Max and the girls drove for forty minutes on the I-10 before arriving at a very swanky luxury high-rise apartment building in West Hollywood. The doorman let them in after Nina pulled out her phone to show him the invitation Zahara had forwarded her, and they took the elevator up to the penthouse floor.

Max had been to plenty of nice places before—hell, he had lived in a multimillion-dollar mansion for years with the Wilder Ones crew—but, the moment he stepped into this property, his eyes lit up. Even he was impressed by the property.

The design of the entire apartment was modern and minimalistic. It complemented the spacious open-concept floor plan beautifully. Airy white walls and light maple wood flooring gave the interior a light and breezy feel. Every detail, from the massive modular sectional to the smallest shelving fixtures, was color coordinated in serene shades of beige, creams, and grays with natural wood and Belgian linen textiles.

Most impressive were the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined every exterior-facing wall. The crystal-clear glass provided gorgeous panoramic views of the glittering Hollywood hills against a velvety night sky. As always, the stars were hidden behind thick Los Angeles smog, but Max found the cityscape backdrop to be lovely, anyway.

Light jazz music bobbed and flowed through the party. About thirty guests were gathered inside, conversing and cavorting over clinking glasses and bite-sized charcuterie boards. Two of the girls broke away from their group and rushed towards them. From the way they were smiling and waving at Nina and the rest of her gang, Max guessed that these two had to be Carson and Zahara.

The tall brunette appeared to be only a few inches shy of Max's six-foot-one frame, and she carried her height with an unapologetic air of confidence as she honed in on Nina.

"Bitch! You're late!" she growled accusingly.

"Missed you, too, Carson," Nina replied with a wry smile.

They hugged.

The stunning, dark-skinned girl with green eyes came forward and laughed. "Don't mind her, Nina. She's been cranky all day. I think the conference really tired her out."

"Hey, Zee." Nina grinned. "Sounds like my girl has been a real handful..."

Zahara rolled her eyes. "Ugh, don't get me started!"

Connie quipped at Carson, "What are you? A toddler?"

Carson snickered. "I do love my naps!"

Zahara sighed. "You really do."

Carson wrinkled her nose. "Dude! I'm right here. If y'all are gonna talk smack about me, at least, wait until I leave the room like normal assholes!"

Connie jabbed, "Maybe you should leave, then."

"Make me!" Carson retorted with all the snark of a tantruming toddler.

Shalani giggled. "Girl, I hate to break it ya, but you're acting just like my four-year-old nephew right now..."

"Ugh. Not you, too, Shalani," Carson whined. "You're supposed to be the nice one!"

The girls continued to rally back and forth a while longer before Nina introduced Max to Carson and Zahara.

"Oh!" Nina exclaimed. "I almost forgot, this is my roommate, Max. Max, meet Carson. We were inseparable back at Columbia. And this is Zahara, her amazing girlfriend. She's ten times cooler than all of us. In case you haven't figured it out already"

Max held out his hand to Zahara. "So nice to meet you. You definitely seem way too cool to be hanging out with someone like Nina."

Zahara grasped his palm and shook it firmly. She winked at him. "You seem like a nice guy, Max. Don't fuck with my girl, Nina, okay?"

"I wouldn't dream of it," he promised.

Max offered his hand to Carson as well, but she didn't take it. Instead, she gave him a critical once-over. "So, you're the roommate."

Max nodded with some trepidation. "Yes?"

Carson surveyed him suspiciously. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

She kept her gaze centered on him. He gulped. Max had always been pretty tall, so he wasn't used to people being able to give him the evil eye at eye level. The effect was more than a little unsettling.

Was Carson going to bring up his YouTube channel?

Or Lexi's video?

He tried not to let his nerves show. "Uh, maybe you've seen me online? I'm a vlogger."

Carson scoffed. "Of course you would be!"

Just then, Nina stepped in as though sensing Max's rising stress levels. In firm tones, she cautioned, "Hey, now! Baby boy here is a big deal. He needs to be handled with care. Be gentle, Carson."

Max cleared his throat. "Actually, no need to be gentle with me, guys. I'm a man among men! I like it a little rough."

Carson made a face at his remark. "Ugh."

Max ignored Carson and tossed Nina a withering look even though he was secretly grateful that she had come to his defense. Max had no interest in gettting sucked into an interrogation from Nina's friends regarding his complicated history with Lexi and his tanking YouTube career.

Carson sighed dramatically. "See? This is why dating women is so much better. We don't have to deal with fragile egos or stupid innuendoes!"

"Ouch." Max laughed. "If you're gonna talk shit about me, at least, wait until I leave the room."

Carson's mouth slowly spread into a smile. "I see what you did there, Max. Not bad. Maybe there's hope for you, after all."

"Thanks," he murmured.

Max knew he still had a ways to go to win over Nina's friends, but, at least, Carson no longer seemed openly hostile toward him.

Zahara led the whole gang around the room and introduced them to her friends and acquaintances. The hostess and owner of the apartment was a feisty blonde bi-girl named Naomi Klein who possessed the superhuman ability to produce words at a million miles a minute. She appeared borderline obsessed with Zahara, much to Carson's annoyance, but Max didn't find her behavior to be rude or malicious. Just a little obnoxious.

"Oh, my God, Zee," Naomi gushed. "Get this! My friend, Parker Wu, just texted me and said she convinced her new boyfriend to stop by tonight. Apparently, he's kinda anti-social, so it's a big fucking deal to get him out of the house. Ha! Anyway, Parker and I went to boarding school together, and she studied International Law at Oxford—just like you're doing at Howard—and, now, she works for the motherfucking United Nations! Her family's from old Shanghai money, too. I think it would be amazeballs for all of us to go out to lunch tomorrow. Do some networking and shit, you know? Anyway, I really wanna introduce you to her. They're gonna get here any minute now, so don't go anywhere! Stay right by my side, okay?"

Naomi proceeded to cling onto Zahara's arm for the next five minutes while Carson glared daggers in her direction. Max took this opportunity to shuffle his way toward Nina.

He whispered in her ear, "Thanks for saving me earlier. I owe you one."

Nina's shoulder stiffened slightly at Max's sudden nearness, but then she relaxed. "No worries. I know Carson can be a lot to handle when you first meet her. She's a teddy bear under all that bravado, though. I promise."

Max grunted ruefully. "You sure about that? Your teddy bear looks like she's gonna rip Naomi's face off if she doesn't leave Zahara alone."

Nina chuckled darkly. "Well, even teddy bears have claws, right?"

Right when Max thought Nina was maybe, kind of, sort of ready to make nice with him, the penthouse elevator doors spread open, and one of the most beautiful and well-dressed couples that Max had ever laid eyes on appeared in front of them. They walked through the foyer together like supermodels on a high fashion runway.

Naomi shrieked happily, "Ooh! Parker's here with her new man!"

The girl whom Naomi had referred to as Parker was dressed in a fluttering petal pink gossamer silk gown. She had a flawless milky white complexion, and her glossy black hair shone like satin down her back. Her angelic features—large eyes, slender nose, pouty rosebud mouth—were aligned in such an immaculate way that they looked unreal to Max.

Miraculously, Parker's boyfriend was somehow even more attractive than her. His handsome face was so symmetrical that it annoyed Max. The guy wore a perfectly tailored charcoal gray suit with a crisp white dress shirt, slightly unbuttoned with no tie. He had dark, piercing eyes, and his black hair was styled in a classic crew cut. They were both around the same height. The guy was maybe only an inch or so taller than Max, but he radiated such a strong aura of success and confidence that he seemed to tower over everyone else. Max looked around. All eyes at the party were glued to Parker's man. His presence was impossible to ignore.

"Look at these two clowns," Max joked to Nina. "I bet we could give them a run for their money."

Nina didn't respond right away. Her gaze was locked onto the guy as well. Her cheeks had turned ashen white. An expression of horror was frozen on her face.

Max frowned worriedly. "You okay, Nina?"

In a barely audible voice, she whispered, "Oh, my God, Max. That's Ethan. What the fuck is he doing here? With a girl like that?"