How could he not? I fuck up everything good in my life, and now that he knows, he’s probably just waiting for me to fuck this up, too.
Everyone is sharing breakfast on the back deck when I come and share the news about the fallen tree. I go and search for a chainsaw in the garage and the shed, figuring I can just take care of the problem myself, but I don’t have any luck. When I come back, I see everyone chilling like there’s no problem at all.
“Good news,” Matty says, delivering me a cup of coffee. We’re standing on the deck, gazing out over the still lake, and he looks warm and cozy in that oversized blue sweater.
“You get ahold of someone to clear the tree?” I ask.
“Not exactly, but the owner of the place said he’s got a guy who can come by tomorrow morning, and he offered us another night for free.”
I take a big drink from the bitter liquid and furrow my brow. Another vacation night should be good news, especially with Matty, but I’m too hung up on the night before to see it that way.
“Does that work for you?” he asks gently. “If you need to get back, I can call a car to pick you up on the end of the driveway and take you to the train station.”
I shake my head quickly. Fleeing on the train just feels too much like defeat. “No, just waking up,” I say and force a yawn. “Tomorrow morning works.”
“Great,” he says, bouncing up on his toes with a smile. “I’m supposed to lock myself in the studio tonight, but my film can wait.”
“You’ve been talking about your deadline for weeks. There’s not some work you could do here?”
Matty gestures to the sky and the fall foliage. “On a beautiful day like this?”
“Perfect day for drawing,” I point out. “Awesome light.”
He chews on his pink lip, which makes me think about how much I want to kiss him again. “Sure, I could get some work done, but I haven’t even taken that little boat on the water yet. And with all of my friends here, it would be a crime to not have some fun.”
“Oh, I can make sure you have some fun.”
A slight blush glows on his cheeks, rewarding me. Now that he knows who I really am, I’m sure Matty is going to run away soon enough, just like everyone does.
But I also know that he’s a talented artist with a real opportunity in front of him. I might be useless at stopping myself from fucking up opportunities like that, but maybe I can at least help him before we part ways and go back to our regular lives.
“How about this,” I offer. “Let me jump in the shower. Once I’m out, we can spread a blanket down by the lake. We’ll get some work done, and after, I’ll make sure to give you a nice long reward.”
His blush deepens. “Why Stone,” he teases. “You sure do love getting me off.”
“Nothing else like it,” I answer with a half-smile and walk away before he can say anything more.
An hour later, we’re set up by the lake with fresh cups of coffee and a plate of snacks. The sun is creeping up in the clear sky, and a couple of Matty’s friend slowly circle the lake in the small wooden boat. Matty’s got the sleeves to his sweater rolled up as he scribbles in a notebook, mapping out the action for his script.
It’s nice just to be chilling with him. Easy, even.
I kick out my legs and open a sketchpad, flipping through for something to draw on. Immediately, Matty turns away from his own notebook with a glance. “You working on any new tattoos this week?”
“I’m still grounded, back to cleanup duty and answering the phone. This is just me trying to stay in practice.”
“Sorry you can’t work. That sucks.”
“It does,” I agree. “But you still can. That’s why you have to stay focused. Take yourself seriously.”
Matty laughs and spins his pen in his hand. “I believe Billie told me that you need to learn to take yourself seriously, too.”
I frown. She does say that a lot. “I’m working on my landscapes,” I say as I start sketching out the lake and wooded hill in front of us. “And you’re working out some animation plotting that seems way more complicated than I would have guessed.”
“The dog has snuck the alley cat into the condo,” he explains, flipping me the page of schematics. “There’s a chase scene with the human’s legs I’m trying to map out.”
I look at all the squiggles, dancing around the page with as much energy as Matty seems to always have. “You’ll get it,” I say with a confident nod. “It’s your vision, so you’ll find a way to make it work.”
Matty tosses the notebook down and rolls onto his stomach to face it. His cute butt is perked up in the air, distracting me from the landscape and just about everything else.
