I heard another laugh. It was like I was walking back into happiness. And each step I took…I knew it was right. This was the right choice.
I’d made Matt promises for a reason. When I reached the side of the house I started running. I wanted back in his arms. Back in his heart. Back in his life. It felt like I was falling in love all over again.
And I almost did fall when I reached the backyard. I certainly froze.
Because Matt was there. With a girl. They were too close.
She moaned and her fingers tightened on his shoulder.
I ducked behind a bush.No.No, no, no.That wasn’t…they were just…it couldn’t be. I peered out from my hiding spot.
Matt pulled her hair so she’d tilt her head back. For just a second I thought it was Isabella. It was like all I could focus on was her dark hair. Maybe because I couldn’t even believe the rest of what was happening. I blinked. But the scene in front of me didn’t stop. Matt didn’t push her away and say he was engaged. He didn’t stop her at all. Or more accurately…he didn’t stop himself. Because he was the one initiating this. He was the one with his hands all over her. His lips all over someone that wasn’t me.
I watched him kiss her neck. I watched his hands wander to her breasts. I heard her moans. I listened to her beg for more. I listened to him groan.
This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. I blinked. Again. And again. Trying to rid the image from my eyes.
But they just kept going.
“Matt,” she moaned. “Oh, God, yes, Matt!”
He buried his face in her breasts.
I was going to be sick. I remembered when he kissed my neck like that. Touched me like that. Groaned like that when he was inside of me.
I was definitely falling. But not back in love. I was just…falling. And no one was there to catch me when I landed anymore.
I closed my eyes tight. And as their moaning got louder I covered my ears. I felt my body trembling. I heard myself crying. But I wasn’t worried about them hearing me. They were being plenty loud enough.
How could he touch her like that?
Kiss her like that?
Fuck her?
She wasn’t me.
She’s not…me.
I wasn’t sure how long I sat in the dirt crying. But eventually I thought the sounds had stopped. I peered back out from the bush.
The girl was sitting on the edge of the pool now, splashing water at Matt.
Matt was still in the pool, smiling up at her. And I wasn’t close enough to know for sure. But I was pretty sure that was a real smile. And it was real when he kissed her ankle. And slowly traced his lips up her thigh. And pulled her back into the water to her screams of protests. It was all real. The kiss they shared was real.
The pictures my father showed me weren’t fake. And they weren’t even the worst of it.
Which meant…my dad was telling the truth.
All the Untouchables were friends again.
Kennedy and Felix were happy.
And Matt? He really hadn’t said a word at my funeral.
The knife in my chest twisted.
He really had asked for my ring back.
