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Her spine goes stiff. “Yes. How do you know? I thought you were above celebrity gossip.”

I shrug. “Mia mentioned it to me, and I got curious.”

She walks ahead of me. “My misery must have entertained the heck out of you.”

I was amused that Leigh’s life wasn’t a perfect fairy tale for a minute. But then the vitriol made me nauseated, and I stopped reading the tabloids. The hurt in her tone tells me that she’s not over the ordeal yet.

“It didn’t,” I say.

She stops and looks at me with distrust shining in her eyes. “You’re one of the few, then.”

“I’m not as bad as you think I am.” I press the elevator button.

I expect a retort from her, but she remains unusually quiet. I wonder what she’s thinking now. We don’t speak in the elevator, but the silence doesn’t feel awkward. Probably because I’ve known Leigh my entire life.

I’m consumed by my thoughts and don’t notice that the elevator’s stopped until the door opens. It’s not the garage level yet. I realize we made a huge mistake and should have taken the stairs when Sylvanna, a woman who lives in my building, joins us. We hooked up last month, but I haven’t talked to her since.

Not knowing the history, Leigh acts as though she’s never seen Sylvanna before—which she hasn’t. Not only that, but she immediately takes a sidestep, leaving a gap in the middle.

Sylvanna scowls at Leigh, then stands stiffly between us. “So… this is how things are going to be, huh?” she says through clenched teeth.

Leigh turns to me with a question in her eyes, and in a panic, I point at Sylvanna, then make a vulgar gesture with my hands. Unfortunately, I’m not subtle, and Sylvanna turns to me. Fuck.

“Uh… I’m sorry. Are you speaking to me?” Leigh asks Sylvanna, drawing her attention away from me.

Sighing in relief, I lean back against the wall and make sure the hoodie is still covering Leigh’s hair. If Sylvanna recognizes Leigh, she’ll make assumptions, and what Leigh fears most will come to pass. Everyone will assume we’re together.

I’m beginning to think this situation would be easier if we pretended to be dating. It wouldn’t be the end of the world for me to be linked to Leigh romantically. Despite the hatred between us, we look good together. The exposure would be insane for sure, and in our current state, it could be better to fly under the radar. But on the flip side, if we say we’re dating, then we won’t need to skulk around like criminals.

“Un-fucking-believable,” Sylvanna blurts out. “I should have known hooking up with you was a bad idea.”

Leigh inhales, then turns to glare at me. I shrug. What the fuck does she want me to do? I can’t change the past.

“Yeah, you definitely should have,” she tells Sylvanna. “Everyone knows I’m an egocentric asshole. What were you thinking?”

What the hell!

“Wow,” Sylvanna replies. “Are you blaming me? That’s a new level of fuckery.”

“You’re acting all butthurt, like I promised you the world when I never did that. We had fun, we parted ways.” She shakes her head. “Women… don’t know why you have to complicate everything.”

I’m stunned. I don’t know how she guessed what happened between Sylvanna and me.

The elevator stops at the ground level, and the door opens. “Fuck you, Keanu,” Sylvanna barks before she storms out.

Leigh remains unfazed. As for me, I don’t know if I should yell at her or give her a high five for the masterful way she got rid of Sylvanna. I won’t have to worry about her now.

The door closes, and I say, “Thank you.”

Leigh responds with a glacial stare that would freeze my balls if I were in my body. “I didn’t do that for you.”

“Either way, thank you.”

She sneers. “God… you’ve never heard of the saying ‘Don’t shit where you eat,’ huh?”

The elevator finally arrives at the garage level, and before I can reply, Leigh walks out. I follow her, but because her legs are shorter, I have to hurry to keep up. Man, I miss my body.

“Are you really gonna give me shit for that? Wasn’t your douche ex your costar?”