Matthew checked on where Damien had been sitting. He, like the others, was gone. The empty space he’d left behind bothered Matthew in ways he found difficult to compartmentalize.
There was a buzz against Matthew’s thigh. Then another. And another. Matthew peered at Alex from the corner of his eye, worried Alex might find what was going on suspicious, but it seemed like Alex hadn’t noticed. He ran a hand through his hair, causing it to shimmer from black to purple and blue, then shook his head to get it to settle.
Without reason to suspect that Alex was onto him, Matthew checked his phone. A series of texts from Damien waited for him there.
Lawyer hunting season is in full swing. Things are worse than I thought
If I don’t get my ass back to America soon, I’m going to be in deep shit.
I don’t want to go, but I don’t see a way around this.
I swear on my own balls (which are the galaxy’s best btw) that this isn’t me trying to weasel out of seeing you. If things were different, you bet your ass I’d be faking food poisoning to sneak off and fuck you senseless.
Alex cleared his throat. “So… are you actually okay?”
Matthew almost dropped his phone. “What?”
“Are you actually okay?” Alex cocked his head and lifted a brow. It was eerily reminiscent of Matthew’s father—the more time they spent together, the more he’d noticed them mirroring each other’s body language. “Your dad is really easily distracted, but I’m not. You’ve been on edge since we got here. No one’s causing you trouble, are they? Because if they are, I’ll take care of it.”
“No.” Matthew shook his head. What he wanted to do was run into the ocean and never be seen again, but that would definitely give him away. “I think the whole wedding thing has um, it uh, it’s made me too emotional. I didn’t expect it to hit me so hard. You know. The whole… everything.”
The whole everything? Fuck.Fuck.Could he be any more awkward?
The answer was yes. Alex hooked their arms together and tugged him down the beach, causing Matthew to yelp in surprise. He struggled to keep up.
“Hey! What’s… what’s the matter?” Matthew tripped over a tiny sand dune and barely recovered. By the time he’d caught his footing, they were a significant distance away from the rest of the party. “I’m okay, really. It’s just… just a me thing.”
“Listen.” Alex’s eyes turned dull and his expression tightened. He slowed their pace, but kept walking. “You don’t have to keep this to yourself. I know what you’re going through.”
The blood left Matthew’s face. “You do?”
“Yeah. It’s…” Alex sighed. “When I was your age, I was in the same place you are now. Well, minus Emily, but you get what I’m saying.”
The blood didn’t just leave Matthew’s face—it evaporated from his body.
Alex knew.
He had to know.
At Matthew’s age, Alex had met Matthew’s father and fallen in love. Matthew had caught them screwing each other’s brains out in the kitchen one night before Emily had been born and the rest was history. Now happily married to Matthew’s father and the father of Matthew’s sister, Violet, Alex was a permanent part of their family.
Was Alex saying that he’d seen Matthew and Damien together?
A cold, clammy sensation spread across Matthew’s palms and down the back of his neck. If word got out, it would end in disaster.
It couldn’t happen.
Terrified, he opened his mouth to beg Alex not to tell when Alex shook his head and looked wistfully toward the water. “I just want you to know that you’re not alone. The heartbreak you’re feeling right now won’t last forever.”
Heartbreak? Matthew’s mouth went dry. Was Alex psychic? It wasn’t like Matthew’s heart was actually broken that Damien couldn’t come back to his bungalow for sex, but all the right bricks were there—the emotion had just stacked itself in a different direction. Mouth agape, he stared at Alex, who was doing a good job of looking anywhere but him.
“I, um, I…” Matthew licked his lips, feeling like an idiot. If he had Damien’s sharp tongue, the conversation would already be over. Instead, he stumbled over his words and struggled to string together a coherent sentence. “I’m not…”
“It took me a long time to get over Jason, too. Longer than it should have.”
Jason.
Alex thought this was about Jason.
