I grip the banister and watch my keys crash to the cement landing and instantly feel horrified at my negligence.
“I’m so sorry!” I cry in apology, bending down to retrieve my keys.
“Baby Bosse?” My spine snaps hearing the familiar voice, and I come face to face with Nathan Hudson and inwardly groan.
“You’re my neighbor?” he asks, his eyes alight as I avoid stating the obvious. The soft, echoing thud of someone jogging down the steps has me turning to see Max approaching us, his strides slow as he gets closer and his eyes look from me to Nate. I follow his gaze.
Nate smiles as he looks to Max. “What’s up, Miller? What are you doing here?”
“Nate’s my neighbor.” Max’s eyebrows lift at my explanation.
“I think it’s fate for us,” Nate says with a wink.
Max’s body stills, his fists clenching. “Fate?” Max repeats the word like it just slapped him, and Nate turns to look back at him, his smile sliding.
“Don’t tell me,” Nate says, looking between Max and me. “No shit, you and baby Bosse, huh?” he asks, looking at me another moment, “That really surprises me. Aren’t you guys like neighbors or something? I think I heard Clay mention how he liked to come over to catch Ace in her bikini.” He laughs without any trace of humor.
Ignoring Nate, I shift my body so I’m closer to Max, but also angling myself so I’m between the two of them, hopefully making it more difficult for Max to kill him.
“Miller,” Nate repeats, shaking his head as if he can’t quite understand the word.
“Don’t be an asshole, Nate,” I feel my phone buzz again inside my purse and tug on Max’s hand. His body slowly relaxes and follows me as I edge my way around Nate.
“I’m just surprised after being cheated on with Eric, you choose him.” Max pulls his hand from mine and turns so fast I don’t think I’ve even blinked in the time it takes him to launch his body forward.
“Max!” I cry as he corners Nate, hovering over him in a threatening stance.
“I swear, Hudson, you stay the hell away from her. She isn’t interested in you. If you touch her, you talk to her, you even fucking look at her, I will rip your throat out. Got it?”
A menacing smile spreads across Nate’s face as he looks at Max. “What are you worried about, Miller? That she’s going to come borrow a cup of sugar from me?”
I turn, hearing shoes hitting the stairs and see Jameson and Kendall approaching, wearing matching expressions of confusion.
“Hey, dude, everything okay?” Jameson asks calmly.
“Everything is great,” Nate replies, straightening himself. “Just getting acquainted with my new favorite neighbor.” He looks over Max’s shoulder and winks at me.
Max shuffles forward and thankfully Jameson leaps in front of him, placing a hand on his chest to keep him back. Nate smirks and turns, heading up the stairs and out of sight without another word.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Max mutters, running a hand over his short hair and turning to look at me. “You can’t live here.”
I ignore his comment and start back down the stairs, hearing the others footsteps on the metal stairs as they trail me.
“I’m serious,” Max says once we’re all seated in the car. I glance at him in the passenger seat of my car, staring at me intently.
“Max, I’m not going to move because of Nate.”
“You said yourself that you don’t like him. He freaks you out.” Max’s voice rises as his intensity grows.
“I don’t like Nate. Nothing is going to happen with him. But I’m not moving.” I stare at Max to ensure he understands just how serious I am. “This is where I live, Max. He’s just trying to piss you off and be an ass.”
Max shakes his head and leans back into the seat, looking up at the roof of the car as I head to Antonio’s Pizza House.
“Does this remind you of the hot springs with Pedro?” Kendall asks from the backseat. My muscles clench as I watch Max’s head snap and feel him glaring at me. I glance in my rearview mirror to shoot Kendall a look of warning, knowing that this is not going to help.
“Pedro Rodriguez?” Max’s voice cuts with accusation. “You dated Pedro Rodriguez?”
I swallow the urge to get defensive and keep my eyes focused on the road. “Briefly. Like four years ago.”
“That’s why you guys were dancing together at Dante’s.” His words come out like a revelation, making anger course through me as I recall that night and how I had been trying so hard to understand where we were at that point.
“Pedro and I are just friends,” I say adamantly.
“Kendall, does Pedro like her?”
“I hardly see how that’s relevant. I was just thinking out loud. Forget what I said. It was a long time ago.”
“Since you’re evading the question, I take that as a yes.”
“She isn’t playing some game with you, Max. If she doesn’t like you she isn’t going to just keep you around to spare your feelings, so stop creating a reason!”
“Yeah, because she was so in love with Eric all summer, right?” he says, making my jaw drop as I pull into the parking lot.
“Ace is in the car with us in case you both somehow forgot. And this sorta sounds like a conversation you may want her input on,” Jameson adds from the backseat.
I watch him in my rearview mirror as he slowly turns his head to each of them. Even though he can’t see Max, he stares at the back of his seat in silence, as if he’s trying to share a thought through telekinesis.
Max obviously doesn’t receive his message. Instead, he turns his head to look out the passenger window and defiantly mutters, “I’ve never known Pedro to date a girl and not sleep with them.”
“Are you seriously calling me a liar? Call him,” I challenge, unlatching my seat belt. “Go ahead call him.”
Max doesn’t turn to look at me.
I shake my head in frustration, fighting the desire to spew the angry words forming on my tongue. Leaving my keys in the ignition I grab my purse, stalk across the parking lot, not bothering to look back as I hear Kendall’s irritated tone.
Antonio’s Pizza House is located in a strip mall with a dozen other stores, and I head into a small boutique.
I send a message to Kendall telling her to drive my car back, and that I’ll be leaving with Abby. I turn my phone off before she can respond and see Abby pull up. I climb into the passenger seat, still avoiding eye contact with my car.
Abby drives us to the movies when I tell her I’m not ready to go back home. She allows me time to work through my thoughts in silence as we sit through the previews. This is one of the many reasons I love Abby so much: She doesn’t push me when she knows I need some time to simply process.
The movie serves as a lousy distraction. By the time it’s over I’ve concluded that I’m being childish and have likely destroyed my relationship with the first person I’ve ever had this strong of emotions for with my infamous running. Then I flip to the complete opposite end of the spectrum, justifying my actions, convincing myself I haven’t done anything wrong. I dance between each possible reality half a dozen times at least.
“So do you want to talk about it?” Abby asks as we stand to leave.
“I met one of our neighbors this afternoon,” I say with a heavy sigh. She looks at me blankly. “I know him. He went to school with us. When we were leaving, he was just getting home and fired off some inappropriate comments that pissed Max off. Then Kendall decided to take a play from Captain Stupid and decided it would be a good idea to bring up a situation with Pedro. Max got all jealous and weird and accused me of sleeping with Pedro.”