Seven.

Rylie's POV

I know it was probably pretty harsh to do a thing like that to him, to tease him, but nevertheless a smile tugs across my face as I walk over to Jodi, feeling the intensity of his gaze on my moving form as I walk away. I can feel him watching me intently as he moves back over to where the other players are sitting. I avoid his gaze, not looking at him because I know that if I look into those eyes with that much intensity in them, it will just have me thinking about other nights that they were starring at me that way, but for much different reasons, and I don't need to think about that right now.

"What was that about?" Jodi asks when I reach where she is sitting, looking at me in pure bewilderment.

"What?" I ask, trying for innocence, but I can tell that she knows I'm toying with him.

"That was so cruel," Jordan says while shaking his head, laughing while probably putting himself in Max's place and Jodi in mine, knowing that it would suck to be tempted like that.

"And well deserved," Jodi adds, directing it mostly toward Jordan as she narrows her eyes at him. "Don't you let him off the hook. What he did was wrong," she instructs after looking back toward me. I'm listening to her, but I can't help but take my eyes off of Max as he sits at a table across the room, starring at me as well. "Rylie," she says, getting my attention to get her point across. "You make him work for it," she pleads in a strong, forceful tone. I nod my head in response, agreeing with her completely as I stand up to head to the dance floor.

"Jodi, let her make her own decisions," Jordan scolds while I walk away.

I can hear them arguing slightly over helping me or not, but its all a blur as I make my way to the center of the room. I can feel his eyes tracing over my hips as I walk and can't help but suppress a small sigh before looking over in his direction, needing to know if he is till watching. I glance over at him, and I was right, his eyes are still focusing on me, which is exactly where I need them to stay put.

Max's POV

I watch her sitting over there talking to Jordan and Jodi, and I watch as she watches me, her eyes never wavering from mine. But then, I watch her as she walks out toward the dance floor, suddenly the room getting a little warmer and it getting harder for me to breathe as she gives me one last look before throwing her hair over her shoulder as she turns away from me, breaking our intense gaze for the first time in what seems like hours.

But then, I see him approach her, dancing up against her. She laughs, playfully raising her arm to touch his chest as she begins to dance with him, making my blood broil and the sight of another man touching her.The way her hips are moving is mesmerizing, the way she makes them sway, the rest of her body following their lead. I can't help but look, let my eyes roam over her hips up to her tiny waist and then further to where I find the soft rise of her breast, and it sudden as gotten even hotter in here and I find myself gasping for air.

She twirls in slow circles around the lucky bastard, her hips hypnotizing more men then I'd like to admit, but then she shifts her gaze over to me, and I realize that her little show isn't for the guy she's dancing with. No, he is just a prop in one of the games she's decided to play on me, and even though I don't want to admit this either, her little game is definitely working, and I definitely feel like I'm getting the payback she thinks I deserve as I watch the way her body moves to the music, making my heart beat so fast that I think surely I'll pass out before her little tirade is over. But then, I see him run his hands over the same curves my eyes had been moments earlier, and the only emotion I feel is envy, and everything goes red.

I get out of my seat, probably scooting it away from the table with more force than was probably necessary before I can see Jordan and Jodi being to panic, but as I walk out onto the dance floor, I'm focused on nothing but her as her eyes go wide with fear, not knowing what I am doing. I feel my hands circle around her waist, pulling her against my chest and successfully out of his arms. I start to drag her off of the dance floor, but then I feel him grab onto my arm, obviously irritated I interrupted his dance with her. I spin back around, willing to fight him right here, right now if it will mean that he doesn't touch her anymore, but when I go to take a step toward him, she pulls on my arm before stepping in between us.

Rylie's POV

I feel him whip around, and I know that things are quickly going to get out of hand if I don't step in. I saw the way he was looking at me, and I was just about to quit my game when I saw him fling his chair away from the table he had been at, and the only thought that came to me was 'Oh shit...' as he made his way out to where we were. He takes a step toward the guy who I have no idea what his name is, and I tug on his arm, hoping he will stop, but I have a feeling he won't, so I step in between the two of them, successfully protecting both of them from each other. He looks down at me, and I'm scared by the look I see in his eyes, just for a moment, before his eyes soften, even if it's a small amount.

"Move, Rylie," he commands while grabbing my shoulders with a stronger embrace than I figured he would, trying to move me out of the way.

"No," I answer defiantly, catching him off guard.

"I'm not joking around here, Ry," he says again while trying to push me out of the way again, but I stand my ground.

"Max, I'm not moving," I reiterate again for emphasis. "Come on, let's just go," I say while tugging at his arm in the direction of the door, and I see him look over at me to see how serious I am. "Please?" I plead, hoping he can just let this go. "Come on," I continue when he is starring down this stranger I had been dancing with, "and maybe we can talk more about how we left things," I finish. He looks at me, and I know I've go him now as his eyes soften even more.

He allows me to pull him toward the door, but I can still feel how furious he is in the stiffness of his body. I finally get him out of the club, and shove him once we get out there, because I am just as furious as he is.

"What the hell do you have to be mad about?" he asks while raising his arms but reluctantly follows me as I start to walk the short couple blocks to my apartment.

"Don't even start with that," I bark back while turning around and scowling at him. He opens his mouth to say something back, but he smartly closes it and follows me in silence back toward my house.

I open the door, and when I turn around, Max is standing right in my way, at a dangerously close distance from me. I stand there, mesmerized by the look of pure desire that shows on his face, especially in his eyes, while he pushes the door shut, moving so that I'm the one by the door now. He moves closer to me, and I back up as far as I can until I'm against the door, but he doesn't stop. He keeps moving toward me until his face is close enough to me that I bet he can hear the pounding of my heart, which I think is trying to break my ribs or at least puncture a lung by the way it's reacting to him. I think he's going to kiss me, but he never does, he just continues to stand there and look at me, and no I know exactly what it feels like to be toyed with.

I know exactly what he's doing, he's waiting for me to make the move on him, which I desperately want to do. I want to just reach out and pull his body close to mine, to pull his lips against mine, but I don't, I sit there and look at him as he is me instead.

In front of me, within him I know lies one of the biggest decisions I've ever had to pick between. I could crash and burn so easily if I gave into the feelings deep in the pit of my stomach right now or at the end of this road we've been on I might catch even just a glimpse of happiness, or at least closure. Tears begin to well in my eyes uncontrollably, but even that makes me think about how long of a time it's been since I left those hands of his catch my tears, and that just makes me hurt worse.

I know that my next move, here tonight, could either break my heart or save me. Nothing is real until you let go completely, so I throw all thoughts I've been saving and all the fears I have that are weighing on me out of my mind and take the half step of distance between us, and press my lips lightly to his.