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“No.” I take the phone from her and end the call. “What the hell, Maddie?”
“Winston.” She leans forward to touch my arm, but I get out of bed, slipping a pair of sweatpants on. “I don't even remember telling her! We went to a party and I remember her asking me about it. She kept refilling my drink, so I guess I told her at some point. I wouldn't have said what I did if I thought I actually told her. Come back over here,” she finishes softly, holding her hand out for me to take.
I allow her to pull me back onto the bed, sitting on the edge beside her. I'm not so sure how I feel about all of this, so I stay quiet for now and let her do the talking. My phone is vibrating again with another call from Dave.
“Don't answer it. You can call him back later.”
“You don't remember telling her?” I ask. “I don't care if you told someone, Maddie, but there's no need to lie about it now.”
Her hazel eyes gaze at me sadly. “You know I wouldn't lie to you.” We're silent as we process what just happened. Dave knows because he saw his sister half-naked sitting on top of me. He also knows part of what happened in high school with us. “What are you thinking?”
“I'm thinking that was a shit way for him to find out.” Maddie's phone starts ringing. “Go talk to him. Doesn't look like he'll stop until you do.”
“Are you sure?”
I nod and she leaves my side to go answer. I don't really want to hear it, so I grab some clean clothes and head for the shower. Honestly, it feels like things could be worse. Maybe Maddie can calm him down and talk some sense into him. I doubt he wants to listen to me. When I finish, she's still on the phone with him.
As I walk into the room, she says, “Okay. Hold on.” Maddie holds the phone out to me. “He wants to talk to you. I'm going to take a shower.”
I take the phone from her and press it against my ear. “Yeah?”
“I've known you practically my entire life. I know everything you've ever done, good and bad. Why the fuck should I be okay with this, especially knowing what you did to her?”
“What did she tell you?”
“Seriously, Winston? That's what you want to know? You're supposed to be my best friend, not my baby sister's boyfriend. If you hurt her, how could we still be friends? If things don't end well, I'm going to have to choose sides. Do you realize what you're risking by doing this?”
He's starting to really piss me off. “Of course I know! Why do you think Maddie ended things with us the first time, Dave? That was because of you! I wanted to keep my best friend and my girl. When I didn't tell you fast enough and didn't stand up for her to you, I lost her. Don't you fucking tell me I don't know what's on the line. That's the exact reason why I know I'll do everything I need to to make it work. Either learn to deal with it or don't, but I'm not going to lose her again.”
Dave's quiet for what seems like a long time. Maddie reenters my room, frowns when she sees I'm still on the phone, and sits next to me on my bed.
“Well?” I ask, tired of waiting.
He sighs. “I gotta go. Tell Maddie I'll talk to her later.”
Without saying anything further, I hang up. “He'll talk to you later.”
“That's it?”
“That's it.”
“He'll come around, Winston. Once he sees how we are together, he'll look disgusted, tell us not to kiss around him, and things will be back to normal.” She kisses the corner of my mouth because I haven't turned to look at her yet.
“Yeah, I'm sure you're right. Let's hit the gym. It's going to be a long day.”
I'M CONVINCED THAT Maddie is addicted to exercising. She seems to do it even more now that we're dating. Sometimes, she'll run beforehand or it'll be her second, sometimes third, workout of the day. It's insane. When she only eats a protein bar for “breakfast,” I want to say something about how she should eat more, but I don't. I'm sure she'll eat more later. The only reason I'm really noticing is because of a nagging thought in the back of my mind about how what her brother said that night made her start exercising so much in the first place.
We usually chit chat a little, but today, we exchange few words. Dave was right. He knows about all the shit I've done over the years. The stupid, the not-so-respectful, but also the good and the thoughtful. There's a very good chance that he doesn't want to deal with this because of the simple fact of who I'm dating. I hope not because we've been friends for too long. Knowing Dave, he's probably more pissed about how long he was kept in the dark about it. Smart move, Winston.
“Are we going to keep not talking or what?” Maddie's voice sounds from next to me.
I put down my weights and face that small body with hands propped on her hips. “Figured we were just thinking this go round.”
She shakes her head, stepping closer to pull the fabric of my shirt at my waist into her hands, absentmindedly rubbing it between her fingers. “I was waiting for you to freak out. You're much calmer than I expected.”
“You wanted me to give you my everything, so that's what I'm doing. Am I a little concerned about it? Sure, but if you're okay, then I'm okay. Like you said, he'll come around.”
“And if he doesn't? You're going to be fine with that?” She tilts her head to look up at me.
