‘Still trying to find my happy place, I guess,’ Channing said, suddenly feeling a pang of emotion. ‘Hey, I’m volunteering again.’
‘Oh, great. Doing what?’ Max said, his interest piqued.
‘A dog shelter,’ Channing replied, smiling. ‘It’s called Bark Buddies. Honestly, I know you’ve always liked dogs. It’s incredible how many super-sweet little mutts they get in there. I’d take them all home with me if I could.’
‘I bet you would!’ Max laughed. ‘You’ve got a thing for scruffy, charming strays…’
Channing giggled.
Suddenly, there was that old electricity between them again. It was undeniable. Despite being so different, the pair of them had a lot more in common than appeared on the surface.
Ever since he first met Max on campus as a nervous twenty-one-year-old, Channing had felt a connection between them. And now, if it was ever in doubt, it was clear that this very same connection was still there.
Despite being a little bit self-conscious at times, Channing never found it difficult to act flirtatious with Max. It just came super-easy to him. It was as if Max just had that special something inhim that unlocked another side of Channing that so many other people just couldn’t get to.
Max, of course, never found it hard to flirt in even the wildest, most inappropriate settings.
The rumors around campus had been that Max had managed to work his way through at least half of the Literature faculty in the first semester alone. Max had always denied this, but Channing never quite believed him.
‘Okay, okay,’ Channing said, the pair of them spending a little too long staring thirstily at one another. ‘I need to know something else.’
‘Shoot, champ,’ Max replied, now seemingly enjoying his berry drink far more than he had anticipated after the wheatgrass experience.
‘I want to know what your deal is,’ Channing said, a hint of steely insistence in his voice. ‘You can’t honestly expect to show up looking a hot mess and ask to stay with me and then not explain what’s up. Come on, even for you that’s pushing it…’
Channing paused and waited for an answer.
Suddenly, Max’s facial expression turned from one of flirtatious banter to something altogether sadder.
This was reallysomething, Channing could tell.
‘It’s okay, you can trust me,’ Channing said, reaching over and placing his soft hand on Max’s far more rugged, not to mentioned tattooed, hand.
‘Well, it all began about nine months ago…’
Max proceeded to explain that he had built something of a debt. He was gambling and losing. But instead of quitting while he wasn’t too far behind, Max had decided to try and gamble his way out of the debt. Of course, this only led to more financial woes.
It turned out that Max had got himself into so much debt that he had ended up homeless. His car was all he had left in the world. And speaking of his car…
‘I had to leave it,’ Max said. ‘I was so fucking scared that the cops would show up. I mean… I’m not even insured currently. I’m screwed. The whole situation is fucked up. I could have been arrested. Maybe even ended up in county jail for a short sentence. Or worse. It was the way I just had no memories beyond winning that God damned drag race. It just makes no sense.’
‘Oh boy,’ Channing said, moving closer to Max and putting his arm around him. ‘You’ve been a in a bad situation, that’s for sure. Don’t worry though, I’ll help you through it. That’s what friends are for.’
Max nodded and the pair of them shared a moment.
There were deep feelings between Channing and Max, there was no questioning that. Even in the times where their friendship had slipped off the radar, or where the lines had been blurred, it had never been in doubt that the pair of them cared about one another.
But as much as he wanted to be there for Max, Channing couldn’t help but wonder whether being associated to someone with a dubious criminal record might actually hamper his career at Green Sky Future.
Channing felt guilty for even thinking this, but his career was important to him.
Channing would have to tread carefully with how he handled this.
Channing’s only hope was that,for once, Max might be ready to play it safe and stick to the rules…
Chapter 4
MAX
