Chapter 8 #2
She hums, and I narrow my eyes at her. “Goodnight, Miya.”
“Goodnight, Ei,” she says all sing-song. “Goodnight, Matty.”
He startles just a little and sinks down into the cushion a smidge. “Goodnight.”
I toss my phone beside me as soon as the call disconnects, and as cute as Matty’s embarrassment is, I feel a little bad for springing that on him.
“Sorry about that.”
He shakes his head, and some of the tension in his shoulders dissolves.
“Just took me by surprise. You never told me you have a twin.”
I put my hand to my chin in thought. “I guess I haven't. Hell, there's probably a lot we haven't thought to tell each other.”
“Like our star signs and shit.”
I bark out a laugh. “No, but our birthdays would probably be on the list.”
Matty smiles softly. “November sixteenth.”
The day after Miya’s wedding. Damn, I’ll have to miss it.
“February twenty-ninth.”
That makes him pause, and then his own laughter sparks and fills the room.
“You poor unfortunate souls. When do you celebrate on non-leap years?”
“Oh, that one is simple. Miya takes the twenty-eighth and I take the first. Except on leap years. We celebrate those together.”
Matty’s eyes crinkle with the edges of his smile.
“That's cute.”
“Don't tell Miya. She’ll rebuke it.”
He laughs again, and it makes my stomach clench.
“How old are you both?”
I cross my ankle over my knee and rest my elbow on my leg, dropping my chin to my palm.
“We turned thirty this year.”
Matty's eyes widened. “No way. You hardly look over twenty-one!”
My brows shoot up. “How young did you think I was when I had Calum?”
There's that adorable pinkness again. “Well, of course, I assumed you were a little older. Maybe twenty-five, but not…”
I can't help the indulgent smile. He's so cute when he’s flustered.
“What about you, sweetheart?”
“Oh.” He scratches the bridge of his nose. “Twenty four.”
Almost a six year difference.
“Well lookie there. Now we know each other a little better.”
He relaxes again, turning onto his side and tucking his legs under his ass. “Maybe we should make this a routine. You come home, and we … ask each other a few questions.”
I like that. I like it a lot. Getting to know him little by little.
“As long as I'm not dead on my feet, sure.”
We sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, and when Matty yawns, his eyes drooping and head falling to the couch cushion, I figure it's time I head to bed and let him sleep.
I grab my phone and stand, and he blinks the sleep out of his eyes with a groan. “You don't have to go.”
But I do, because as Matty said earlier, my fuse is only so long.
“Goodnight, princess.”
He scowls and kicks at me. “Jerk.”
His expression makes me laugh, but as I turn to go, a thought pops in and I pause.
“Is that one a no-go? I didn't think. Does it bother your, um, dysphoria?”
I did a little bit of research after he told me about being trans, just so that I wouldn't say anything obviously upsetting.
“Nah, princess is fine.” He tilts his chin up with a sleepy grin. “My masculinity isn't that fragile.”
I toss him his blanket folded at the end of the couch and watch for a moment as he settles there, still sitting up and curled in on himself.
Even if it's only for a brief blip in time, I can feel the loneliness rolling out and making way for a colorful sky of joy.
A pocket of peace.
When I make it back to my room and start settling for sleep, I notice I have several texts waiting from my sister.
Miya
Oh boy. You have some explaining to do.
You moved a total hottie INTO YOUR HOUSE??
IS THIS PARK BOY? MAKE YOU WANT TO TASTE THE RAINBOW BOY??
Well, I guess we’re tackling this elephant head on.
Me
He needed help, and he’s good with Cal.
Miya
Cal likes him?? Shit, Ei, you have to marry this man.
Me
Right. I’ll just piggyback off of yours.
Miya
Ei. Elias. Baby brother. Try and tell me you are not seriously in like with this guy.
I bite down on my lip, slouching against the pillows and pulling my knees to my chest.
Me
I’m not into him like that.
Incoming Video Call
Miya
With a heavy sigh, I accept and am greeted by both my sister and her wife squished into the camera frame.
“Are you ganging up on me?”
Roxy scoffs and flicks the camera, making the image shake. “For someone who craves physical contact like you do, you’re sure afraid of intimacy.”
“I’m not afraid—”
Miya cuts me off with a sharp look. “Then look me in the eyes and tell me there are no feelings whatsoever involved with this Matty person.”
I’m a horrible liar. My face always gives me away, so when I cringe, I barely have to open my mouth before she shouts.
“And you’ve already fucked up. Ei. Listen to me.
Sister to brother. Best friend to best friend.
” She readjusts herself and the phone so it’s just her in frame, and her expression turns gentle.
“I just saw a man—half naked need I remind you—who was looking at you like you hung the fucking moon. Do I have to tell you how you were looking at him, or do you already know?”
When I sigh, the smugness in her smile makes me slide further down the pillows. “We’re just friends.”
“I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t spoken up, you would have ended up with your tongues down each other’s throats.”
“Miya.” I don’t plead with her often. Whine, maybe, but not plead.
It makes her sigh, and all the edges around her words smooth out. “I love you, Ei. I want nothing more than for you and Cal to be happy, and I know being his dad makes you incredibly so, but you crave so much more. Why can’t someone take care of you for a change?”
“Because I don’t need it, Mi. It’s not fair to Calum for me to bring someone like that into his life just for him to get attached, and then what happens if it doesn’t pan out?”
“I think you’re already pushing that boundary. For heaven’s sake, Elias, he’s living with you.”
Her face could not be anymore gobsmacked.
“Okay? We also send each other shirtless selfies when I’m at work. It doesn’t mean anything.”
Miya exchanges a look with Roxy off screen. “You called him sweetheart.”
I prop my phone on one of the stray pillows and throw my hands up. “I also called him princess like five minutes ago. We have an ongoing joke about me getting him off. Nothing is going on.”
Silence. Absolute silence. Miya cocks her head and purses her lips.
“Here's the plan,” she says, fixing me with a stern stare through the phone. “You're bringing him to the wedding. Before you argue, try and tell me you couldn't use the help with Cal.”
I blow out a slow breath. She isn't wrong.
“If you can live with him until the wedding and absolutely nothing happens between you—and that includes you seriously wanting something to—then I’ll never bother you about your love life again.”
“That's a bold promise.”
“I'm confident.”
And I'm tired. I yawn and reach for the hem of my shirt.
“You know what, sis? Deal. Matty and I can flirt up a storm and it not mean a thing. You’ll see.”
“Looking forward to it, little brother.”
The screen goes dark, and I toss the phone onto my nightstand to finish undressing.
Scrubbing a hand over my face and through my hair, I throw myself back onto the pillows and tug the blanket over my head.
Now I have to tell Matty that he's been spontaneously invited to my nosey sister's wedding as my date.
That's not tempting fate at all.