“It’s a closed practice,” he says. Practice isn’t the only thing that’s closed. His face is a solid wall of nothing. I can’t read if he’s pleased to see me, pissed off, or annoyed, but I’m tired of ducking under the hangers in the closet.
I gesture behind him. “Do you mind letting me out?”
He steps aside but doesn’t change his expression. I stumble out of the closet with as much dignity as possible. The small hotel room doesn’t offer me many options but I’m too uncertain of my welcome to sit on his bed and afraid of what he’ll think if I sit on Ace’s bed. I can’t believe the two are being forced to room together.
I opt for the small, uncomfortable desk chair. “Mind if I sit?”
He exhales slowly, and my heart flips over unhappily as he ponders my request. He’s not sure if he wants me to be here long enough for me to sit down. I plant my ass anyway.
“In my head, this went a lot smoother,” I offer.
“How so?”
“Um, I guess I throw up my arms and say ‘surprise,’ and you say, ‘Goldie, you’re a sight for sore eyes,’ and then I respond with, ‘you, too.’ After we get those awkward, trite greetings out of the way, you haul me into your arms and give me a movie star kiss. We pretend it’s raining and that we’re at the end of a Nicholas Sparks movie and you swear your undying devotion.”
“According to my mom, everyone dies at the end of a Sparks movie, so my devotion appears to be short-lived.”
“True, but the promised love is undying, so even after your ticker gives out, the devotion lives on.”
I swear I see his lips twitch, but he sobers up quickly to reply, “I think you’ve got plenty of undying devotion in your general vicinity.”
“Is this about Ace?” I ask.
He doesn’t directly answer the question. “Where is my wonderful roommate and does he know you’re here?”
Ace’s face was frozen when Jack and Hammer laid out the deal to him. He slapped the key into Jack’s hand and stalked off. Uncomfortable is an understatement, but if I want Matty—and I do—then facing down Ace’s icy stares is just going to be something I’m going to have to deal with. “He’s with Jack and yes, how do you think I got in here?”
Matty raises his eyebrows and all the other times he’s come back to a hotel room with a naked girl rushes through my head. “Don’t answer that.” I rush forward and place my fingers against his lips.
I’ve heard these stories from Ace, and they don’t paint a pretty picture of my gender. Or him, frankly.
For a second I can feel his lips press against my fingers, but he backs away.
“I think before we go any further, we need to talk.”
You know it’s bad when the guy says those words.
“Can I go first?”
“All right.” He tilts his head and waits.
This shouldn’t be so hard. Wasn’t the hard thing coming here? I take a deep breath and let it out slow. Matty’s gaze is steady, not welcoming but not frosty either. “I never told you why I’m so risk averse.”
He arches a brow. “Thought it was your diabetes.”
“It is and it isn’t. I don’t think I ever told you, but I live here in town. Not in this town but where Western is.”
“I know.”
God, he’s not making this easy on me. “Oh?”
“Yeah.” He finally decides he’s done standing and leans a shoulder against the wall. “Ace is a local, and you and him were friends as kids.”
“Nice deductive reasoning.”
“You’re stalling.” His words are terse, his frame is tight. I need to get on with my story.
I rub my sweaty palms together. When giving an opening or closing, the most persuasive part of your argument is the facts. Plainly stated, no frills. I go that route.
“My dad, Ron, works on the line at a tire manufacturing plant. When I go home, I go to my dad’s house even though my mom lives only twenty minutes away. I talk to her once a year, at the most. Dad makes me go to her house on Christmas. Her parents died when I was a baby and her only relative, my uncle, lives in Washington State. So unless I visit, she’s alone.” I grab the water bottle that has a tag that says it costs $2. I rip off the cap anyway. It’s worth it. I feel like I’m dying here under his impassive stare.
“It’s always awkward as hell. We make small talk. She almost always has a new guy by her side. Most of the time I don’t even bother learning their names because they’re temporary. She told me once she sees herself as a butterfly. I’m sure she meant me to interpret that as her being beautiful, but I kept thinking about how she can’t stick with one guy.” I swallow. “It kind of ruined my dad for a while. She tends to ruin a lot of things—like Ace’s family.”
Something like comprehension starts flickering behind his eyes. “Do I need to sit down for the rest of this story?”
“I don’t know. Watch a lot of soaps? You might be able to guess it.” I try to smile, but talking about this is always so painful. Most of the time I try to forget it.
He pushes off from the wall and comes to sit down on the mattress closest to me. His long hands dangle between his thighs. I wish I could crawl into his lap, but I inject some steel into my spine and fast forward to the pertinent parts.
“After Ace and I met in the nurse’s office, our families got to know each other. My mom and his dad, in particular. When Ace’s mom confronted the two, his dad just kind of shrugged. Fidelity is for suckers, I think, are the exact words he told Ace. My parents didn’t get a divorce, but they separated. Mom’s lived in a different house than me since I was ten. Her home is a revolving door of unhappiness.” I exhale deeply. “Screwed up by mommy is a tired excuse, but I guess it’s why I was scared.”