Page 79 of Love me, Maddie Mendoza

The game was nerve wracking and made me smile.

Anderson from Statham got the rebound and raced to the other side of the court. Two pushes and he passed to Nick. Maddie stood up, jumping from one foot to the other in anticipation. Nick was a closer. The other team should never let him get the ball, he was a baller to end all ballers. Just a fact.

Jason and I stood up. The noise engulfed us. The bleachers under my feet thumped in the rhythm of the wordStatham, Statham… I swallowed and shook my head. It wasn’t long ago when the same crowd screamedKingat the top of their lungs.

Nick couldn’t get in and passed the ball again. Maddie groaned, her arm snaking around my back, gripping to my t-shirt like it was her own stress relief ball.

“Stop fretting.” I laughed.

She didn’t even care to glance at me, chewing the nail of her baby finger. Maddie only cheered if it was to do it religiously. She grew up on bleachers, crying my name before she could understand the game. She was the first to want my jersey, even when she had to make it herself with the new bejewel gun she got for Christmas.

Nick had the ball again, and for that second, the whole place was silent. We all waited, both sides. And…

Swish.

Beautiful.

Jason roared, Maddie jumped up and down and I grabbed her waist, anchoring her to me. Her arms went to my side, hugging me with her whole body. “See? He always gets the job done,” I told her in her ear.

I felt her hand grip my arm when the words hit her at once, tipping her head up she replied, “It’s better when I pretend there’s a chance for him to miss.” I heard her voice above all.

I shook my head and mouthed, “Why?” Her eyes trained on my lips. She licked her bottom lip before tugging me down a little, bringing my ear to her.

“I love the butterflies, Z.” Her voice hitting me hard, the puff of air coming from her lips making me shiver. “The anticipation. The almost. The feeling I’m on the edge. Don’t you love it, too?”

She asked, and I blinked at nothingness. My eyes focused somewhere beyond the game. Our side cheered again, a sign that we must have scored, but I was rooted in my spot. I looked down at Maddie. She was still waiting for a reply.

I couldn’t say I liked the butterflies. I usually relished in the notion of stability. I liked Nick as a player because he was consistent, as I once was.

“I don’t know.” I frowned at her.

She parted her lips, maybe to say something, but that something I never got. We were thrown off balance by a screaming Jason. “This is unbelievable!” he was saying over and over again. My gaze went to the scoreboard. We were miles ahead now.

I glanced at Maddie, but she was lost in the game again. Her eyes tracing the court, biting her lip to every move. I blinked away, trying to concentrate, but it was hard when I couldn’t stop looking at her.

The music was loud enough to make me reconsider. I grabbed a beer from a bucket, raising my hand to some guy I met once or twice on my way through the hall. Statham annihilated on the court, and the team celebrated in a very Statham fashion, with a gigantic party in a house where three of the players lived.

Near to ours, the place was similar. One-story house with three bedrooms and a good backyard. People chatted in the kitchen and danced in the living room. I scratched my cheek, feeling out of place. Maddie left to call Aisha and ask if she was coming.

Aisha was never at Nick’s games. I asked Maddie about it before, but she changed the subject quickly enough for me to understand that it was Aisha’s deal. I left it well enough alone. It wasn’t like Nick was an open book when that woman was concerned.

But Aisha liked a good party. And there was nothing better than celebrating a winning streak.

I ended up in the back of the house, where a few people were playing ping pong. I knew it was going to turn into beer pong before the night was through. I sat on a chair to the side, a beer bottle dangled from my fingertips.

“You miss it?”

I looked up to see where the rich feminine voice was coming from to find Cathy smiling. The woman had many sides; the jokester, the mechanic, and when at a party like this? A walking heart attack. The red loose curls were over her shoulders, framing her face perfectly. Cathy arched a brow, her eyes mischievous, her lips painted in red just like her hair. She was wearing makeup, but not enough to hide her freckles. Lean body in a tight black dress. She sat down before I replied.

“Miss what?”

“Being the player celebrating a win.”

Rolling my shoulders back, I pretended it wasn’t a big deal. I didn’t say like a limb, which was the answer on the tip of my tongue. “I miss it, yeah.”

“Hmm…” She laughed a little with herself.

“What?” I sipped from my beer.

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