Page 54 of Love me, Maddie Mendoza

“You won’t hear the end of this,” Nick said. He was right, but I never intended to hide our date. It was one thing to make him mad, another was to lie.

“You can’t date Cathy!” Maddie blurted it out.

I blinked, and then I blinked again. But no, there wasn’t a trace of sarcasm in Maddie’s words. She wasn’t messing with me.

I was baffled. “You told me to date Cathy!”

Yes, many things happened since I was encouraged to date Cathy, yet nothing really changed. If Carolina’s quinceañera proved anything, it was that Maddie and I could go back to the beginning, no matter what was thrown at us.

The kiss and the madness had to be forgotten. And it was. We danced, we laughed and even though there was a moment of weakness there; I had to believe we were back in the platonic zone.

“Yes.” Maddie shook her head. “That was before.”

I frowned. Was I crazy? On our way back to Statham after the quinces, Maddie acted normal. Of all the times she could have told me things changed between us, why when Nick was there to watch?

“Maddie…” I trod lightly, my eye twitching. God, we needed to sit down. I needed to sit down…

“Jay likes Cathy, Z. You can’t date her!” Maddie interrupted me, her finger poking the glass, pointing to Jason and Cathy.

Oh.

Oh.

I looked through the window and there they were, arguing. It seemed to go forever. It sounded exhausting.

“Are you sure?”

“Oh my god, isn’t it obvious? Look at them! They are five minutes from ripping each other’s clothes off!” She watched them in wonder. “We should hose them.”

“Don’t hose anyone, Maddie.” Nick intervened. “But I have to agree. Jason likes her.”

I scratched my cheek. “Well, I didn’t know. We talked the other day, she asked if…” I couldn’t say that stupid couple’s name one more time. Every time I thought about it, my stomach churned. “I told her I was still up for a date.” I shrugged and hoped they filled the blanks themselves.

Maddie watched me for a second too long, her eyes tracing my face. She knew better than to accept half words. Nodding to herself, she averted the gaze. We three looked through the window at the endless fight. I could see Cathy holding a smile, Jason’s certain steps toward her like he couldn’t hold himself back. Shaking my heart, I threw the rest of my apple in the garbage, planning an intervention.

Maddie caught my arm. “Don’t tell them.”

“Excuse me?”

She glanced back at the window. “Don’t tell them they like each other. They have to discover it themselves.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “So I’m supposed to dump the girl but be mysterious about it?”

“Dump? Isn’t this the first date?” She was suddenly alarmed.

“I need a reason.” I skipped the question. “Since telling her to wait for Jason to take his head out of his ass isn’t an option anymore.”

“Yeah, this house is full of that.” Nick said under his breath, like I wasn’t going to hear it. I sent him a death glare that only made him chuckle.

“Are you making bread, Maddie?” He wheeled to the kitchen table, leaving the Jason and Cathy drama behind.

“Yes,” she replied distractedly. Concentrating on me, she said, “Say you thought it through and…” Maddie swallowed. “Things changed.”

“Things changed?”

Her mouth opened and closed real quick. I waited. She sighed. “Just come up with something, Z. Don’t date Cathy.”

A request that sounded like an order. In all our lives, Maddie never got between me and any of my dates. I dipped my chin, accepted the request, and I left the kitchen.

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