It was a cozy fit, with his thigh pressing the entire length of hers. He tried to ignore it, but the warmth slowly became heat and he was so aware of the contact, he could barely concentrate on the game.
This was even worse than having her in his bedroom and that had almost killed him. He’d spent the entire time she was going through his clothes reminding himself that the only reason she cared what he wore was that she’d made getting him a date a challenge and she wanted to win. And winning meant him dating Nola.
He wolfed down the last snacks on his plate just to have an excuse to get up and throw his plate away. When that was done, he became a roaming host, refilling plates and grabbing drinks. He’d perch on the arm of a couch or lean against the doorjamb to watch the game, but mostly he mingled.
During halftime, Josh pulled him aside. “Hey, we’re going to have a Halloween party at the lodge on Saturday the first, since the town trick-or-treating is Friday night. It’s a fundraiser for the ATV club. You in?”
“A Halloween party? You mean with costumes?”
“Well, yeah. If you don’t have costumes, it’s just a party. It loses that whole Halloween thing.”
Max had never been invited to a party by somebody he wasn’t related to, if he didn’t count elementary school, when parents forced their children to invite their entire class. Even the kids who didn’t fit in.
“I know you don’t have an ATV to decorate,” Josh continued, “but you can still come and have a good time. Hey, maybe you could be a judge.”
“No.” When Josh’s eyes widened, Max realized he’d been rather blunt. “I’m sorry. I would like to come to the party, but I’d rather not be a judge. I’m not very good at telling people their work is better or not as good as somebody else’s.”
“I get that. So just come and have a beer and a good time. I know two weeks isn’t a lot of notice, but the idea just came up at the last club meeting. And it’s Whitford. It’s not like everybody has big plans.”
“That would be movie night, wouldn’t it?” From what he’d heard, movie night was taken very seriously.
Josh laughed. “So I was told. But the women agreed to skip a month for the cause. Katie said they’re thinking about revamping it anyway, and voting on a movie schedule. I guess Hailey made them watch some old musical last time.”
My Fair Lady. Max didn’t bother telling Josh that one was his fault. That would lead to an explanation he didn’t care to give. “I’ll be there.”
“Excellent.” Josh slapped his shoulder. “I’m going to take a leak before the second half starts.”
And Max was going to try to find a seat that didn’t involve his body being in contact with Tori’s.
*
The buzz about Max so often fell into two camps—the people who didn’t know him and thought he was weird, and the folks who watched sports at his house and said he was a good guy.
Now that she’d gotten to know Max, the game day stories had seemed at odds with everything she knew about him, and she didn’t think he was that good an actor, so when Gavin had mentioned he was coming, she’d thought she’d come see for herself.
At least it was a football game today. She’d dated a football player in high school, which had meant sitting in the stands watching high school games and sitting on his couch watching professional games. She really didn’t care about the game, but she had a basic idea of what was going on.
And the buzz was accurate. Sports-watching Max was quite different from everyday Max. But she was sure neither was an act, which just confused her. He was so at ease with the guys and with Katie, and she didn’t see any of his little quirks on display.
Tori had been at ease, too, until he sat down and everything except the fact that his leg was pressing against hers became background noise. When he got up to throw away his plate, she’d almost sighed in relief. Then he’d been too busy being a good host to sit back down.
Somehow during the halftime seating shuffle, she’d ended up next to Katie. “Is it always like this?”
“It has been lately. At the rate he’s going, Max is going to have to build an addition soon and buy more couches. So are you coming to the Halloween party at the lodge?”
“I saw the flier taped to the door at the diner, and then Hailey texted me and told me I have to go.”
“You may as well. Everybody else will be there. Paige even said she’s going to close the diner early, even though it’s a Saturday night.”
Everybody else would be there. She wondered if Nola would be going. If Tori was a good friend, she’d probably tell Max he should call her and ask her if she was going and, if she was, if she’d like to go with him.
Maybe they could even get cutesy matching his-and-hers costumes.
“What’s the matter?” Katie asked.
“What?”
“You just made a horrible face.”