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“She looks like an Audrey to me,” Cole said.
“Yeah, I know. But she’ll always be my Dre. She’s my best friend, you know?”
“It’s nice that you two have each other.” But his brow furrowed.
“Itisnice,” I said. “So why do you look all dark and stormy?”
“I guess I don’t like thinking about why it’s nice.” A deep V formed between his eyebrows, and he pulled me closer.
“So don’t think about it.” I gave him a playful nudge. “And stop scowling, or you’re going to need Botox!”
Cole laughed, and we walked arm in arm to the Liberty. I didn’t want him getting upset thinking about me and Dre backat AccommoDating. I didn’t want to face it, either. I liked being with Cole. I liked Audrey being with James. I enjoyed our happy little bubble and didn’t want to think about what came after.
Because what came after was going to suck compared to this.
We stumbled into the lobby, laughing and talking, only to stop dead in our tracks. The Windsor sisters were waiting for the elevator. They did a double take when they saw us, then shot each other a pointed look.
“Here we go,” Cole said under his breath. “A drunken duel in the Liberty lobby. You ready, babe?”
I nodded. I’d had precisely enough alcohol to be primed to fight. “What are we dueling about, again?”
“Eh…” Cole shrugged.
The last time we’d seen the sisters, we’d told them they were rude. Or they told uswewere rude? After so many glasses of wine, I couldn’t really remember. But I did remember them telling Cole they would try to get him kicked out of the building.
“Oh,hello,” Greta Windsor said, voice icy. “I’m surprised to see you, Cole.”
She lowered her trendy eyeglasses, all the better to look down on us. “I guess you haven’t received your eviction notice yet.”
Cole snorted. “Have you gotten yours?”
“No,” she sniffed, “and I don’t expect to. But then again, I’m not the one breaking the law and violating the co-op regulations.Youare.”
Cole arched his eyebrow. “Exactly how many Manhattans did you drink tonight, Greta? You’re drunk. Time to go night-night!”
“Har de har har. I’m not drunk, Cole. At least, not drunk enough to be mistaken aboutyou.” She smiled at him, the cat who relished its torture of the canary. “You’ve broken the law, and you can’t break the law and be an owner here. As I said, the Liberty is for upstanding citizens with flawless pedigrees. Not forpeople like you. So you won’t be living here much longer, I’m afraid.”
Florence cleared her throat, her cue to pipe in. “It’s too bad that we won’t have to listen to your endless late-night rooftop parties or tolerate your…um…friends.”
She eyed me up and down. “We’ll be returning to a higher-caliber clientele around here, just as the building was intended. We have to keep the riffraff out, you know? Otherwise, property values will plummet.”
“First of all, do not speak to Jenny like that.” Cole took a menacing step forward, and the sisters instinctively stepped back.
“Second of all, you are both talking out of your white, wrinkled asses,” he said. “I haven’t broken any laws. Unless you mean some global warming violation?” He grabbed my hand and pulled me next to him. “Jenny and Iareraising the temperature around here because we’re so hot.” He managed to look cocky and menacing all simultaneously, God bless him.
That made me laugh. The large, honking sound startled Florence and Greta, which suited me fine.
Cole pulled me closer and gave them a death stare. “As the saying goes, if you can’t take the heat, move the hell out. If anyone’s getting evicted, it’s you two.”
Greta lifted her chin. “We aren’t talking about any global-warming nonsense, andweare certainly not getting evicted. We haven’t broken any laws—but you have.”
The elevator dinged, and they climbed inside as if daring us to join them. We did not.
“We know all about Jenny, you see. Your ‘girlfriend’ is an illegal sex worker. We have all the proof we need, so we’re reporting you to the authorities.” Greta looked triumphant. “Sobye-bye, Bryson.”
My stomach sank, but Cole took her accusation in stride. “Bye-bye, Greta. And Florence,” he said. “Good luck taking the sticks out of your asses tonight. Better you than me with that job—they’re jammed in there pretty tight.” He smirked as the doors closed.
But as soon as we were alone in the lobby, he cursed. “Fuck! How did they find out about you?”