Ugh, I really like Melanie! Taking her response as the giant, in-your-face hint it is, we politely take our leave.
We walk back to the elevator. This time, I stand in the corner.
“Guess you shouldn’t be quitting your day job anytime soon,” I tease Matt. I find it oddly endearing how hopelessly bad he is at this. The fact that he’s not as perfect as he seems warms my heart. “A reservation? Seriously?”
“I got flustered. I'm not good under pressure,” he mumbles.
“Good thing you're just a firefighter, then.”
“I don't have to make up lies to get out of dinners during emergencies.”
The elevator opens, and we walk down our hall.
“She literally asked a yes or no question. The answer was right there!” I insist.
Matt follows me to my door, and I move to unlock it. I suddenly realize I went straight to my apartment, assuming he’d follow.
He wrinkles his nose. “Well, I’ll let you take the lead on dinner invites from now on, too. Especially if a dish of unknownorigin is on the menu.”
I laugh. “I'm making risotto,” I inform him.
He follows me to the kitchen. “You can make that?”
“I’ll let you be the judge of that,” I say, as I put him on vegetable duty.
We spend the evening cooking, then eating together like we've been doing this for years, and not like we’ve only started talking like normal peopleless than a week ago.
Chapter Seven
Matt
Last night was a mistake. Oliver looked so warm, soft, and sleepy after we had dinner that I nearly said fuck it and kissed him right there. I booked it out of his apartment with a vague excuse about work instead.
I paced around my living room for a while and ended up filing a few of the thousand pending reports Meena has been hounding me about.
I curse Nick for the thousandth time as I prepare for some more self-torture today. Even though I didn’t go to bed before one, I’m showered, dressed, and ready for my ridiculous Christmas distraction plan when Oliver knocks on my door at eight.
When I told my friends about the Christmas party they’re apparently attending, their reactions were mixed. Bree and Camilla were immediately in, canceling their plans with Camilla’s family. Nick laughed for fifteen minutes straight before agreeing, then he asked if he could bring mac and cheese.Marcus said he’ll have to leave early because his wife also has a party to attend. His exact words were, “You can't make last-minute Christmas party plans, Matt. We live in a civilized society, dammit!” And Sloan? Sloan will be anywhere there is free food.
So, I have a headcount of six people. I might ask Oliver to invite his friends, too. After all, this is basically his party.
When I open the door, I’m not surprised to see an excited, albeit tired, Oliver, all ready to tackle the day's tasks. It’s clear he didn’t sleep well again. Fuck, I really hope this stupid party can distract him, and he can at least go back to looking all bright and beaming again.
Today, we’re going Christmas tree shopping. Fun! I can’t complain too much when he looksthatedible and cute in his blue hoodie and tight jeans.
He’s taking this shit seriously. He has a checklist with checkboxes and everything.
“The dopamine release when I check a task off is the entire motivation, Matt!” he’d said when I asked him to just text me the list instead.
“Let's stop for breakfast before we start,” I suggest, closing my door behind me.
“No, Matt,” Oliver says, outraged. “We have to be there as early as possible. I doubt they even have any Christmas trees left.”
“My bad. It was stupid of me to factor in useless things like sustenance,” I mumble as we walk towards the elevator.
“What?” He turns back to look at me.
“I’m so excited about seeing this place,” I correct myself.
