Landlord Wars(16)

Elise shot me a look of frustration as we made our way down the hallway. “It’s okay to be late, Soph. Part of your problem with Paul was that you took on the burden of everything, including making sure he was never put out. It’s okay for a man to be put out. The ones who stick around despite it are the ones you keep.”

Sometimes Elise was wiser than her years. “I’m working on it, okay?”

Elise and I looked up at the same time the faint sound of voices came from the living room.

A sinking feeling came over me as my heels clacked on the hardwood floor, with Elise walking quietly beside me in sneakers. The sound of the voices grew louder. More distinct, male, and familiar.

Jack stood abruptly from his place on the couch the moment Elise and I entered the room, his gaze on her before moving sharply away.

I caught that look of interest, but it wasn’t enough to distract me from the other person taking up the space.

Jack muted the TV and made his way to the kitchen. “Max, this is Elise, Sophia’s sister.”

Elise smiled and greeted Max while the tension in my belly grew. Why did my roommate have to be best friends with this man? If Max were only the landlord, I might be able to avoid him. There’d be no reason to move.

Somehow, I knew Max Burrows would show up tonight—the first time I’d been out on a date in a year. As though he sensed my vulnerability and sought to capitalize on the moment.

Max nodded a greeting at Elise, then slowly swept his gaze over me and my outfit. “Going somewhere?”

“She has a date,” Elise said brightly, and nudged me with her elbow.

My face heated. Why the hell was I embarrassed? I was twenty-seven years old, almost twenty-eight. I should be going on dates every weekend. It was only because I was a workaholic wounded animal after my last relationship that I’d failed to master that twenty-something rule. “I should get going.” I glanced at Elise.

“Oh, yeah, me too,” she said.

“You sure?” Jack said, carrying beers from the fridge. “You’re welcome to join us. We’re about to stream a movie.”

Elise gave a noncommittal shrug. “I don’t have any plans, but I don’t want to interfere in your man time.”

In answer, Jack handed her a massive bowl of popcorn and the beer he’d brought over for himself, and then walked into the kitchen and grabbed another.

Elise sank onto the light-beige feather and down sofa, the kind you can’t get up from. Not only because it was super soft, but also, why leave a cloud?

She started munching popcorn. “What are we streaming?”

What was going on? My sister was hanging out with my roommate and Landlord Devil, the man I was trying to escape? And why was it only me Max hated?

“Your date picking you up?” Max’s low voice skated over my skin like a sensual touch.

Damn this man and his beauty. Even though he loathed me, his words sounded like a caress, causing butterflies to riot in my belly against my will.

I pulled my purse higher on my shoulder. “No, I’m meeting him. I’ll see you all later,” I said to the room.

“Have fun!” Elise called, beer and popcorn in hand, sitting in what would have been the space between Max and Jack on the couch. If Max were seated.

Instead, Max just stood there, watching me with a steady gaze, his expression the tiniest bit nervous.

I scurried out the front door and paused to catch my breath. Nerves and something I couldn’t identify thrummed through my veins. This night was weird. Why wasn’t Max making rude comments? Because his friend was there to hear? Because he couldn’t come up with anything cutting?

I pinched my brow. And why was I thinking about Max Burrows when I had a date to meet?





Chapter Eight





Sophia





I returned to my apartment later that night, expecting the house to be quiet, as it was nearing midnight. Instead, my sister, Jack, and Max were still sitting in the living room, and the atmosphere was tense. And this time, the tension wasn’t coming from Landlord Devil.

At first, no one seemed to pay me any attention, and that worked, because I was disappointed in myself and how the date went. But then I caught the dynamic going on in the living room, and I stilled.

Elise was sitting with her back to Max, facing Jack, her jaw shifting back and forth like she was an inch away from exploding, and it took me aback. She wasn’t the type to get riled up unless it was with me. “How can you defend him!” she said. “He was such a jerk.”

Jack scratched the back of his head and stood, his mouth parting in a wide yawn. “The guy had been cheated on and dumped by his fiancée. He had reasons.”

Max caught my eye as I stood near the entrance and scanned me as though to make sure I was all in one piece. He rose and said, “I’m taking off.”

Had he been waiting for me?

I gave my head a mental shake. Max hated me; of course he hadn’t been waiting. He was probably hoping someone would take over babysitting duties for my sister and his best friend.

I set my purse on the counter and watched Max stride to the front door and shoot me one last lingering glance before slipping out like a thief in the night.

“Elise?” I approached the living room. “You okay?”

My sister didn’t acknowledge me. In the next instant, anger filled her expression and she grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it, nearly hitting Jack in the face. My jaw dropped.