Hang with him a bit... With the towel as-is.

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Max spoke. "Any milk left?" Oh, Dios, her voice cracked! What was she, a pubescent boy?

Ize just nodded, squinting brown eyes still on her face. "Course. Wouldn't use the last a my home-girl's milk. Just wouldn't be cool a me."

She smiled, even though she knew Ize couldn't make it out. "Mind pouring me a glass? We can throw on the TV, see what's on."

Ize just nodded. "Sure thing, dude." He turned to the kitchen, putting his glasses back on so he could see what he was doing.

...Max couldn't believe she was doing this. Her breathing shaky and her face red, she padded barefoot to the living room on the other side of the kitchen's center island, taking a seat on the sofa and holding the towel against her front. She could hear Ize grabbing a glass and pouring her some milk behind her. The fact that any moment he would enter the living room with her almost naked was making her heart pound in her chest. It was a thrill she'd never felt before, not even from cycling at the skate park or making a mad dash around the bases at the sandlot. She wasn't sure how to feel about it, either!

When the fridge door closed again, Max knew the footsteps were Ize coming closer with her milk. Each step on the kitchen tile caused a hot pulse in her abdomen. When the sneakers on tile gave way to carpet in her ears, she steeled herself as best she could. It was out of her hands now!

She heard Ize audibly gasp. Trying to appear confident, she looked up at him, realizing only too late that her legs were tightly locked together and her arms hugging the towel against her breasts in a way that squished them obscenely. Wow, smooth way to look confident, Max.

"Thanks for the milk, Ize!" she squeaked. Shit, her refusal to acknowledge her state of dress just made her more suspicious!

"Girl. Thought you was gettin' dressed," he deadpanned.

Max crossed one leg over the other, awkwardly adjusting the towel on her front. With only one arm holding it against her breasts, she hooked her other arm on the back of the square sectional sofa. "Summer's in full gear. I just didn't feel like getting dressed after... shower, ya know? I feel all gross and muggy. Nothing wrong with air drying in my own home, right?" She let out a very ****, awkward laugh.

The way Ize's orange-tinted glasses hid his eyes, she didn't know what he was thinking. A small frown was on his face and despite how long and well she knew him... This entire situation was unprecedented! She had no idea how he'd react! She could feel a pit in her stomach at the thought that this might go horribly wrong... Yet at the same time, her burning face, the tingling in her pussy... She couldn't deny this thrill, unlike anything she'd ever felt, even though she was so ashamed of herself!

"A'ight."

She held her breath, her next word coming out in a whisper. "A'ight?"

"A'ight," he repeated. Stepping around the corner of the sofa, he plopped down next to her, handing her her glass of milk. She swapped the arm from the back of the couch to her towel, freeing her nearer hand to grab her milk.

"So, Maxie, any plans now we're free a high school? I figure we can spend the summer hangin' out, raisin' hell, y'know?"

And just like that, the breath she'd been holding, all that tension... The butterflies in her stomach flew away. Ize was looking at her face, leaning back and kicking his legs up on the coffee table, one arm on the back of the sofa as he turned to casually face her. Wow, what had she been worried about? It was Ize, one of her four best friends. He was just the chillest guy, there was no way he wouldn't be cool with this. Still, a paranoid part of her mind wondered if he was suspicious and just acting, but... Nah, Ize was too genuine. Though now that made her feel guilty that she'd deceived him... Wait, had she? Ugh, this was too complicated. She wished she was smarter...

Still, her face was red at the awkwardness of this and while she wasn't exactly tense and nervous anymore, she still felt a burning fire in her abdomen. Maybe she could do something to test it, see if she could figure out what it was?