Chapter 20
20
Arsen
I need to get Matthew alone.
He was teetering between too much and not enough. Too much of everything, not enough of me.
Arrogant? Perhaps.
Realistic? Yes.
Our signals were getting crossed, our energy competing. I usually did much better with that, but today, I was failing. The caveman that had roused in me when I met Matthew was out full force today, demanding and grumbling, practically beating his chest.
All because of a name.
But it wasn’t just a name. Not to me. Not when it came to Matthew.
The idea of him willingly putting any other man’s name after his made me pretty fucking prickly. Practically a giant cactus. Deep down, I knew Kruger meant well. But, bros, I’d rather take an acid bath and replace all my piercings with rusty old nails than have what was mine wearing someone else’s name.
It should have been enough that Matthew said no. It was enough.
Except maybe it wasn’t. Maybe enough would never be. Maybe I was a greedy bastard and wanted it all .
It also didn’t help that I could feel Matthew’s unrest. The lost look on his face, like no one was home, made me itchy and restless. Made me feel like I wasn’t doing my job.
My job? Being boyfriend of the year to Matthew.
Yeah, I hung out with Kruger too much. What can I say? We lived in the same house.
Didn’t make the urge any less true, though. I just probably would have worded it differently if not for my roommates.
Honestly, almost from the minute I’d ducked under those bleachers and saw Matthew hiding from the raid, everything in my life realigned. All my priorities shifted slightly to make room for a much bigger one. As much as it caught me off guard, I instinctively knew it was inevitable. Matthew was inevitable.
So to see him retreat into himself and shoot panicked glances at me when he thought I wasn’t looking was disturbing. I knew this week would be a lot for him, but the announcement of the honeymoon and abrupt invitation to my parents was pretty much the icing on the anxiety cake.
Thankfully, we’d have a few hours to ourselves before having dinner with Gram. Frankly, I think I needed time alone with him just as much as he needed it.
“Arsen.” A familiar yet unexpected voice cut through all the other airport racket, and my head snapped up, eyes pinging around the crowd.
My footsteps stuttered, the suitcases nearly tipping with the abrupt movement, when I saw the man who was roughly my height cutting through the people. “Dad?”
Matthew, who’d been a few steps ahead of me, stopped and turned as well.
“Well, what are the odds?” said Bennett Andrews, aka my dad, a smile curving his lips.
“Arsen,” my mom exclaimed, leaving Dad’s side to rush over and hug me. “I love surprise visits!”
I let go of the suitcase handle and hugged her back. “Thanks for coming.”
“Any excuse to see my boys,” she said, pulling away and automatically rotating toward Matthew. “Matt, honey.”
Matthew let go of the suitcase he was carrying. “Hi, ma’am.”
Could he seriously get any more adorable?
Mom made a sound and stepped forward. “Christina, remember? Can I hug you?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her no. He was already overwhelmed, but just as I started to speak, he nodded. Mom swooped in and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Matthew returned the hug with one arm, the other gripping the mocha I’d gotten him.
As they hugged, his stare found me, and I smiled reassuringly.
“I thought you weren’t flying in until tomorrow?” I asked, the initial surprise I felt at seeing them still present.
“It’s supposed to snow later tonight,” Dad informed us. “Figured we’d fly in before, just in case.”
Ah, the benefits of having access to a private jet.
“This is why I voted for you,” Kruger said, suddenly appearing, practically elbowing me out of the way. “A man who is prepared. Not at all like the guy who tried to tell me I couldn’t get married.”
“I thought he had a family emergency,” Dad said.
“Completely unprofessional,” Kruger replied, then stuck out his hand. “Thank you for flying in, Senator Andrews. I really appreciate it.”
“Bennett,” Dad replied, shaking Kruger’s hand. “And any excuse to see my sons.”
Matthew shifted a little, hearing the S on the end of that word and knowing it implicated him. My parents were really laying it on thick, weren’t they?
“You, ah, did come prepared, didn’t you?” Kruger questioned.
“Ben,” Matthew hissed.
“I gotta ask, P. This is my wedding,” Kruger said. “How am I supposed to go off to my honeymoon if I’m not officially wedlocked?”
“You could just call her your wife like you already do,” Matthew quipped.
Dad laughed. “I’m happy to inform you that I did come prepared. My assistant was so excited when I asked her to push the paperwork through for me.” He glanced slyly at me. “She thought I was getting ordained to marry you. Imagine her disappointment when I told her it wasn’t.”
My stomach swooped at his words, and my eyes fired to Matthew who was wide-eyed, red-faced, and trying to hide behind a long sip of his mocha.
I’m telling you it’s good there aren’t any tables inside me because, if there were, that caveman in there would be flipping them over. He was already wreaking havoc as it was. My father’s casual comment was like a shot of adrenaline right into that savage.
“So you’re nice and official?” Kruger pressed.
For once, I was thankful for him running his mouth.
“Signed and filed right before I left. I brought copies, a marriage license, and duplicates just in case.”
“We got our marriage license before we got here,” Kruger told him. “Just need you to make it officially official.”
“I can do that.” Dad agreed.
“Christina. Bennett. It’s lovely to see you again.” Teresa stepped away from Matthew’s side to greet my parents.
I was glad that they’d all met at Thanksgiving already. Saved a lot of awkward introductions.
“Thank you so much for coming on such short notice.” Teresa went on.
I glanced at Kruger. “That’s what you’re supposed to say when someone goes out of their way to do something for you.”
“I was getting to it.” Kruger defended himself. “No point in thanking him if he wasn’t able to push the paperwork through. I didn’t even bring the ski poles.”
I rolled my eyes, and Matthew scoffed.
“Do you have a car waiting?” I asked my parents when they were done catching up with Matthew’s gram.
“No. We were going to just get a taxi because of the short notice. But now that you’re here…” Dad smiled.
“Good thing I’m driving an SUV,” I said.
“Do you need to wait for your bags?” Kruger asked.
“This is everything,” Mom said, pointing to one large suitcase with an overnight bag on top.
Kruger leaned close to Matthew. “They brought their emotional baggage.”
Matthew snickered, and I had to fight the urge to snatch him away from his best friend’s side.
Almost as if he could feel it, Matthew glanced at me, a little wariness in the depths of those dark-chocolate eyes.
I realized then that the arrival of my parents would just make it even harder to steal some of that precious alone time we desperately needed.