Maria nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. That little one need strength. And don’t you let none of these knuckleheads stress you out.” Her voice softened on that last part, protective without making a show of it.
She straightened, hands on hips, surveying the table like a general reviewing troops.
“Y’all act right. I ain’t breaking up no wrestling match in my dining room again.”
“That was one time,” Dalton muttered.
“Three,” she corrected.
Then she walked off, but not before giving me a look. Not questioning. Not prying. Just… knowing. Mac threw a fry at his brother, who caught it and promptly ate it. Diego rejoined, sliding a cupcake towards Maria who was teasing Mac and trying to drag Jackson into the conversation. She hadn’t yet noticed the cupcake, which had a flower on top and tiny square piece of paper.
I gently kicked her under the table and her eyes swung to mine, brow furrowed. I looked pointedly at the table, where the cupcake sat, and she looked down. Diego was trying to desperately appear casual, arms crossed on the table, but he was fidgeting like mad. Mac elbowed his brother, who finally shut up and Jackson picked now as the perfect time to stare at me. I ignored him, of course. I focused all my attention on Maria who was staring at the cupcake like it might bite her and blinking furiously. She glanced at me again and I gave her a reassuring smile.
With a trembling hand, she reached for the note and just barely loud enough for the rest of us to here read it aloud: “Please let me take my two favorite girls to the dance.” She was crying in earnest now, which appeared to freak Diego out.
“Maria, honey, I think he was hoping for a yes or no…”
“Ye-eee-ss,” it was a broken reply, but a reply none the less. She turned and threw herself into Diego who was more than happy to wrap his arms around her.
I squirmed in my seat, not really loving the feel of being in a rom-com. I gave in, glancing over at Jackson, who had stopped staring at me at some point and was fiddling with his phone.Dalton whooped, and Mac clapped his friend on the back. A few patrons smiled and shook their heads. My phone buzzed.
Jackson: “We need to talk.”
I glanced up at him and found him frowning at me.
Me: No.
His frown morphed into a glare and, maintaining eye contact, I put my phone back down on the table and ignored it when it buzzed again. And again. And again. Until I turned it off. He looked like he was going to implode. I abhorred pity and had vowed long ago to never attend another party.
Brushing it off, I asked Maria and Diego, “So, is it official? You two are a thing now?” Their answering smiles told me all I needed to know. I nodded, reaching for a fry. I looked Diego in the eye and smiled. “You know what’ll happen to you if you hurt her, right?” I bit the fry in half, aggressively. Suggestively. The look on his face told me he got the hint. And that I wasn’t kidding.
Dalton began laughing. “Shit, it’s about time. You’ve been ogling her since fucking sophomore year.”
Diego glared at him and Maria looked between the two, “Sophomore year? I didn’t move here until sophomore year.”
Jackson was intent on boring holes into my soul, the rest of the table apparently oblivious as Mac said, “Yeah, basically the second he saw you.”
“It was kinda sad, like a puppy.”
“And then he found out you weren’t single.”
“And he was a very sad, kicked puppy. Ain’t that right Jackson?”
Jackson looked over at Dalton when his name was said. “Yeah.”
I honestly wasn’t sure he knew what he was agreeing to—a sentiment the rest of the table apparently shared as Mac glanced between Jackson and I. His blue eyes were astute, narrowed, ashe got a read on the tension between the two of us. Maria nudged me under the table, and I raised an eyebrow at her. She was still in Diego’s arms but mouthed to me, “You good?”
I nodded before refocusing on my plate. I didn’t need a white knight. I sure as hell didn’t want one. If Jackson had heard something, he just needed to drop it. And that was that.
Maria hadn’t been in a hurry to leave and, by the time I had managed to wrest her from Diego’s hold, it was getting late. We shouted goodbyes to Mama as we hustled out the door. For once, I was glad to be home. Away from the weight of sharp as steel, gray eyes. My mom greeted us as we made our way through the main living room. Some medical drama was playing on the TV which meant my dad must be on call. Mom didn’t dare watch it with him around lest he yell at the TV any time they got something wrong. She smiled at us, pausing a dramatic scene. “Hey girls! Have fun?”
Maria smiled back at her, a decided glow on her tawny skin. “Yes! We found the most beautiful dresses. And guess what?”
Mom cocked her head, raising a carefully shaped eyebrow at her.
“Diego asked me to prom!”
