Landlord Wars(8)

A knock sounded behind me, and I jumped several inches.

When I stood stock-still, refusing to answer, Jack sent me a questioning glance. He finally took me gently by the shoulders, moved me aside, and opened the door.

Max entered the apartment without an invitation, his gaze searching. Until it landed on me, eyes blazing.

He’d followed me here? Because of what I’d witnessed downstairs? Crap!

“I was just grabbing some beers,” Jack said, returning to the kitchen, oblivious to the tension in the room. “Did you pick up the chips and salsa?”

Landlord Devil didn’t respond. He was too busy glaring. Though he did it with style, one hand in his pants pocket, the other holding a paper bag. He was wearing a pressed light-gray suit today. Did the man never wrinkle?

Jack glanced between the two of us. “Sophia, this is Max. He owns the building. He’s also my best friend.”

The taste of acid choked me. First Max lives upstairs…and now he’s my roommate’s best friend?

How was I supposed to avoid this man?

Max’s heated look fixed on me, as though he were trying to read me. “Were you listening to my private conversation?”

“What?” I said, shocked. I mean, I knew he might have suspected that, but why did he always jump to the worst conclusions?

“Max?” Jack said. “What are you talking about?”

Max didn’t move his gaze off me. “She was eavesdropping out front.”

“I was not eavesdropping!” I crossed my arms. “You were standing in front of the building. There was no way to avoid overhearing you dump that poor girl. Maybe you should have chosen a more private location?”

Landlord Devil’s jaw clenched tightly, and Jack moved between us. “Whoa, man, she’s right. If you didn’t want others to overhear, you should have had your conversation someplace else. Who were you talking to, anyway?”

Max looked distractedly at Jack. “Gwen.”

Jack nodded as though it were all clear now and turned to me. “Gwen and Max broke up several months ago, so he wasn’t dumping her.” He looked at Max. “Were you? Did you guys get back together?”

Max set the paper bag on the counter and ran stiff fingers through his hair, ruffling the silky, dark locks. “We did not get back together.”

Max had been angry earlier and even a moment ago, but now he just looked stressed.

Jack entered the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. He popped the cap off and handed it to Max. “You look like you could use it.”

Landlord Devil reached for the bottle, took a deep swig, and his shoulders noticeably lowered.

I glanced down the hallway. Should I go to my room? Was this another private conversation I shouldn’t be privy to?

Jack tipped his chin up at me. “You want one, Sophia?”

I glanced at Landlord Devil, unsure of my welcome. But I didn’t need to worry, because Max wasn’t paying attention to Jack’s offer to join them for a drink. He was scanning the living room, shifting his critical eye to something new.

My body froze, and a sense of fight or flight made my heart race. I’d straightened up the boxes in the living room after that first unannounced visit from Max. But that had been a week ago or more. Since then, I might have left one—or several—mugs scattered about the room, as one does.

Landlord Devil’s eyes landed one by one on each of the mugs. “You have a problem putting dishes away, Sophia?”

His low tone caused a frisson of awareness to sweep through me—until my brain registered his words.

Somehow the jackass knew the mugs were mine. Then again, Jack didn’t seem like much of a hot beverage person. “I’m a tea drinker,” I said lamely. “I tend to forget where I put my drinks, or forget I already have one. Haven’t you ever lost your keys?”

His eyebrow rose. “My keys, yes. My coffee, no.”

“It could happen.” Okay, I was a rare case. Even my sister made fun of me.

Max’s grumpy expression didn’t change, and I shifted my jaw in annoyance. He didn’t live here; he had no right to judge me.

My apartment was a gem, it truly was, but Landlord Devil was a plague. Just how often would he stop by?

Ignoring Max and his open hostility, I focused on more pressing matters. “Jack, is this a dressy event? I wasn’t prepared for dressy. But considering Max’s suit…” I looked over and caught Max’s shocked expression.

“She’s coming?” he said.

Jack finished pouring chips into a bowl and shuffled items around on the overloaded tray. “Dude, what is wrong with you today? Sophia’s my roommate. Of course I invited her.” He looked at me and smiled. “Ignore him. He’s a grump, but he means well.”

Max and I snorted at the same time.

Max’s mouth went taut, and the tension in the room grew tenfold.

“And no,” Jack said as he pulled cheese out from the fridge before closing the door with his foot, “you don’t need to change, Sophia. Come as you are.”

Jack was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, so I took him at his word and retreated to the sanctuary of my bedroom. Hopefully Landlord Devil would be gone by the time I returned.

A few minutes later, Jack called out, “Sophia, you coming?”

I grabbed a sweater in case the rooftop grew cold and met him near the door. Thankfully, Max had already left. “Can I help with anything?”