Chapter 122

I took a bite of my salad, my gaze trained on Matt’s animated face as he described his favorite movie to me. He’d been going on about it since we first sat down, more than a little affronted when he found out that I’d never seen Predator. Not that I minded. I could listen to him talk for hours. Especially about the things he loved. He got this light in his eyes, and I couldn’t look away.

“I’m sorry,” he said, putting down his fork. “I’m rambling.”

I smiled. “Don’t apologize. I like listening to you. You’re really making me want to see this movie.”

He smiled back at me. “We’ll watch it sometime.”

“I’d like that.”

The thought of being alone with him sent a rush of flutters through my stomach. I’d all but decided I wanted to take things further with him. While I still planned on keeping my promise to Jack, for the time being at least, that didn’t mean we couldn’t do other things.

I felt my cheeks heat, and I forced myself to take another bite of my food, shoving my impure thoughts aside. The cafeteria really wasn’t the place to be thinking about sex.

Matt finished his plate and pushed it away. Enzo and Nina stopped by earlier to say hello, but they didn’t stick around this time. I figured Matt told them off after they crashed our last lunch date. Even though I really liked them, I was grateful for the time alone with him. Every second felt precious, made more so by the memories of the time I thought I’d lost him for good.

“How did things turn out last night?” Matt asked. I knew he’d been waiting for me to bring it up, but the last thing I wanted to talk about was my brother. When I wasn’t regretting my decision to push Matt away last night, I was thinking about the things Jack said about me.

“It was fine,” I said, abandoning my fork. Suddenly, I didn’t have much of an appetite. “We didn’t really talk about it.”

“What he said, you mean?”

I nodded. “I couldn’t bring myself to ask him if he meant it. We did talk about him loosening the reins a little.”

“He agreed to give you a bit more freedom?”

“Yeah, at least we can go on a real date again.”

He chuckled. “Are the lunch dates not doing it for you?”

I didn’t realize how bad that sounded until it was out of my mouth. I felt myself blush again. “Oh my God, no. That’s not what I meant. I love having lunch with you.”

His grin widened. “I’m just teasing you.”

“Oh.” I gave him a sheepish grin. “Right.”

His expression suddenly grew serious. “I know it’s not easy, but I think you should ask your brother about what he said. He’s not always the kindest person, but we were close, and I know that he really cares for you. He has a poor way of showing it, but he loves you. You’re his only family.”

“I don’t know.”

“Trust me, there’s something else going on with him.”

I nodded, but before I could respond, my brother walked past with a tray of food in hand, almost as if by talking about him we’d conjured him up. He gave us both a narrow-eyed look, but his gaze lingered on Matt. His expression darkened, and he glared at his ex-friend. Matt seemed to notice I wasn’t paying attention anymore, and he turned to look. His expression wasn’t friendlier. It was odd seeing that look on his face, especially directed at Jack.

They glared at each other as Jack passed, then they both looked away at the same time. Matt’s expression remained tense, even when my brother was well out of sight. It made something sink into my stomach. Maybe getting them to reconcile would be harder than I first thought. No matter my issues with my brother, I didn’t want him to lose Matt as a friend.

“What was that?” I asked, studying Matt’s face.

Matt let out a heavy breath, schooling his expression into something neutral. “Nothing.”

“Didn’t look like nothing.”

He just shrugged and picked up his apple. He took a bite and leaned back in his chair, doing everything he could to look nonchalant. If I didn’t know him better, I’d say he was unaffected, but I did know him better. There was still a bit of tension in his face, and his grip around the apple was tighter than it needed to be.

“I wish you guys wouldn’t fight,” I said. “I know things have been tense with Jack recently, but you were good friends once.”

Matt eyed me silently, weighing his words. “I know we were,” he said gently. “But things have changed.”

“They can change back, can’t they?”

He considered this for a moment, his eyes roving over my face. I shifted a bit, unused to someone staring at me so intensely. “It bothers you that we’re not friends anymore?” he said. He phrased it like a question, but I knew it was more of a statement.

“I just don’t want to be the reason you guys don’t talk anymore. I know your friendship really meant a lot to Jack.”

“You’re not the reason,” he countered. I gave him a look. “Okay, not entirely.”

“Did something else happen between you two?”

Matt shook his head. “No, I just don’t like the way he’s been acting.”

“So why is he so pissed at you?”

“Probably because I’m dating his sister.” He threw me a crooked grin and took a bite of his apple. Before I could question him further, he stood up. “I’m going to grab a coffee,” he said. “Want one?”

“No, I’m okay, thanks.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back.”

I watched him walk across the cafeteria. A few people stopped him to chat for a few minutes. Even a few of his friends called out to him, Jack the only one at the table who didn’t seem to have anything to say to him.

Things were more dire than I originally thought they were, but that didn’t mean I’d given up hope. It might take longer than I suspected, but eventually I’d find a way to help them repair their friendship. There had to be a way we could all coexist. Maybe if Jack could see that we were good together, and that I intended to keep my promise, he could get over his issues with Matt.

It wouldn’t be easy, but maybe if I could get them in the same room. In a casual environment, like a party. If they had a chance to hang out again and remember why they liked spending time together so much, maybe that would motivate them to make up.

I didn’t want to be the reason Matt lost someone he cared about. It didn’t seem fair that he had to lose someone just to get me.

I was going to make things right. I just had to devise a good plan.

Matt returned a few minutes later with his coffee, and we resumed our conversation, moving on to less troubling subjects. He slowly got more animated again when I asked him about hockey, and why he loved the sport so much.

I paid close attention to everything he said, but in the back of my mind, I was still planning. Jack had parties all the time. I just had to find out when the next one was, then I just had to get Matt there. Whatever happened next was up to them.