chapter 2

The next day, Max arrived at Kaley's place looking glum. 'I hear you've been bullied in to taking me in,' he sighed, carrying a quilt in his arms. 'I'm really sorry.'

'Not at all!' Kaley cheered, trying to perk him up. 'I jumped at the chance to have a house guest,' she lied. 'Now I have someone else to bore about recipes!'

Max smiled, seeming to remember their shared love of food. 'Oh yeah, I hear the restaurant is a smash hit. One of my friends from football took his girlfriend there to propose to her the other day.'

'Oh, yeah, we get that quite a lot,' laughed Kaley, surprised at how often she was congratulating loved-up couples as part of her job, yet remaining so fiercely single herself. She went downstairs to help Max bring up all of his things. There were only a few boxes and so it didn't take long. Only then did she see what Hannah meant about Max's weight. He was sweaty from moving all of the boxes and his t shirt clung to his body to reveal a noticeable hard-looking paunch. When he turned around, his ass looked similarly beefed-up and chunky, now matching the thick legs he had always had. He looked completely adorable.

'I won't be here for long, I promise,' said Max sheepishly, seemingly embarrassed to be imposing on Kaley. 'Just until Hannah, you know...'

Kaley felt sorry for Max. She had never really seen why he was with Hannah in the first place, even if she was supposed to be Kaley's best friend. Max was sweet and kind, whilst Hannah was driven and single-minded. But, Kaley had to remember that, for whatever reason, Max loved her. 'Well, I'm sure she just needs a little space. And we can use this time to do a bit more stuff together.' She was looking at Max's small gut when the idea came to her. 'We could go to the gym together!' she said excitedly. 'I've got a load of healthy recipes I want to try out as well; we could have a complete detox.'

'Subtle,' said Max, putting his hand on his paunch and staring at Kaley with a wry smile. 'But yeah, you're right; I could do with getting back in to shape a bit. This isn't the best look I suppose,' he mumbled.

'No, I just meant, it would be fun for us, that's all,' lied Kaley. She really was bad at this lying, she thought, as she stuttered and fumbled her way through excuses.

It was odd, having the guy Kaley had been secretly in love with, living in her place with her. She had forgotten how much fun Max was and how they shared the same sense of humour. Kaley had been so consumed with work, she had forgotten how lonely she was. When they weren't working, they stuck together like glue, going to the gym four times a week and trying out healthy recipes together. It was unsurprising that Max was less passionate about the healthy recipes as he was about Kaley's other creations. Kaley wasn't that keen herself. But she knew she wanted to make Max happy, and if he loved Hannah, there was nothing she wouldn't do to make sure he got her back.

'Come on, gym time!' Kaley jumped up excitedly. 'Let's go do some cardio!'

Max grumbled from the couch but got up anyway. 'Sure, I'll go get my sneakers,' he sighed. He may not like it now, but Kaley knew that when Hannah saw him, looking all fit and trim again, she was bound to ask him to come home.

Max was turning heads in the gym and girls tended to swarm around him to flirt. Max seemed to barely notice and sent them all packing with his disinterested one-word answers. Hannah really had a hold on him somehow.

'Max has lost loads of weight since he's been staying with me,' Kaley said enthusiastically as she met up with Hannah for a coffee. 'He's lost 30lbs so far!' she finished, looking triumphant.

'That's amazing!' Hannah cooed. 'You should keep going. See how much more you can get him to lose!'

'But, don't you want to end this time apart now? It's been two whole months.'

'Yes, I just need another couple of weeks. You know how it is. He's not easy to live with!' she laughed.

'I think he's fine to live with,' Kaley said confused. 'He's so easy going and helpful. He'd do anything for anyone.'

'Yes. But how long can anyone put up with that?' laughed Hannah. Kaley didn't understand her reasoning in the slightest.

Max was a very tidy house guest and Kaley would have been happy to have him stay indefinitely, but Max was constantly feeling awkward about staying there. 'I'm sorry I've been here so long. I never meant to stay this long,' he sighed.

'Nonsense! I love having you here! And Mrs Williams across the hall thinks you're absolutely lovely! I think she thinks we're together,' laughed Kaley, giving Max a wink. 'Don't you tell her we're not!' she chuckled 'I'm fed up of her pitying eyes every time she asks me if I'm seeing anyone! And you like living here, right?'

'Yeah, I'm having a great time,' he smiled generously. 'I mean, I could do without all of the kale and gym, but if that's what you do, I'm happy to go along with it.'

Kaley smiled, feeling a little guilty. It was for his own good. He'd thank her eventually.