Page 18 of The Sidekick

“Who gives a shit?” Max leans closer as he says the words, and my eyes get wider.

“He’s our boss!” I hiss back, trying to keep quiet so no one realizes we’re here.

“He’s not my boss,” Max insists, which makes no sense. He doesn’t get the whisper voice memo either because his voice is at normal volume.

“Well, he’s my boss,” I can feel my jaw slide into stubborn mode. Mom warned me about the ugly look, and I usually can stop it when I feel it coming on.

The urge to relax and fake a smile isn’t present when talking to Max. It’s oddly freeing. I can be a jerk to him. I don’t know when that happened, but I’m rolling with it.

“So what? Buck the authority or some shit.”

I try to cross my arms, but the cup of hot coffee stymies me.

“Go up the stairs,” Max’s grin turns sly as his eyes flick over to the staircase behind me.

“I’m not allowed up there, Max,” I grit my teeth, getting into his face too.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” He finally lowers his voice as he taunts me like the fallen angel I’m convinced he is.

“What am I supposed to do,” I ask mockingly. “Lay at the top of the stairs butt naked and wait for one of you to show up?”

The idea is laughable. How cold would I get before someone found me? I’d be a popsicle up there in no time.

“I could only hope,” his nose brushes against mine, and I blink in surprise.

“I wouldn’t want to trip on any other women,” I scramble to sass back through the shock, and his grin turns evil. He licks his lower lip, and my eyes drop to the motion as a blush starts on my cheeks.

“If there were any other women up there, I’d kick them down those fucking steps before you could pout about it.”

I roll my eyes as hard as I can, making a production of it. He’s stolen the words right out of me, and I have nothing to fire back with.

If women face this when they go up those stairs, I’m surprised there aren’t melted panties paving the way.

“You two look cozy,” Pat interrupts our debate with her usual sour face, and I swing towards her in surprise. She acts like she swallows lemons to stay bitter, but she’s nice underneath all the rolling eyes and snarky looks.

Thankfully, no one else has noticed that we’re over here. Trevor is laying out everyone’s marching orders, and Diana is fawning over all the guys. Isn’t she still dating Rick? Or was it Steven? She goes through them so fast I can’t keep up. Looks like she can add a few more exotic names to her list. Who names their kid Blaze? Total main character name.

“What are you two doing?” Her eyes narrow as she looks between us suspiciously.

“Have you been upstairs?” I blurt out without thought and slap a hand over my mouth as Max glares at me.

Pat’s cheeks get red as her mouth gapes and flops open and closed, eyes sliding to Max in surprise.

“I, um,” she stammers, unable to get any words out.

“That’s ok,” I rush to reassure her and stroke a hand up and down her bicep. “That was really rude of me to just ask. I’m sorry.”

She backs away from me as if I’m a disease, and I wince. My lack of filter is another no-friend example.

“Trevor is letting us know what we’re doing,” she regains her sour disposition. Still, her cheeks don’t stop turning brighter and brighter shades of red as her eyes flicker towards Max and away again.

He watches her with an unimpressed air that makes me want to smack him. When she finally turns and hurries away from us, I follow my thought and hit him in the stomach.

“What did I do?” He asks in surprise.

“You didn’t have to be a jerk to her about it,” I hiss quietly, trying to keep an eye on the other people here. Then, I flex my hand to ease the sting. “What kind of rock are you made of? Anyway, don’t be the type of guy who sleeps around and tries to shame a woman for doing the same thing. It’s disgusting.”

His eyes widen in surprise as he stares at me, mouth open and head empty, I’m sure.

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