“He’s fine. Just took a bit of a slide. He and one of the other kids collided. Noah went down face-first. No concussion.” Matt holds up his hand. “I promise.
I let out a small sigh. I was afraid of this. I swear he’s so accident-prone. “I hope it was a one-off. Noah was looking forward to playing with Dane.”
“What about me?”
“What about you?” I ask, confused.
“I figured Noah would be excited to have me as a coach. I’ve always loved sports,” Matt explains. “I was just one of those kids who wanted to try everything.” He shrugs and smiles. “I even played hockey for a bit.”
“You played hockey? I can’t picture that.”
Soccer, or even football, sure. That makes sense. Buthockey? That’s a whole different type of game. I can’t imagine him skating or getting into fights with other players.
“Maybe we could check out a game sometime,” he suggests with a tinge of hope in his voice.
“I’ll think about it. I have an interview for a part-time job tomorrow. If I get that, I don’t know if I’ll have much time,” I remind him, turning around to grab some silverware.
“Oh,” Matt responds dejectedly. “That’s okay. I’ll look at the local team’s schedule and see if there’s one that works. I’m flexible. My family has season passes.”
“Sure,” I agree, even though I mean it more as a ‘sure, like that will ever happen’ thing, but he seems pleased by my answer.
I feel him close behind me before he asks, “Can I do anything to help?”
“Um, no. I think I got everything done. Why don’t you?—”
“Is dinner ready? I’m starving,” Noah asks as he walks into the kitchen. He eyes Matt suspiciously. “What are you guys doing?”
“Nothin’.” Matt grabs the pasta bowl out of my hands. “Just helping Cora get everything to the table. You guys hungry?”
“I’m starving,” Dane cries.
Dane always has some sort of snack or treat when he’s over. The kid never gains any weight, but much like Noah, he’s a bottomless pit.
“Don’t worry, Dane.” I smile. “I won’t let you starve.”
Pushing the conversation with Matt out of my mind, I focus on Noah during dinner. I try to keep the topic on soccer and avoid Matt’s gazes. He’s a good friend, but I don’t have it in me for more.
Relationships are tricky, and I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize Dane and Noah’s friendship. Noah needs Dane’s friendship more than I need Matt as a boyfriend.
Sometimes I wish someone else were here to help lighten the load, but then again, just because someone else is here doesn’t mean the load would be lighter.
After my last relationship ended in disaster, I don’t think it’s possible to have someone who genuinely wants to be here, no matter how hard it gets. Someone who is willing to wade through the ups and downs of my life, knowing the only thing they’re getting out of it is me andbeing satisfied with that.
I can’t shake the feeling that Matt would never be able to handle my life. He’s too good for someone like me and deserves more than what I can give.
Chapter Six
Atlas
“If one more person doesn’t show for their interview or asks me if they can apprentice instead, I swear I’ll scream,” I tell Rhett as he sits across from me with a look of amusement on his face.
“It can’t be that bad. What about this guy?” He skims over a résumé I printed this morning. “Adrian. What the fuck kind of name isAdrian? Could you imagine him answering the phone? ‘Thanks for calling Exiled Ink. Adrian speaking, how can I help you?’”He laughs.
It doesn’t help that the guy has little to no work experience, but at this point, I’m starting to feel desperate.
“Don’t be a dick, Rhett. Your name rhymes with wet.”
“So? At least I’m not named after a collection of maps.”
