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money I need for a new rental and the security deposit.”
    “I’m sorry, Nick,” Emily said. “If you don’t find something before you move out of here, you can stay with me until you get settled.”
    “Thanks, babe, but there’s no way you and I could coexist in your little one bedroom. You don’t even have enough closet space for my coat collection.”
    Emily giggled. “True.”
    William, who had listened attentively, set down his drink. “My townhouse has four bedrooms, Nick, three of which are empty.”
    “Why aren’t I surprised, rich boy?” Nick shook his head. “Thanks, man, but--”
    “Don’t dismiss me out of hand,” Will urged. “I live downtown. You’d be only ten minutes away from the office, compared to the forty-five minute commute you do now. In addition, I live closer to your gym and the finer restaurants and shops in town.”
    Emily’s ears perked up. Will’s house was the business, and the only reason she hadn’t moved in when he suggested it was because Will had wanted more than a roommate arrangement. Hmmm. The way things had been shaping up, it sounded like Nick might have received the same indecent proposal.
    Actually, it wasn’t such a bad idea. The thought of having access to both men at the same time did have its charms. She folded her arms behind her head, gazed at the ceiling, and waited for more of Nick’s denials, thank-you-but-no-thank-yous, and reasons for it not being appropriate.
    “I can’t accept charity from you, Drake.”
    “Who’s offering charity? You’d pay me rent each month, purchase your own food and take care of your personal bills. The two of you like to tease me because I come from a comfortable background, but what you might not understand is what it takes to maintain that level of comfort. It means being practical, it means knowing how to receive the best return on an investment.” William cocked his head arrogantly. “The only charities I give to are tax deductible. So, whatever you think of me, know I work and study hard, and my rich daddy didn’t raise a fool.”
    Emily rolled her eyes. Up until that point the evening had gone fairly well. Rolling upright, she sat on her haunches. “Now, now, boys. Play nice. Nick, don’t be so closed to the idea. William, don’t be so defensive.”
    “I’m not being defensive.” William sniffed, sounding defensive. “I just abhor being judged for how I started out in life. I should be judged for who I am now.”
    “Shit, man, we’re all judged by our beginnings. I’m a damned fine attorney, on track to start pulling down big cases, big money and bigger acclaim in the coming years, but you know what? To everyone I grew up with in Tampa, I’m still white trash. I’m white trash with a fancy degree, but still white trash.”
    “I’m boring and middle-class, if that makes you feel any better,” Emily chimed in. Both men glared at her. “Mmkay. I guess not.”
    Silence descended on them like a dead weight, each attorney seemingly content to stare inside the bottom of their glasses. Emily hated angry silences even more than she disliked vocal dissension among friends. Didn’t they argue enough at work? She hadn’t accepted her dinner invitation just so her two favorite people could find yet another excuse to fight.
    So she decided to use her body as a buffer of sorts. “Last man to the bedroom is a rotten egg!” She jumped up and sprinted toward Nick’s bedroom.
    William and Nick stood in the bedroom doorway watching Emily’s humorous mad dash to remove her clothes.
    “What? Why are you staring at me like that? There’s too much aggression around here tonight, so you might as well take all your anger and resentment out on me,” she declared as she moved to the center of Nick’s bed. She shook her hair and puffed out her chest, things that would have been sexy as hell if she hadn’t stuck out her tongue. “I’m strong. I can take it.”
    “You’re too fucking much, Emily.”