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Blake is already in bed that night when Amanda comes home from working at the diner. He’s scrolling through his phone, so he doesn’t seem to notice when the door slams.

I wonder if he still talks to Stacie. I haven’t checked, because it doesn’t really matter. What’s going to happen to him will happen either way.

“I’m going to go downstairs and get some water,” I tell him. “Want anything?”

He shakes his head no. Maybe he’s texting with Stacie. Or some other woman.

When I get downstairs, Amanda is in the kitchen, drinking water from one of our glasses. Despite the fact that we told her it was okay to do so, I feel a surge of irritation that she is using our stuff. It’s one more thing that she has borrowed from me and that I will soon take back.

“Hi, Whitney!” I say cheerfully. The name feels like acid on my tongue.

She lifts her eyes, which are slightly red-rimmed. “Oh. Hey, Krista.”

I join her in the kitchen, leaning against the counter in a position I hope seems friendly enough. “Everything okay?”

“Sort of.” She manages a lopsided smile. “Blake is pissed off at me for eating his cereal, even though he told me it was fine.”

“Did he say he was pissed?”

Her jaw twitches. “He came to the diner and yelled at me while I was working.”

Oh, Blake. I almost burst out laughing. It’s not like him at all, but he’s been under a lot of stress lately and barely sleeping. “I’m so sorry he did that to you. That is not acceptable.”

“I didn’t even eat that much cereal,” she says. “Hardly any!”

“Blake is…” I choose my words carefully. “He’s difficult. He’s not an easy man to get along with, and he likes everything just so. I have to be honest with you. He wasn’t excited to have a tenant move in, but he agreed because money has been tight since he lost his job.”

Amanda nods in understanding. “I got a feeling he was fired…”

“Oh, he was,” I confirm. “There was…well, there was an incident . And now, of course, he’s having trouble finding something else.”

I can’t give her all the gory details, but I can hint at Blake’s wrongdoing. It will be enough to get the wheels turning in her brain.

“Look,” I say. “I like having you live here, Whitney. I’ll make sure Blake doesn’t bother you, but it might be a good idea to stay out of his way. No point in poking the dragon.”

She rubs her face with her palms. She looks tired. “Yeah. I have definitely learned my lesson. Honestly, I thought we would become friends. He seems like such a nice guy.”

From the look on her face, I’m pretty sure that’s not all she was thinking about him. I saw how close she sat next to him on the couch when they were alone that night. Nice guy or nice in bed? She didn’t want to be his friend. She wanted him .

That’s about to change completely.