Jason showed up at his place with food from the café in hand.
Mathew frowned down at the to-go container, then up at his brother. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“You haven’t been coming around the café. I can’t get you to answer your text messages. And mom is worried.”
“Of course she is.”
“Because you never spend this much time with her. She actually asked me today if I thought you might have cancer and you’re just trying to get as much as you can out of life.”
Mathew balked at that, his eyes rounding. “Tell me you’re lying.”
“I’m not. And I think after losing dad, she was too scared to ask you.” Jason lifted the food. “What do you say? Want to chat about whatever is bothering you? Is it Victoria?”
Well, great. This wasn’t what he’d wanted to talk about. He’d been okay with bringing up River and the mess he’d made in withholding information. But if Jason was asking about Victoria, then there were good chances that she’d bumped into him this past week.
She hadn’t gone home like he’d asked. And it didn’t matter that he was avoiding her like the plague. She continued to hover outside the hospital and sometimes even drove by his place. He didn’t know where she was staying, but she simply wasn’t getting the hint.
Maybe a restraining order would help? Except she wasn’t doing anything that would warrant one. She wasn’t dangerous. And this couldn’t really be considered stalking, right? Or could it?
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Jason moved past him and entered the apartment. “She came to the café yesterday and asked me if you were seeing anyone.”
Mathew’s head whipped in Jason’s direction so fast that he winced from the pain. “Did you tell her about River?”
A subtle twitch at Jason’s lips was all the indication that he thought he had this whole thing figured out. “I thought as much. And to answer your question, no. I didn’t tell her any specifics.I told her that she could talk to you about it, and when she said she’d tried, then I knew something was up. Between you hanging out with mom every day and Victoria? You want to tell me what’s going on? Are you and River…”
With a sigh of exhaustion, Mathew groaned. “It’s complicated right now.”
“Doesn’t seem complicated. You tell your ex that you’ve moved on and that it’s time for her to move on, too. Seems simple enough. I can’t imagine River would be disappointed in you for communicating that.”
The grimace said it all.
Jason’s easygoing body language shifted into something that resembled the way an animal prepared for a fight. His muscles bunched beneath his shirt. “You did tell Victoria to go home, right?”
“Of course I did,” Mathew said, exasperated.
“So why is she still here? She knows you’re with River?”
“I haven’t told her that exactly. She knows we’re friends at least, maybe something more. Maybe she thinks I’m lying. Maybe she thinks I have some unrequited attraction for someone else but it’s not serious so she has the green light to move in.”
Jason snorted. “Not even Victoria is that bad, right? What does River think? Or is that the ‘complicated’ thing you haven’t told me yet?”
Mathew couldn’t meet Jason’s eye.
“Oh, come on. We all know you two are good together. She brought you out of your shell. Why are you pulling back?”
“I’m not!” The words shattered the quiet in the apartment, and Jason lifted a single brow. Mathew took in a deep breath before expelling it and lowering his voice. “I never told River about Victoria. I never said I was married, and I never told her about the divorce.”
“What?! Isn’t that the kind of thing you mention early on?”
Mathew slumped onto the couch and put his head in his hands. “It never really came up. And I don’t think about my failed marriage that much.”
His brother snorted. “That’s a lie. Everyone compares their dates to their past mistakes. What on earth made you keep it a secret?”
“I don’t know, Jason. I didn’t think it mattered. It was in the past. I was ready to start a new chapter, and I never thought it would matter.” It was the best excuse he had.
And yet his brother didn’t seem to believe him. “You’re being evasive. You know that, right?”
“If you don’t have anything smart to say?—”
