"Wow." His jaw drops when he sees me, and I feel myself blush. I laugh to myself, because after everything that Max and I have done with each other, it's something as simple as dressing up that I get embarrassed by.

Okay, embarrassed isn't the right word. I'm not embarrassed. I've just never seen Max look so taken aback. He keeps opening and closing his mouth, like he doesn't know or can't decide what he wants to say. I can see what it's doing to him, though. The way his eyes darken and body tenses gives him away.

I love it. I love that I'm able to leave him speechless. I love that I can affect him as much as I am right now by something so, so simple.

I'm wearing a red sundress I just bought the other day with Mara and Lexi, and it fits my body perfectly. It hugs all the right places, and it's a pop of color against my tan skin. I tied my hair back in a loose bun at the nape of my neck, leaving a few pieces out to frame my face.

Max still hasn't said anything, but he doesn't have to.

"Ready to go?" I ask innocently, like I have no idea what I'm doing to him.

He blinks and shakes his head a little, and I can't help but laugh. "Sorry," he says, his voice cracking. "You just look sexy as hell. I don't know how I'm going to make it through dinner."

I approach him and press my lips to his, only having to go onto my toes a little bit. The wedges I'm wearing help with the height difference. I gently place my hands right where his head reaches his neck, leaving my lips to linger. Max doesn't waste any time on wrapping his arms as tight as he can around my waist, deepening the kiss.

I let him walk us over to his bed and slowly drop me down onto it, and we don't break our kiss once. He hovers over me, his lips moving fast against mine. My body is ignited with every good feeling Max gives me, except it's on a high. He trails his fingers up my leg and starts to pull down my underwear, and that's when I pull away.

He kisses down my jawbone to my neck. "Max," I moan, tangling my fingers in his hair. He doesn't stop, and I close me eyes and let myself be encompassed by the feeling. But I can't let this go any farther, no matter how much I want it to. I open my eyes and push against his chest. "Max," I say, breathing heavily. He finally pulls away and meets my eyes, smirking.

"Yes?" he asks innocently, and I smile, raising an eyebrow.

"We have dinner reservations in twenty minutes. That's how long it takes to get there. Which mean we have to leave-" He cuts me off with another kiss, and I laugh. "Max," I say against his lips. "I'm serious."

"But B, you look so fucking hot right now. You're driving me crazy."

I push him away firmly, and he finally lets me sit up. I stand up as he moves to sit on the bed, and I move to stand between his legs. He places his hands on my hips and pulls me closer. "I promise, after dinner, we can do whatever we want to do, for however long we want to do it. But dinner. Come on."

We're out the door in five minutes, and we take Max's car. He has one hand on the wheel, and the other is resting on my thigh. With his eyes on the road, I'm able to stare at him without him making fun of me. I memorize each line, each mark, everything.

"I know you're staring at me," he says.

"So. Your face is sexy."

"I know."

"Hey!" I laugh.

"But not as sexy as yours."

"Nice save, buddy," I grin.

"Buddy? You can do better than that," he protests.

"Probably."

"I love you."

"I love you too," I say, leaning over the center console to kiss him on the cheek. He turns his face at the last second, and our lips meet. "Max!" I shriek, pulling back, but I start laughing anyways. The smile he has on his face as he turns back to the road makes him look like the happiest guy on the planet.

We pull up at the restaurant and hurry in. It's the fanciest place I've ever stepped foot in. There's floor to ceiling windows and high ceilings with four large chandeliers hanging in each quadrant. The hostess leads us to a little booth along the wall, and we slide in. "Your waitress will be with you shortly," she smiles, laying out a menu in front of each of us.

I look through it, barely recognizing what any of it is. I don't even pay attention to the prices, because I know my mouth will drop. "What are you getting?" I ask Max, deciding to get whatever he gets. My eyes land on the pasta section, though, and I see something I am very familiar with: Chicken Alfredo. "Never mind." I close the menu and set it back down on the table.

"Find something you like?" he smirks, raising an eyebrow.

"Love, actually."

"Which is?"

"Chicken Alfredo."

"Oh, great choice."

"What about you?"

"Steak."

"Yum."

Our waitress comes over and introduces herself. I order a lemonade and Max orders a Sprite, and we also order our food. Max orders us breadsticks as well.

"You know what I completely forgot to ask you?" I say after the waitress walks away.

"What?" Max grins. I feel something kick me under the table, and his eyes widen. "Sorry! I didn't mean to kick you!" he says quickly. I laugh, and I feel him, gently this time, place his feet on the outsides of mine. I raise an eyebrow, and I swear, his cheeks turn a light shade of pink. "I like touching you. And I mean that in a completely non-sexual way. I mean, sexual too, but not right now." He groans and buries his his face in his hands.

"I just like knowing that you're right there and being able to physically touch you."

I've been holding in my laughter this entire time, but I can't anymore. Max has never been one to stutter or be embarrassed of his words, and seeing him be that way right now is one of the sweetest moments I've had with him, I think.

"What!" he whines, and it only makes me laugh more.

"You're being so cute right now, I can't help it," I say through laughter. "You're nervous, and you've never been nervous before."

"Are you kidding? I'm nervous around you all the time," he says.

"You never act like it. You're always so confident. You know what you want and you're not afraid to go for what you want. It's one of the things I love about you."

"I try to be confident, but you make every nerve in my body feel like it's going to explode. I can barely focus when I'm around you because you drive me crazy."

"I know," I say quietly. "You drive me crazy too." He grins at this.

"Now, what did you want to ask me?" he asks.

"Oh, yeah, that," I laugh. "When I found out that I was a hybrid, I never asked you what the perks were of being a vampire. Werewolves can shift, they have advanced senses, and they can naturally warm themselves. What can a vampire do?"

"You already know that being a hybrid improves your senses even more. You're even stronger, even faster, sight and smell are even stronger than before. The vampire part of you helps you heal faster, and you can get inside people's heads," he explains.

"What do you mean, we heal faster?"

"I mean, as a werewolf, your healing is slightly faster than a human's. As a vampire, though, your healing is a thousand times quicker. See, watch," he says. He takes a knife and slices it across his wrist. I gasp, but I don't reach out to stop him. I watch as the wound heals, and he wipes away the blood with a napkin. I grab his hand and stare at the place where he cut his wrist, but there's nothing there.

"That's insane," I whispered.

"Vampire blood can also heal. Not that I've really needed to ever heal someone, considering I've been around vampires my entire life. But say someone in your family was hurt. They could drink some of your blood and they would heal."

"Okay. And what about getting inside people's heads?"

An image of Max and I making love earlier suddenly appears in mind. It's like I'm watching a movie, but it's all in my head. "Like that," Max grins.

I grin back and shake my head.

"What about drinking blood?" I ask quietly.

"We're hybrids, so it's completely optional. The best diet for a hybrid is a little bit of both. I tested it out last year, and I was strongest when I had both in my body."

"And what about the never growing old and stuff?"

"You really don't know that much about vampires," Max says, and he looks a little shocked.

"I never knew I was half vampire until a week ago, and they never taught us about vampires in school," I defend.

"Fair point. And to answer your question, you get to choose once you hit the age of eighteen. Some vampires do choose to stop aging and be immortal. Others can grow old and eventually pass away."

"What do you want to do?" I ask, already knowing what my answer is. I hope his is the same.

"I don't want to live forever," he says, staring directly at me.

"Me neither. I'm glad we're on the same page." He reaches across the table and grabs my hands, and I smile at him. "I want to grow old with you. We're going to be the coolest grandparents around."

"Hell yes we are," he grins.