Landlord Wars(25)

I kicked a blown-up exercise ball in the hall out of the way and scurried to where Max stood, my heart racing. “What are you doing here?”

I attempted to shove him back out the door, but the darn man wouldn’t budge, not even when I was inches away and glaring at him.

He smiled at my mother, then spared me a glance. And that was when I realized how close I was and that I still had my hands on him.

Leave it to Landlord Devil to have a firm body beneath the buttoned-up exterior. I dropped my hands and stepped back.

“I came to give you this,” he said, and handed me an envelope. He was wearing a suit, per usual, this one a subtle gray plaid with a zippy charcoal tie, and he appeared polite, revealing nothing of his thoughts.

Which I had to give him credit for, because my childhood friends had never waited until they were out the door before they said exactly what they thought about the house.

“This is the address on your lease application,” he said. “I was on my way to an appointment and thought I’d drop off your deposit check.”





Max





“Can I get you something to drink?” the older woman, presumably Sophia’s mother, asked. She’d also been the one to answer the door.

“No, Mom.” Sophia grabbed my arm with a firm grip for someone so small. “Max was just leaving.”

“I’d love a glass of water.” I smiled, and Sophia frowned. She was cute when she was angry. Cute at other times too, but especially when I’d riled her up. She didn’t seem the type to anger easily, and I took special pleasure in arousing it in her.

“I’ll be just a moment,” her mother said and hurried off into what looked like a kitchen. Difficult to tell, as the room was full of disparate items. Was that a dog kennel on the counter? I hadn’t seen any dogs or cats. Though I’d seen a lot of other things wrong with the picture.

The home Sophia’s mother lived in was extremely cluttered, to put it mildly. There was very little space in which to walk and a distinctly unpleasant odor.

I glanced at the small hand on my arm, tightened in a death grip and attempting to tug me back the way I’d come. “You need to leave,” Sophia said in a low voice. “My mom isn’t well.”

It was clear there was an issue with the house, quite possibly from a habit of the mother’s, but Sophia’s mom seemed like a warm person and in possession of her faculties. “I’m good.”

Sophia’s lips compressed, and her fair eyes glowed with anger.

If looks could kill, I’d be dead right now.

Her mom reappeared a second later, carefully holding a glass with sunflower decals along the top edge. “Here you go,” she said, handing me the glass. “Sophia mentioned your name was Max?” Sophia promptly dropped her hand from my arm, her body taut and vibrating with frustration beside me. “She doesn’t bring many people around,” her mother said, looking up in thought. “It’s been, what, a year, Sophia, since your friend Paul visited?”

Sophia’s face paled, and her green eyes grew haunted.

A hollow sensation swept through my gut. It was all fun and games when Sophia was feisty, but not when she was upset.

I gulped down the water and handed the glass to her mother. “Thank you. I didn’t realize how thirsty I was until you offered. I should head out.” I touched the underside of Sophia’s elbow. “Can I give you a ride? I’m headed back to the apartment.” I wasn’t, actually. I’d been on my way to an appointment, but I’d decided to reschedule it because this was more important.

She peered up as though confused.

“Go, go!” her mother said and ushered us toward the door. “Don’t worry about a thing, Soph. I’ll have that room cleared out in no time.”

Sophia winced, but she reached back and gave her mom a tight hug that had my chest constricting.

She might be ashamed of the house, but not the mother.

I was envious. Appearances were everything where I came from, the downside of growing up in a place that was rigidly controlled. The warmth and overt caring between Sophia and her mother was the opposite of what I’d experienced.

We walked down the steps to the concrete sidewalk, and I maintained a light touch on her arm the entire way. Sophia seemed out of it, and I worried she’d trip and hurt herself if I let her go.

I guided her to my car and opened the passenger-side door, regretting my decision to come here more by the second. Had I known it would be this distressing for Sophia, I wouldn’t have done it.

She shook her head as though finally realizing where we were standing. “I can catch a ride.”

“I’m going home anyway. I don’t mind taking you.”

She hesitated a moment, but she must have been too exhausted to argue, because she stepped inside the car and settled in the front seat, setting her workbag on the floorboard.

I let out a heavy sigh of relief as I rounded the rear bumper. Sophia was upset, and I did not feel good about letting her find her way to the apartment. I would have, in fact, turned into the stalker I wasn’t and followed her to make sure she got there safely.

As soon as Sophia fastened her seatbelt, I started the car and pulled onto the street. Her silence was worrisome. “Are you okay?”

Her voice was soft and faint when she replied, “Why did you come today?”