Max and Hailey: A second chance

The Tour *Part 1*

Hailey's P.O.V

I really hoped that Max would keep his promise. I know I only met him yesterday but there is just something about him that pulls me in. Maybe it's that he's not from here and that is why I find him so interesting. It's always the same boring old things in this town. With Max, he comes from the outside world, a part of the world that I have been forbidden from seeing. Maybe it's because of what happened to Brittany, who knows. All I know is I want to know more, and I want to get to know him better. As I leaned on him, I could smell the scent of his body wash. The scent of pine in the air as the wind whipped past us on the motorcycle was actually a bit relaxing. I didn't realize that I was starting to loosen my grip around him and soon found myself slipping. I quickly grabbed his shirt tightening my grip to fix myself. I didn't expect to feel a six-pack under his shirt, but I am definitely not complaining. I started to wonder what other surprises he was hiding, and I found myself blushing. I could feel the hotness of my cheeks as they burned a shade of pink. I've never been this physically close with a boy like this thanks to my mom being the principal, my dad being the mayor and well Uncle David being the sheriff doesn't help either. Thinking about my parents quickly ruined the mood I was in. I closed my eyes and rested my head on his back. I could hear the sound of his heart beating and it put me at ease. I don't think I would ever understand how someone I just met could calm me down so much. Sure, in stories and fairy tales you hear about love at first sight and soul mates but that couldn't really be true. Could it? I mean that would be pretty ridiculous. My train of thought was really not helping, and I needed to really pay attention before we end up back to where we started. I was surprised to see that he actually remembered and followed my directions as we were only a few blocks away from the main part of town. Afraid to fall off If I let go of my hold on him I decided to just tap on his abs to get his attention. I could feel him laugh before he responded.

"Yeah?" He asked me and looked back at me slightly. I could see his smile and I couldn't help but smile back at him.

"After we pass this block we are there. You can just park the bike in between those two parked police cars. They will know it's your dad's and won't touch it." I explained to him.

"Are you sure no one is going to steal it?" Max asked. "He didn't leave anything to lock it to." He said.

"Max, it's not like a bicycle. As long as you have the key, no one can start this up unless they play with the wires and no one is going to do that with the sheriff's motorcycle. We don't really have much crime here. It's mainly just day drinkers and lots of unneighborly complaints." I answered as he pulled up into a parking spot.

"Alright, I will take your word for it." He said as he turned off the engine and pushed the kickstand down. He got off and then turned to me. "Need help getting off too?" he asked with a smirk and I blushed.

"Yes, I do," I answered and he grabbed my hips easily picking me up and setting me on the ground. "I know I am not as light as a feather, so you have a lot of muscle. Where are you hiding it all?" I asked without really thinking it through. His smirk only grew wider and I could see his confidence come through more and more.

"I'm not hiding anything. Is this your way of asking to see my muscles, Ms. Michaelson?" He asked with a slightly cocky tone.

"Well since you are offering, sure," I replied with my own smirk. Two could play this game, though I am very new to it. His soft laugh almost made me melt with the way he looked at me.

"How about I show you after we finish this tour?" he offered and held out his arm.

"Deal." I agreed and took his arm leading him into town. I really didn't want to go home early so I made sure to start the tour off slow. And by slow, I mean we are stopping at every shop. It was brilliant. At least at first, it was until it backfired on me. Out of all the days to shop, it seemed everyone and their mother was out and about today. After just one hour we barely made it halfway through the first block. Everyone wanted to find out who Max was. I mean I did plan on introducing him to the shop owners of course but not the whole town! At first, he seemed a bit uncomfortable meeting so many people at once and I thought he was definitely going to give me an earful but after a while, he seemed to get used to it.

Two more hours have passed by the time we get half of the town covered. My stomach started to growl from hunger as I had barely eaten today and haven't had a chance to relax. I finally realized it was better to just wave the owners outside of the store to introduce Max instead of going outside. Max didn't seem to hear the loud growl coming from my stomach, so I pushed on with the tour.

"You know, I am pretty shocked that everyone is so friendly here," Max said to me as walked down the sidewalk.

"well, you are the new guy in town so of course, everyone is going to want to know who you are." I reminded him.

"I get that, but everyone seems really understanding here. No one looked at me weird or anything. They don't seem to care that I am the sheriff's kid either." He replied.

"Wow. You just referred to David as your dad." I said in shock but with a smile on my face.

"Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I?" he asked with a smile on his face. "I think I will like it here. I feel like I have already made some friends. Thanks again for this tour, Hailey. I really appreciate everything you have done for me." He told me. "especially the phone. I would have lost a couple of the numbers people gave me if I had them write it down." He continued.

"You mean all the girl's numbers you got." I corrected him, a little annoyed that they were giving him so much attention. "but that's good that you have options to pick from now. You won't have to spend the summer alone. You can have a girlfriend and go on dates. David would be cool about that." I said to distract from my annoyed tone.

"Yeah, no one seems to call him your uncle. Why is that?" Max asked stopping in his tracks to look at me.

"Well in this town, unless you are blood-related or married into a family, you are not considered family. My siblings and I were raised as nieces and nephews so it's what we know. For everyone else, my dad and David are close like brothers but aren't real brothers. Adoption isn't a big thing over here." I answered with a shrug. "Now let's get back to the tour. We still have the other half of town to see and then we need to get you back home for dinner." I said and turned to keep walking. He stood there for a moment before catching up to me for the rest of the tour.