Christian Collins as Max Chase 👆(suggested by my close friend moonlightwalk)

Hailee's POV :-

Sunday, 21st April, 9:00pm.

"Another shot!" I shouted at the bartender who disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. He returned a while later and placed a tray full of shot glasses filled with vodka. He disappeared again to serve beers to a huge group of guys sitting a few seats away.

Without any hesitation, I downed all the vodka one after the other, resulting in a burning but warm sensation in my body. Surprisingly, I didn't feel buzzed at all. Not even the slightest buzz.

Well, this is awesome. Who would have thought that Hailee Summers has a high alcohol tolerance? Must have inherited it from my dad.

Dad. That one word brought up a storm of old memories in my mind and I put my glass down, swallowing the lump in my throat. Don't cry, Hailee, don't. Don't allow even a single emotion to surface. That is not allowed.

"Hi," A male voice from my left caused me to jump, almost breaking the glasses. "You're too pretty to be sitting all by yourself in a place like this."

I whipped around and almost did a double take on seeing the guilty guy. Boy, he's so damn hot. His brown hair almost shaded his eyes and he was wearing a shirt which defined his muscular body. Hmm, definitely my type.

Don't even go there, Hailee. Just don't.

He cleared his throat and asked, "Um, are you okay? Or did I scare you? You haven't blinked for two minutes."

"Oh uh, I'm sorry," I apologized, turning my face away before he could see the blush on my cheeks. "And uh, thanks for the compliment."

Real smooth.

"Is it your first time here?" He asked, his gaze never leaving my face.

"Why do you ask?"

"I was born and brought up in New York myself. So, I can always recognize a non-New Yorker if I see one." he took a swig of his beer and grinned sheepishly.

"Well, to answer your question, I'm actually from Wisconsin," I downed another shot and avoided his gaze, hoping he'd stop asking me questions.

"So what's your business in New York?"

Nosy guy. I sighed and downed another shot while I thought about what to say. Yeah right, like alcohol will help you think. "College and a desire to start a new life." Hopefully this will get him to shut up for now. I simply wanted to get up and walk away from him, out of this place and into my home, but why should I spoil my experience thanks to a really handsome but nosy guy who might be the first and possibly the only guy I'd ever talk to.

This is so messed up.

"That's interesting," He commented. "So which university?"

Seriously?

Resisting the urge to repeatedly bash his head against the table, I simply answered, "Jacksonville University. One of the best in the world." I turned my face to look at his expression.

He had an expression somewhere between relief and shock for like, five seconds before he spoke, "Yeah, I know about it. I also-" He got interrupted by the DJ turning up the music even louder and the crowd shouting.

"What are you saying? I couldn't hear you." I shouted over the music.

He smirked at me and as the music went down a bit, he replied, "Oh, you'll see soon." Not interested.

"Alright," I said and looked at my watch. 10 pm already? Phew. The sooner I got out of here, the sooner I could stop talking to him. But, one question continuously bugged me.

Why does he look so damn familiar to me? Like have we met somewhere before? I ran a hand through my hair and tapped my head. Nope, no answer coming up.

"You're an interesting person. What's your name?"

Should I make up a fake name or something? Screw it, my brain isn't working and it's not like I'd be talking to him soon. "Hailee. Hailee Summers."

"Nice name." He held out a hand. "And my name's Max Chase, but you can simply call me Max. Pleased to meet you."

I silently shook it and tried to pull it away but he held onto it firmly. "I seriously need to go." I said coldly.

"Why?"

"Tomorrow's my first day of college, and it's already 10 pm. I think I'll need a cab to reach home." I finally managed to free my hand with a little force.

"Let me drive you home," He looked a tad hurt. "It isn't safe to take a cab in NYC at night."

"I may look like a weakling but I actually know self-defense, Max. The only thing I want is for annoying people like you to leave me alone." Take the hint, dude, and scoot. Shoo.

"I've never listened to anyone my entire life, Hailee. So why should today be any exception?" With that I felt myself being lifted off the ground and placed over his shoulder. Alright, the hell?? "Put me down or I'll-I'll-" I shouted angrily, hitting his back several times.

He simply laughed. "No point in trying to resist me, Hailee. You'll be coming with me," He smugly answered.

"Could you atleast put me down? I may not be drunk but I can feel sick. Or are you prepared to have me throw up on your back?" Immediately I felt the ground under my feet and looked up to saw him checking his clothes.

People can be too gullible sometimes.

"Jeez, I was joking," I raised my hands in protest as he warily glanced at me.

"Phew," He finally turned to look at me. "These days it's hard to know when people joke and when they don't, thanks to a certain thing called sarcasm."

"True," I sighed "But I'm positive you weren't joking about taking me home, were you?"

"I never joke about helping someone, Miss Summers," Max answered earnestly, placing a hand on his chest "And especially when it comes to giving people free rides. My car's too dear to me, quite frankly."

"Then I'd rather take a cab home," I hastily tried to make my way through the partying crowd but Max pulled me out yet again. Dude, get the hint already.

"Nope, you're coming with me." Without waiting for an answer, he half-dragged and half-carried me through the drunk and high crowd, with me shouting some pretty colourful words at him.

★✩★✩★✩★

Once outside, I decided to knee Max in his gut and make a run for it, but decided against it five seconds later. Is the alcohol getting to your head or something?
Tips for surviving NYC : Numero uno, never consume large amounts of alcohol if you're alone and in a nightclub.

"Hailee?" Max's voice made me snap out of my thought bubble. His gaze was fixed on my face.

"What?"

"This is my baby." He said, his gaze leaving my face and looking at something else.

I followed his gaze and immediately fought the immense urge to become slack-jawed. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

"You like it?" He looked at me expectantly.

Love it. Such a beauty, I wanted to say. But you have taken a pledge never to show your emotions. "Hmm, I think I do," I managed to get out. You want to piss off the poor guy or what?

"Great!" He replied, opening the car door for me to enter.

Ah, so comfy, these words came to my mind as soon as my back and butt hit the passenger seat. I closed my eyes and inhaled the fresh and leathery scent of the interiors.
"On second thoughts, Max," I looked at him, sitting stiffly in the driver's seat and getting ready to drive "I actually love it."

"Thanks, but your face says otherwise." He glanced at me warily and added, "Or nothing at all."

So my "poker face" is effective. "That's why they say not to judge one on their facial expressions, but to judge them on their mental expressions."

He smiled. "I like that saying. You made it yourself?"

"Ten seconds ago." I answered proudly.

We rode in silence for almost ten minutes before Max spoke up, "You know, you should seriously smile more, Hailee."

"And why is that?"

"It'll look perfect on you."

It'll look perfect on you. That one comment made some non-existent butterflies do a happy dance in my stomach. Must be the damned alcohol. I, Hailee Summers, am actually over thinking things. Get a grip on yourself.
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, why not? And besides," he paused to make a turn "it takes 43 muscles to frown, and only 17 to smile."

"And zero to maintain a poker face." I retorted. Don't know, don't care.

"Seriously?"

"What do you think?" I challenged.

"I'll think about it later on."

"Go ahead." A yawn escaped my lips.

"You sound sleepy." He sounded concerned "You can sleep if you want. I'll wake you up when we get to your place."

"I don't remember telling you where I live," I moved away from him, pretending to be horrified. "Are you a creepy stalker? Or a pervert?"

"No!" He exclaimed, clearly annoyed. "I'm neither of those things at all. In fact, I'm actually surprised at how less you think of me."

"Well I'm not." I replied plainly.

"Hey!"

"Hey to you as well." I remarked. "And hey, the car has been still for almost fifteen minutes."

"That's because we've reached your place. Look outside." I looked outside and was baffled to see that it was the apartment where I lived. "Is this the right place?"

A slight chill ran up my spine. "H-How did you know?" Any girl, ice queen or not, would definitely freak out if a guy who she'd just met in a nightclub, happened to know where she lived

"Like you said, Jacksonville's one of the best universities in the world. This area is where most of them live." I silently opened the passenger door and got out of the car as quickly as I could.

"And how am I to believe that, Max?" I simply asked.

"Told you that you'll see tomorrow," he shot me a wink "See you soon!" He shouted as he started the ignition.

Something clicked in my head all of a sudden. "Max! Wait!" I shouted.

"What?"

"Have you ever been to Wisconsin?"

"Well, yeah I mean, who hasn't?" He paused to think "But only once, and that was just a couple of days ago."

Suddenly all the pieces in my mind perfectly fit together. "You-"

"Gotta go, Hailee. See ya!" and with that he sped away, leaving behind a trail of dust.

Damn it, Hailee. How could you not see this at all? I mentally facepalmed myself as I slowly headed up the stairs. He was Supermodel Guy all along! And I just happened to 'run' into him a day after I reach New York. Oh please kill me now.

Frankly, that Max guy has more to him than what I could see today. The best thing I can do right now is to sleep on it.

★✩★✩★✩★

Hello everyone!

I'm positive most of you had already figured out that Max was the guy Hailee had originally run into at Steak n' Grill. (XD)

And while I was surfing through Christian Collins' pics (Don't judge), I noticed that his eye color was close to gray, like this :

So that bit's also worked out! Yay!

Hope you liked this chapter!

Vote ✩ and comment 💬.

Ciao!

-Aydin