“I came on too strong. I’m so sorry,” he says, his voice anguished. “I fucked it up.”
“No, you really didn’t,” I say, shaking my head. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to keep from crying. “It’s not you; it’s me,” I say.
I just realized that if we keep going like this, I’m gonna end up falling for you, and it pains me that my dad will never get to meet you.
This is so ridiculous.
I walk toward one of my suitcases and rifle quickly through my clothes, pulling out the first things I see.
“What are you doing?” he asks softly.
I take a deep breath, steeling myself. I’m afraid I’m going to start crying the second I open my mouth, so I do my very best to control it when I say, “I’m gonna take a quick shower, okay?”
“What?” he asks, eyes wide and confused, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Yeah, just a quick one. I’m so sweaty and gross, you know?” I start backing into the bathroom with my clothes, leaving him in the middle of my bedroom by the unfinished bed.
I turn on the shower, willing it to heat quickly so I can cry, get it out of my system without having him hear me. I strip quickly and run my fingers under the stream. Once the water is warm enough, I practically throw myself into the shower. Under the hot water, I press my forehead to the cold tile and let the tears stream down.
WHENILEAVEthe bathroom in a pair of clean dark jeans and a dark-green sweater, I find Matt sitting on the edge of my new bed. In the time I spent in the shower, trying to recover from a mild breakdown, he not only managed to finish building it, but added the mattress and a fresh set of sheets for me.
He’s incredible. Majestic Matt is nothing in comparison to this Matt 2.0.
His eyes are stuck on the floor, holding his head in his right hand and a hammer in the other. When he hears me approach him, he looks up to meet my eyes.
“Hey,” he says softly, brows furrowed. “You okay?”
I walk slowly over to him and put my hands on his shoulders, standing between his legs. Matt drops the hammer on the floor and puts his hands on my waist. I press my forehead to his. I close my eyes and inhale, letting the combination of his natural cedar scent combined with the one of particle board reach every corner of my body, soothing my heart and soul.
“Yeah,” I whisper. “I’m fine now.”
He takes a deep breath but thankfully doesn’t ask me to elaborate.
“You made my bed,” I say.
“I didn’t know if you wanted me to leave, but I didn’t want you to have to finish it on your own or leave you to sleep on the mattress,” he says softly.
My heart glows in my chest, doing backflips and chanting,“I want him!”
We stay like this, unmoving and quiet, until his stomach breaks the silence with a grumble, and we both separate with laughter. Matt’s entire face flushes in embarrassment.
“Sorry,” he says. “We just haven’t really had anything to eat since brunch.” He lifts a shoulder.
Man’s gotta eat.
“Let me take you out for a beer and a Wiener schnitzel.” I smile.
“A Wiener schnitzel?” he asks, amused. “That’s…oddly specific.” He smirks at me.
I laugh. “I want to take you to one of my favorite places in New York as a thank you for all of your help today. It’s a German bar on the Upper East Side with the best beer. They have some amazing food, but they’re best known for their Weiner schnitzel.”
“All right.” He grins, kissing me on the neck, making my knees buckle.
This man…
It’s weird. We haven’t even kissed on the lips yet, but already I know how he feels against my skin. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to actually have his mouth on mine. I’d probably spontaneously combust. I stifle a moan when he kisses right under my ear and do my best to control my breathing as heat courses through my belly.
“I would’ve guessed you would take me somewhere Italian,” he whispers against my skin, punctuating his sentence with another kiss and a light lick of his tongue.
