Page 56 of Love me, Maddie Mendoza

“A Nismo 370Z?” I asked, looking at the shining white paint.

Cathy smirked. “You bet your ass. I told you I was going to bring the big guns.”

I couldn’t stop myself. I went around the car, admiring its beauty. “Looks modified,” I said, hoping I wasn’t embarrassing myself with a mistake. I liked cars, but I suspected Cathy knew them much more than I did.

She nodded. “I work on the cars back at the shop.”

My head snapped in her direction. “Cars?” it was the only thing I asked.

“Yes, cars.” She chuckled.

Yeah, dumping a hot, smart mechanic wasn’t on my list of favorite things to do. I looked over the house and caught a glimpse of Maddie watching us through the window. Her hair disappeared quickly when I looked.

I turned to Cathy. “Can we talk?”

To my surprise, she tipped her head to the side like I amused her. Tsking, she opened the driver’s door. “If you’re going to dump me, you might as well get a ride.”

Cathy got into the car. Dumbfounded, I followed. The bang of the doors enclosed us. When I faced her, she still had a little smile on her lips.

“Plus, Barlowe will get real angry if we drive off.”

“Sold.”

Jason was checking the back door every five seconds, and I had to bite my lip not to laugh.

“What don’t you tell him?” Nick wanted to know.

I shrugged his question off. I had finished it before it even started with Cathy, but refrained from sharing that with Jason after she dropped me off back at home yesterday. It was Friday night and Jason insisted on having people over for a party, but it felt a lot like a trap.

The backyard was full, with few guys playing basketball at the hoops I installed, music was playing, and there was an easy coming and going of people. Aisha wasn’t there, neither was Cathy, which was enough to get both of my roommates testy.

It was a party, though, and I wasn’t in the mood to give them explanations on the whereabouts of two certain girls. At least Nick only glared at me when I mentioned his clear affection toward our friend. Jason, on the other hand, was so oblivious he thought it was normal to put so much effort into his so called “arch-enemy.” I informed him engineering undergrads did not have archenemies.

“Come on, I’m sure you can do it.” I heard Matt’s voice by the hoops.

Maddie’s laugh came in response. “If Z wasn’t able to do it in sixteen years, why would you think you can?”

I turned around to the scene of my old teammates and my best friend laughing together. Maddie had a beer bottle dangling from her delicate fingers. She was dressed in her uniform of white chucks, denim shorts and, of course, her new thing, those crochet tops that honestly were just two triangles tied around her body.

I was a little bothered by the scene.

Just a little.

Just enough.

Maddie never dressed provocatively, not because she wasn’t sexy, but it never occurred to her to get a reaction from anyone. She wore the things she liked, and only laughed at the jokes she thought were funny. It was Maddie being Maddie, but sometimes she forgot she wasn’treallyone of the guys.

So Maddie seemed oblivious to a few things. Like when she laughed, her tits jiggled. And when she bent over, her ass looked like a peach. And her laugh was husky and delicious and the sound alone could turn a man inside out.

“Maybe Zeek wasn’t a good teacher.” Matt insisted.

I narrowed my eyes. He and Maddie always played around, flirting innocently. This time I heard the edge of his voice, though, like something had changed. It wasn’t a joke anymore.

Wasn’t Matt with someone? I couldn’t remember. Maybe he stayed away because of Peter, and now Maddie was a fair game. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I never thought about how it would be to see Maddie with someone close to me. The closest that she got was Adam from my school team, senior year.

Yeah, those weren’t a pleasant three months.

It was one thing to be told the tales of her romantic life, another was to be the third wheel. If I was going to over analyze things- and I really shouldn’t- Maddie’s relationships always annoyed me a little.

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