Drive to Survive

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One

"This is insane." Dylan laughed in disbelief after she pulled away, already missing the feel of his kiss, "And what does it mean?"

"What do you want it to mean?" Max asked, moving to sit next to her again.

Dylan also sat up, her hands automatically coming to play with the ends of her hair as she considered Max's question.

What did she want it to mean?

She had this man right in front of her, basically declaring himself as entirely hers. She had an opportunity to set the pace and get everything she wanted, but part of her was still worried about the world outside of them, and the implications that could come if she made the wrong decision.

"I don't think we should rush anything." She finally said, her heart beating faster as Max gave her the most adorable look of confusion ever, "It's just- you know we've had a bit of a strange start and I want to make sure we have a strong foundation. You don't even know me that well."

Max had a glint in his eye and he looked like he'd just been issued a challenge, "I know you hate sushi, you speak Italian but badly, you pull on your hair when you're nervous, you're terrible at singing and even worse at navigating, you're an engineering whiz, you rarely let yourself relax because you're trying to do everything perfectly, you value family more than anything, and the most important thing to you every day is making sure everyone around you is okay."

Dylan's mouth gaped as Max rattled off this list of things about her. He was right on the money and she had no idea how much he'd observed her over the season. All the things she'd said, all the little things she'd done, he'd noticed them all. And not just noticed, he'd understood them, and understood her.

"But," He continued, "I do agree with you."

"You don't mind taking things slow?"

Max shrugged, "I'm in no rush. Take all the time you want, my mind won't change."

The way he said it so casually, like she was the most certain, definitive thing in the world for him gave Dylan a wonderful feeling of security. He'd gifted her the space to figure out her feelings and wishes without the worry of him going anywhere.

"Thank you." She smiled shyly.

"In the meantime, we can go on a date."

Dylan lay back against the picnic blanket, closing her eyes and basking in the warmth of the sun, "That sounds nice. When were you thinking?"

She sensed movement to her right and opened a suspicious eye, squinting up at Max who was now on his feet. Her hand came up to shield her eyes from the sun and she laughed at him.

"What on Earth are you doing?"

"Don't move." He ordered, suddenly darting away and heading back in the direction of the car.

"Great. The first guy to ask me out and he's already running away." Dylan muttered to herself, rolling her eyes and relaxing in the sun once more.

Around ten minutes passed until she heard footsteps returning. As she sat up to see what Max was doing, he appeared in front of her and dropped two big bags and a box onto the sand. There was a red towel poking out of the top of one of the bags and now she was properly looking, the box looked more like a cooler or something you'd store food in.