“He wouldn’t have done shit. That guy’s all talk.”
“Easy for you to say from your high horse!” I cry.
“Wanna know how I got up here?” he asks. “By not letting some jackass bully me into doing something I didn’t want to do.”
“Or maybe you were just born into the right family, so you never had to worry about what you’d do in a situation like this.”
“You sound pretty judgmental for someone taking advantage of the perks.” His words sting—the last thing I want to do is take advantage of anyone, evenhim—but I refuse to show it.
“Hold up, you guys,” says Eli, stepping between us. “Let’s calm down.”
“You know what, Landon?” I snap. “I would have rather gone on the damn date than stand here and listen to you chew me out. Hate to break it to you, but you’re way worse than Christian McCoy.”
Fighting the urge to cry, I storm out of the room and run up the stairs.
“Not cool, dude,” is the last thing I hear Eli say before I slam the guest room door shut and let the tears fall freely.
SIXTEEN
The temperature in the house the next day is frigid at best, and it drops into the negatives when Landon and I finally cross paths. Thegood morningis on the tip of my tongue, but I swallow it down because he doesn’t deserve it after the things he said last night. The sooner I can be away from Landon’s toxicity, the better, and I’m more determined than ever to find an apartment, no matter what it takes.
Conscious of the silence, I unscrew the cap to my water bottle and press the top against the refrigerator’s ice machine. I stand there for about ten seconds, listening to the machine whirl and whine, before Landon says, “It’s jammed. Just grab some from the freezer in the garage.”
“Shocking,” I mutter as I pull the water bottle away.
“What’s shocking?” he asks slowly, turning that stupid, imposing body of his in my direction.
“That something helpful came out of your mouth instead of an insult.”
He glowers at me. I glower back.
“Is it me, or is it a little chilly in here?” asks Eli, strolling into the kitchen without a care in the world. I reluctantly break our little stare-off, only to see that Eli’s dressed in nothing but a pair of plaid boxer shorts.
“Jeez, Eli,” I scold, averting my gaze. “Ironic, since the ice machine’s broken.”
Eli grabs the coffee mug right out of Landon’s hand, and I have to fight back a smile at the look of annoyance Landon gives his brother. “This will warm me up. Thanks, bro.”
“Getting dressed could also have the same effect,” Landon snaps.
“At least I had the decency to put on boxers,” says Eli. He holds up his hand in front of his mouth, faux whispering to me, “I sleep naked.”
“Christ,” Landon mutters.
“I did not need to know that,” I mumble.
Eli tips back the mug, downing the remaining coffee with a loud slurp, and then leans back against the kitchen island, looking between us. “So, are you two going to kiss and make up, or what?”
I don’t even glance toward Landon. What’s the point?
“I have work,” I blurt out, before Landon can respond. Then I leave the room, forgoing the ice entirely.
Work is uneventful. Slow, even. I spend my downtime searching Apartment Hunter for something I can actually afford, with little to no luck. Ollie and Jake note my frustration and promise to ask around to see if anyone’s looking for a roommate, but they don’t seem confident they’ll come up with anything. I feel just a little bit defeated on the drive home, and all I can think about is crawling into bed and watchingThe Baking Challengere-runs until I fall asleep.
What I don’t expect to find when I walk through the door is Eli standing at the kitchen counter, dressed in nothing but a pair of swim trunks. I swear, he must be allergic to shirts. He’s surrounded by bottles of liquor and mixers, and I eye the impressive spread of alcohol with a wary look.
“What are you doing?” I ask carefully.
Eli glances up, flashing a set of pearly white teeth. “Pepper Spray!”
