Max followed Axel and Nina into the grand foyer of the house. The interior of the mansion was a moody monotone masterpiece of stone and concrete and contemporary design. The three of them strolled into a massive chef's kitchen where the catering team was grilling up a storm. They also passed through the game room, complete with a 135-inch flat-screen TV, an arcade, and a black-felted pool table, before reaching their destination at the other side of the house.

To Max, it felt as though he was stumbling back through time. Memories of all the crazy shit he had endured in this house came flooding back to him. The feeling of déjà vu was a little overwhelming and not in a good way.

Axel was also grating on his nerves.

The guy kept trying to impress Nina with the swanky bits and bobs around the house. Max took pleasure in his friend's disappointment when she merely offered a polite smile or nod in return no matter how hard the bastard tried to get a genuine response out of her.

Eventually, Axel, Max, and Nina came to a set of floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors. The doors were pushed all the way to the end of the track, creating an airy space where the interior living area blended seamlessly into the backyard.

As they stepped outside, Max noticed the exterior had become even more decked out than he remembered. A pristine, green lawn stretched across the expanse of the yard, and a pleasing array of palm trees, tropical Birds of Paradise flowers, and perfectly manicured shrubs swayed in the warm breeze. Amid the impeccable landscaping, a large Tiki-style open-air hut with a fully functioning bar sat off to the side. Beside the bar, an Olympic-sized infinity pool glimmered beneath the late morning sunlight. Artsy pieces of contemporary patio furniture with black steel frames and crisp red and white textiles were scattered throughout the area.

Max scanned the crowd of forty or so super toned, buff guys and gorgeous, immaculately dressed girls who looked like they had just walked off the set of a professional photoshoot. He recognized most of them. They were gathered in clusters of three or four, laughing, drinking, vaping, and chatting. The wait staff wove in and out around them seamlessly, offering drinks and hors d'oeuvres to the party guests. They carried platters of grilled Kobe beef sliders, coconut pineapple shrimp skewers, caviar and truffle-topped hotdogs, all of which could be chased down with an expensive glass of champagne or sparkling rosé.

Max glanced at Nina.

She arched an eyebrow back at him as though to ask: What the fuck kind of barbecue is this?

He grinned and murmured close to her ear. "Just roll with it. Let me make my rounds, and then we can go."

"Sounds good to me," she whispered back.

Max's main motive for coming to the barbecue was to reconnect with Axel and Avon and some of his other influencer friends. He wanted to see if any of them might be willing to collab on a new project that he had been stewing over for the past few weeks. He had mentioned this to Nina a few days prior, and she had been fully on board with his idea.

What Max didn't sign up for, however, was to see nearly half of the guys leering at her. As though she was fair game. As though she might be interested in dating them. He tried not to hover around her, but he was constantly on edge, ready to cock block any guy who dared to get too chatty or handsy with his "friend."

After they made their rounds, Axel brought them over to Avon. The younger Wilder brother sported lighter wheat-blonde hair than his older sibling. It was buzzed short and close to his scalp. He had a thick, heavy stubble that covered more of his face and jawline, and his large, jacked body was inked with dozens of tats.

Two pretty young things were clinging to him. Cloyingly. A blonde and a brunette. Max knew he had met them before, but he couldn't quite recall their names. The blonde looked like a Chloe.

Or was it Zoe?

He completely blanked on the brunette's name.

Axel addressed his brother, "Yo, yo, Avie baby! Look who finally crawled out of his cave in Santa Monica to grace us with his presence!"

Avon grinned handsomely. "Holy shit! Is that you, Maxie boy? I've missed you, man!"

Max bumped fists with Avon and grinned. "You better believe it's me, Avie boy, in the motherfucking flesh."

Avon's brown eyes darted over to Nina.

"Be honest with me, Maxie. Is this sweet little piece the reason why you dropped off the face of the earth for five months?"

He then tossed Max a mischievous look and made a "wapeesh" sound followed by a whip-cracking motion with his hand. Axel, Chloe-maybe-Zoe, and the brunette cackled as though it was the funniest thing they had ever heard.

Max's ears pinkened slightly. "No, man, this is Nina. We're... friends. Good friends. Sorry I haven't been around more. I've been, uh, busy."

"Busy? Doing what?" teased Axel. "Fucking around and getting high?"

Indignation sparked inside Max. He chose to be the bigger person, though, ignoring Axel's taunts in order to be professional, "I actually had something business-related that I wanted to chat to you about—"

"Not now, Maxie," Axel cut him off in chiding tones. "You just got here, man! Let's play first and talk business later, yeah?"

Max nodded agreeably, but he wasn't happy about it. "Yeah, sure, no problem."

Axel had never talked down to him like this before Lexi's breakup video went viral.

Avon wasn't even paying attention to them. He was too busy blasting Nina with a megawatt smile. "So, Nina, where are you from?"

Nina smiled back. Politely. "New York."

"No, no, like, where are you really from?" Avon insisted again.

Nina's smile froze. "Uh... Flushing? It's a neighborhood in Queens."

"No, dude, I mean, like, where were you born? You're so... exotic. I dig it, though."

Nina sighed. "I was born in Queens, but, if you wanted to know where my family is from, my dad is Taiwanese, and my mom is Colombian."

"No way! That's fucking awesome! You don't even look that Asian. Have you ever been to Thailand or Colombia?"

Max clenched his jaw. Something about the way that Avon was speaking to Nina made Max want to punch his friend in the face and shout at him: "It's Taiwan, you dumbass, not Thailand!"

And the hell was "not looking that Asian" even supposed to be mean?

Max was about to step in to confront Avon when Nina laid a steadying hand on his shoulder. Max had no idea how she managed to keep her cool when he felt ready to explode.

Again, ever so politely, she replied, "Honestly, I've never been outside of the US before, but I would love to visit Colombia or Taiwan someday."

Avon smirked. Her reproachful tone completely flew over his head. "Dude, we should totally go together, baby! Since you and Maxie here are just friends, why don't you let me take you to places that you've never been before?"

Nina chuckled uncomfortably. "Oh, I don't know about that..."

Axel chimed in, "Shit, we could film a whole travel vlog series about it! I could make you famous, you know."

Axel's suggestion irked Max to no end. He recognized this as his friend's fail-safe line whenever he wanted to sleep with a girl without any intentions of following through on his promises. It had never bothered Max before, but, now that these pickup lines were directed at Nina, he was ready to rip his friend a new one.

Luckily, Nina saw through the bullshit. She smiled at Axel. Politely. "That's sweet of you, Ax, but I'm gonna have to pass. I'm really, really camera shy."

Then, before Avon or Axel could respond, she shifted her attention to the girls. Nina asked for their names with a genuine smile. They seemed hesitant to warm up to her at first, but, eventually, her fun, crazy stories about growing up in Flushing and how different it was to live on the east coast versus the west coast won them over. In time, Nina even managed to herd Chloe and Ashleigh—oh, yes, Ashleigh, that was her name—away from the guys.

This gave Max the perfect opening to speak up about his business idea. He dove into his proposal with Axel and Avon, which involved a podcast where they would invite fellow influencers from all walks of life to play games, perform their talents on the show, and sit down for a casual interview over beers. When Axel didn't shoot down his idea outright, Max knew he had a chance to reel them in. Everything was going perfectly until, from the corner of his eye, Max sensed an all too familiar figure approaching him. He glanced up and spotted a girl with blonde hair and brown eyes.

Fuck.

It was Lexi.