26. Matty
Chapter 26
Matty
S UNDAY MORNING DAWNS and I wake, turning over and reaching for Goldie, forgetting that I’d worked an emergency shift at the clinic last night and she’d gone home, so we hadn’t spent the night at my house like originally planned.
Disappointment crashes through me, followed by a visceral craving for the taste of her, the feel of her beneath me, over me, around me. One night together, and the woman has already caught me so thoroughly in her grip that I can’t remember what it’s like to want anyone but her.
Killer whines on the floor to the right of me, rising onto his hind legs and pawing at the mattress.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” I mutter, wishing that phrase meant something else entirely right now.
After letting the dogs out—Kitty is more patient than Killer, but not by much—I drop a pod into the coffee maker and start it. Once I have my coffee, I wander outside to the backyard and drop into a chair, relaxing and watching the dogs sniff and play.
Is this really happening? With my best friend’s sister ?
I actually like her. All these years, we’ve kept a line between us that we never crossed. But now that we’ve moved past the line, I see a woman I never knew: sensual, touching me every chance she gets, and letting me touch her…
I mean, I love her, I’ve loved her for years as a friend, but this is different. Very different.
I can’t say that I’m in love with her yet—it’s too soon—but the foundation is so strong that of course it’s already there.
Is a relationship with Goldie what I want? Because that’s exactly where it’s heading. We are in the “do not pass go, head straight to relationship” portion of the game here, and I have no idea if that’s what I’m after.
Then why did you join the app, asshole?
Okay, fair. I joined the app because I wanted something like what Willa and Reid have. What I didn’t expect was to find myself pursuing it with Willa’s sister . I can admit that I always harbored a fantasy of sorts about her, but it was so unrealistic—and Willa would hate it—that I kept it buried. I take another sip of coffee. Normally, I’d have Willa herself to talk this through, but she’s off-limits.
But…is she?
Yes.
She really is. Because as much as she’s my best friend, she’s Goldie’s sister , and that takes precedence. And Goldie wanted to keep this quiet while we figure out if this is an actual thing, so we’re waiting.
Even though I think this is definitely a thing. Which is terrifying, because I can’t imagine her sticking around once she gets to know the real me. If I’m not at the clinic, I’m out at a farm. And if I’m not either of those places, I’m at the diner or home with my animals, reading a book. I used to hang with Willa more, but she’s understandably spending time with Reid.
Just as she’s getting to know me, the Goldie I’m uncovering is not the same person I’ve known my whole life. There’s far more depth to her than I ever knew. Which sounds terrible—and that’s not what I mean. But when it’s just us, she gives me pieces of her that I’ve never seen before. And it’s those pieces that make me think that I want more. But what if I let myself want her, and she doesn’t want me?
My phone pings and I look down, smiling at the message.
WILLA
Yoga and pier?
It’s Sunday. Obviously. Reid coming?
He says he is.
I’m bringing Killer. Yoga studio can’t discriminate between small animals.
Even though you promised to keep him at home after the last time?
Yep
lol see you soon
I make myself a light breakfast, then throw on my usual gear for yoga—gear that, for the record, I am never found in if it’s not yoga and pier walking.
My phone pings again as I’m loading the dishwasher.
GOLDIE
You wearing those shorts for yoga???
I laugh.
MATTY
Why, you like them?
Are you kidding? They’re perfection. They’ve *always* been perfection, and only now am I able to say something about the way they show off your legs.
I feel my cheeks heat.
MATTY
Yes, I’ll be wearing the shorts.
[Yes gif from Napoleon Dynamite]
See you there!!
I grab the cloth carrier and scoop Killer into my arms, and we make our way to yoga.
I’m swarmed by just about everyone the second I walk in, but it’s not me they’re after—it’s Killer. It doesn’t matter that he’s been here before; he’s still a tiny dog, and tiny dogs are always going to be a people magnet.
I look up and there’s Goldie, hanging back with an unreadable expression on her face. Is it that she’s unsure how to act around me, or maybe it’s something else? Jealousy?
No way. I should check my ego immediately.
Clearing my throat, I set Killer on the ground to skitter over to Midnight, who’s already threading through the mats like the pro she most definitely is. I straighten and meet Goldie’s eyes, at a total loss. “Hi.”
She smiles. “Hi.” Then she looks over her shoulder and back to me. “I, um, saved you a place.”
I grin. “Cool.” Then I follow her, forcing my attention off her delectable ass and smiling at Willa. When my gaze meets Reid’s, he narrows his eyes, and my heart ka-thumps. Does he know?
Willa wraps me in a hug. “Hey! How’ve you been? I’ve missed you.”
I return the embrace, reminding myself that this is my best friend. “Good. I’ve missed you, too.” Then I nod at Reid. “How’s it going?”
“Good to see you,” he answers, his gaze far too assessing for my taste. Damn police officer. Dude sees way more than a normal person.
Lucky for me, the instructor gives a two-minute warning and I center myself on the mat. Unfortunately for me, I’m next to Goldie, and the session is way more of a turn-on than it should be. The tiny puffs of breath she lets out, the way she moves as we go into pose after pose…I did not anticipate this.
We turn and spread our legs to bend over, and I’m faced with Goldie’s yellow legging-clad ass and taut thighs. It takes everything I have to suppress the groan that wants to come out. I bite my tongue. As if knowing exactly what she’s doing to me, she arches her back, pushing her ass out even more as she breathes into the pose.
I’m going to make her pay for this. I lower my head, knowing good and well I have no business looking at her right now, and stretch into the pose myself. After that, I keep my eyes firmly planted on my mat, my hands, my feet, and the ceiling, because Lord help me if I have to look at the way her skin glistens and know exactly what it tastes like.
After the longest ninety-minute yoga session of my fucking life, Reid and I don the carriers for Midnight and Killer, respectively, and the four of us head out to the pier.
“Let’s go check on my boat,” Willa jokes, heading toward the line of well-appointed vessels bobbing in the marina. She motions to Goldie. “Tell me how things are going with James.”
I stumble. Shit.
Goldie flashes me a concerned look and turns her attention to her sister. “It’s…good.”
“Just good?”
Goldie’s cheeks get pink. “Maybe a little better than good.”
I’ve not asked Goldie how much, if any, she’s told Willa about the whole Blinding Love app thing, but it makes sense that she’s talked about it. And because I’m a glutton for punishment, I ask, “Who’s James?”
“You don’t know about James?” Reid asks.
“How would I know about James?” I counter.
“Just figured you would.” His phone goes off and he stops, pulling it out and frowning down at it.
The three of us keep going, and Willa turns her attention back to Goldie. “Any more hot kisses with a masked man?”
Okay, well, now I need to hear the whole thing. I lean around Willa and grin knowingly at Goldie. “What’s this about hot kisses?”
Willa waves me off as they speed up. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll go on ahead. You stay back there with Reid or something.”
“No way—I want to hear this.” I hustle to keep up with them, holding Killer against my chest and leaving Reid in the dust.
“What if I want to hear this?” Reid calls. “I’m a full-fledged small-town resident—I like gossip now, too!”
Willa ignores him and gives me a warning look. “Fine, but I’ll remind you that you said you never wanted to discuss anything even remotely like this again after I told you all I wanted was to get some more of Reid’s dick.”
I barely hold back a retch. “Okay, first of all, you said you wanted—and I quote—‘some of that D,’ and I was in a vulnerable place back then.”
She looks at me skeptically. “What, pray tell, was this vulnerability?”
I try to think of something and fail. “Fine. I didn’t want to hear my best friend talk about dick. But this is different.”
“I remember this.” Goldie laughs, glancing at me. “You looked a little green.”
“We’re not talking about me,” I counter. “Who’s James? And is he the masked guy you’re having hot kisses with, or is that a different guy?”
Reid appears. “I need the gossip. I have to feed Ox the gossip.”
I laugh. “Are you serious?”
“Have you met him?”
“How are he and Anthony related?” Goldie murmurs.
Reid points at her. “Quit avoiding the topic. Give me gossip about kissing hot men in masks. Or hot kisses with men in masks. Whatever.” Then he stops. “I can’t believe those words just came out of my mouth.”
Willa shrugs. “Like you said. You’re a full-fledged small-town resident.”
“With Ox as your chief of police and best friend,” Goldie adds.
“Mask. Kisses. Spill,” I command.
Willa whips her head to me. “You’re far too into this, you know that?” She narrows her eyes. “Why?”
Reid coughs.
I widen my eyes. “No reason. Just curious. Sounds…fun. Wow, did they paint your boat?” I point to The Bear , the biggest yacht in the marina, which Willa claimed the instant it showed up about five years ago.
Willa falls for it and looks, and Goldie catches my eye. The look is half murderous, half appalled, and half something else I can’t pinpoint. Yes, that’s one and a half. No, I don’t care. I’m not at work, so I don’t have to make my math be all math-y.
“They didn’t paint it,” Willa says, a note of disappointment in her voice.
“About this kiss,” Reid prompts.
I keep my eyes pointed straight ahead.
“Um, right. I mean, I already told Willa—she didn’t tell you?”
“Nope,” Reid answers.
And thank God for it, because I’m realizing that it’s a damn miracle these two haven’t put it together yet. Unless they do know and are having way too much fun messing with us.
Goldie clears her throat. “I went to the masquerade ball and kissed a guy in a dark room. It was hot.”
Shit. If Reid didn’t know before, he definitely knows now. My palms are sweaty.
A beat passes. “And?” Reid says. “You gotta give me more.”
Willa snorts. “Reid, seriously?”
Goldie huffs. “It’s a guy I’ve been talking to.”
“James, right?” Why am I still talking? I need to shut up.
She shoots a glare at me. “Right. Any way, he pulled me into a dark room, so dark we couldn’t see each other. We took our masks off, and…” She trails off, her gaze darting to mine before looking away.
Hell, even I’m on the edge of my seat—and I was there. Except I’m waiting on Willa or Reid to put it all together. It’ll be like the big reveals at the end of Scooby-Doo, except there’s a tiny dog and cat instead of a Great Dane.
Reid clears his throat. “You took your masks off, and what ?”
Willa smacks him on the arm. “Okay, creeper. That’s enough. If she wanted to tell you more, she’d tell you more.”
I let out a quiet sigh of relief. Willa would have pounced by now if it was going to happen.
“Fine. But I want to hear more about this James character, so Goldie, if you change your mind.” He holds his hand to his ear like it’s a phone and mouths, “ Call me .”
Goldie laughs and rolls her eyes. She doesn’t seem nervous at all. Meanwhile, all it would take is one well-placed eyebrow arch from Reid and I’d probably break.
“I need to go,” Goldie continues, turning to hug Willa. “Call you later?”
“Absolutely.”
Reid and I get the usual side-hugs that we always get, and it’s not enough. I’m desperate for more, closing my eyes and breathing her in even as she pulls away and smiles.
“Any news on the Bunnies?” I ask, needing to move Reid and Willa far off the masquerade ball topic and hoping that the Miami-based drug cartel that Reid infiltrated before moving to Lucky is a good distraction.
“The main guy’s behind bars, but that doesn’t mean squat,” Reid grumbles. “His daughters are running it now, and they are far more vicious than their father.”
“I still want to know where they get the actual rabbits,” Willa muses.
I grimace. “Let’s not think about that part.”
“Hurts your little veterinarian heart, doesn’t it?” Reid teases.
I nod earnestly. “It really does. What kind of monster raises rabbits just to, to—” I break off, unable to say it.
“Take their feet and use them as intimidation tactics?” Reid supplies.
I shudder. “Exactly.”
My phone buzzes and I pull my phone out to read the text.
GOLDIE
My house. Wear the mask.
I nearly swallow my tongue, then immediately start coughing.
Holy shit .
Willa gives me some cursory pats on the back. “You okay?”
“Yep,” I choke out. “Just, ah, need to go. Great seeing you two.” I pivot and head to my truck, tapping out a message.
MATTY
I need a shower and to handle the pets first. Be there in 30.
With the mask
As you wish
Did you just Princess Bride me?
I did. Come to think of it, he wears a mask, too.
Yes. Yes he does.
Wait. Is *that* why women like the movie so much?
Oh, you sweet innocent child.
I’ll be there asap
I have never run through a shower and the chores for the pets so quickly. I grab the mask, and the cowboy hat for good measure, then take off.
I send a prayer of thanks that Agatha isn’t on her porch as I speed-walk around the house to Goldie’s cottage. When I knock, I hear Goldie invite me in.
When I step in, Goldie is nowhere to be found, so I close the door and put on the simple black mask and hat.
“Goldie?”
“In the bedroom,” comes the answer.
I force myself to walk through the tiny space, and when I get to the doorway, I stop.
Goldie is on the bed, wearing the black lace mask from the ball, and a yellow, lacy confection that highlights everything wonderful about her body—which is all of it.