HOUSEWARMING AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
MATTHEW
T he next afternoon, while Bells was at work, I drove my happy ass to the florist and put together an arrangement all by my-damn-self. I could have had the owner, Lizbeth, make it for me, but I wanted to pick and choose flowers that reminded me of my girl.
After I was finished, Lizbeth laughed.
“What? Is it ugly?” I asked, looking at the mismatched bunch.
There were roses in different colors, a sunflower, tulips, daisies, and some other things I didn’t know the name of, all combined to make a total shitshow. Nothing looked like it went together.
“It’s not ugly; it’s unique,” she emphasized the last word.
“It’s ugly.” I frowned and almost threw the whole bunch to the floor.
“Matthew, I love that you picked these out yourself. Give them to me so I can arrange them in a way that makes sense.” She reached out her hands and waited for me to give her the colorful bunch.
“You are the professional.”
I shoved them toward her, and she disappeared somewhere in the back while I sat out front, pouting.
There was a small section of cards, and I started reading them, wondering if I should get one for Bells, but they were all so embarrassing.
When Lizbeth reappeared, I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “Why are all these cards so bad?”
She blew out a breath. “I know, right? They’re awful. But they sell, if you can believe it.”
“They’re so cheesy,” I said, reading one out loud before shoving it back in the case.
“I’ll never unhear that,” she said with a laugh. “Come look at this.”
I did as she’d asked, and suddenly, my bad mood lifted. “How’d you do that?” I reached for the flowers and nodded my head in fierce approval.
“Just added a little greenery and a little baby’s breath. That usually fixes everything.”
I spun the bouquet around in my hand so I could take it in from every angle. “You made it real pretty. I guess you do know what you’re doing.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You know what I meant,” I said, trying not to offend her because she’d just turned my bouquet of shit into something magical.
“Bella is one lucky girl.” Lizbeth grinned.
I gave her a shit-eating smile of my own. “Does everyone know?”
“You know everyone knows. That date at the resort spread like wildfire in the group chat.”
She held up her cell phone, and I was thankful that I had no fucking idea what she was even talking about. If there was a group chat about my dating life, I was glad to not be a part of it.
“Thanks for making these look so good,” I said before paying and heading outside.
Dropping my sunglasses over my eyes, I walked down Main Street toward the barbeque restaurant. As I neared it, the smell of meat smoking invaded my senses. Addi didn’t even need to advertise the place. That scent alone could sell them out daily.
When I pulled open the door, the bells jangled, and I stalked over toward the bar in search of my girl. I spotted her instantly as she turned the bottles so that the labels faced the front. Pushing my glasses back on top of my head, I cleared my throat as soon as I reached the bar and stood at one of the empty stools, next to some men who had become regulars.
She spun around, her eyes finding mine, and she smiled before she saw what I was holding in my hand. “Hi,” she said, her voice sounding so damn happy.
“Hey, beautiful,” I crooned.
The old men sitting at the bar started howling.
“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” I pretended to be annoyed, but I wasn’t at all.
“Why would we go anywhere else? We get a meal and a show here,” old man Jenkins said. His voice was rough, years of smoking edged around it.
I waved the men off as I handed the flowers to Bells, who was still grinning from ear to ear.
“These are so pretty. And colorful. I love them. Thank you.” She made her way from around the back of the bar to hug me.
If these old men wanted a show, I’d sure as hell give them one. I lifted her up with one arm and started kissing her right on the mouth. This woman was mine, and I wanted to make sure the whole damn town knew it. Group chats be damned. They could come see it in person.
My tongue inched inside her mouth, and she moaned against me.
We pulled away at the sound of Addi shouting, “Enough, brother,” from somewhere in the place, and reluctantly, I stopped.
“Don’t want to get you fired,” I whispered before giving Bells another kiss.
“Thank you for the flowers. I hope they never die,” she said, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“They’re definitely going to die.”
“Well, that’s just unfair,” she whined as she walked back behind the bar and refilled one of the glasses with beer.
“I agree,” I said because it was kind of shitty that they didn’t live forever. “Where’s Anna? The glasses are safe for another day?”
“Oh my gosh, I totally forgot to tell you.” Bells leaned forward, her elbows on top of the bar. We’d texted a few times this morning, but we hadn’t had a real conversation until now. “She’s moving.”
I hadn’t expected that. I figured she’d quit the bartending gig, but moving hadn’t even entered my mind. “Moving? Like out of Sugar Mountain?”
Bells nodded, her lips a tight line. “Yeah. Her old college roommate offered her a job down in the city, so she’s going to take it.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. “Are you okay with that? Are we mad at her now?” I asked because I was down to feel however Bells felt. If she told me we were pissed at Anna and never speaking to her again, I’d back her up.
That was what good boyfriends did.
I mean, I assumed that’s what good boyfriends did. I’d never been anyone’s boyfriend before, but I thought it was what Patrick and Thomas would do, and they were my barometer for shit like this.
Bells looked at me like I was the cutest thing on the planet. At least, that was how I interpreted the look.
“ We are not mad at her. It’s okay. I think it’s for the best.”
“It’s definitely in the glasses’ best interest,” I added, trying to lighten the mood, but I thought Bells had meant what she said. She didn’t seem upset.
“It is.” She smiled.
“Can I see you later?” I gave her a wink, and her cheeks instantly started to redden.
“I want to spend the next couple of days with Anna. I’m going to help her pack and just hang out until she abandons me forever,” she explained, and even though I was disappointed, I understood. “Is that okay?” she asked, and I nodded.
“Of course it’s okay. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay. Thank you again for the flowers. I love them.”
I love you, I thought, but didn’t dare say out loud.
To my surprise, two days away from Bells hadn’t actually killed me. I missed her like crazy though, already craving her daily presence in my life like oxygen or some shit. Talking and FaceTiming hadn’t been enough to calm me down. All it did was rile me up more, and I found myself jerking off to thoughts of her in my bed and in the shower more times than I cared to count.
I was in deep, and we’d only had one date. One date that had ended far too soon for my liking. I swore I’d never take the woman to eat another meal again if every one ended the way that one had.
After another early morning shower session with imaginary Bells, who was a damn goddess in my fantasies, I dried off and got myself dressed before driving off to my meeting.
We were closing on my house today, and I couldn’t be more excited for this next step. It felt like such an adult move, owning a home.
After a few hours, I stood in some office, holding a set of keys and a garage door opener. Bells was standing next to me, her eyes staring at the check in her hands like the amount was a surprise instead of a percentage she knew was coming. I glanced over her shoulder at the five-figure number and started nodding, feeling good that she wouldn’t have to worry about money for a while.
I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Should we celebrate?”
“You should have a housewarming party for sure.”
She spun around to face me, and I took her in my arms and gave her a hug, my body reacting to her nearness. When she pushed away, she glanced down at my crotch and shook her head.
“I was talking about you and me. Should we celebrate our new home?”
A loud laugh erupted from her mouth. She sounded so happy. “You keep calling it that, and I might start to believe you mean it.”
“Oh, I mean it,” I said before dipping my head and taking her mouth with mine, not caring who saw.
My tongue moved past her lips, and she kissed me like she’d been doing it all her life. Our movements were in sync, our breathing and bodies humming in the same frequency. I swore I could feel the sparks between us.
Kissing Bells was like a fucking dream I never wanted to wake up from, but when someone cleared their throat, I broke the kiss and shot the person a nasty look.
“Sorry to interrupt, but we have another client coming in, and we need the room,” some lady said, and I simply gave her a nod.
“I need to get to my real job anyway,” Bells said as we walked out of the conference room, holding hands.
Once we reached the front doors, I held it open for her to walk through. “You’re always working.” I pouted.
She stopped moving and shoved at my chest. I barely budged.
“And you don’t work enough.”
Fuck.
She wasn’t even remotely wrong about that.
“You’re right.”
I gave her another kiss once she got situated in her tiny car.
“Please tell me we’re getting you a new car soon.” I nodded toward the check that was now sitting on her passenger seat.
“ We are not, but I am,” she said defiantly. “And don’t be mean to Betty. She can hear you.”
My woman was a little stubborn. Or maybe she was just used to doing things on her own and not having a man to help her. She started the engine and fastened her seat belt.
Shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand, she asked, “So, what do you have planned today?”
“Moving my stuff from the condo to the house,” I said because I wanted to move into my place as soon as possible. I figured if I could get at least one of my brothers to help, it would only take a few hours.
“That’s so exciting,” she cooed.
“It is. I want to sleep there tonight. In our house. With you. What do you think about that?” I asked.
I knew Anna had left early this morning, and the thought of Bells being all alone in her apartment didn’t sit well with me.
Also, why would we sleep apart when we could sleep together? It was just simple logic.
“I think sleep is important,” she teased.
I leaned into the window frame. “You know what I mean.” I gave her a grin, but she didn’t say anything else, and I didn’t want to scare her off. “I’ll talk to you later, babe.” I pressed one last kiss to her waiting lips and watched as she drove off.
Once I was in my truck, I dialed up Patrick, assuming that he’d be able to sneak out of the resort without anyone knowing.
“What’s good, little brother?” he answered, and I swore I could actually hear the smile on his face.
“Just closed on the house. Wanted to know if you could help me load up a few things from the condo to bring over there?”
“On my way,” he said, and right when I was about to hang up, I heard him shouting, “Wait! Matthewwwww!”
I brought the phone back to my ear. “What?”
“Can I bring Jasper with me?”
“Of course you can bring your dog.”
My brother did not go anywhere without Jasper. It was assumed that if Patrick was going somewhere, his lovable mutt would be with him.
“I was just trying to be polite. What if you didn’t want dog hair in your new place?” he grumped, all signs of the previous smile gone.
“Like I give a shit about dog hair. I’ll just pay someone to come clean it.”
I knew I sounded like a pompous asshole, but it was the truth. There was zero chance that I’d be cleaning the massive house I’d just bought by myself.
“You have way too much money, brother.”
“You’re one to talk,” I sassed because none of us was hurting for money.
Between the trust that our mom had left us after she died and the money the resort pulled in, we were all set for life. And beyond.
“Generational wealth,” as my grandfather used to say.
I finally understood what he’d meant by that. The three of us all had it.
“We’ll be right over,” he said before hanging up, and I realized that he might get to my place before I did.
I raced home and didn’t even stop for coffee, like I’d planned. Parking in my spot, I heard Patrick’s old truck rumbling before the sound stopped. Hopping down, I slammed the driver’s door right as Jasper spotted me and ran over, his tail wagging.
“Hey there, bud.” I patted his head and scratched behind his ears.
He really was a good boy.
Patrick reached me, and we shook hands like we were colleagues and not brothers. It was weird, but we did that shit sometimes.
“Thanks for coming,” I said.
“Excited about the house?” he asked as he slapped his thigh, calling Jasper over to his side.
“Very excited about the house.” I couldn’t stop smiling.
Even as I unlocked the door and walked inside, the grin refused to leave my face. I shut the door behind us and looked around, grateful that I hadn’t bought too much shit over the past ten months. I’d always known that the condo was temporary. That was why I’d rented the place instead of buying it.
“My bed is the number one priority,” I instructed as I led us into the bedroom.
I didn’t care if we didn’t move a single other thing over to the house today. I wanted to sleep there tonight, and I planned on having Bells there with me. I needed my bed.
“What’s number two?” my brother asked as Jasper jumped up and started rolling around on my comforter before Patrick yelled at him to get down.
“Literally everything else.”
Patrick gave me a curt nod, and we hustled in unison, stripping the sheets off and tossing them to the floor before pulling the mattress off and resting it against the wall. I went out to grab my tool kit from the closet and quickly took apart my bedframe. Once it was in multiple pieces, we started loading it up in the bed of his truck before I started freaking out a little.
“Will the mattress fit?” I studied our trucks, knowing that it was going to be an issue. But, hell, I’d strap the damn thing to my hood if I had to.
“I got it,” he said confidently.
Thankfully, my brother was a damn genius. He figured out a way to put the mattress on my truck before he went to work, tying it down in what seemed like fifty different places.
“It will not come out while you drive,” he said with a satisfied look on his face.
“I don’t think it will come out when we get there.” I laughed.
After dropping off priority number one, we drove back to the condo to find Thomas waiting for us, his arms crossed across his chest like he was annoyed.
“Think you’d have all the fun without me?” He started walking toward us.
“Didn’t think you could bail,” I said with a shrug.
“You didn’t even ask.” He pouted, and I rolled my eyes.
“Well, now that you’re here, you can help. Yay!” I slapped his back and grinned because moving was going to take no time at all with both of my brothers here.
Two more back-and-forth trips were all it took to move every single thing I’d had in the condo over to my brand-new house. And that was when our dad showed up, holding a six-pack.
“Didn’t realize you were allowed to leave the resort during work hours, old man,” I said as I held the heavy wooden door open for him to come inside.
“I think it will stay standing while I’m gone. Plus, all my boys are here, having fun without me.”
“You sound just like Thomas.”
“Well, it’s rude to leave your father out,” he griped.
We each grabbed a beer from the carrier, popped off the tops, clanked the bottles together, and took a long pull.
“This place is incredible,” my dad complimented, and I felt proud of what I’d been able to buy.
It was stunning. A forever kind of home.
“Wait until you see the other two floors.” Patrick smirked.
“Two? I thought it only went down?” Thomas questioned.
Patrick quickly shook his head. “Up and down,” Patrick announced, like he knew the floor plan better than I did.
“One of you give me a tour already.” Dad held on to his beer and started walking toward the stairs when a knock on the front door stopped him. “Who’s that?” he asked me, like I had any idea.
“Hold on. Lemme check.” I put my fingertips up to the side of my head and closed my eyes, acting like I could sense who it might be.
“Smart-ass,” my dad huffed.
There was another quick knock, followed by the door opening, and Brooklyn and Clara walked inside, each holding a pizza box.
“Hey, everyone,” Brooklyn announced as she set her box on top of the counter before reaching for Clara’s and doing the same.
“Hi, Uncles! Hi, Daddy! Hi, Pops!” Clara said animatedly as Jasper raced up to her. She dropped to her knees, and Jasper licked her face. “Hi, Jasper. I missed you.”
“You two are goddesses.” I opened up one of the boxes, grabbed a slice, folded it in half, and took a large bite.
“Swallow, Uncle Matthew. Sheesh,” Clara demanded as she wrapped her arms around my leg and squeezed.
“I’m just so hungry,” I said around a mouthful of food.
Clara narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “You have no manners when you’re hungry.”
She giggled, and I reached down to pick her up and started tickling her. She squirmed in my arms, but I refused to stop until she said she was sorry.
“I’m sor—” She laughed. “Sorrrrrry. I mean, not really, but please stop, Uncle.”
“Fine,” I said before putting her mismatched-covered feet on the ground.
I watched as Thomas swooped in, took Brooklyn in his arms, and kissed her. She stared up at him with hearts in her eyes, and a week ago, I would have been insanely jealous. But not anymore because I had my own heart-eyed woman.
At least I hoped I did.
“Uncle Matthew, this place is huge.” Clara spun in a circle in the almost-empty living room. Once she stopped, her eyes were as wide as she could make them.
“I know it is. Why don’t you go pick out a floor?” I said, shooting Patrick an all-knowing look, and I swore he almost keeled over right then and there.
“A whole floor?” Her mouth dropped open.
She took off running, and Patrick raced to catch up to her and reached for her hand.
“I’ll go with you. I’m sure you don’t want a whole floor ,” he said.
Clara looked up at him like he was crazy. “I don’t know, Uncle Patrick.” She didn’t sound convinced. “After Little Miss Goo comes out, I might need a whole floor to myself.”
“Little Miss what?” Patrick asked, and Clara quickly threw her hand over her mouth like she’d said something wrong.
“Come on.” She pulled on his hand.
“I guess the cat’s kind of out of the bag,” Brooklyn said as soon as the two of them disappeared.
My dad and I walked over to where Thomas and Brooklyn stood in the kitchen.
“What cat?” I asked.
My dad quickly followed with, “What bag?”
Thomas put his hand on Brooklyn’s stomach, and they both smiled.
“We’re pregnant,” she announced. “We’ve known for a while, but I wanted to wait to make sure.”
“Clara calls the baby Little Miss Goo,” Thomas said with a neutral expression.
“I’m sure that will change at some point.” I laughed. “Congratulations. You two do not waste any time.”
I gave them each a hug. I was happy for them, but I wondered if Thomas was nervous or scared. His first wife had died while giving birth, and there was no way that thought hadn’t entered his mind now. I figured if he freaked during the next handful of months, he’d talk about it. Or explode. And I’d be there for him.
“Couldn’t be happier for you both. Give me all the grandbabies,” Dad said with the biggest grin.
Our old man loved being a grandpa.
Couldn’t blame him though. He was damn good at it.
Patrick and Clara reappeared. They’d barely been gone five minutes.
“What’d I miss?” Patrick asked.
“Brooklyn’s pregnant,” Thomas said again.
Patrick’s face lit right up. “That’s awesome. Congratulations.”
Clara grinned and clapped her hands together. “Little Miss Goo is the size of a pea,” she announced, and we all started laughing like that was the funniest thing ever. “What? She is. Mama Waffles said so.”
Clara looked a little confused by our laughter as she moved to hide behind Brooklyn’s leg, and Brooklyn wrapped her arms around her.
“You’re going to be the best big sister ever.”
“Maybe,” Clara answered honestly, per usual.
“Maybe?” I gave my little niece a questioning look, and she shrugged.
“Well, Allison from school says her little sister cries all the time, and that doesn’t sound very fun. And Rachel says her little brother hits her. With toys sometimes.” Clara sounded absolutely offended and shocked by this behavior.
“That does sound awful,” I agreed, and Brooklyn smacked my shoulder. “What?”
Brooklyn dropped to her knees so she could be eye level with Clara. “It’s going to be great. The baby might cry at first, but that’s just what babies do. And if you have a little brother, we’ll do our best to make sure he doesn’t hit you, okay?”
Clara seemed to contemplate Brooklyn’s words before she threw her arms around her neck and hugged her tight. “Okay, Mama. Thanks.” She pulled away and smooshed Brooklyn’s cheeks together. “If it’s a girl, I’m going to share my shoes with her so we can wear the same different ones at the same time.”
Then, she started giggling, let go of Brooklyn’s face, and spun in a circle. And just like that, our favorite girl was happy again. It honestly happened that quickly—her little mood swings. Everyone continued eating pizza and clearing out the few sodas I’d brought over from the condo when my dad stepped next to me.
“Wanna chat for a second?” he asked, his voice low.
I swung my head to look at him, feeling like I was a teenager all over again.
“Am I in trouble?”
He let out a gruff laugh. “No, son. At least, not that I’m aware of.”
He nodded toward the oversize room, and we both walked that way before he opened one of the sliding glass doors and stepped onto the balcony.
I followed him out before closing the door behind us. “What’s going on?” I asked, growing a little bit concerned.
“Nothing bad. Nothing’s wrong.” He waved me off to calm me down. “Your brother talked to me about the GM position and let me know he wasn’t interested. I think, in the back of my mind, I always knew that position wasn’t for him.”
My heart started racing. I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous, but maybe there was a small part of me that thought my dad would tell me that I wasn’t good enough. Or that I didn’t deserve such a large role in the family business.
“He mentioned that you were interested. And he thought that you’d be the best fit.”
My old man grinned, but grew silent. When I didn’t say anything—’cause I could be an idiot sometimes—he looked at me with an impatient expression.
“Are you? Interested? Earth to Matthew.” He snapped his fingers in front of my face.
Swallowing hard, I pulled myself together. “Yes. I think I could be really good at it. But I know I have a lot to learn.”
That made my dad laugh hard. “Son, you have a shit ton to learn.”
“Okay then,” I said a little uncomfortably.
“Realistically, I think you’d need to be the assistant GM for at least two years. Think you can handle that?” He wasn’t asking to be mean or to put me down. His tone was sincere and serious.
“I can.” I tried to sound confident, but the very idea was a tad bit overwhelming.
New challenges always felt like a lot at first. Like they were too big to handle. But that was to be expected.
“Let’s meet up on Monday and talk about our next steps,” he said before reaching out his hand to shake mine. I gave him a firm shake before he pulled me in for a hug, his hand slapping my back. “Love you, son. And I’m proud of you.”
“Please don’t make me cry in front of my brothers,” I said before wiping away a stray tear. “I’ll never hear the end of it.”