I ran a hand through my hair and shook my head to try and rid the image of you and continued. “You’re a really cool chick, Felicia, and I’d like to be friends but—”
“It’s her, isn’t it?” she demanded, her eyes narrowing. “I knew you liked Ace!”
I had wondered if Felicia knew I had feelings for you. The two times she had come around and you were there I was distracted and barely spoke as I checked my phone repeatedly, hoping you’d call or text, even though I knew you wouldn’t. I didn’t want her pissed at you though. I’d made the ugly mess with her, not you.
“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have led you to believe this was anything more than friendship.”
“So you want to be my friend, and her what? Boyfriend of the week? You’re going to get bored. I’ve heard she’s a real prude. And neither of you seem capable of being in a relationship over a month, except for this current guy she’s with. You know about him, right? She’s with someone.”
I think I winced, caught between fear and anger with her underlying accusations. I was still a little terrified at that point that I would only ever be a flavor of the week for you even though I’d learned at that point you weren’t easy. “It doesn’t matter. Even if I didn’t have feelings for her, this still wouldn’t work.”
“You’re such a bastard! It isn’t going to work. You can live in your own delusional world all you want, but you and her aren’t going to work. You’re like oil and vinegar. You can’t mix the two.”
“But they sure complement each other well.”
She shrieked, cueing it was time to leave. “I’m really sorry.”
“Save it. It doesn’t matter,” she said, shaking her head. “Just go!” She flicked her wrist at me and I silently sighed with relief as I edged closer to the door and headed out.
I’ll admit, babe, even though I felt like an asshat, I was relieved as all hell. I know you think Felicia was interested in me, and who knows, I guess there’s a small chance that she genuinely was, but in all honesty I think she was always more interested in my reputation than in me. The thing is, the guilt still made me feel pissed at myself. If a guy ever treated my mom like that, I’d be livid. Plus, I had felt like I’d grown a lot over the past couple of years from girls like Lacey and Felicia. Like the insecurities you were evoking were causing me to digress.
The night of Dante’s party I was restless. When I’d gotten home from breaking things off with Felicia, I saw Eric leaving your house, and it wasn’t a tear-filled goodbye. Instead, he looked like a ridiculous Smurf, wearing all blue with a grin that stretched from ear to fucking ear.
“So what kind of thing do I wear?” Jameson asked, earning him to be mocked and teased by Landon for a good fifteen minutes. I don’t know how it ended, eventually I left to shower.
When I came out, Jameson was growling to himself as he rifled through what used to be Billy’s closet. I stopped in the doorway, making his attention shift to me. “That guy you saw on her Facebook is dating her roommate.”
His eyes widened with hope and I nodded. You sent me a text confirming the fact that morning, and I sort of forgot to pass that bit of information on. I’d been to jazzed that you had reached out to talk to me about something other than running for the first time in a while.
Jameson’s smile broke out into an appreciative grin and he nodded a few times, his relief palpable.
I moved to head to my room when his words caught me. “I’m glad you and Ace are talking. Maybe tonight you should tell her.” He’d been trying to get me to tell you how I felt about you since before Felicia and I officially broke things off. You have no idea how annoying he became after.
When we arrived at Dante’s, the place was filled to the brim with people, most of which were already feeling good as they danced and laughed. Jameson’s eyes automatically set out to search for your sister, while Landon’s started surveying the room. You know how crowds and loud noises sort of set him off and make him a little edgy, I hadn’t even considered it when we agreed to come that it was the first party he’d ever gone to with us.
I caught his attention by cocking my head forward and led them to the kitchen where Dante religiously sets up his bar.
“Alright, so do we just make it obvious and go find them, or do you want to try waiting for them to come find us again, since that worked so well the last time?”
My eyes narrowed with Jameson’s sarcasm. “She’s still with him. I’m not getting in the middle of that shit,” I said before taking a long slug of beer.
“Oh come on. I know you heard the girls in the pool again. It’s just a matter of time before they break up.” Remember when you asked me if guys stalk women as much as women stalk men? The answer is yes. We do.
“I hate saying this, but Jameson’s right. She’s being stupid, but you should figure out why because she obviously likes you.” Landon’s words shocked me. He’d never pushed me to do or say anything when it came to you. I just figured he understood that I didn’t want to interfere, but apparently he got tired of trying to keep his mouth shut.
“Whatever, you go do your brooding thing, then. I’m going to go find them,” Jameson said, tossing his cup in the trashcan. He and Landon retreated back out to the living room, and I stubbornly remained in the kitchen. I can now admit to you that I scanned the entire room every two minutes, in case you came in.
An hour later, I swallowed my pride and went looking for you guys. Being that Jameson and Landon never returned, I was pretty confident they’d found you and Kendall. I headed into the throngs of people, searching for Jameson and Landon, because even though I could spot you a mile away, the place was packed.
It took me ten minutes to locate Landon, and then only a second more to see that you weren’t there.
“Max!” Abby cried, wrapping her arms around my waist as I approached. I knew that her excitement about seeing me wasn’t just because of the drink in her hand. I don’t know how Abby got my number, but she’d texted me, suggesting I talk to you. Don’t be pissed with her, I don’t know why I’m telling you this now, maybe just to remind you of how many people believed in us, even back then.
Kendall turned around and squealed my name as well. “You just missed Ace! She went to get something to drink. You’ll spot her though. She’s wearing yellow again.” She winked at me. Yes, winked. Then nestled into Jameson who looked happier than I’d ever seen him. The lucky bastard.
“Where’s Landon?” I asked, looking around, hoping he was doing alright. Kendall pointed over my shoulder and I turned and found him dancing with a brunette, looking comfortable and calm, much to my relief.
“There’s a lot of people here,” Kendall yelled over the music. “You can stick around. She’ll be back.”
My thoughts were on the crowd too, and the fact that the guys outnumbered the ladies pretty dramatically. It was like a giant sausage fest which left me feeling a little unsettled about you wandering around alone.
“I’m going to check things out. I’ll be back.” Kendall gave me a knowing smile and waved.
Before I made it to the doorway that separated the living room from the kitchen, I saw you. Of course you weren’t alone. You were with Pedro fucking Rodriguez. I know Pedro’s been sort of a sore spot in our relationship at different times. Most of that’s my fault, and my insecurities again. I never knew him all that well. We had played baseball together but he never hung out with us. I didn’t know until you told me that he spent most of his free time at home, helping his mom with his three younger siblings. It shouldn’t bother me that you know this about him, for all I know, everyone knows this about Pedro, but I still hated that you knew about it.