16. Matt
Chapter 16
Matt
“H ey, Dad!” Liam announces himself by jumping onto my bed. I groan and pull the blankets higher over my head.
“Go back to bed. It’s early, Liam.”
“It’s after ten. It’s not early. You never sleep this late. Looks like you’re getting old.”
I pull the covers down and stick my tongue out at him. He just laughs at me. I feel him moving around on the bed and laying on the pillow next to me.
It’s been a week since the Wine Day event and it’s finally catching up to me. The time spent planning, the day before, the night of, the days after... it’s been nonstop. The winery has kicked into full gear now with the tourist season and I had no idea the work that would come with it. I’m so thankful my dad is working there with me. I’d be so afraid to fail the town.
“I had a lot of fun the other day,” he says.
I open my eyes and find him watching me and smile. It’s like looking in a mirror sometimes, and I can’t believe what a great kid he is after all he’s been through. And when I look at him now, he’s happy and it shows. “You like being here, huh?”
His eyes light up and he smiles, nodding his head. “I do. I love being here with Grandma and Pop. I like this house by the water. My teacher is pretty cool even though he’s an old man like you.”
“Hey!” I tease.
“And I really like Kylie. Do you really like Kylie?”
Kylie. Visions of her standing naked in front of me, riding me, her sweet kisses, all come back, and my heart races at the thought of wanting to do it again. She came looking for me, which means what I’m feeling is not one-sided.
“Well? Do you like her?”
“I do like her. Kylie and I were great friends growing up.”
“Grandma told me you guys used to be girlfriend and boyfriend.”
“Grandma needs to stop telling my business.”
“Oh she tells me all kinds of stuff. She told me you and my teacher used to cut school when you were kids. She said you used to be a football star but you were really just a big fish in a little pond.” I guffaw at his words knowing my mother did say that word for word. “And she said you were in love with Kylie. She actually thinks you still are.” I inhale deeply and let it out, rolling to my back and throwing the blankets over top of me. “Dad! Stop being dramatic.”
I huff out a laugh. “Your grandmother is a menace.” I flip the covers off and sit up against the headboard.
“Know what?”
“What?”
“I like the way Kylie includes me.”
I watch him turn something over in his mind. My blood runs hot with rage because his own mother could barely give him her time. Always too busy, always working, always traveling. Always looking for more than what was at home. And yet here’s Kylie, so different. A few hours. That’s all. A few conversations, a few questions asked with sincerity, and he feels it. He notices.
“I like the way she includes you too, pal.”
“She also has really good taste in ice cream, so I think that makes her a keeper.”
I laugh at him. Sometimes he’s wise beyond his years. “Well, let’s slow it down before we decide to keep anybody.”
“Why are you slowing it down? We live here now. She used to be your girlfriend. Why can’t you just go back to that?”
Why can’t I just go back to that? It would be so easy to fall back into what we had. When we were young, I was looking for a way out, not knowing that everything I ever needed was staring me right in the face. Being older now and having seen what’s on the other side, I realize it’s really not all it’s cracked up to be.
“I don’t want her to be my mom though,” he says quickly and it catches me off guard.
“No, son. I don't think she’s looking to take the place of your mom.”
“No, I know she’s not. That’s not what I’m saying. She just wants to be my friend and have fun with me, and I like that. Mom never wanted to have fun.”
And this confirms my thoughts from just a moment ago. Liam just wants someone to pay attention to him. I realize the entire time we’ve been back in Starlight Bay, Gina hasn’t called once, and I wonder what that’s doing to him knowing she’s not. Though she wasn’t around much when we were together, it still has to be a thought in his mind.
“Anyway, I think that you should ask her on a date.”
“You’re not gonna let this go, are you?”
“Nope!” he says proudly, wearing a big grin. “Grandma told me that?—”
“Grandma needs to stop talking!” We both laugh, but I realize that Kylie is as good for me as she is for Liam. “How about I ask her out on a date, and if it goes well, the three of us can go get ice cream again the next day.”
“Deal!”
* * *
It’s late in the evening and I’ve just gotten Liam to bed. The school year is coming to an end, so the excitement of being a kid on summer break is hitting hard. But I just need an hour to myself to wind down. The winery was not as full as it was last night, but people did come out. I love the support I’m receiving from them and everyone has had great things to say about Uncle Paul and even greater things to say about my son. They’re genuinely happy to have us back in Starlight Bay.
I step out onto the back deck with a glass of red in hand, exhaling slowly as the screen door clicks shut behind me. The night air is cool blowing off the ocean, despite the warm temperature. This is my favorite part of the house, and my favorite part of the day. The area where I try to decompress, where I try to sort through the chaos of the winery, fatherhood, memories. But tonight, there’s only one thought looping in my mind: How the hell am I supposed to ask her out?
At thirty-four, I shouldn't be nervous. But after staying in a loveless marriage, I’m practically a virgin. So here I am, wine in hand, heart thudding like when I was sixteen and asking her to prom, wondering again how to ask this woman on a date. The one who somehow slipped into Liam’s life and mine like she’d always been meant to fit there.
I could shoot off a text. But she deserves more than that. I press call before I can talk myself out of it.
It rings once. Twice.
“You’re alive,” she says with a snicker.
I hold the phone with one hand and run my palm down my jeans with the other. Hearing her voice instantly soothes me. “Just barely, that event wore me out.”
“It was a week ago!”
“Even a week ago, I’m still recovering. The staff was amazing though because, by the time I got there the next morning, they had mostly cleaned everything up.”
“Oh? You weren’t up at the crack of dawn?” She laughs, knowing I’ve always been an early riser.
“God no. But the days that followed I was up early, and it wasn't until today that I slept late. It was after ten o’clock before Liam came in and jumped on my bed.”
With faux outrage, she says, “Ten o’clock? Mr. Byrne, I have never known you to sleep that late.”
I stretch my legs out and cross them at the ankles, loving the way she uses my surname. I take a sip from the wine before placing it back on the table. “Well, I had a big night I kept remembering, so I needed the rest.”
“I don’t remember it being that big of a night.” Her voice is loaded with sarcasm and she’s doing it to push my buttons.
“I didn’t hear any complaints about it being a small night.”
“You always loved to hear how wonderful you are. I should’ve known it would be no different now.”
We laugh together and then I clear my throat and say, “Kylie, I’m sorry if it was too fast.”
“Matt, don’t apologize. I kind of took advantage of the excitement of the day.”
“Did you just admit to taking advantage of me?”
I can just imagine her rolling her eyes at me. “Oh please, you were willing every time I came around.”
“Clearly I still am.” She lets out a small laugh and I take that as my opening. “Why don’t we go out on a date?”
“Really?”
“Yeah, why not?”
She hums into the phone. “Maybe a second go around wouldn't be so bad. Anything is better than Tinder. We could try this mature dating thing on for size.”
“I already know you fit, Kylie. Get your mind out of the gutter.”
She laughs. This banter is so fun and easy, and it’s what I was missing in a relationship, but I’ve only ever had this connection with her.
“All right, I’ll let you take me out. On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“We take the Porsche.”