Chapter 14
Sweet Disaster
"One… Two… Three…"
"You know you don't have to play hide and seek with them, right?
" Leilani, Matt's sister-law, laughed, stepping onto the patio with a serving plate balanced on her hip.
Her long, straight, dark hair caught the afternoon light as she moved, and even at six feet tall, she carried herself with an effortless grace that made her seem to glide rather than walk.
Wrong. When a four-year-old fixes you with those big brown eyes and asks you to play hide and seek, you don't just play; you become a professional seeker.
It's basically the law. "Of course I do," I waved her off with the authority of someone who'd just discovered their true calling.
"Plus, I'm like an expert seeker. It's on my resume. "
Leilani nearly dropped her plate laughing. "Right next to 'Expert Netflix Binger' and 'Can Open Wine with Shoe if Necessary'?"
"Hey, those are legitimate skills."
Matt's brother Niko had two daughters: Lilly, four, and Rose, five, who were currently treating our game like it was an Olympic sport. Which, let's be honest, it basically was.
"Well," Leilani settled into the chair across from me, "you should definitely add 'Kid Whisperer' to that resume. Do you have any of your own?"
"Uh, no. No younger siblings either. I'm basically winging this whole thing."
She scrunched her nose as her dark eyes held mine. "Sorry, am I being nosy? Niko says I have zero filter, but I prefer to think of it as being efficiently curious."
"It's fine. I came prepared for the full family interrogation. I've been practicing my 'I'm totally normal and not at all a weirdo' face in the mirror."
"How's that working out for you?"
"Jury's still out."
She grinned. "But seriously, I'm dying to know how you two met. Matt hasn't brought anyone home since…" Her expression shifted slightly. "Well, since the divorce that shall not be named."
"That bad, huh?"
"Let's just say if his ex-wife were a weather pattern, she'd be a Category 5 hurricane with a side of locusts. But Matt mentioned you're also recently…"
"ARE YOU COUNTING?" Lilly's voice boomed across the yard like a tiny drill sergeant, making us both jump.
Saved by the four-year-old.
"Four… Five… Six…" I shouted back, grateful for the interruption. "These kids take their games very seriously. I should probably go find them before they stage a coup."
"Have fun! Try not to get outsmarted by preschoolers!"
"Seven… Eight… Nine… Ten. Ready or not, here I come!" I stood up, immediately spotting Lilly's sneakers poking out from under the patio table. Subtle as a neon sign, that one.
I wandered around the yard like a detective in a very low-stakes crime drama, carefully avoiding their obvious hiding spots. My eyes found Matt across the yard, manning the grill with his brother, and he flashed me a smile that could've powered a small city.
This was how I pictured my life: surrounded by a family who loved each other. Backyard BBQs with the guys chatting around the grill, kids running around the yard, and the women gossiping about their husbands with a glass of wine.
Too bad my family was a complete mess. We had family dinners every Sunday, but they were filled with judgment instead of love, and my brother was gone. This was what I saw vanish with my divorce.
"Where could they possibly be?" I mused loudly, tapping my chin and circling the oak tree like I was hunting for buried treasure. "Behind this tree? Nope, just tree stuff."
Muffled giggles erupted from nearby bushes.
"Could they be hiding in the…"
"DINNER!" Niko's voice boomed across the yard as he approached with a tray of grilled perfection. "Everybody wash up!"
"Awww, Dad!" Rose popped up from behind a bush like a disgruntled groundhog. "She didn't find us yet!"
"Sorry, kiddo. Food waits for no hide-and-seek champion."
"Can we play again after dinner?" Lilly crawled out from under the table, grass in her hair and dirt on her knees. "You can hide next time!"
"Absolutely. But fair warning, I’m an excellent hider. I once hid from my responsibilities for three whole months."
The girls giggled like they understood my joke and raced toward the house, leaving me grinning like an idiot.
"You're terrible at that game," Matt said, appearing beside me with that smile that made my stomach do little Olympic gymnastics routines.
I gasped dramatically, clutching my chest. "Excuse me? I am a hide-and-seek prodigy! A master of…" I paused. "Okay, fine, I'm awful. But in my defense, they're surprisingly good at this."
"I like how you fit in with my family." His hands settled on my hips like they belonged there.
My heart did that fluttery thing again. "Your family is pretty amazing."
"Come eat, you two!" Leilani called from the patio, holding something that smelled delicious.
"Come on…" Lilly started to say, but apparently forgot that gravity exists. She tumbled forward, taking her mom down with her in a domino effect that would've been hilarious if it weren't happening in slow motion.
The pie pan went airborne.
Time slowed. I watched the pie arc through the air like a delicious meteor heading straight for impact. There was a moment, just a brief, shining moment, where I thought maybe, just maybe, it would miss us.
It did not miss us.
SPLAT.
Apple pie rained down like the world's stickiest, most delicious storm. I took the brunt of it, naturally, because apparently I'm a pie magnet.
"OH MY GOD." Leilani scrambled to her feet, while Lilly started crying, whether from fear or injury, it was unclear. "Oh my God, Brooke, I'm so sorry! I…"
I licked my lips. "Mmm. Your pie game is strong."
Her cheeks went pink. "I'm mortified."
"I'm sticky, but I'm okay."
"I'm so sorry, Matt…"
Matt was shaking with laughter, which set me off, too. Soon, we were both giggling like maniacs while covered in dessert.
"Is she okay?" I asked, nodding toward Lilly.
"She's fine. More embarrassed than hurt. Lilly, go inside and get cleaned up."
Leilani looked at my pie-covered dress with horror. "I could find you something to change into?"
I almost laughed harder. Leilani was six feet of Somoan goddess, and I was more like five-foot-four of compact chaos. "Thanks, but I think I'll survive the pie look."
"We'll take some towels, though," Matt said. "Give us a few minutes to de-pie ourselves."
Matt took my hand, the one that wasn't completely covered in apple goo, and led me through the house to the bathroom.
I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I looked like I'd lost a fight with a bakery. Apple pie covered my face, arms, and dress. My hair had pie chunks in it. This was definitely not how I'd pictured meeting his family going.
Matt stepped behind me, our eyes meeting in the mirror. "You look good enough to eat."
My stomach flipped. The way he looked at me, as if I were the only person in the world, as if I were something precious instead of a disaster covered in dessert, made me feel beautiful. When had anyone ever looked at me like that?
I turned to face him, leaning against the counter. "You're not looking too bad yourself, pie boy."
His hands found my waist, and suddenly the small bathroom felt even smaller. "Let me help you."
Before I could protest, he lifted me onto the counter like I weighed nothing. My hands automatically went to his shoulders for balance, and suddenly we were very, very close.
"Is it always this chaotic around here?" I asked, trying to ignore how his proximity was making my pulse race.
He settled between my legs, and I forgot how to breathe properly. "Nope. This was a special performance just for you. They wanted to make a good impression."
I glanced at the pie on his shirt. "Mission accomplished. I'm definitely impressed."
I grabbed a towel and started dabbing at the mess on his shirt, hyper aware of every place we were touching. When I looked up, he was watching me with an expression that made my heart do cartwheels.
"You have a little..." he paused, his knuckles settling under my chin as his thumb found the corner of my mouth, "apple pie…"
My eyes locked on his as his thumb slowly traced across my bottom lip, wiping away pie filling that I was pretty sure wasn't even there anymore.
"Right here," he finished softly.
I watched, mesmerized, as he brought his thumb to his mouth and sucked it clean. It was possibly the most erotic thing I'd ever seen, and we were in his brother's bathroom, covered in dessert.
"Mmm." He licked his lips. "Tastes better on you."
I laughed breathlessly. "Trust me, that's definitely the pie talking."
He caught my chin between his thumb and finger, tilting my face up. "Only one way to find out for sure."
His mouth hovered over mine, and I forgot we were supposed to be cleaning up. I forgot his family was waiting for us. I forgot everything except the way he was looking at me like I was his next meal.
His hands cupped my face as his lips found mine. The kiss started soft, sweet, but quickly became something more urgent, more desperate. His tongue traced my bottom lip, and I opened for him, my hands fisting in his shirt to pull him closer.
One arm wrapped around my waist, holding me tight against him while his other hand tangled in my hair. I tried to wrap my legs around him, wanting him closer, needing more contact.
Our bodies moved together, and when he pressed his hips against me, I felt exactly how much he wanted me. His mouth moved to my neck, and I was ready to forget about dinner entirely when…
Tap. Tap.
We froze like teenagers caught making out in the school hallway.
"Is everything okay in there?" Leilani's worried voice drifted through the door. "I feel terrible about the pie situation."
Matt rested his forehead against mine, both of us breathing like we'd run a marathon. "We're fine," he called out, his voice slightly rough. He cleared his throat. "Be out in a minute."
"Okay. Just let me know if you need anything else."
He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead, then stepped back, running a hand through his hair. "I got a little carried away."
We both got carried away, and I wanted to get carried away again somewhere with better privacy and fewer interruptions. "We should probably clean up now."
Matt grabbed a towel and worked on his shirt while I slid off the counter and turned back to the mirror.
The woman staring back at me looked thoroughly kissed and slightly dazed.
Her lips were swollen, her hair was a mess, not just from the pie, and she was smiling like she'd just discovered the secret to happiness.
"Need help cleaning the pie off of you?" Matt asked, though his eyes dropped to the obvious bulge in his pants.
"I think I'd better handle this solo." I glanced at his situation, fighting the urge to smile.
"Yeah, probably a good call."
After he left, I stared at my reflection and grinned. This was what it felt like to be wanted, really wanted. Not tolerated, not convenient, but desired. Matt looked at me like he was drowning and I was oxygen.
I grabbed the towel and started working on the pie stains, my mind wandering. I wished I'd met him before I got so broken down that I questioned whether I deserved someone like him. Before I stopped believing in my own worth. Before I became afraid of trusting my own judgment.
But maybe that was the point. Maybe I needed to go through all that to appreciate this, to appreciate him.
I met my own eyes in the mirror and smiled. "You're beautiful," I whispered to my reflection. "You're enough. You deserve love."
I took a deep breath. "And it's okay to believe he really wants you."
I dropped the towel, squared my shoulders, and opened the door. Time to face the family, pie stains and all.