Page 106 of Love me, Maddie Mendoza

My gaze returned to the TV, and for a second, I thought I got away with that shitty interaction, but Nick turned the TV off and crossed his arms over his chest on the other side of the couch.

“What?” I replied in fake bafflement.

“What the hell is going on, King?”

Direct. Right then, I’d have preferred Jason with a stupid crochet robe and a gavel any day of the week.

Jesus Christ. I rubbed my hand over my face.

“We slept together.” I confessed.

And it took it all of me to tell him.

“YOU AND MADDIE?”

It wasn’t from Nick. Jason stood in shock at the door with his t-shirt drenched in sweat and a gasp spilled out from his lips like it was a Telenovela.

Maybe all of us were channeling things into the gym. Jason, just like me, practically doubled his workout time in the last couple of months. And while Nick was following his regime as usual, I noticed he was pushing more weight than before.

It was a pandemic. The whole goddamn house was frustrated. And I could name the three reasons for it. Maddie Mendoza, Catalina Garcia, and Aisha Harris.

I scratched my cheek and looked at Nick. His eyebrow soared. “Really? Shit.”

I reeled back, looking between the two. “What the hell? After the intervention? Why are you assholes even surprised?”

Nick chuckled, raising his hands up. “Not saying anything. That’s great.”

“He looks miserable.” Jason assessed and came properly to the living room, sitting on the floor. “Why does he look miserable? Is she bad in bed? No, I’m sure she’s ok. You’re probably bad, King.”

“No one is bad in bed!” I snapped. Sighing, I shook my head. “I fucked up, I should never…she was making it very hard though.”

Jason chuckled at the crude little innuendo. Nick followed him. I snapped my fingers at them. “Are you idiots listening to me? I fucked up. For real this time.”

“How the hell did you fucked up?” Jason wanted to know. “You had sex with your best friend. And you tell me no one was bad in bed. So it’s like…the dream?”

“It’s not.” I argued. “Shit.” I rested my elbows on my knees. “Her mother is sick. The tests came back, and the tumor was malignant.”

Nick sat up a little higher. “Spread?”

I shook my head. “They think it’s all removed. But I don’t get it.”

I turned to Nick without really asking. As friends as we were, it seemed bad to ask him advice on cancer. Cruel.

He offered anyway. “It might be nothing.”

“What does that mean?” Jay asked.

“She needs regular testing. It might look like they removed everything, but if the cancer is aggressive, it might contaminate other cells… it…” He sighed. “It’s a long road. But it doesn’t need to end up badly. How’s Maddie?”

I shrugged. “She slept with me.”

“What?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know.” I replied sincerely.

“Zeek…” Nick asked calmly. “Just explain things.”

“That’s it.” I was frustrated, anyone could hear in my voice. “We slept together, and it was… shit, it was great.”

---