Chapter Thirty-Four
Thirty-Four
Max and Stella cleaned themselves up as best as they could before making their way out to the kitchen/living room area.
Max was wearing his clothes from the day before, minus his boxers, which Stella said she would wash for him. He felt a bit ridiculous in his slacks and button-down shirt standing next to Stella, who was wearing the same T-shirt she had on before, now paired with basketball shorts.
When they walked into the kitchen, they found Stella’s roommate wrestling with a blender and various different fruits scattered on the counter.
She kind of looked like Stella. They had the same dark brown skin and appeared to be about the same size, but where Stella’s face was more round, Chelsea’s had more sharp edges, and in place of braids, her dark brown hair was straightened and pulled up in a ponytail.
“Finally,” Chelsea said, not even looking up. “Can you help me with this, please? I don’t know why it won’t close.”
“Uh, sure,” Stella said. “But first, Chelsea this is Max. Max this is Chelsea.”
Chelsea finally looked up then and glanced from Max to Stella and back to Max again.
“Has he been here the whole time?” Chelsea asked.
“No, I snuck him through the door and right past you two seconds ago,” Stella deadpanned. “Yes, of course he’s been here the whole time. I texted you about it last night. The better question is where have you been? Did you just get home?”
Chelsea scoffed. “Do not act concerned now, when you clearly just noticed.”
“I’m not concerned,” Stella said, arms crossed. “I was just curious where you spent the night, since as far as I know, Red as Sin doesn’t double as a hotel.”
“You were at Red as Sin?” Max asked.
Both women swirled to look at him, and it was obvious they had forgotten he was even there. Max was only mildly offended by this.
“Yes,” Chelsea answered after a moment. “I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And then I went home with this couple who were actually pretty interesting, and we had a sleepover. Any further questions, or can you help me with this blender now?”
Stella rolled her eyes and took a step forward, but Max beat her to it.
“I can help,” he said, coming around Stella into the kitchen. “I have one of these at my place.”
“You do?”
Stella and Chelsea said this at the same time, and Max chuckled.
“Yes, I do.” He reached for the blender. “May I?”
Chelsea shrugged and stepped out of his way. “Be my guest.”
Max took the top of the blender off, careful not to let any of the fruit that was already inside spill out as he took a look, trying to figure out where Chelsea went wrong.
“So this is the guy you’ve been seeing?”
Max pretended as if he didn’t hear Chelsea’s question, even though she’d only gone to join Stella on the living room side of the counter and they all knew he could hear her.
“Yes,” Stella answered.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were bringing him over?” Chelsea asked.
“I did!” Stella said. “You didn’t respond to my texts and then when I called, I didn’t really get a chance to say much before you hung up.”
Max put the lid back on the blender and pressed the start button. The machine whirred to life, and Chelsea and Stella both turned.
“Amazing, thank you!” Chelsea said, stepping back into the kitchen. Stella watched her friend walk away, their conversation clearly unfinished, but said nothing.
“I’ve been trying to make this damn smoothie all morning,” Chelsea went on.
“No problem,” Max said. He moved out of the way so she could take over the blender.
Once he was next to Stella again, he rested his hand on her back and she tensed. Max looked down at her, concerned, but she wouldn’t look at him, instead keeping her attention on Chelsea, who was now pouring her smoothie into one of those plastic to-go cups with a straw.
“Are you going somewhere?” Stella asked.
Chelsea blinked up. “No, why? Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“Of course not, Chels,” Stella said. “You’re dressed in workout clothes and just made a smoothie. It looks like you’re going to the gym.”
Chelsea took a sip of her drink and shook her head.
“Nope, I just want to be comfy,” Chelsea said. She looked over at Max. “But let’s get into his ensemble.”
“He had nothing else to wear,” Stella explained. “But he was just leaving anyway.”
This was news to Max. “I was?”
Stella looked at him. “Don’t you have to go to work?”
It was well past nine, which was when he usually made it to the office, but he’d already emailed his assistant and Rashid, telling them he wouldn’t be making it in today.
However, Max got the sense that Stella wanted him gone, and whether that was because of him or Chelsea, he wasn’t sure. Regardless, he knew how to take a hint.
“You’re right, I do,” he said finally. He turned to Chelsea, taking her hand and shaking it.
Chelsea looked bemused by the gesture and made a face to Stella that he couldn’t decipher and that she ignored.
“It was nice meeting you, Chelsea,” he said.
“Likewise, Max,” she said. “That was your name, right?”
“Right.”
He turned to Stella, who looked as unsure now as she did the first time they’d met. Max wasn’t sure what was happening between the roommates, but it felt like something had shifted.
“I’ll call you later?” he said. He didn’t mean for it to sound like a question, but it did.
“Yeah,” Stella said.
“Cool, let me just grab my stuff.”
He went back to Stella’s room to grab his phone and wallet where he’d left them on Stella’s nightstand, and he could hear the two women speaking in hushed whispers.
“Okay, I can see why you’ve been ditching me for him now,” Chelsea said.
“When did I ever ditch you?” Stella said.
Even at a lower volume, Max could hear the exasperation in her voice.
“You know what I mean,” Chelsea said. “He’s had you wrapped around his finger ever since you met, and now I see why. That’s all I’m saying.”
“He doesn’t have me wrapped around his finger,” Stella said.
“Sure, Jan.”
Max was ready to head out, but he wasn’t sure if he should interrupt this conversation that seemed to be veering closer to a fight. He knew he couldn’t hide forever, though, so he figured it was best to just leave before things got worse.
When Max stepped back out, Stella and Chelsea quickly stopped talking and Stella moved toward him.
“I’ll walk you out,” she said.
“No, that’s all right,” Max said. “It’s too cold for you to be out like that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m just getting into a car anyway,” he said.
He pressed a quick kiss to her lips before she could say anything else and then grabbed his shoes and coat from the door.
“I’ll see you later,” he said.
Stella only nodded, and he couldn’t help himself. He walked back over to her and kissed her again, this time lingering. Max could feel Chelsea watching them, but he didn’t care. He quickly kissed Stella yet again before he forced himself to pull away.
“Bye, Stella,” he said.
“Bye, Max,” Chelsea called from behind her.
The words felt like a dismissal, and Max could feel Stella tense in his arms. A part of him wanted to stay.
He didn’t know what the situation was with Stella and Chelsea, but he didn’t like how Stella seemed to fold into herself with Chelsea around.
But Max knew this wasn’t his fight. If Stella wanted him to stay, she would’ve asked him to.
So with one final kiss to her lips, he made for the door and left.