“Oh hey, Cal. Look who I brought!” Aria smiles, though it fades when she sees the look I’m giving her.
Suddenly remembering that I do have some manners, and I can’t immediately pull Maddie out of the room to tell her that I had no fucking part in this, I speak up, letting a smile find my face to greet the woman I really wish wasn’t here. “Penelope…hey.”
“Hey, sorry to totally intrude…”
“That’s exactly what you’re doing.” Maddie’s words pierce the air and the room goes silent before Margie smacks her arm.
“Don’t be rude, Madeline. She’s a friend of Aria’s,” she scolds.
“Yeah, Mads, chill. She’s new to the area and doesn’t have family here. I didn’t want her to be alone on Thanksgiving. Besides, we all had fun when we went out, right Cal?” Aria shoots me a look that says, don’t let Maddie jump all over her.
The room suddenly feels way too small, and Maddie’s anger is taking up most of the space. Keep it the fuck together, Maddie.
No. I can almost hear her.
“So, Penelope, that’s a pretty name,” my mom interjects as she tries to smooth the obvious tension, though I’m sure she hasn’t a clue why the air is frosty in the first place. “Where are you from?”
“Los Angeles,” Penelope says with a nod. I’m only half listening as she goes into some story about growing up there when much to my reluctance, I pull Aria out of the room. I’m hoping that being in my mom’s presence will keep Maddie somewhat in check, though I’m probably about to blow all that to hell.
“What the fuck?” I snap at Aria and cross my arms over my chest. “Your life is about to be hell next week.” I point my finger at her and she smacks it away.
“What!” She presses her fists firmly into her hips. “You made out with her, she told me!”
“A pity make-out because she invited me up and I said no. Why would you bring her here?” I don’t hide the exasperation or the irritation in my tone. My nerves are so tense you could snap them, and this is after Maddie had spent the last three days sucking all of the stress out of me through her kisses.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s going to give her the wrong fucking idea. Introducing her to my mother? To fucking Maddie? You know I don’t take that shit lightly,” I growl.
“Look she knows she’s here as my friend…not your girlfriend. But I thought maybe you guys could get to know each other a little better.”
“No.”
She stares at me confused. “What do you mean, no?”
“It means no, and if you had bothered to ask, I would have told you that I wasn’t interested.”
“Ugh.” She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “I forgot you’ve still got some fuckboy in you.”
“Watch it,” I scold her like I do when we’re at work and she forgets that I’m her boss.
“We aren’t in uniform, so you can kiss my ass.”
“Aria, you always do this shit. You always think you know best and you can just control my life like you have any fucking say. Back off, Daniels, I mean it.” I grit out her maiden name like I always do when she pisses me off.
Hurt flashes across her face briefly before I see it harden. “You’re being a dick.”
“And you’re leading that poor girl on,” I snap. Not that I particularly care, but I can’t very well explain the root of my irritation, so this is the only card I have to play.
“I didn’t make out with her! You didn’t tell me you weren’t into her.”
“Did Henry know I kissed her? No. Because it didn’t fucking mean anything.”
She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Fine, I’m not going to ask her to leave though. And Margie will kick your ass if you do.”
“Maddie will probably handle that.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “And what’s that about? I’ve never known her to be bratty like that.”