Max realized he must have been staring for too long because Nina started scowling at him. She chided, "Dude! Stop looking at me like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like I'm a freak of nature or something..."

He smiled. "But you are freaky. Freaky smart! I mean, I expected you to be good with money and numbers and shit since you were so hands-on with your grandparents' restaurant, but Wall Street, well, Wall Street. You must be a genius or something."

Nina shrugged off his compliment. Ignored it completely, in fact. "So... are you still suspicious of me?"

Max's expression turned sullen.

Was he still suspicious?

His eyes searched for hers. "If you knew all this stuff about me, then why didn't you say something sooner?"

"I don't know," Nina answered, "I guess... I figured it wasn't any of my business."

Max hesitated. He wanted to believe her, but, first, he had to ask, "Have you seen the break-up video that SweetLexGirl made about me?"

"I have, actually," Nina responded.

Max eyed her anxiously. "What did you think of it?"

Nina frowned. "Honestly? I thought... it was an asshole move for her to pull. Breakups are super personal and horrible for both parties. She should've kept that drama quiet between the two of you."

Max breathed a little easier. "Do you believe all that shit she said about me?"

Nina glanced over to him. Her expression turned thoughtful and stoic. "Does it matter what I think? Only you and Lexi know the truth."

Max felt uncomfortable when he pressed her again, but Nina's opinion mattered to him. More than he wanted to admit. "Actually, it does matter. I wanna know—why do you want to be friends with me if everyone online thinks that I'm, supposedly, this huge irredeemable asshole?"

Nina echoed in a wry manner, "A huge irredeemable asshole, huh?"

"Yeah," he grumbled.

Her expression softened. "Call me a purist, but... I want to believe in people being innocent until proven guilty. And I don't think you're a bad guy, Max."

She sounded sincere. It made him want to trust her so desperately. "Are you sure?"

"For now, yes." Her eyes gleamed with mischief. "From what I've seen, you have big muscles. You're good at carrying stuff. You ghosted me for a few weeks. But whatever. I forgive you because I think I get where you're coming from now."

A crease appeared between Max's brow. He wasn't sure where she was going with this. "Do you really get it, though?"

She nodded slowly. "I mean, I also work in a competitive industry. Assholes are always lurking around. They're unavoidable, so we gotta protect ourselves from people who wanna drag us down."

"That's very true."

"Going forward, whether or not you turn out to be an asshole has yet to be determined. The ball is still in your court. But the same goes for me. I could be an asshole, too. I can't fault you for being cautious around me. We barely know each other, after all."

Max listened carefully to every word she uttered. No one had ever spoken to him like this before. Everything sounded so real, so full of truth, and she seemed to be coming from a good place. Right then and there, Max chose to take a leap of faith. He chose to believe in Nina.

Shyly, he admitted, "I wanna get to know you better, though. I think that's why I needed to be sure about you. It's stressful to put myself out there with new people."

"Oh, for sure! It's scary as hell because the world is full of shitheads," she said with a sad smile. "All we can do is try not to hurt good people while we protect ourselves from the bad ones. But I'm glad we had this talk, Max. I think we actually understand each other a little better now."

Max stared at her as a quiet calm washed over him. He felt seen. He felt heard. And she looked so pretty at the moment that he kind of wanted to kiss her. He didn't dare, of course, but it didn't stop him from thinking about it.

"I'm not a shithead, Nina," Max promised her, "and I don't think you're one, either. I feel bad for being such a horrible friend these past few weeks. Please let me make it up to you. Can I take you out to lunch this weekend?"

"Lunch?" she repeated. She gave him a look of suspicion. "Just lunch, right? Not a date?"

"Not a date," he confirmed.

"Hmm."

Max moved closer to her on the couch. Teasingly, he asked, "Why do you keep thinking that I wanna date you? For someone who answers her door looking like a little hobo, you certainly have a high opinion of yourself."

Nina scoffed, "Did you just call me a hobo?"

Ignoring her grumbly outrage, he smirked. "Are you even wearing shorts right now?"

Nina punched him on the shoulder. "Of course I'm wearing shorts, you idiot! Did you think I'd open the door in my underwear?"

Max's eyes fell upon her bare thighs. "I don't believe these shorts actually exist. Prove it."

Nina laughed. "Nice try, perv."

He grinned. "So... what do you say?"

She raised her eyebrows. "About what? My shorts... or free food?"

"Free food. On Saturday."

Finally, she smiled. "Oh, that. Okay, sure."

Max's heart completed a happy, little flip. He tried his best to hide his excitement. "Great! I know this amazing place with the best seafood tacos. It's right next to the beach. Do you surf?"

Nina shook her head and smiled wistfully. "No, I wish! I've always wanted to, though."

"I could show you."

She winced. "You do remember how terrible I was on the basketball court, right? Now you wanna jump in the ocean with me? You're a brave man, Max Weiser."

Max chuckled. "How could I forget? But, lucky for you, I'm ballsier than most guys. Let's do it!"

Her eyes brightened. "Really? You wouldn't mind?"

He shrugged. "What are friends for? And who knows? Maybe I'll need a favor from you one of these days."

She nodded her head eagerly. In an animated voice, Nina exclaimed, "If you can actually teach me how to surf, Max, I'll owe you big time!"

Max grinned. For a savvy financial manager at a large media firm, Nina had a childlike side to her that he found to be endearing. He was fired up to get her riding waves. Not only because it sounded like a fuckload of fun but also because he had every intention of collecting that favor she so generously offered. Already, Max knew what he wanted from her. A while back, Axel had sent Max an invitation to his annual poolside barbecue. He even promised Max to make sure that Lexi wouldn't show up. Max had ignored Axel's invite at the time. He had been too busy getting high and feeling like shit back then, but now?

Now, he wanted to go. A house party seemed like a perfect opportunity to reconnect with his old Wilder Ones housemates and their mutual circle of friends without having to explain too much about why he disappeared for nearly half a year. The barbecue was coming up the following weekend, and Max wanted Nina to go with him. Not as his date, of course. Just as a "friend."