and slowly traced the line of her jaw to place an errant strand of hair behind her ear.

"How about Pumpkin?"

"I-I think...what are you...No..."

Max's eyes twinkled in amusement as she struggled to string together a proper sentence. The twinkle effectively snapped Liz out of her temporary daze.

Max instantaneously saw the change in her eyes as her defenses went up and the challenging air of her stubbornness leaked into the tightening of her facial features.

Calmly, he awaited the explosion.

But Liz merely smiled at him, telling him in a sweet stable voice, "If you don't get out of here right now, I'm gonna hurt you."

She hitched her chin in the direction of her knee, where it was perfectly positioned between his legs. All she had to do was kick upwards and Max would be wishing he had never gotten to know Liz Parker.

Max's face paled as he followed her silent directions, cleared his throat and took a step back. To a safe distance from her dangerous legs.

"So... You don't want to help your brother out? It's your apartment after all. Maybe you should chip in."

Appearing bored, Liz shook her head. "You have to try harder than that, Evans."

Max licked his lips slowly before assaulting her senses with another crooked smile and drawling, "You want me to smear you in syrup, pancake?"

Her heart missed a beat before she forced herself to scrunch her face in disgust. "Ew. Get out of my room, pervert."

But Max thought it was way too much fun to bother Liz. Ignoring her orders was only part of the fun.