Friction

Chapter 24

Max barely saw Nina over the next week or so. Nothing particularly good or bad happened between them. Life simply got in the way.

They texted back and forth every day, though, sharing stupid memes that poked fun at pop culture and inside jokes about skateboarding and surfing. Nina's jam-packed work schedule and desperate search for a new roommate occupied most of her time while Max busied himself with fine-tuning the big picture concepts and nitty-gritty details for his new podcast idea.

After the disastrous weekend barbecue, Max no longer wanted to work with Axel and Avon, like ever again. Yet, the reality of launching a solo channel without the Wilder brothers scared the shit out of Max. Something inside pushed him to keep going, though.

Max was ready to start a new chapter in his life. He wanted to become a different person. He wanted to change for the better. Hell, Max felt as though he had already changed. Just a little. He was actually calling his mom once a week. She nagged him incessantly about every fucking thing, but he endured the rapid-fire questioning because it seemed to make her happy to know more about his life. It felt good to know that things were moving in the right direction with his mom.

In a way, he had to thank Nina for encouraging him to reconnect with his mom. Nina was such a godsend. Max hoped that things would keep moving in the right direction with Nina, too. Her friendship had become incredibly precious to him. Max was determined not to do anything to ever fuck things up between them. Even if his Lower Brain imploded from blue balls in the process.

For the most part, Max tried to keep his texts with Nina light and silly. Nina didn't bring up her ex again, and Max didn't ask about the asshole. He simply made it a point each day to check in with her, and she did the same for him.

One evening, Max texted Nina: hows the roomie sitch going?

She messaged back: Not good. Haven't found anyone suitable.

With a grimace, Max tapped out a response: shit. that sucks. wat u gonna do?

His phone chimed a few minutes later with her reply: If I can't find someone by the end of this month, then I'm moving somewhere cheaper. I don't want to keep paying rent by myself.

After Max read Nina's text, not once but twice, panic coursed through him. He didn't want her to leave the complex. He liked knowing that she was a short walk away across the hall, even if they didn't hang out all the time.

Just then, an idea that was both wonderful and terrible crossed his mind. In his state of urgency, Max texted it to Nina without a second thought: wat if... we moved in together?

She didn't respond for a full ten minutes. He began to sweat. When Nina's text finally came through, she didn't seem thrilled about his suggestion: What.

Max groaned at his stupid, spontaneous decision. Did he cross the line? He quickly tried to undo his mistake: nevermind. forget it. it's a stupid idea.

But, then, Nina wrote back: No... wait.

Max didn't want to say the wrong thing again, so he sent back a bunch of question marks: ???

She tossed him a question: What about your lease?

He shared: i'm on a month-to-month.

She sent back: Huh.

Max's head started to hurt.

What the hell was going on right now?

He typed out his confusion: ???

After waiting fifteen excruciating more minutes, Nina finally gave him a clear answer: How about this? Let me keep looking for two more weeks. If I don't find anyone, then I might just take you up on that offer.

Max's eyes popped at her latest message.

Shit.

Was she actually warming up to his crazy idea?

His heart hammered with excitement as he messaged her again: sure. sounds good.

He tried not to feel too happy about it. Still, Max wondered if he was being too impulsive about this roommate business. The entire exchange felt as though they were scheduling a lunch date and not making plans to live together for an undetermined amount of time. He hadn't even wanted to move in with his ex-girlfriend, Everly, when she first suggested it to him after months of dating.

A minute later, however, Nina's reply cast aside all of his doubts: Thank you so much, Max! I actually didn't want to move. I like it here. :)

Her text absolutely made Max's day. He couldn't help it. His mouth spread into a wide, goofy grin. Max didn't want Nina to move, either. He liked having her here with him.

Max spent the next two weeks walking around on pins and needles. He dreaded it every time Nina sent him a text. He kept worrying about her finding a roommate and messaging him to back out of their agreement. By the end of the two weeks, it seemed that Max was finally in the clear.

Nina called him on a Saturday morning.

He picked up right away. "Hey."

"Hey, Max. It's Nina. I was wondering..."

"Hmm?"

"Is that offer of yours still on the table?"

Just to be an ass, Max pretended to play dumb. "Which one? I've offered you so many favors over the course of our friendship."

He could sense Nina rolling her eyes at him all the way from her apartment across the hall. "Dude... you're gonna make me beg for this, huh? Fine, then! Max, would you do me the honor of moving into my apartment? So we can split the rent over the next twelve months? And fight over dirty dishes and steal each other's leftovers from the fridge?"

He grinned into the phone. "Well, since you asked so nicely, I guess I could do that for ya."

Nina laughed. "Thanks... loser. I was kidding about the dishes and the leftovers, though. I promise I'll stay out of your shit and keep my area clean."

Max chided playfully, "You better. Loser."

"So... should we finish out the month of September in our own places?"

"Yeah, works for me."

"Then, I can help you move in on the first of October. Does that work for you?"

"Sounds perfect, Nina."

As they hung up, Max couldn't believe this was actually happening. It felt too good to be true. The big, goofy grin returned to his face.

October couldn't get here fast enough.