Page 97 of Love me, Maddie Mendoza

He didn’t need to say more. We knew it was with the girl we saw him with earlier. Not daring to say it out loud either, Jason continued. “And I can’t find Aisha. Did she tell you she was leaving?”

In the same second, Maddie took her hand off me and hopped off the sink. She opened the door, not giving me enough warning to get ready.

“What you mean you can’t find her?” Maddie demanded.

Jason lifted his shoulder. “She told me she was coming back. But it’s been a while. I looked everywhere.”

Maddie dipped her chin, “Thank you, Jay.” And passed him at the door, turning left to the hallway, clearly in search of her friend. I watched her go, but after a second, I faced Jason and sighed. He was watching with narrowed eyes.

“Let’s help find Aisha, ok?” I shook my head.

He nodded, and for a second I thought he was going to be nice. But then, once we turned down the hall, he threw over his shoulder. “But zip your fly first.”

I cussed, zipped myself, praying no one else saw me coming out of a bathroom with my fly open. We followed Maddie’s steps from a distance, keeping our eyes peeled for a sign of Aisha.

“You and Maddie are sleeping together,” Jason said.

I grunted. “No.”

“Then she was examining your dick because of what?”

I shook my head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His hand slapped my stomach, making me halt in my step. “Don’t I? We talked before, King. If you’re dating Maddie, that’s good shit, that’s great. But why do I feel like you’re both making a mess out of things?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, looking away to avoid his stare.

“I’m not trying to be a dick.” He started.

“Try harder.” I snarled.

Jason chuckled instead of getting annoyed with my tone. He knew me well enough to know it was all bark. Still, when he poked me in the chest with his finger, I wanted to punch him and get over it. “What kind of bullshit are you doing?”

I slapped away his finger. “How many times do I have to ask you to mind your own business?”

Jason wasn’t easily intimidated. “How many times will I have to see you fucking it up?”

“I’m not fucking anything up.” I replied over my gritted teeth.

“Are you sure? Hiding your best friend in the bathroom of a party while she sucks your dick?”

It wasn’t exactly what was happening, but it wasn’t too far from home. My body shook. I wanted to take on him. Drive my point across with my fist. But he wouldn’t let me.

“This is not the way to treat Maddie.”

“I’m not hiding Maddie.” I defended myself, but it was a lie and we both knew it. We went to hide in the bathroom for a reason. I refrained from being physical with her right in the open. Yes, I could argue that she seemed to enjoy whatever was happening between us, but it felt like hiding.

I couldn’t kiss her in front of everybody until we had a conversation, and I was trying my best to avoid that conversation. Suddenly the whole ordeal felt bleak, and I shook my head, the eagerness of blaming Jay gone.

“I’m not an asshole, Jay.” I breathed out. “I know how to treat Maddie.”

Jason lifted one eyebrow, telling me he wasn’t sure, but he didn’t say a word beyond what his eyes were shouting.

“To be honest, I don’t think it’s fair to you either.”

I dipped my chin, acknowledging him, but that was as far as it went. We went separate ways, since we lost Maddie, deciding that we could cover more ground that way.

I looked everywhere, from all the rooms to the backyard, but Aisha was gone, and now so was Maddie.

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