His nose scrunches and he scowls at me. “You’re a dick, Knox.”
“Very possible,” I agree.
“Bye, Jason.” Matti waves, grinning like a jackass as he starts backing up toward the SUV we’re taking to get the hell out of dodge for a few. “Try and wrap this mess up before we get back, would ya?”
Jason grumbles something inaudible but carries on with his walk of defeat.
We don’t wait to watch him go inside. We’re on a tight schedule and their bullshit already set us back.
“How long before she stops being pissed and starts remembering she’s crazy about him, you think?” I ask as Matti’s pulling the SUV onto the road, officially leaving their drama behind us.
“I’m not completely convinced she was ever pissed at all. For all we know, she staged the whole thing just so they’d get some privacy on the bus for once.” He smirks. “The way shewas ranting out front, I doubt anyone will dare step inside for anything.”
I laugh. “Hadn’t even thought of that.” I shake my head. I still don’t think the two of them hooking up was a great idea, and there are times I wonder if the thing that keeps them together is the fact they can’t ever get away from each other, but at the end of the day, I also can’t deny that they share something special. Even if it does look a little twisted and toxic from time to time. “Think you’ll ever get married again?”
“Where the hell did that come from?” Matti laughs. Then he turns instantly serious. “Wait, do you know something I don’t? Is Jason planning to propose?”
“God, I fucking hope not.” I can feel my eyes bug out at the thought. “I don’t even know what made me think of it. I mean, the two of them, obviously. Just the idea of having one constant in your life. Even when they’re making each other crazy, they’re still there for each other.”
Matti shrugs then checks the GPS before he returns his focus to the conversation we’re having. “Then my answer is no, I don’t think I’ll ever get married again.” He looks at me. “What about you? Think there’s still someone out there that might make you want to take that walk?”
“Why are you making marriage sound like death row? I thought you liked being married to Vanessa.”
He laughs. “I meant down the wedding aisle, dumbass.” He turns somber. “And I did like being married to Vanessa. Loved it if I’m honest.” He gets quiet and turns his attention toward driving and changing lanes. Our turn is coming up.
I let him sit with his thoughts for a bit. I’ve known Matti long enough to know there’s more coming.
“Ness and I did everything right,” he starts again slowly. “We fell in love young but gave each other time to grow up. We traveled together. She went to college. I pursued music. Andthrough all of it, we stayed together.” He flips on the blinker before he goes on. “Even ten years in, when there was no question where we were headed, I did the whole thing. Bought the ring. Planned the perfect proposal. And everything went off without a hitch.”
I remember. I was there for all of it. If anyone ever had a chance at making me believe that I could fall in love and settle down with someone, it was Matti.
Matti then.
This Matti is too much like me to help me see it anymore.
“Then we got married,” he remembers, gaze cast on the road as he talks. “Ness got the wedding of her dreams, and I got the bride of mine.” He smiles, but it’s bittersweet. “A year later, she was pregnant with Nate. Then two years after, with Isobel. And still, we had the perfect life. Were the perfect couple. The perfect family.”
His words wind down as we come to a stop at the light. “And then...it just changed. No rhyme or reason. It was just over.”
There was more to it than that, but I get what he’s saying. “You don’t want to take that chance again.”
“If I couldn’t make it work with Ness, when we had everything going for us, why bother with anyone else?”
KENLEY
“Why don’t you have more clothes?” Arizona demands still half buried in my closet. She’s been in there since Sloan left with her father twenty minutes ago.
“Because I work from home and pajamas are comfy?” I offer, though I have a feeling she won’t like that answer.
“You can’t always wear pajamas,” she insists. “What do you put on when you leave the house?”
“You mean like today? For lunch?” I ask, pointing at my current ensemble. Turns out, when you pair fancy linen drawstring pajama bottoms in a clean tan and white stripe pattern with a crisp white fitted tee and cute sandals, they make for a surprisingly acceptable lunch outfit.
“I was going to let lunch slide since I came without warning,” Arizona grumbles. “What to do you wear on days you’re prepared to leave the house?”
“To go where?” Most of my outings these days are to the mailbox or the dance studio parking lot to drop off Sloan – I don’t even have to get out of the truck if I don’t want to. My pajamas are totally fine for those excursions too.
“Like, the grocery store?”
