Page 81 of Stop and Seek
“We did, yeah,” Max mumbled, shoving the door open. “Went to a hookah lounge. Then a bar that served food that didn’t kill us.”
“Damn. Goth Dolly’s corrupting you. You ate grease? And carbs? Was cheese involved?” Noah teased. He caught the shirt she tossed at his face.
“You’re too fucking loud right now, dial it down to a one.” Max sighed, rummaging through her suitcase for clothes.
“What’dyoudo last night?” she asked, too casual. He knew that tone. “Do I need to call anyone?”
“I stayed in.”
She froze, then shot him a look. “Sure, Noah. The way you’re acting? Says otherwise.Trust me.”
“You want my location history? I can print it for you. Frameit.”
“I’m not your mom.” She shoved her legs into a pair of ridiculous pants. “Don’t be a dick.”
Noah shook his head.
Fighting with Max when she hadn’t slept was his least favorite thing.
Instead, he watched her yank a price-tag off a top, tuck it into her bottoms, and check her reflection in the wall mirror.
“Remember what I told you,” she added, voice a little lower.
Yeah. Like he’d ever forget it.
“Gold or silver?” Max asked, holding up two identical pairs of earrings. He glanced at her outfit, then back to the earrings.
“Gold?”
Maybe it was the right answer. Maybe not. But she looked pleased.
Max didn’t say anything for a while, and Noah wasn’t about to push his luck. She smoothed down the collar of her shirt. Leaned closer to the mirror, then farther away.
Finally, she turned to face him. Her gaze flicked up and her lip curled.
“We areliterallyleaving in like, ten minutes. You’re going to go out looking like that. Are youkidding me. Did you run out of gel, or are you just lazy?”
Here we go.
Max-mode: activated. Overbearing and nit-picky.
Yeah, she was hisboss, but she’d been hisfriendfirst.
Noah didn’t bother arguing. That never ended well. Changing the topic was like diffusing a bomb before it could blow.
“Alyssa is sweet. Are you planning to fly her out when we’re back in Cali?” he asked.
Max smeared on lip balm, staring at him as if he’d asked the dumbest question known to man.
“Really? Oh my god, you’re serious.” She laughed. “No. God, no. She’s fine for bumfuck Ohio, but can you imagine her in New York, or Milan? Pass. I don’t want to be embarrassed.”
“Damn, Max.”
She turned back to the mirror. “She’s cute. But she could lose fifty or sixty pounds. Holy shit, can you imagine bringing her to brunch with Candy? Candy would rip her toshreds. Alyssa would kill herself, and I have enough blood on my hands thanks to you.”
Noah flinched.
Max didn’t even blink when she fluffed her hair. “I look like something the cat dragged in.”
