Max ended up spending almost four hours in Nina's apartment that day.

It took them a while to finish assembling her bed frame. Afterward, they plopped her mattress on top. Then, Max helped her dispose of the old metal frame.

"You owe me big time," Max grunted as he hoisted the heavy metal frame, section by section, into the dumpster downstairs.

Nina merely arched an eyebrow at him. "You're the one who volunteered to do this!"

He made a face at her. "And I regret my decision very much. I want a beer with my pizza. Make it happen, woman!"

Nina rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Fine, you big baby."

Once all of the heavy lifting was done, the pizza arrived. Nina pulled a few cans of beer from her fridge. They proceeded to stuff their faces, chatting about this and that and everything in between. Max opened up to Nina about the shit he used to get into as a kid. The stupid, ridiculous stuff from elementary school. He purposely left out the sad, chaotic parts from high school, though.

Nina shared a few funny stories of her own about her childhood in Flushing, New York. Apparently, by the time Nina had been tall enough to reach the kitchen sink and old enough to hold a butcher knife, she was forced to help out in her grandparents' restaurant. From chopping green onions to overseeing business accounts, the girl had done it all.

Max was pleased to find that he had been somewhat right about her. Nina didn't come from money. She came from a family of immigrants. Like his mom's side of the family tree. The girl had brains and grit, and she wasn't afraid to roll up her sleeves and get her hands dirty. Max liked her all the more for it. Nina's childhood reminded him of the way he grew up. His mom had always been working, working, working. They were always stressing over bills, bills, and more bills. Max recognized how hard his mom had worked just to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. Nina's tough upbringing made Max feel as though she understood the struggle, too. Max wanted to believe that they could've been friends as kids. That Nina would've treated him differently than his privileged classmates in Temecula.

Just then, with a self-deprecating smile, Nina wrapped up another story about her childhood adventures in her grandparents' restaurant, and Max's thoughts snapped back to the present.

"Sounds like your grandparents had their hands full with you," he teased. "Like that time you subbed bell peppers with serrano chilis for those asshole customers. I can't believe they put up with your shenanigans for as long as they did."

Nina grinned. "My grandparents didn't have a choice. It's the price they paid for free labor."

"Seems like you guys were really close, though," Max commented. Almost dejectedly. "Must be nice to have a family like that."

"Yeah, it's really nice," she agreed. "My grandma is still the baddest bitch I know, and my grandpa, well, he was my safe place. I miss him every day."

An introspective look passed across her pretty features. Nina gazed deeply into Max's eyes. His breath hitched. He almost forgot to breathe. Nina's next statement caught him by surprise. "I really admire your mom for raising you on her own. I know how much my grandparents struggled with me. That shit must have been tough. For both of you."

Max grew silent for a minute. Nina's words warmed his heart, but they also made him feel slightly guilty. He hardly spoke to his mom nowadays. They had never been on good terms, but their relationship deteriorated even more after he left home all those years ago. His mom called every week, but he would only pick up once in a while. Max sent her a check every month to help out with bills, and that pretty much summed up the gist of their relationship.

"Yeah, my mom had it rough, especially after my dad ditched us," Max mumbled. Shame crept up his face as he confessed his shortcomings, "I admit, I haven't been the best son that I could be. I'm a pretty shitty one, actually. My mom and I have never gotten along."

Nina studied him with a gentleness that made him naked. She asked, "Do you think your mom might feel the same way? Maybe she feels bad about herself, too."

Max frowned. "Doubt it. She thinks I'm a dumbass."

Nina laughed. "She may be onto something."

Max passed her a withering glare. "Be nice. Or no more free manual labor for you."

Nina snapped her mouth shut, but her eyes still sparkled with mischief. "Okay, okay! I'll play nice."

This would've been the perfect moment to change the subject, but, for some reason, his guilt continued to eat at him. Shocking even himself, Max admitted to Nina, "My mom can be kind of difficult. I don't really know how to get along with her."

Nina paused as though taking his words into serious consideration. Then, she asked, "I wonder if your mom is struggling to understand you as much as you're struggling to understand her?"

"Maybe? I don't know," Max muttered with a faraway look on his face.

His chest tightened. He had never thought about his mom that way before. He didn't want to dwell on his relationship with his mom any longer, so he flipped the question around on Nina.

"What ever happened to your mom and dad?" Max asked.

Nina's expression turned pensive. "Do you really wanna know? It's kind of a shitshow."

"Shitshows are my favorite kind of shows."

Nina grimaced. "Well, my dad has been in and out of rehab since the 90's. He does his own thing, mostly, but we meet up once in a while for lunch. As for my mom, I don't know much about her. My grandma claims she went back to Colombia when I was two, but I dunno if I believe it."

"Damn, you weren't kidding about it being a shitshow."

Nina wrapped her arms around her knees. She curled herself up into a ball. "Yeah, I know, right?"

Max wanted to reach over and hug her, but he stopped himself. Instead, he said, "I guess we are a pretty fucked up pair, after all, huh?"

"Super fucked up," Nina echoed in agreement.

Max scooted closer to Nina. He moved to nudge her with his shoulder. "Good thing we found each other, huh?"

Nina chuckled and nudged him back. "Speak for yourself. I need to find some normal friends."

"Rude!"

She leaned towards him, stopping an inch away from his face, and grinned. "I'm kidding, Max. You're fucking awesome. I'm glad we became neighbors. I'm even happier that we're gonna be friends."

Max felt his face grow hot. His ears tingled. He prayed that Nina wouldn't notice her effect on him.

She remained oblivious.

Thank God.

A few minutes later, they exchanged digits and parted ways close to ten 'o clock at night.

Max had been reluctant to head back to his place. Nina was truly something else. He couldn't quite place her in any category that he usually reserved for girls. She wasn't a fuck buddy. She wasn't a regular friend either. She wasn't looking to network or collab with him. Nina was simply someone he enjoyed talking to, someone he wanted to be around, but she was also someone that he totally wouldn't mind seeing naked.

Ironically, though, the fact that she had removed the option of fucking from the table also allowed Max to be more at ease around her.

Well, mostly at ease.

Max still caught himself staring at her tits and ass throughout the evening, but he tried to be discreet about it.

It was okay to be physically attracted to a friend, right?

As long as he kept his hands to himself, Max figured Nina wouldn't mind too much. Max liked to think that she was getting her money's worth as well. According to his female fans from all over the globe, Max knew he was a good-looking guy, and he would be more than happy to let Nina look her fill if ever she wanted to ogle him to her heart's content.

He wondered if he should mention something to her about what he did for a living.

Maybe Nina didn't realize how famous he was?

Maybe she would be impressed once she found out?

This was when Lexi's video suddenly flashed across his mind. Max groaned under his breath, "Fuck."

For the first time in months, he had actually forgotten about the shithole that bitch had pushed him into. There was no way in hell Max wanted Nina anywhere near Lexi's incriminating video about him.

Another jarring thought crossed his mind.

What if Nina already saw it?

How could she not?

That shit had gone viral for weeks. If Nina had seen the video, then she was certainly doing a masterful job at hiding it.

What did that say about her, then, for wanting to be friends with a perceived fuckboy like him, the enemy of good girls everywhere?

Suspicion surged through Max. He had been so enamored with his new neighbor that his usual defense mechanisms failed to kick in. A crucial question crept across his mind: Could a girl like Nina be trusted?