Page 63 of Roommate Wars

Jack’s hand froze, and we both looked to the door. Then I scrambled out from under him.

He sat back, staring in confusion.

“Do something!” I whisper-yelled.

He climbed to his feet, but we both merely stood there, unable to break the mental fog of hormones.

Feminine giggles came from the other side. For a split second, I wondered if it was Thalia. Would Jack have given her access to his place? The thought set my blood raging.

Then came the rumbly sound of a male voice, along with a loud pounding on the door. “Jack, open up.”

“Max?” Jack said.

He scanned me and straightened my blouse where it was sticking up out of the top of my apron.

I yanked off the apron and smoothed my hair before looking around. “Was it obvious what we were doing?”

His gaze snagged on my mouth. “You look good…”

My eyes flared. “Stop getting ideas and open the door.”

Max and Sophia didn’t know we were dating for real. All Sophia knew was that I’d accidentally slept in Jack’s bed, which I’d done before, so that wasn’t new. And that I’d made him dinner tonight. She wouldn’t assume we were hooking up. Though we’d done that before too…

Jack gripped the back of his neck, then walked over and opened the door.

Sophia, Max, and a woman with reddish-blonde hair wearing a pretty short-sleeved black jacket and cream business slacks stood on the other side.

Sophia looked past Jack to me, and her eyes narrowed. “Where were you? We’ve been waiting forever.”

A sweat broke out on my back. “Just finishing dinner.” Was my voice quivering?

Soph stormed past Jack and set a bottle of wine on the counter. “Took you long enough to open up. Why’d you change the code?”

Jack grabbed a bag of what looked like groceries out of the arms of the other woman. “Elise, this is our friend Lizzie.”

Lizzie held out her hand. “You must be Jack’s new roommate and Sophia’s sister. Nice to meet you. Elizabeth Crocker, but call me Lizzie. That’s what the guys do.”

This was the friend Jack said was coming over this week. But wasn’t that supposed to happen later? “Nice to meet you too.”

Lizzie looked around and turned to Jack. “This is a huge improvement since before your ex set the place ablaze.”

A low growl came from Jack’s throat. Usually, he reserved his frustration for me. Probably had something to do with friends interrupting our…activities. “Must I be reminded of that every month?”

“Yes,” Lizzie and Max said together.

Lizzie turned to Max, her skin fair with only a light sprinkling of redhead freckles. “This place has your touch. Did you decorate?”

“My designer decorated, but I gave her my Amex Black card. I also may have given her a few suggestions.”

Meaning Max decorated half of it.

I looked between Lizzie, Jack, and Max. They talked like siblings. “How long have you guys known each other?”

Lizzie looked up as though calculating. “Since Max started stealing candy from the front pocket of my backpack. So, what, fifteen, twenty years?”

“Something like that,” Max said. “But you stocked that candy for me, so it wasn’t really stealing.”

Lizzie shook her head and turned to me. “You see what I’ve had to put up with?”