15. Matty
Chapter fifteen
T hank God the Benz has exceptional AC because Arizona is scorching . I’ve gotten used to it after living in Phoenix over the past year, but Lake Havasu City is another beast entirely. It’s one hundred and ten degrees, sweat layering my skin the second I step out in front of the house.
I got a good deal on this place for my parents—it’s a four-bedroom bungalow on the lake. There’s a dock and a private beach where the ceremony will be held. Valerie hated the idea, but she quickly shut up when my mom put her in her place. To say they don’t get along is an understatement.
She’s always been outspoken, my mother. Almost to a fault—case in point:
“Is that my favorite son?!”
The minute Xed steps out of the car, she’s flying toward us off the veranda. She bypasses me entirely and plows into him, nearly knocking him over with her six-foot frame. People always assume I get my height and build from my father, but nope. All this muscle comes from her.
“How’s my boy? Did you eat? You look thin.” She cups his face and kisses both cheeks and Xed coughs out a laugh as I groan in embarrassment .
“Yeah, we had breakfast. Thanks, Mom.”
“And my other baby?” She’s already off toward Taylor’s ugly yellow truck, yanking him out and smothering him in a bear hug while Dad huffs from his chair on the porch.
“Give them a minute to breathe, Barbie. For Christ’s sake.”
I shake my head, amused, as I climb the steps and take in the line of cars parked along the street. “Where is everyone?”
Dad glances up from his book, his white-blond hair sticking to his forehead with sweat. “A few are at the brewery down the road. Val and that friend of yours went swimming.”
“Tyson?” I frown. “Where’s Hannah?”
“She’s—"
“XED!”
As if on cue, my daughter bursts from the house, wearing an inflatable shark tube around her waist, her dark hair a tangled mess. Much like my mother, she ignores me completely and nearly trips down the stairs on her way to Xed.
My chest tightens painfully when he drops to his knees, arms open, and scoops her up. A sob leaves his throat as he buries his face in her shoulder, the sound cutting straight through me.
“Hey, Creature. I missed you.”
“Missed you, Fungus.” Hannah beams, squirming in his arms. “Mommy went swimming without me. Can we go?”
Taylor disentangles himself from my mom and sticks out his bottom lip. “What about me? Where’s my hug?”
Giggling, Hannah grabs both of their hands and starts pulling them toward the dock.
“Hannah, let them get their bags inside first,” I call, but Xed cuts me off sharply.
“It’s fine. I’ll grab my shit later. ”
Without a glance back, they follow her down to the lake. I watch their retreating figures, his words from earlier replaying in my head.
She called me Dada until she was two, and then you got weird about it.
But I didn’t. I liked it too much. Letting Xed take on that responsibility felt… unfair. He didn’t ask for this.
Huckslee snorts, rolling his eyes as he grabs his boyfriend’s bag before introducing himself to my parents. Not long after, the rest of the cars start pulling up in front of the house. I’m so lost in my head, trying to shake the image of Xed’s arms around Hannah, that I don’t notice my older sister until she bumps her shoulder into mine.
“Who’s Mister Tall, Dark, and Handsome?” she asks, her voice dripping with mischief as she sizes up Devon, who’s just swung off his Ducati with a stretch, his shirt riding up to reveal tattooed abs.
I scowl. “More like Mister Not Invited.”
Of course, Jenna completely ignores me, all but shoving her hand in his face as she closes the distance.
“Well, hi, I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Jenna, the groom’s sister.”
Devon grins, his gaze running over her before leaning down to kiss the back of her hand. “Name’s Dev. Nice to meet you.” Then, he swings his eyes to my mom with that same honey-smooth charm. “And you must be the other sister?”
Mom huffs a laugh, hip-checking Jenna out of the way. “I’m actually the mother, but you can call me Barbie.”
“Kill me now,” I mutter under my breath, grabbing mine and Xed’s bags from the Benz before stepping onto the porch .
Dad gives me an equally exasperated look over the rim of his book. “By the way, the A/C’s broken. Guy can’t fix it until next week.”
“Fuck, for real?” Christian wipes his forehead, peeling off his shirt like he’s seconds from melting. “It’s like a million degrees.”
“Why do you think nobody’s here?”
After claiming rooms, we all agree to meet at the lake for a swim. However, Mom and Dad decide to stay back, sipping sangria on the porch instead.
The bungalow isn’t big, just cozy enough with a sitting room and a decently sized kitchen tucked behind bright glass windows that let in the relentless Arizona sun. Val claimed a room with all her friends; Tyson’s stuff is piled in the loft. Hannah will be bunking with Jenna, and everyone else is paired up.
I have no idea where Xed wants to stay, so I drop our bags onto the full-size bed in the remaining room and quickly change into swim shorts.
As I head down the stairs, I run straight into Tyson coming up. He stops short when he sees me, something flashing in his eyes—too fast for me to place—before he grins his usual easy, charming smile.
“Hey, man. What took you so long? We were wondering when you’d get here.”
“Took a longer route so I could catch up with Xed,” I reply, tilting my head slightly at how he’s holding his towel so tightly against his body. “How’s the lake?”
He shrugs, skirting around me. “Cold, but not too bad. I’m actually kind of beat from staying out late last night. Gonna take a nap.”
“Alright, cool. See you at dinner. ”
He doesn’t answer; he just disappears up the stairs without another word. I raise a brow at the weird interaction but ultimately shake it off. Other than Val, Tyson doesn’t know anyone here, so he’s probably just feeling awkward. It happens.
By the time I make it to the dock, everyone else is already swimming—except for Xed, sitting on the edge with his legs dangling in the water.
Grinning, I make a run for it, aiming to launch over him into the lake, but end up tripping and falling in, narrowly missing my sister in the process.
“Matthew, you asshole!” she screeches, covering her face from the onslaught of water as I resurface with a grin, wiping my eyes.
“Daddy, Auntie J said a no-no word,” Hannah calls out, floating near Xed’s legs with her shark tube.
I’m about to chastise Jenna when a pair of arms wraps around my shoulders.
“Hey, babe.” Valerie’s voice is syrupy as she wraps her legs around my waist, pressing her mouth to mine. Over her head, I catch the way Xed’s lips curl in something between a sneer and a wince before he drops his gaze.
The contact makes my skin crawl, and I gently push her away as inconspicuous as I can.
“Gross, get a room,” Taylor snickers, draping himself over Huckslee.
Salem groans, treading water as she glances at Xed. “I wish you’d get in here so I’d have someone to hold. I’m like the eighth wheel.”
Shit. That reminds me. “Where did Logan go?”
Salem visibly stiffens, her mouth opening and closing like she’s trying to find the right words. Before she can, Devon snorts .
“My nephew decided to drive back to Utah. Alerting his parents of his recent nuptials, no doubt.”
“Oh, screw off, Dev,” Salem snaps, shooting him a glare before doggy-paddling toward the dock. Her movements are jerky as she hauls herself out of the water and stomps toward the house.
Christian calls after her teasingly, “Salem! No seas una pequena perra. ”
Arya shoves him in the chest, splashing water into his face as she swims after her friend. “You’re such an ass, Christian.”
He throws his hands up, bewildered. “What did I do?”
“Well, this is going great,” I mutter, my eyes finding Xed’s across the water. “Anyone else want to start a fight?”
“Thank fuck our fighting days are over,” Huckslee chuckles, nuzzling into Taylor’s throat and licking the dragonfly tattooed there. “Remember when that used to be us?”
“I mean, you still choke me out,” Taylor drawls, “but now I like it.”
The group’s banter fades into the background as my focus shifts to Hannah and Xed. She clings to the edge of the dock, her small hands gripping the wood as she looks up at him, her dark eyes filled with unshed tears. He’s shaking his head, his face carefully blank, but I know him well enough to see the tension in his jaw and the stiffness in his shoulders.
When Hannah slumps back into the water, her expression crumpling, I gently pry Val off me again and swim over to them.
“What’s wrong, jelly bean?” I pull her into my arms, kissing the top of her head as she buries her face in my chest.
“Xed won’t swim with me,” she mumbles, her voice small and hurt .
I glance up at him, taking in the familiar leather jacket he’s been wearing daily for as long as I can remember. It’s more than just clothing—it’s armor—protection from the stares, the questions, the judgment.
“I didn’t bring swim clothes,” he mutters, tugging at his sleeves and avoiding my gaze.
Christian scoffs from nearby. “Neither did Taylor. He’s in his chonies . Nobody here cares, fool.”
“H-he forgot how to swim,” I lie, seeing the flash of panic in Xed’s eyes as he glances at me sharply.
Hannah gasps, her head snapping up as she wriggles out of my arms. “I can do it! I’ll show you, Fungus. It’s easy!”
Xed looks torn, his hands curling into fists at his sides as he swallows hard. His eyes dart between Hannah and me, the vulnerability written across his face almost too much to bear.
“Let him be, Hannah. Come swim with me and Mom.”
She starts to cry as I pull her away, her little body shaking with each hiccup. Even with her shark floaties making her look utterly adorable, the sight of her tears twists something deep in my chest.
“It’s okay, jelly bean,” I murmur, brushing her damp hair from her face. “Fungus just doesn’t feel like swimming right now. Come on, we’ll go have fun anyway.”
But her gaze stays locked on him, her voice cracking through her sobs. “But I wanted to show him.”
We get a few paces away before Xed’s voice cuts through the air.
“Wait. Stop.”
Glancing over my shoulder, I catch him frozen there, perched on the edge of the dock, hands flexing at his sides. Our gazes meet briefly before he shifts his focus to Hannah .
“Okay,” he says softly, the word barely audible over the gentle lapping of the water.
Hannah’s head snaps up, her tears slowing as she watches him stand.
For a moment, he just stands there, caught in his own internal battle, before he reaches up and slowly slides the jacket off his shoulders.
I hold my breath as he glances down at the dark, long-sleeved shirt covering his torso, his fingers curling at the hem. The pause is long, agonizing, before he grips the fabric and lifts it.
My eyes catch on his soft stomach first, the dark fuzz of hair disappearing under the waistband of his jeans. A smooth chest, two dusky nipples that I know he loves sucked, the sounds he used to make—
I cut off that train of thought when he fully slips his shirt off, arms and scars exposed to the sunlight.
“What the fuck happened—" Taylor starts, but Huckslee quickly claps a hand over his mouth and whispers something in his ear.
Jenna looks horrified at the marks, big blue eyes growing misty as Devon looks away uncomfortably. Even Valerie and Christian are speechless.
The only one unfazed is my sweet baby girl, who immediately reaches for Xed as he hesitantly lowers himself into the lake.
“Like this, look.” She points into the water excitedly, grinning wide. “Kick your feet like this. Remember?”
“I remember,” he mutters, his face glowing red as he avoids everyone’s gaze. My chest tightens as I watch them drift in circles, Xed’s indulgent smile growing whenever she tries to show him how to doggy paddle. There’s so much love in his expression and it feels like a blade to the heart.
I only snap out of it when Valerie floats into my peripheral, her eyes flashing angrily before she masks it with a too-sweet smile.
“I think I’m done with the lake for today,” she says pointedly. “Let’s go inside.”
There’s a warning in her tone, one I know better than to ignore. So, I nod, forcing myself to follow Val back to the house, feeling Xed’s gaze burn into my back with every step.
Wishing, desperately, that it was his hand in mine instead of hers.