“Shit!” Max shouts, freezing in his tracks the moment he lays eyes on me. He squeezes his eyes shut, then claps a hand over his chest. “What the actual fuck, Oliver?”
“Sorry, did I scare you?”
He sighs, opens his eyes, and glares at me. “Are youtryingto seduce me?”
I grin and waggle my eyebrows. “I don’t know, is it working?”
Max’s face darkens. “Jesus Christ.”
Celeste appears behind him a moment later and does a double-take when she sees me. “Well, damn,” she mutters. “You clean up good, Oliver.”
“Thank you,” I reply, theatrically tucking a strand behind my ear.
“Might want to tone it down a bit, though,” she warns. “Poor Max is going to combust.”
I frown. “Why?”
Max whimpers. “I just need a minute, it’s fine.”
“I think he thinks you’re too hot,” Theo says with a laugh. “Max can’t handle it.”
I glance back at Max, who is facing the kitchen now. “I can pull my hair back up if it’s too much.”
“He’s fine,” Celeste insists. “It’s mostly for the bit, right, hon’?”
“Sure, sure,” Max says, grabbing a sparkling water from the fridge and turning to face the living room again. “Anyway, are we ready forSuperman?”
“Vimlesh said he’ll join late,” Theo answers. “But he said to feel free to start it without him. He saw it in theaters over the summer.”
“Okay, cool,” Max says. “And Jude?”
“Jude is on their way,” Celeste says, barely concealing annoyance. “They were at Nikki’s.”
Max grimaces. “Of course.”
My eyes go wide with realization, but before I can open my mouth?—
“Y’all don’t like Nikki either?” Theo asks.
Max shakes his head. “That information does not leave this room.” He looks directly at me. “If Jude finds out, they’d be really upset.”
“But, if we all think Nikki is bad for Jude, shouldn’t we say something?” I ask.
“Not yet,” Celeste replies. “It’s too soon to tell whether it’s even worth mentioning. I don’t think their relationship’s going to last much longer anyway.”
I frown. “Why do you say that?”
“You met her,” Max snaps. “She’s a pretentious misandrist who only sticks around because Jude’s really good in the sack.”
My jaw drops. Theo chokes on his soda.
“Allegedly,” Celeste clarifies. “We don’t know what Jude’s like in the sack. That’s gross.”
I shake my head, trying to clear those thoughts from my mind. “I’m still confused. Why don’t you want to tell Jude this?”
“I’ve tried,” Celeste says. “Jude doesn’t want to hear that right now. I think being with Nikki has been good for their self-esteem.”
That doesn’t sit right with me, but maybe Max and Celeste are right. It’s not my place to say anything. It definitely isn’t worth losing Jude over.
