3. Rule #3 When at family dinners, avoid topics like your career, your love life, and that obsessive crush you’ve had s #2
I’m fumbling over my words, and the table is too quiet as they all watch me trying to figure out what I want to say.
“Sorry, this is none of my business,” I add to quickly cover my awkward tracks.
Matis, of course, doesn’t look bothered or uncomfortable. He only grins at me casually. “I’m not dating…per se.”
“But you’d like to?”
He shrugs. “Perhaps it’s time I start actually talking to the people I sleep with.”
“What about online dating?” Freya asks, which makes Matis only laugh.
“I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
“I can help.”
Somehow, those words just came out of my mouth. Which is weird because I’m the one person at the table that should really not want Matis to start dating.
But for some reason, I just blurted out in front of him and my entire family that I would help him date more. Beneath the table, Freya kicks my shin, and I do everything not to react. She must think I’ve lost it.
Hell, I think I’ve lost it too.
“You would help me?” Matis asks, clearly confused too.
I simply shrug. “Yeah, I mean, why not? I’ve got a way with technology, and I could make you sound really good in your profile. They’ll be swiping hard for you.”
His brows lift. “Swiping hard?”
“I think you’re going to have your work cut out for you, Amelia,” my mom jokes.
“Well, now wait a minute,” my brother interjects. “Are we sure you’re the best person to give him dating advice? The last guy you dated had a pet squirrel.”
I gasp in offense. “George was a gentleman. I still think about him all the time.”
“George was the squirrel, wasn’t he?” Freya asks.
“Yes, and I loved him.”
When the laughter dies down, my brother steals the attention again. “All I’m saying is you might know a few things about apps and profiles, but you don’t know anything about picking partners.”
“Well, then we’ll trade,” Matis adds.
“Trade what?” I ask.
He leans forward, straightening his spine, which I’ve learned from him means he’s serious about something. “Trade expertise. You know about apps and technology. I know about men and what to look for in a good boyfriend. If you help me, I’ll help you.”
“That sounds like a perfect plan,” my mom says with excitement.
My best friend is still glaring at me as if I’ve sprouted a unicorn horn. But the longer we sit here after our meal, conversing and talking as a family, I more think about this plan.
About how utterly dangerous and stupid it is. And about all the time I’ll get to spend with him while doing it.
When it’s time to part for the evening, we congregate on the cobblestones out front. My parents’ private car waits as we all hug and say our goodbyes.
“You coming with us, princess?” my dad asks, placing a kiss on the side of my head.
“No, Daddy. I’ll stay a bit and talk to Freya.”
“You have Lucien’s number if you need a ride,” he says. “Do not ride the Métro alone, young lady.”
He knows how much I love taking public transit over the hired car, but he hates how much I do it. I can’t help it. That’s where the real city is at. The heart of Paris.
Riding in the back of expensive cars is cheating. And boring.
My parents get in the car before the driver shuts their door. Then they’re off.
I’ve lost track of Matis as we all part. I stick around with Freya, linking my arm with hers and ignoring the two men standing behind her who seem to think they have any claim on my best friend.
She might be engaged to them, but we all know I come first.
Freya and I walk back inside. The restaurant is still open with a few tables occupied in the dining area. I follow her into the kitchen, knowing she’ll have an earful for me when we are finally alone. Shutting us in her storage room together, she turns toward me with alarm.
“Are you out of your mind?”
I take her arms in my hands. “Listen, I have a plan.”
“As long as I have known you, Amelia, you have been obsessed with that man. That very, very off-limits man. What makes you think working closely with him to find him a date is a good idea?”
She’s whisper-shouting frantically, clearly worried for the well-being of my fragile heart.
“I know, I know,” I say with a sigh, “But this is my chance to finally move on.”
“How so?”
“I figure that if I take him off the market entirely, I will have no choice but to get over him.”
Freya’s brows notch as she stares at me. “Amelia, he’s already off-limits. What makes you think making him more off-limits is going to help you get over him?”
“Because I’ll have no choice, Freya.”
When she sees the desperation on my face, her expression softens. “I just worry about you.”
“Who knows?” I say despondently. “I might meet a really great guy who finally makes me forget about Matis.”
Biting her bottom lip, she stares at me with worry. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
I let my arms fall to my sides in defeat.
“And you think I do? But I’m twenty-five, Freya.
How long can I really keep doing this? I mean, what if this isn’t just a crush?
What if I’m really in love with him? I know you don’t want me to get hurt, but that’s what you don’t understand.
I already am. Imagine if you had to see Julian or Archer every single day but could never touch them or hear them say they love you? ”
With sadness in her eyes, she whispers, “That would shatter my heart.”
“Exactly,” I reply. “My heart shatters every single day. And I’m tired.”
My lip quivers, and Freya notices right away. Without another word, she engulfs me in a tight hug. Resting my head on her shoulder, I breathe in the comfort of her embrace.
“I’ll support whatever you choose to do,” she says. Her hand softly strokes my now short blond hair. “But you know…”
I can already tell where this conversation is going before she continues.
“I thought my family would be devastated when I told them I was in a polyamorous relationship, but surprisingly, they were only mildly freaked out. My dad can almost talk about Julian and Archer in the same sentence now, which is a big improvement. So maybe your parents wouldn’t freak out if you wanted to… you know…tell Matis how you feel.”
I laugh loudly, throwing my head back in a sarcastic cackle.
“You must be joking. My parents would never let that happen. Matis is my godfather, Freya. He’s been friends with my dad since before I was born.
And I am a daddy’s girl through and through.
If his best friend and his daughter started seeing each other, it would be the ultimate betrayal.
He would think Matis had groomed me or something, which he clearly never did. ”
She shrugs, looking mostly unconvinced. “I’m just saying…you don’t know that.”
“And I never will.”
The door to the pantry opens, and we both turn to find Archer standing in the doorway. With a mischievous smirk, he crosses his arms over his chest. “What are we gossiping about?”
Freya rolls her eyes with a smile. Then she moves toward him and wraps her arms around his waist. “Nothing.”
“Well, I was just coming in here to let you know that your brother is taking your job.” He nods toward me, and I furrow my brow when his words don’t make sense.
“What are you talking about?”
“He’s out there teaching Matis how to write his dating profile and convinced him to write interested but not desperate.”
“Oh my God,” I say before storming out of the pantry.
Sure enough, there is my people-hating brother, sitting across from our godfather, telling him what to write for his profile. I march over and snatch the phone out of Matis’s hand.
“Step one, never take dating advice from Julian.”
Matis glances up at me with surprise. Holding his phone in my hand, I stare down at the photo of him in some dating profile, next to his name and age, and I swear my heart skips a beat.
I’m really doing this. I’m helping the man I very possibly love to find someone else.
But it’s the only way. If I want to move on, then I need to remove him from the dating scene altogether.
“Okay, Trouble,” he says with a smug smile as he leans back in his chair. “I’m ready for you to teach me.”