Page 39 of Game Changer
“Yes.”We reply in unison.
“Fine, fine.” She sets the menu down, wincing at the stickiness of the booth. It doesn’t matter how many times we wipe the tables down, it’s like beer is forever coated on the cheap wood. “I’ll just get a coffee with cream and sugar.”
“Same. Thanks, Tabi.”
“No problem. Be back in a few.” She grabs our menus and disappears, leaving my best friend and me alone again. Maddie stares at me unnervingly, her chin resting in her palms.
“What?” I ask.
“Oh, nothing.” She sighs dramatically. “Just waiting for you to tell me what happened last night.” Fuck. I try my hardest, but I can feel the heat prick along my neck and cheeks. I know the redness is giving me away, and Maddie grins. “So somethingdidhappen. Did Ethan make a move? Ugh! I wish I didn’t get so drunk. I would have witnessed it myself.”
“There was nothing to witness.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“Maddie.”I didn’t come to have coffee and talk about her brother. Despite what happened, Ethan is still herbrother. I’m not one to be shy when it comes to sex, but it feels awkward when the man who went down on me last night is related to her. She may act like it doesn’t give her the creeps, but I know better. “Let’s talk about other things, shall we? How’s school?”
“Good. I’m still at the top of my class.” She waves her hand like she’s shooing a fly. “It’s all boring stuff. I want to talk about somethingexciting. Now, are you with Ethan or not?”
Tabi picks the perfect time to deliver our coffees. She catches the tail end of the conversation and says, “Ooh. Are we discussing the man who gave youthreeorgasms last night?”
Oh god.
Maddie blows out a harsh breath. “Wow. Go Ethan.”
I’m too mortified to speak. Yes, I texted Tabi this morning after I woke up to an empty bed because who the fuck else would I text? Certainly not Maddie when she’d blow things out of proportion and probably cuss her brother out before I could ask him myself. Tabi isn’t emotional. She’ll give it to me straight, which is why I confided in her about last night.
Quickly regretting my choices.
“Erm.” I clear my throat, feeling the burning on my cheeks only worsen. “Tabi, this is Maddie. Ethan’ssister.”
She winces. “Oh, shit. Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Maddie says. “I’ve known about them for a while now. It’s nothing new.”
“There’s nothing to know, Maddie.” Slumping back in the booth, all my efforts to hide this from her dissolve. She’ll figure it out eventually, either by sleuthing or by breaking me down until I finally cave. “He wasn’t there when I woke up this morning, so . . .”
Tabi gives me a stern look. “Stop assuming the worst. Maybe he had an assignment to do. Or maybe he had plans with that guy he was with. You said his friend was visiting, yeah? The one the girls were drooling over?”
“That’s my boyfriend.” Maddie seems proud, sitting up a little straighter. “His name is Cameron.”
“He wasn’t supposed to meet up with Cameron until later today at the football practice,” I admit. “And IknowEthan. He wouldn’t—” He wouldn’t justleave. He thinks everything through. He plans five steps ahead before deciding something. Irrational decisions aren’t his thing, and if something came up, he would have told me. Which means . . . “He regrets it, and I can’t say I blame him. Not when I treated him like shit after spring break.”
“Do you want me to text Cam?” Maddie suggests. “Or I could text Mark. Either of them would snoop for more details.”
Tabi suddenly stills, paying a lot more attention to my best friend. “You know Mark?”
“Um.” Maddie chews on her bottom lip as she tries to find an answer. “Sort of? It’s complicated.”
“Complicatedhow?” Tabi props a hand on her hip, her eyes narrowing slightly. It’s obvious she wouldnotbe okay if something had transpired between Maddie and Mark, and my best friend suddenly looks like a deer in headlights. Not that I can blame her. Tabi is intimidating.
So I help her out and come to her rescue. “Mark asked her out over spring break, but when the day of their date arrived she chose to be with Cameron instead and basically stood him up.”
“Wow.” Maddie hums. “Way to make me sound like a bitch.”
“I’m not trying to make you sound like a bitch! It’s over and done with, right? Mark was fine with it, and there wasn’t any awkwardness when we were around each other last night.” My focus shifts to Tabi. “Nothing happened between them.”
Tabi fidgets with her apron and rolls her eyes. “It doesn’t matter if anything did. We’re not a thing.”
