“Scrambled or sunny side up, Justin?”

“Uhhh…scrambled,” I say distractedly as Janice’s words pull me away from the newspaper I’m trying to read. I’ve only gotten halfway through the front page story because every two sentences, she’s talking. Honestly, there’s something to be said for quiet in the morning.

“Do you want me to put some cheese in or anything? I could make you an omelet if you want.”

I pull my head up so I’m looking into her questioning eyes. I give her a smile. “Seriously, just scrambled eggs is perfect. I don’t need anything special.”

Her lips turn up and she turns back to the stove. “If you say so.”

Silence falls back between us and my eyes return to the newspaper. I’ve only taken in one sentence when the front door slams, making me jump. A groan escapes Janice and I glance up and wait as footsteps approach the room. Trace appears a minute later and with a sigh, I push the newspaper aside. I guess I’m just not meant to get caught up on current events today.

“What’s the game plan for today, dude?” Trace asks, pulling out a chair from the table. I wince a bit as the chair scrapes against the wood. People have no respect for my house.

“We’re supposed to meet up with Pete at eleven at the course so we gotta leave in half and hour.”

“Are you going to be golfing the entire day?” Janice asks, dropping my plate of eggs in front of me.

“Just a few hours.” I pick up my fork and test the eggs. Not bad. A little runny, but not bad.

“I thought we were going to spend all day together.”

I ignore Trace when he rolls his eyes. He tolerance of Janice seems to have dropped recently. “I’ll be back before supper. We’re going to that Italian place.”

Janice smiles and her foot touches mine underneath the table. “Oh yeah.”

“I called up Wes but he was busy so he’s not coming.”

I stop shoveling eggs into my mouth at Trace’s words. “Wes?”

“Yeah. He’s gotta work today though.”

“I thought Wes didn’t like you,” Janice says to me.

“Uh…we just aren’t friends.”

“So why are you inviting him, Trace?”

Trace completely ignores Janice and instead turns to me. “I think Laina and Wes are going to break up soon.”

I put my fork down and push my empty plate away from me. “How do you figure that?”

He shrugs. “Ever thought about how their names just don’t sound good together? Laina and Wes, Wes and Laina. No matter which way you say them it just sounds off. That means their relationship is doomed.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Janice says with a giggle, nudging me in the side.

“That is kind of out there, Trace,” I agree. “You can’t judge the future of a couple’s relationship with how their names sound together.”

“Of course Justin and Janice sound pretty good together,” Janice says, nudging my side.

I look over at her smiling eyes and the corner of my mouth turns up. “Sounds good to me.”

She giggles again and then takes a sip of her coffee. I look away from her to find Trace staring at us blankly. After a second, he shakes his head and then pulls the newspaper closer to him and flips it open.

“Got any eggs for me, Janice?” he asks.

She rolls her eyes. “I didn’t make you any considering you don’t live here,” she says, pushing back her chair. She grabs my empty plate and takes it over to the sink.

“You know who makes great omelets? Laina.”

A groan rises in me at Trace’s words and I don’t have to look at Janice to know that she’s glaring at him. “Who cares, Trace,” I say.

He shrugs. “I’m just saying.”

“Well don’t,” Janice snaps and I hear the clatter of the dishes as she drops them in the sink. Trace needs to shut up or I’m going to be out some dishes.

I pick up my coffee cup and rest the rim of it against my lips but make no move to drink any of it. I can’t handle the coffee Janice makes. She waters it down and I’ve always figured that if you’re going to make coffee, make it as strong as you can handle. Laina knows how to make a good cup of coffee. Her coffee kicks me right into gear. I could really use a cup of that right about now.

“Can I have a credit card, Justin? I want to get something new to wear tonight.”

Janice cuts into my thought almost as if she knew I was thinking about Laina. I blink at her before nodding.

“Yeah.” I lean back in my chair so I can pull my wallet from my pocket and flip it open. Janice kisses my cheek as she takes the card from my hand and slips it into her pocket.

“Thanks, Baby.”

Trace waits until she’s left the room and gone upstairs before looking at me and speaking. “That girl is going to take you for all your money.”

I roll my eyes and take the newspaper from him and pull it back in front of me. “I’m not an idiot. I gave her the card with the low limit. She can’t do too much damage with it.”

Trace shakes his head. “You just let her spend your money, man. I don’t get it.”

“She doesn’t just spend my money,” I say defensively. “I don’t mind paying for stuff for her. It’s worth it.”

“You make it seem like it’s just a fancy way of you paying her for sex.”

“Shit, Trace,” I breathe out. Janice is RIGHT upstairs and could very easily hear him. “Don’t be an ass. You know it’s not like that.”

He laughs at the fact that he got me a bit riled up and leans back in his chair. “Yeah, yeah. I know you just like to take care of your woman. That’s why you and Laina never worked out.”

He’s dead on with that statement. “Janice isn’t whoring herself out for my credit card.”

Trace gives a quick roll of his eyes and he waves me off. “I was kidding. Lighten up.” He gets up from the table and goes to pour himself a cup of coffee. He barely has a sip in his mouth before he’s spitting it into the sink. “What the hell is this shit? How are you drinking this?”

I push my cup away from me. “I’m not. It’s too weak for me.”

Trace dumps the remaining coffee into the sink. “Let’s go now and stop at Starbucks on the way. I gotta have a decent cup of coffee.”

I push my chair back. “I’m all for that. You buying?”

Trace raises an eyebrow and snorts. “I better since your girl is cleaning you out.”

I give him a shove, hard enough to make him stumble ahead of me. “Shut the hell up, man.”

* * *

After spending four hours golfing in the hot sun, there’s nothing I want to do more than go home and shower. I manage to get all the way upstairs and into the shower before Janice’s voice cuts into the sweet massage the water’s giving my body.

“Justin?”

“What?” I ask over the sound of the water.

“Did you make reservations?”

“Yeah.”

She says something else which I can’t hear her. I open the door of the shower and poke my head out. “What?”

She leans her hip against the doorframe. “Did you call and confirm the reservations?”

I wipe my hand over my wet face. “No.”

She gives me a look. “You should have. I don’t want to get there and find something went wrong with it.”

I give her a reassuring smile. “Nothing will. Don’t worry about it.”

“I wish you had called,” she says, coming further into the bathroom. She wipes the condensation from the mirror and stares at her reflection in the mirror. Figuring the conversation is over, I close the shower door again and continue with my shower. By time I turn off the water, Janice is gone from the bathroom. Her hair products are scattered all over the counter and I push them to the side so I can pull out my own stuff. Sometimes Janice kind of over takes my house but I guess I’m not exactly complaining. Not yet at least.

I do everything I need to get ready and then go into my room to change. Janice goes to push past me into the bathroom and I stop her before she can slide past me. She’s got on this red dress that’s hugging all her curves and my arms slip easily around her.

“Did you buy that today?” I ask, sliding my hands down to her hips.

She smiles. “Do you like it?”

I give her hips a tug and bring her close to me. “You look gorgeous,” I mumble, lowering my mouth down to kiss her exposed collarbone. She giggles and gives me a little push.

“You need to get dressed,” she says, pulling away from me. She gives me a pat on the chest and then moves past me into the bathroom. Shaking my head, I go into my closet and grab some clothes to wear.

My stomach grumbles as I pull on my pants. I am really looking forward to some good food tonight. Janice has been cooking dinner for me every night for the past couple weeks and I don’t think I can take anymore of her health food shit. Every time I suggest ordering pizza or getting some fast food she dismisses the idea and pulls out some tofu or shit like that. Tonight I’m going to load up on all the pasta, meat, and bread I can fit into my stomach. And dessert is not out of the question.

I really need to get Janice off her health food kick so she’ll just relax and eat some junk with me. She’s so concerned with her body and she really doesn’t need to be. She’s got a great figure and a pig out of pizza and beer isn’t going to change that.

Come to think of it though, I’ve only ever gone out with one girl who hasn’t obsessed with her body. Laina was-

“Are you almost ready?”

Damn. It’s like she knows whenever I’m thinking of her proclaimed arch enemy. She can probably read it all over my face. “Just give me a minute in the bathroom.”

I stand up from the bed and Janice’s face falls a bit as her eyes scan over me. “Would you mind changing?”

I look down at my clothes. “Why?”

“Your tie’s pink, Justin. My dress is red. We’ll clash.”

A laugh escapes me. “We’re not going to the damn prom, Jan.”

She gives me a look and a small pout. “Please? Wear that tie with the red dots on it. It’ll match perfectly.”

It’s freaky that she knows my closet better than I do. The fact that I’m hungry is making a little irritated and the stubborn part of me wants to just refuse. But she’s giving me this hopeful look and I don’t want to start a fight with her so I give in.

“Yeah, fine.”

She goes up on her toes and gives me a quick peck on the cheek. “Thanks, Baby.”

Concealing a small sigh, I pull my tie from my neck and go over to the closet. Sometimes having a high maintenance girlfriend is a little much. But I guess that’s what I stated that I was after so not one complaint is going to come from my mouth. Well…at least not when anyone is around to hear.