Shortly after his encounter with Stephanie, Max met an attractive woman named Jenna in Las Vegas and got rather amorous with her in an elevator. She sought revenge on Max by luring him into getting naked, then handcuffed him in the elevator and warned him to stay out of Rawlings’s business.
When Max attempted to lure the European women to safety by getting them out of Vegas and away from Rawlings, Rawlings got the upper hand as he and the ladies pointed guns at Max and Stephanie, forcing them to jump out of the plane. Max and Stephanie sought shelter in a cave and grew closer, nearly making love until Bo and Kayla showed up to rescue them.
Back in Salem, Max asked Stephanie where they stood, but she blew him off and broke Max’s heart. Max lost his money in his investment, his garage, and his girl. He overheard Stephanie confess that she was still in love with Jeremy, so he and Steph decided they would be better of as friends.
Soon afterwards, Stephanie's Aunt Adrienne gave Max a job bartending at the Cheatin' Heart. Stephanie and Chelsea organized a bachelor auction for their sorority and Max was the first participant. Their sorority sister, Morgan Hollingsworth, bidded on Max for a whopping $500, much to Stephanie's chagrin. Max and Morgan went on their first date and were followed by a jealous Stephanie. The two decided to give commitment a chance.
Max soon became suspicious of Ford Decker, a fraternity brat from a powerful and wealthy family. He soon decided that he didn't like the creep, especially after witnessing Ford hitting on many of the sorority girls at a Halloween party. He was able to save Morgan from being raped by Ford and stood up to him at a Save the Earth celebration at the Cheatin' Heart bar.
After the Alpha Chi Theta girls lured rapist Ford over to the sorority house, Ford accidentally tumbled down the stairs to his death after a struggle with Chelsea Brady. Stephanie summoned Max over to the house desperate for his help. Max took it upon himself to bury Ford's body in the basement, then left the house wearing Ford's clothes since there was a surveillance camera outside the house. Shortly after this horrific incident, Max broke up with Morgan since he had strong feelings for Stephanie. After Billie Reed and Sergeant Dodd came to search the house, Max and Chelsea were able to put Ford's body in the water heater and carry it out of the house in a hand cart while Stephanie created a distraction.
2008
Stephanie finally confessed to Max that she had been raped by Ford Decker. He lovingly assured her that he was there for her and encouraged her to go to therapy. After Chelsea confessed to the police about Ford's death, Max confessed that he was the one who buried Ford's body.
The secrets were out in the open, so Max and Stephanie decided to take things slow with their relationship. Max soon dealt with a huge blow in his life when Grandpa Shawn, his loving pop, passed away during a plane trip aboard John Black's private jet back from Ireland. Max was devastated by this and was comforted by Stephanie during this time.
Max received community service for hiding Ford's body. Soon after Nick applied for an alternative research fuel grant, Max looked through Nick Fallon's binder and tore a page out of it. Nick confronted his best friend about the suspicious incident, but Max only claimed that he needed a page to write a phone number down.
Still feeling distraught over his pop's death, Max visited Grandpa Shawn's grave on a regular basis. He referred to Grandpa Shawn as the best man he ever knew, grateful to have been adopted and loved by such an honorable man. Soon after Nick received his grant, Max confessed to his pop that he helped Nick and altered a few calculations. He also revealed that he was fine helping out his mom at the pub, but eventually wanted to find something else which would enable him to take care of Steph.
Max continued working down at the docks as part of his community service. He tried pushing Stephanie away, insisiting that it was no place for her, but she refused to give up on him. In April 2008, Max and Stephanie finally professed their love for one another. Stephanie was soon kidnapped by a mystery man, who was connected to Ava Vitali, at knifepoint. Max was able to rescue Stephanie. The two made love for the first time after this incident.
When a depressed Nick spilled beer all over his grant proposal, Max stayed up all night fixing it, but hid the fact that he actually revised Nick's proposal in the process. After much peristence from Stephanie, he eventually confessed the truth to her.
Nick's grant proposal was accepted, and he received a check from the head of Salem University's Physics Department, Dean Trent Robbins, to build his alternative fuel prototype. When Max came to the celebration at Chez Rouge and saw Dean Robbins, he became unsettled and rushed out.
Soon after this incident, Max became distant and angry with everyone around him, including Stephanie. He even got into an showdown with John Black at the pier and lost his temper with his longshoreman boss. Stephanie kept kept urging him to open up and confess what was bothering him. An angry Max confronted the dean at a book signing and threatened to tell everyone he was no good. A concerned Stephanie snooped in Max's room and discovered a photo of Max's biological mother, whom Max revealed had died years ago. Nick discovered that Max actually altered his work and surmised that his friend was a genius who knew a lot more about physics than he ever let on.
Max broke into Trent's hotel room and ransacked the place before coming across a young girl in a photo. He snuck out unnoticed, but came back later to confront the dean. Steph followed him back and the truth came out that Trent Robbins was Max's biological father. Max chastised Trent for abandoning him as a child and demanded to know why he left him. Trent offered to buy Max's silence for $10,000. Max fumed how Trent got his mother pregnant and didn’t want anything to do with her or his son, and he was abusive. He also demanded to know who the girl in the picture was.
