"Nice bush!" called the guy from 211, some college student who'd once helped me carry in some groceries. Maddie was a stripper. Technically, she had no bush. Or maybe that was the guy's point?
"Fuck off," Maddie said.
The guy shrugged. "I'm just saying."
"Well don't!" she yelled.
I turned around just in time to see Maddie make yet another lunge for Jake's arm. Like he'd done the previous ten times, he shook her off and kept on going.
"Please, Jay," she begged. "Talk to me, okay?"
He stopped and turned around. "It's Jake," he said.
"Yeah, I know," she stammered. "But it's a pet name. Jay. For Jake. See?"
"I'm not your pet," he said.
Her voice rose. "Yeah? Well you weren't complaining last night."
"Yeah," he said. "Because I wasn't listening."
Even to me, the words felt like a slap. Poor Maddie. Sure, she hadn't been the best roommate. And sure, she was kicking me out when I hadn't done anything wrong. Still, the way Jake was treating her, it almost hurt to watch.
Maddie glared at him. "You asshole," she said.
Glancing in my direction, Jake flicked his head toward the stairway. "Keep going," he told me. "And if you stop one more time, I'm dropping the lamp."
Behind him, Maddie made another lunge. With a guttural scream, she ripped the lamp out of his hands and hurled it straight toward me. I leapt to the side, and it whizzed inches past my head. It bounced off the door of 204 and clattered to the floor in three pieces.
A split-second later, the door flew open, and Julian, the building's undisputed tough guy, stuck his head out. "What the fuck's going on out here?" he said.
"None of your damn business," Maddie said.
"Girl," he said, "you keep waking me up, and it's gonna be my business quick."
Her gaze narrowed. She turned toward me. She stuck out her arm and pointed a long finger in my direction. "She's stealing my stuff."
"Oh come on!" I said. "It's not your stuff. It's mine."
Again, Jake turned to face me. "Luna," he said through clenched teeth, "for the last time, keep moving."
"Or what?" I said. "You'll drop the lamp?" I glanced at the thing, lying in pieces just a few feet away. "You know what?" I dropped the overnight case. "I've had enough of you bossing me around."
"Hey!" Julian barked out toward us. "You stealing from my girl?"
Was he talking to me? Or Jake? Honestly, I had no idea. "We're not stealing anything," I called back. "And besides, she's only 'your girl' when she needs extra cash. Youdoknow that, don't you?"
"Your ass," he said. "Julian Webster don't pay nobody for pussy."
Liar. According to Maddie, Julian paid for a whole bunch of stuff whenever he had the money, which granted, wasn't very often. As for Maddie, she bought condoms in bulk and went through them fast.
Maddie gave Julian a pleading look. "Baby," she said. "Stop her, will ya?"
Julian's gaze swiveled back to me. Between us stood Jake. His gaze was on me, and his back was to Julian. Embarrassingly, Jake was still shirtless, with one hand now empty, and the other hand still clutching that giant suitcase.
I wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. If the situation weren't so pathetic, I might have laughed. The whole thing felt like an old Jerry Springer rerun, starringmeas the slutty, boyfriend-stealing hoochie.
It was ironic really, considering Jake and I had never so much as kissed.
