The Luckiest Girl In The World

"All right," Dante said, sweeping his empty glass off the table. He slid between the booths, towards the soda fountain, not a care in the world.

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"Scuse me." The guy who had come in a few moments before came up behind Dante, placing his cup under the Sprite fountain.

He wasn't really getting in Dante's way, he was just being polite.

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... Where had that guy come from? "Uh, sure," Dante started, looking over his shoulder reflexively, and.

"Uh."

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Maxwell Hale flashed Dante a smile, small and charming in a oh hey hot guy kind of way and stepped forward to fill his cup. "Thanks, man."

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It took Dante five seconds before he noticed that the tattoos were missing.

Five seconds were just about long enough for the name "Max?" to drop out of his mouth.

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"Uhh...yeah?"

Okay, max was pretty sure he didn't know this guy. He would remember somebody this hot. Still, he was awfully young - maybe one of the younger kids back in the old neighborhood?

"Okay, wow, this is awkward," he said with a small chuckle. "You got me at a disadvantage....?"

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And with that, Dante's thought process went from shit, it's Max fucking Hale to oh fuck, I need to stop Kathy from murdering this guy.

... and then to what if he's fucking with me?. "Sorry," he said. "You look like somebody I know. And apparently you guys share the same name, go figure."

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"It's not uncommon in LA," Max agreed with a grin. "Maybe we both just have a Max kinda face."

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"Dante?" Kathy said, leaning over from the booth. "You get lost over there?"

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"Dante, is that you?" Max asked. Yeah, he was pretty sure that none of the kids growing up had been Dantes, even if he'd stopped paying attention to most of them once he'd turned into a teenager. "Sorry, man, didn't mean to keep you from your...date?"

Shit! Shouldn't be asking. This guy was way too young. And probably straight.

He blamed the incredible blue of this guy's eyes.

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"It's fine, we're just stopping in because my girlfriend's from LA and she missed this place," Dante said, unsure why he hadn't just taken the out immediately. "She never gets the chance, our boyfriend's not big on the food."

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"What's not to like about burgers?" Max asked, filing that 'our boyfriend' thing away and kinda feeling dirty for it. "Look, my dad runs a restaurant and yet here I am for a great lunch, you know?" He looked at Kathy again and smiled. "She's beautiful," he said with real warmth, hoping he didn't sound like a creep. "And loves burgers. That last thing is pretty rare in LA these days."

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And here Dante was, feeling kinda shitty about mentioning the boyfriend at all. Also weirded out by a Max who seemed nice, among other things. But-- yeah.

"There's no stopping her when she gets eating," he said, with a little laugh. "Probably a good thing for her she got away from the west coast when she did." Beat. "No offense, man."

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"Hey, I'd be worried about your girlfriend hearing hearing you, not me," Max said with a laugh. "Braver man than I ever was."

And, not knowing what he was setting himself up for, he leaned to the side and waved at Kathy. "Sorry!" he called. "I ended up distracting Dante here, my fault!"

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Behind Dante came a loud gasp and the clatter of silverware onto the table.

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"Shit," Dante muttered. "... Look, I'm sorry, I need to go talk to her. She and your doppelganger didn't really get along."

And with that, he hurried back to the table. "Kathy, it's fine."

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Kathy had already shot up to her feet, eyes practically blazing. "Oh, I'll show you how fine it is," she snarled. "Is that why we're here? Have you been fucking around again, Max?"

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Max stared at Kathy, mouth an 'o' of surprise. "I, uhh, case of mistaken identity!" he assured her. "Whichever Max did something to make you look like that, it wasn't me!"

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"Kathy," Dante said, subconsciously inserting himself between the two of them physically. "He's not that Max, all right? He's just some perfectly nice guy who wanted a soda."

Please, please notice the lack of tattoos.

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She wasn't close enough to notice his hands or the lack of tattoos on his neck leading down to his shoulders. And he was in long sleeves, which kept his arms from view.

Kathy took a step forward and suddenly Dante was there, blocking her path. She glared up at him. "What do you mean, not that Max?"

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"Totally different Max!" Max declared, helpfully. "Maxwell Hale, not Maxwell Very-Bad-Man from the look of it."

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"No tattoos, if you don't believe the guy on his word," Dante said quickly, since the last name didn't exactly help.

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The ferocity in Kathy's eyes blazed for another long second as she pinned Max with a glare that could have melted flesh, but eventually they flicked back to Dante.

"No tattoos?" she repeated.

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"Errr, I have one?" he said. "But it's just the bridge to the first song I wrote, nothing as offensive as whatever your guy has."

Thanks for that clarification, Max.

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