CHAPTER 11

Thursday afternoon, Xavier groaned as he did his best to get off the phone with his mother. Damn it. Would it have killed Auggie to stick to the twin-code and remain mute on the subject of Justine?

“Ma, I’m serious. She’s a lovely woman, but we’re just friends. Both of us are getting off bad breakups, and it wouldn’t be healthy to jump into a new relationship for either of us.”

“But honey, Auggie said—”

“Auggie’s a pain. She’s just stirring up trouble because...” She’s treating your dating life like a competition. Whose candidate wins Mom’s heart? He couldn’t say that. “Because she’s Auggie.”

“If you say so, Xavier. I’m not nagging.”

“You’re totally nagging.”

“It’s only because I love you.” She paused. “And I never thought Christine was a good fit for you, honey.”

“I know, which is also part of the reason we broke up. I didn’t feel she was a good fit for me either. Again, Justine is a friend. It’s nice to not have any weirdness with her.”

“Fine.” Yet Cynthia didn’t sound as if she believed him.

He had no idea why. They chatted for a few more minutes before his mother had to go to play pickleball with a few friends.

“I’ll talk to you later this week. Love you.”

“Love you too, Ma,” he said and disconnected.

He wondered when Justine would talk to her mother, and what she’d say. He had enough pressure from his mom and Auggie, and he liked being with them. It couldn’t be easy dealing with problematic family all the time.

He left the apartment and hit the gym, coming back home a few hours later. He’d managed to avoid Auggie after yesterday’s coffee and late dinner. Poor Justine. She must have been starving. She really should confront her boss and say—

Nope. Not my business. Not going there.

Though it was a chore to put away good advice, he knew it best to stick to his own business and no one else’s unless they asked for it. Justine would handle her family and boss the way she saw fit.

After fixing himself a quick meal, he grabbed his laundry and hauled it downstairs. Fortunately, of the two washers, only one was running, so he had plenty of room in which to work. He put in a load and left, returning an hour later to find both machines off and nothing in the dryers.

He put his load in the dryer and turned to leave when Justine entered wearing a battered sweatshirt and shorts that showed off her amazing legs.

Doing his best to keep his gaze on her face, he saw a lack of makeup and thought she looked even prettier without it. Not that he’d say anything about it, because who cared what he thought about her appearance?

“Oh, hey, Xavier.”

“Hi. How was work?”

She shrugged. “It was work. But at least Frank the procrastinator had nothing for me today. And the presentation he had to give went well, so I’m told.” She scooped her clothing from the washer and dumped it all, in an armload, into the dryer.