Landlord Wars(21)

She looked off, her lips pursed. “In so many words.”

Which could mean anything. I waggled my head. “Okay, well, Jack is fragile right now. His last girlfriend did some pretty awful stuff.”

Elise’s face snapped up to mine. “Did you just defend him?”

I held up my hands. “Hell no. I hate it when women are blamed for men’s bad behavior. But I understand why Jack might be sensitive right now.”

“Doesn’t justify his defense of a man being an asshole,” she muttered.

“True. But there are reasons men behave the way they do, even if they’re wrong.”

Elise’s eyes narrowed, and she studied my face. “What about the landlord? You willing to excuse his bad behavior because of life experiences?”

Fair point. “That’s different. Max Burrows is a jerk, and Jack is a sweet guy.”

“Jack is not sweet!”

I clamped my hand over her mouth, and we toppled onto the mattress. “What did I say? Stop yelling before I kick you out.”

Elise sat up and smoothed her already flawless blowout hair. “You can’t kick me out. You need me to help you move.”

True fact. “Well, don’t get me kicked out before I leave this place. I need it for a few more days. I won’t be able to finish packing before the end of the weekend.”

She eyed me critically. “You had all day and yesterday. It’s your own fault for dragging it out. Unless you wanted to drag it out…”

“Excuse me for not being a machine. I was forced to go on a blind date—”

“No one forced you.”

“—and now I’m behind.”

The sound of the front door closing drifted back. Then came the sound of a familiar male voice.

My eye started twitching. “What the…?”

Elise perched her chin on her hand and grinned. “Hmm, sounds like your nemesis has returned to see his bestie.” Her face twisted as though she’d eaten something bitter. “Are Max and Jack really best friends? Max is so tailored, and Jack is…unkempt.”

“They’re best friends,” I said and stood, agitation making my body vibrate. “And Jack is a clean guy; he just dresses casually.” I shot her a glare. “Not sure why you’re pointing fingers, miss queen of sweatshirts.”

Elise’s mouth parted. “I’m a grad student and poor,” she said, but I was already fading her out mentally.

Why was Max here?

How often did those two hang out? I was so right to break the lease.

Shit. Breaking my lease.

Would Jack and Max give me a hard time about leaving? They couldn’t fault me for an emergency move-out, could they? Because getting out of Landlord Devil’s orbit was an emergency. The way my brain had malfunctioned on my date, it wasn’t healthy to have Max in my life.

I took a deep breath. “Come on. I’m going to ask Jack to break my lease, and for Max to give me my deposit back.”

Elise winked, and the corner of her mouth turned up. “Ballsy. And not like you at all. Are you sure you’ll survive a confrontation?”

I grabbed her arm and pulled her up. “Support me for once, will you?”

She moved to the door in front of me and glanced over her shoulder. “As your buffer, you mean? I will, but I’m telling you, if that Jack character says anything the least bit misogynistic, I’m not holding back.”

I tilted my head to the side. There was something seriously weird going on between Jack and Elise, but I couldn’t worry about it right now. I had my own drama to deal with. “Just don’t say anything that will make the situation worse.”

Not that I trusted Elise with her hotheadedness, but she was my only resource at the moment. And she was correct—I sucked at confrontation, so I wanted her there as a buffer.

We walked down the hallway, and the voices in the kitchen grew louder. The sound of the fridge opening and closing floated back. Along with cupboards closing. Jack was an eating machine. Then again, Max had been the one to deplete my chocolate stash, so both were a nuisance in the food department.

Thankfully, I’d had time this afternoon to run by my favorite Noe Valley chocolate shop. I used the twenty bucks Jack had given me and added another twenty to splurge on six more chocolate ganache truffles with gold filigree. Because I was worth it.

At the end of the hallway, Elise stopped abruptly, and I nearly ran into her back. “What’s up?” I said, but she didn’t answer.

I looked over her shoulder and into the kitchen—and started to hyperventilate.

Max was leaning against a cabinet, dressed in a navy-blue cashmere crew sweater and tan pants, his thick shoulders stretching the knit. His hair was combed back, with a natural wave in his dark locks, and his face looked clean-shaven. He was a damned magazine model. But that wasn’t why my temperature rose and my heart sped up. Well, not the only reason. Not the important reason.

Maxwell Burrows reached back and popped another one of my new truffles into his mouth before licking his fingers in an altogether sexy and infuriating manner.

“I’m going to kill him,” I said.

Something pushed me back. It took me a second to realize my sister was trying to shove me in the direction of my bedroom.

But I didn’t care why I’d come out here, or what I needed from Max regarding the lease. How dare that egocentric jerk eat my chocolate. Again!