I turned back to Jack and sighed. "Fine. You want the truth? I'm watching for my roommate."
"All right. So what's his name?"
Nowthatmade me pause. "Wait. How do you know it's a guy?"
He gave a tight shrug. "Easy guess."
"How?" I asked.
He eyed me with apparent disdain. "Is that a serious question?"
"Definitely," I said. "For all you know, I could have a psychofemaleroommate. Andshe'dbe worth avoiding too, right?"
His mouth tightened, and his gaze shifted past me toward the condo. He gave it a long, serious look.
As he did, I belatedly realized that by calling Nicky a psycho, I'd just revealed far more than I'd intended. Going for a distraction, I added, "I'm just saying, don't you think it's a bit sexist to assume it's a guy?"
With his gaze still on the condo, Jack replied, "Sexist to who? Seems to me I'm paying you a compliment."
If so, it had to be the most subtle compliment I'd ever received. "How so?"
"By assuming the psycho isn't you."
My jaw dropped. "What?"
"Or one of your female friends."
"Hey!" I said. "Girls can be psychos, too, you know." As soon as the words left my mouth, I wanted to take them back. After all, he'd just said basically the same thing. And more to the point,why was I arguing against my own gender?But I knew exactly why.
It was because of Jack. I found him nearly as unnerving as the guy I'd been avoiding for two days straight. Andthatguy was totally off his rocker.
Ignoring my protest, Jack asked, "When's the last time you saw him?"
"Who, my roommate?"
"Yeah. Him."
"Friday."
"Day or night?"
I almost shuddered at the memory. "Night."
"So it's been what? Forty-eight hours?"
"More or less."
I recalled the last time I'd seen Nicky. It had been just past midnight when I'd left my bedroom in search of something to drink, only to find Nicky naked in the kitchen – or rather, nearly naked if I wanted to count his open bathrobe, which just for the record, hid next to nothing.
Then again, Nicky had been – how to put this? – rather engorged at the time.
The worst part was, he'd acted like this wasn't a big deal. And when I'd informed him that it most certainlywasa big deal and then told him flat-out that he needed to make sure he was decent beforeeverleaving his bedroom, he'd had the nerve to look offended.
On top ofthat, he'd refused to shut his robe.
Adding insult to injury, he'd called me, in his words, "a total downer" before offering up one of those sorry-not-sorry apologies and then leaving the kitchen with a jar of grape jelly.
For what?
