Chapter 25 Nick
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Nick
I slowed my car as I pulled into Matthew’s driveway and hopped out, glancing up at the sky.
The sun was setting, and it was one of those Texas sunsets that stole my breath, reminding me of something I hadn’t known I missed.
Scarlet, pink, and purple streaked across the sky, slowly giving way to the night and the smiling moon up above.
I took a deep breath and exhaled, counting to five.
Evie had something come up tonight, and whatever it was, she was nervous about it. I trusted she’d tell Matthew and I if anything was wrong, but it made me nervous. Had we gone too fast? Had we done too much?
I went to the doorstep and kicked my boots on the welcome mat. It was a very traditional Howdy Y’all one, except it had a little rainbow and a disco ball, which I found endearing.
The door flew open before I could knock. Matthew leaned against the door frame and my heart started pumping. He wore his glasses, a V-neck T-shirt, and gym shorts.
“Did you go on a run?” I choked out.
“Yep. Just got back.”
He smiled and grabbed my waistband, pulling me inside. The door slammed shut behind us, and then he was pushing me against it. Fuck.
“Well, hello,” I rasped. His hips pressed against mine, and I felt the outline of his erection, harder than steel. “Happy to see me?”
“Very happy.”
I smiled as his mouth brushed mine, and I was lost. I was so lost. This had been happening the last few days where every time he or Evie kissed me, I was reminded that I’d never felt like this before. My chest was sticky with all these emotions, and it scared the hell out of me.
With Evie, I was dominant. I didn’t have a single submissive bone in my body when she was around.
But with Matthew? All I wanted to do was submit. It was such a completely different dynamic, and yet it worked for me just as much.
He knotted his fingers in my mullet and gave me a gentle tug. “What’s wrong?”
I blew out a breath. I guess I wasn’t good at hiding sometimes. “Evie’s text made me nervous.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah. Me too. But I don’t think it has anything to do with our relationship. I happened to see Dallas at the grocery store earlier, and he mentioned they were having a capital M meeting.”
That made my frown deepen. “Austin will be there too?”
Matthew nodded.
I made a face. Not that I was jealous, of course. “I wish I was invited.”
Matthew’s hold on me gently. “Me too. But she’ll tell us what’s going on.”
I relaxed, comforted. “So . . . you went to the grocery store.”
“And cooked some dinner.”
My eyes widened. “You cooked for me?”
He grinned. “Yeah. Well, we’ve been promising each other a date, you know. And it hadn’t happened yet, so I decided this was a good night for it.”
“Wow,” I murmured. “You’re spoiling me.”
“Well, you are a brat.”
I smirked and leaned in, kissing him again. “I am with you. We can talk through kinks for real too.”
“Exactly. Kick off your shoes. Get comfy. I kind of wish Lucky was with you.”
My chest immediately warmed and for some reason, that made my eyes sting. But god, Lucky had saved me, and for someone I was into to care about him too . . .
“I don’t know what I’m going to do when I fall in love with you,” I blurt out.
Matthew’s mouth dropped and now I was blushing.
“I just mean . . . if. Of course. It’s too soon for that.” I was backtracking. “Sorry.”
Matthew reached for me, cupping either side of my face.
“For someone as confident, flirty, and sexy as you are, I will never understand why you start to apologize when you’re being authentic.
I don’t know if it’s too soon. I don’t really care about living on a theoretical timeline.
” He kissed me slowly, gently, working me until I was putty in his hands.
“I want to know you, Nick. Come have dinner with me and tell me all the things you haven’t yet. ”
“Only if you do too,” I sniffled.
“Of course, baby.”
Baby. My breath hitched as I took off my shoes. God, who was I fucking kidding? I was one hundred percent already fully in love, I just didn’t want to admit it yet. At least not completely. Ugh, I was all gooey and mushy inside every time I was around him.
I followed Matthew to the kitchen right as the oven beeped. My eyes wandered around his place and I started smiling. He was such a nerd. I never would have guessed, but he had figurines too.
“I hope you like lasagna,” he said.
“I do. Thank you for making food. I’ll cook for our next date,” I offered.
“Deal. It’d be nice to finally see your place.”
“You’ll see it Friday,” I promised. “It’s not super impressive currently. Kind of empty, but still a mess? I like your place more.”
“Have you ever had a regular home before?”
I fell silent. No one had ever asked me that. And the truth was, no. Certainly not growing up.
“It takes a while,” Matthew continued as he made us plates.
“This place didn’t feel right for the first few months.
I had to buy a lot of new furniture and rearrange a couple times.
And well . . . Part of the reason I moved out here was because I had a girlfriend named Amanda who grew up in Whynot, but she passed away. ”
My gaze dropped to the locket around his neck. I’d always wanted to ask. “Is that for her?” I asked softly.
He nodded, his eyes filling with anguish.
“I’m so sorry, Matthew,” I said. My chest tightened. “I can’t imagine.”
“Moving out here felt right,” he said. “But it took me a long time to settle my own ghosts, you know?”
“I do.”
I reached across his kitchen counter, closing my hand over his. I gave him a squeeze as he looked into my eyes.
“I . . . I don’t even know where to start with my life,” I finally said. “I mean, I grew up here. It was kind of fucked up. Part of the reason why I fought with Austin so much when we were kids is because he had everything I wanted. Parents, siblings, and a house.”
I swallowed hard and grabbed our plates, taking them to a small cozy dining room table. He’d clearly tidied, but there was still a stack of board game boxes against the window.
“Why doesn’t he like you?” Matthew asked.
“Oh, definitely because I stole like three of his girlfriends in high school and I stole his wallet twice. I picked fights with him all the time. Broke his nose at least once.”
“Nick,” Matthew laughed. “What the fuck?”
I winced. “I was kind of a bad kid. I’ve never really explained to him why.
I think if he knew he’d maybe dislike me less.
But I was really on my own after fifteen.
My mom didn’t want me. Never wanted to be a parent.
And I don’t know what the hell happened to my dad.
Honestly I don’t even think she knew who he was. ”
Matthew winced. “Knew? Is she still . . . here?”
“Well, she’s still alive. We don’t speak, though,” I said. “I just remind her of hard times.”
“That’s fucked up, Nick. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I looked down at my food, trying to remember the last time someone cooked for me.
I couldn’t. “Um, so I graduated somehow. Left Whynot with nothing. Managed to pick up some construction jobs. A couple families helped me out that I met through those jobs. Then I learned how to play poker.”
“Poker?” Matthew poured us each sparkling water into fancy glasses. I smiled as I grabbed one and we clinked them together, each taking a sip.
“Yeah,” I said. “Okay, so, finally I get to tell someone how the fuck I ended up doing what I do. Not even Evie really knows. Not that it’s a secret.
Anyway, I got good at poker. Like, really good at it.
I was working jobs, barely getting by. But I started playing poker with the little money I had, and I was tripling it. Making it back fast.”
“Remind me to never play poker with you.”
A laugh bubbled up. “Don’t worry, I’d go easy on you.
So, I got into business school. Funded the whole thing from my games.
That led me into the hospitality industry.
I made some good investments.” It’d all been a string of good luck, one thing after the other.
And hell, I’d deserved it after everything I’d gone through.
“The day I found Lucky, I bought some stock in this one small company no one knew about. I just had a gut feeling. A why not, if you will. And it just blew up. So, I used all that money to invest more, and I’ve been lucky. ”
“So what you’re saying is that you’re rich,” he teased.
“I mean, I feel like it,” I said. “Especially with how I grew up. I think sometimes I hold on to money when I shouldn’t, but . . . yeah. I’m lucky. So hopefully Whynot Relax doesn’t fail.”
“I don’t think it will,” Matthew said thoughtfully. “We know, at the very least, that Austin should be a client of yours.”
For some reason, that made my stomach flutter with nerves. I smothered them with an easy smile. “I can think of other ways for him to relax.”
I took a bite of food and groaned, my shoulder dropping. It was so fucking good.
“My sister’s recipe,” he said.
“You have a sister?”
“Yep. Two actually, and a brother.”
“Are you the oldest or youngest?”
Matthew smirked. “Guess.”
“I guess oldest.”
“You didn’t even think for a moment I’m a middle child?”
“Not at all,” I laughed. “Hmm . . . And your parents?”
“Amazing,” he sighed. “Maybe you’ll meet them sometime soon.”
I smiled. “Oooh. I’ve never met someone’s parents before.”
“They’d like you,” he said. “I think my sisters would grill you. They’re both in college right now.
Amaya is in school for literature. Whitney is studying chemistry.
My brother, Zach, is annoying but cool. He teaches high school English and likes to be insufferable about Shakespeare sometimes. He’s influencing the youths.”
I grinned. “It sounds like two of you got the artsy brain and two of you got the science-y brain.”
“Yep,” he chuckled. “My mom is the science-y one. She works in forensics. My dad loves reading. He has way more books than me. Also, he will undoubtedly make you play poker with him if you mention you’re good. He likes card games.”
“Is that where you get your game nerdiness from?”
“It is,” he laughed. “We’re a thousand-piece puzzle over the holidays kind of family.”
That sounded really warm and cozy and like something that would make me secretly cry in the bathroom because I’d always wanted a family like that.
“Come home with me over the holidays,” he said. “I know it’s early. But, you should come with me. And hopefully Evie and Austin can come too. But, at the very least, come with me.”
“Okay,” I breathed out. “I’ll be nervous. Holidays have always been just for work.”
Matthew shook his head. “My mother will scold you if she sees you working on holiday.”
The sticky happy feeling came back to my chest, but it wasn’t as scary this time. “Sounds perfect,” I murmured. “The real question is, do I let your dad win at poker?”
“I’d give him one round.”
We grinned together, and the rest of our dinner conversation flowed. The food was amazing. By the time we polished our plates and I made him let me do the dishes, I found out he’d even made dessert.
So we settled on the couch together with vanilla ice cream and box-mix brownies, and I swore it was the best thing I’d ever had. But maybe that’s because it was with him.
“I have an idea,” Matthew said.
“Oh yeah?” I asked.
“Yeah. How about we watch a movie? And just have an easy night.”
“You mean you don’t want sex?” I asked.
Matthew bumped my foot with his. “Of course I do, but I think it’d be nice to save it for the morning and just cuddle.”
I licked a bit of chocolate off my lip and took another bite of ice cream. “Okay,” I finally said.
He snorted. “When was the last time someone didn’t just want you for the sex?”
He was teasing, but it hit a little too close to home. I tensed, but then he immediately leaned forward with a frown.
“I’m sorry,” he said gently. “Nick, I didn’t mean to hit a nerve. You know that Evie also just wants you right? I mean the sex is amazing. But I want you around always.”
I cleared my throat. “I don’t think I know what I’m doing.”
“That’s okay.” He kissed me on the lips and I sighed, pressing my forehead against his.
“You’re too good to be true,” I mumbled. “Thank you. For everything tonight. I’d like to stay.”
“Good. Stay.”