Page 38 of For All It's Worth
Max must have felt me tense because he began to rub my back even as he turned to look at Henry, his face now flushed.
“All in the past. It’s great to meet you officially, Henry. Thanks for giving Charlie somewhere to stay.” He’d pasted a fake smile on his face and the color was still high on his cheeks, the red contrasting starkly with his creamy skin. “Can I get you something to drink? On the house, of course.” Max was working hard to push the mortification aside and make a good impression on my new roommate.
“Yeah, that’d be great. Do you guys use oat milk at all?”
Talking about his business was a great way to break the ice with Max, and I gave Henry a smile over Max’s head that he caught and returned with a quick lift of his lips.
Max insisted I have a break and go and sit with Henry, so I grabbed a cookie and a bottle of water and slumped down in a seat opposite him.
“I put my foot in my mouth there, didn’t I?” Henry immediately said.
“Nah, he’s just a little sensitive about things like that. Even though it wasn’t his fault, he was drugged for God’s sake! He still feels like he made an idiot of himself. He gets very anxious about shit like that.”
Henry considered this for a second. “Okay, noted. I want him to like me since I know how important he is to you. Even if you don’t end up living with me long, I consider you my friend and I want Max to be comfortable around me.”
“I promise he likes you already. You’re doing me a huge favor getting me out of my mom’s, and Max is sick of me complaining about my living situation.”
“That bad?”
My phone chose that second to chime with a text.
“Five bucks says that’s my mom now, checking to see if Max and I are hanging out after we close.”
He laughs, “I’m not taking that bet after some of the crap you’ve told me. She still trying to get you to agree to random alcohol checks?”
Rolling my eyes, I huffed out a breath. “That and keeping my sessions at twice a week. She doesn’t want me working here so much, but with Easter and spring break at the university coming up, it’s all hands on deck.”
“Will you be okay doing both? I can check with some of the others for coverage if I need to?”
“Nah, if it does get to be too much, Max will step in. He’ll likely know before I do.”
“He’s watching you just now, you know. Is there something there?”
“I think maybe we’re building to something.”
“What d’you mean?” Henry tilted his head slightly as he tried to understand.
“Well, how much do you know about me and Max?” I asked him, not wanting to repeat the whole deal unless it was necessary.
He thought for a second and must have recalled something because he nodded. “You guys had to make up after rehab, right?”
“Yeah, we did. And I realized how much he means to me,” I said in a quiet voice, “And that I want to be more, but we just aren’t ready.”
“Don’t think it’ll be long, judging by how you are with each other.”
“Hope so.” Even to my own ears, it came out wistful.
