Addison
"Oooh, she's a really bad girl and she makes the men sweat. Oooh, he's a real naughty boy and he makes me so wet," I crooned along to the radio as I drove to Matt's house.
The breeze from the open window filtered through my hair and I inhaled the woodsy scent of autumn. But despite my upbeat mood, I was a tad worried.
I hadn't heard from Matt in several days and any attempts I had made to outreach him were unsuccessful and forwarded straight to his voicemail. I had remembered him sharing that his mother passed away in early winter so knew that his sudden withdrawal from me couldn't have been due to an impending anniversary date.
My last choice to get in touch with him was to just show up at his house, so arrive unannounced I did.
"Oooh, she's a hottie with a body, a thot with a lot..." I hummed, pulling into his driveway. Turning off the ignition, I squinted my eyes at the windows. The curtains were drawn but his vehicle stationed in its usual parking space certainly indicated that he was home.
Hmm...what are you up to, Mattie boy?
Approaching the door, I tried the knob, but it was locked. This is curious. He hardly ever locks the door despite me warning him that one day someone is just going to waltz into his home and hack his limbs into tiny pieces. Maybe, he's finally listening to me.
I pounded on the door while simultaneously jabbing at the bell. "Matt! It's Addison!" I called. "Let me in. I know you're home! It's an emergency!" I decided to add for good measure.
Matt flung open the door, a scowl on his face. "What?!" He asked, annoyance in his voice as he raked his gaze over me. "If it's that important then call the police."
I peered over his shoulder to see if I could catch a glimpse of someone else inside with him. "Who's in there with you?" I questioned, seeing a denim jacket draped over the back of the couch.
I attempted to nudge past him, but he blocked my path. "No one," he replied firmly.
"You're lying!" I replied, gesturing at the item of clothing. "I see a coat." I balled up my fist and clenched my teeth. "Matt, I swear to God if you're cheating on Vanessa, I will castrate you and feed it to-"
"It's my dad's jacket," he blurted out. "He's still stuck in the eighties."
"Alright, so if nobody's there then let me in. I have a bone to pick with you about ignoring me for the past several days." I wagged my finger at him. "You're lucky I wasn't stuck in a ditch somewhere desperately trying to get a hold of you or else I would be holding you personally responsible."
He pressed his palm to the doorframe, refusing to step aside so that I could enter. "Actually, Addie, you're terrible driving skills would be the one to blame for that one and you can't come inside."
I gave him a bewildered look. "And why the hell not?" I barreled past him anyways, barging my way into his house.
"Matt, if you're doing something shady, I'm going to find out about it, you know." I scanned the living room and checked beneath the blankets but didn't immediately spot anything amiss.
"Oh, I know," he responded, folding the throw blankets that I had strewn about. "You and your hundreds of questions will be certain to get to the bottom of whatever mystery you think there is."
I plopped down onto the sofa and tapped my chin. "Are you wrapping my birthday present?" My birthday was still another month off but since Matt had forgotten about it the previous year, it made sense for him to make every effort to be on top of it that time around.
He scrunched his features. "Huh? No."
I patted the cushion beside me, inviting him to sit but he remained standing, leaning against the fireplace mantel and crossing his arms. "So, then what gives?" I pressed. "Why can't I be here? And why did you lock the door?"
"Oh gee, I don't know," he retorted sarcastically. "Maybe it's nice to have some privacy every once in a while."
I tossed up my hands. "I busted in on you naked one time. Get over yourself. The sight wasn't even anything that special and if I'm being brutally honest, I'm still attempting to erase the image from my brain."
It wasn't a complete lie. The last statement was certainly true. I was desperately trying to forget his rock-hard body and put all lust-fueled thoughts about him out of my mind.
"Thanks for the flattery but no, that's not what's going on." Abruptly, he averted my gaze and stared down at the carpet.
"Are you dying?" I whispered.
His head shot up at me. "What? No. How did you immediately jump to that conclusion?"
I shrugged.
Sighing, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Listen, I'm just going to come out with it. V wasn't exactly thrilled with you giving me a massage so I sort of promised her that I wouldn't hang out with you anymore." He chanced a peek at me, guilt washed all over his face.
"What?!" I cried, springing up. "You agreed to throw away our entire friendship because she got jealous that my hands made contact with the skin of your back?"
I wiggled my fingers. "Oooh, my apologies," I bit out. "I didn't realize that I was touching sacred territory."
He blew out his breath and rushed over towards me. He started to reach out for my hands but thinking better of it, he immediately pulled himself back.
"Addison, please try and understand the position she was putting me in," he pleaded. "It wasn't an easy decision but when given an ultimatum, you know I have to choose my girlfriend."
I turned away from him so that he couldn't see the tears threatening to spill down my cheeks at any moment, a tide of hurt ready to flood my skin. I palmed at my eyelids. "You didn't have to choose her," I muttered. "You could have fought for me."
He placed a gentle touch on my shoulder. "Addie, I truly am sorry..."
I yanked myself away from him before whirling around and jabbing a finger in his chest. "God, you are so blind!" I shouted, my words quivering with fury. "When are you going to see how much I care about you? Because if you stopped for a second and realized that you mean something to me then maybe you wouldn't keep shutting me out of your life."
He pressed his lips together, the muscles in his jaw working. Finally, he spoke. "I feel horrible about this..." He whispered softly. "Believe me."
I scoffed. "Yea, right. So terrible that when Vanessa told you to jump, your immediate response was, how high?"
"Then I guess I should be going now, shouldn't I?" I huffed, trying to keep the seething rage from infiltrating my voice. "I would hate for you to get into trouble with your girlfriend. Who knows what punishment she will think up for you next."
"Addison don't be like this," he warned.
Gathering my purse and jacket, I tossed a glance at him from over my shoulder. "Can I just ask you one question?"
He shrugged. "Sure, I suppose so."
"Do you have feelings for me?"
"What?" He squinted his eyes, his expression quizzical.
"Answer the question, Matt," I snapped.
I could have sworn he visibly shuddered at the question as though the idea of him and I together was that revolting. "God, no!" He spat out, gesturing at me. "You're so-"
He had the decent sense to stop himself from finishing that sentence before I knocked him out cold. Instead, he held up one palm. "No." He shook his head vehemently. "Noooo."
"You're an asshole," I muttered in response. "You know that? You should be so lucky to call me your girlfriend."
He raised an eyebrow at me, a smirk plastering his lips. "What happened to your spiel about how precious I am to you?"
I made a face of disgust. "Mmm...and yet, this feeling of abhorrence is telling me otherwise."
Matt leaned against the couch, the grin never leaving his mouth as he looked me up and down. "What do you care if I have feelings for you or not? Are you trying to tell me that you're all hot and bothered for the Matt Man?'
I shoved at the couch hard, causing him to stumble for balance as his support moved away from him. My cheeks flaming scarlet, I huffed loudly. "First off, don't ever refer to yourself as that again. And second, not even if you were draped in French fries."
Folding my arms across my chest, I studied him. "I'm only trying to make a point. If there's nothing romantic between us, then why are you letting Vanessa control our friendship? We didn't do anything wrong, Matt."
He swiped at his jaw. "Listen, Addie, I'm sorry that you're upset. I am too. The situation sucks but she's my girlfriend and if my spending time with another female makes her uncomfortable then I'm going to respect that. From her perspective, I can see why what you and I did would appear to have crossed a line."
I rolled my eyes, my patience wearing paper thin. "Matt, she doesn't trust you with any female. Can't you see how unhealthy that is? She's just going to keep isolating you from anyone that has a pair of breasts."
"Addie, that's not fair-"
"And what kills me," I yelled, cutting him off. "Is that you so willingly let her because you're that damn eager to please."
His steely eyes grew dark as his features twisted into pure venom. "I don't have to listen to this," he ground out. "Until you have a serious relationship of your own, your opinion on something you know nothing about, holds zero value to me."
He gestured at the door. "Now, I'm not going to tell you again. You need to respect my choice and leave."
I stared at him, my jaw dropping open. "Unbelievable," I spat out. "I've always been there for you, and this is how you treat me?"
"Well, guess what?" I cried. "When your relationship goes up in flames, don't come seeking me out to cry on my shoulder. I'm through with you!" Swiveling on my heel, I stormed out of the house that I was naïve to have ever believed that I was welcomed into in the first place.