“This is crazy,” I huff before I kick her in the shin for even thinking about Matthew that way.
I walk out and see he’s waiting with his hands on his hips. He looks up when he hears me coming. “Good, you’re here,” he says. “I have to go and talk to the press.” He points with his thumb behind him. “But do you want to go and eat?”
Yes! my head shouts out, but my mouth says, “I have to work tomorrow.” I turn to Addison. “And I have to get Addison home.”
“Fine,” he grumbles, looking around, “then give me ten minutes, and I’ll walk you out.” The look on his face is one I don’t think I’ve seen before.
“I don’t need you to walk me out,” I assure him, and he just stares at me, his teeth grinding down.
“Fine, then I’ll leave with you now.” He bends to start untying his skates. “Then be fined for not talking to the press.” He looks up once he’s got one of his skates untied.
“Oh my God, you are such a dick,” I say out loud.
“Is that a yes?” he asks, his mouth going from a side smirk to a smile. His hair is still dripping wet from the game.
“It’s an I have no choice.” I throw my hands up and I see some of the players walk out of the room. One of them lingers looking at me, and Addison nudges me with her elbow.
“Good enough. I’m going to go change and meet the press.”
“And shower,” I stick in there, “you stink like molded cheese and feet.” I fan my nose.
“Okay, how about you drop off Addison?” He motions to Addison. “Nice to meet you.”
“Thank you,” Addison says, “for the tickets to the game. I had so much fun.”
“Anytime,” he replies, “as long as you bring this one.” He points at me.
“I’m standing right here,” I tell him, waving my hand in front of his face, and he laughs. “I’m going to drive Addison home, and then I don’t know, I guess you can text me.”
He looks at me for what feels like forever, my feet want to step forward to him and kiss under his chin. I haven’t seen him in action in a long time, and I swear to God, the minute I saw him skating, I gushed from my vagina. “Five-second look,” he says, and I can’t help but burst out laughing.
“Whatever, Matty.” I say his nickname more to annoy him than anything else.
He glares at me. “The guys usually head over to Luke’s Bistro,” he says. “Do you know where that is?”
I laugh. “That’s Clarabella’s husband’s place.”
“Good, so people will know not to fuck with you,” he states, looking over his shoulder. “Bernard,” he calls to the guy who is standing inside the door wearing a blue suit. The guy walks over to us. “Bernard, this is Sofia, my”—he looks at me and my eyebrows go high—“friend, and Addison, my other friend.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say, nodding at him, wondering what is going on.
“Do you think you can escort them to their car and make sure that no one—” he says, and I turn away without saying a word to him. “Where are you going?”
“Away from you,” I toss over my shoulder, Addison rushing to keep up with me. “Goodbye, Matty.”
“Matthew!” he shouts his name. “Text me when you get in the car and you’re on your way.”
“Absolutely not,” I retort, not bothering to look back at him as we make our way over to the escalator. “He’s so infuriating,” I say, looking over at Addison. “Are you okay?” I ask, and she shakes her head and laughs, looking down.
“Clarabella said something about a mating dance the other day,” she says as we get to the top floor where we walked in from. I follow the signs to the parking garage, some of the fans still lingering along with the concession stand workers who are closing up. “I didn’t quite understand it, but now, after watching that”—she looks over her shoulder—“I get it.”
“Ugh,” I groan as we walk toward the parking garage. “Matthew and I have a history.”
“From the looks of it,” she notes, “I don’t think it’s history.”
“He broke up with me when he was drunk two years ago,” I tell her, and she stops walking, “and then a couple of months ago hired me to plan his wedding with his fiancée.”
“I had a one-night stand and ended up having a baby,” she finally says, and my eyes almost pop out of their sockets. “Met this guy at a bar. He was so hot.” She smiles. “Had the hottest sex of my life with him. Then woke up and cringed that I just had a one-night stand, and instead of staying and talking to him, I did the walk of shame at six in the morning. Six weeks later, I was pregnant, and when I went back to tell him, he was moved out and gone.”
“Oh my God,” I say, putting my hand to my mouth. “Fine, you win.”
“I did win,” she declares. “I have the best kid that you could ever have. Avery is all me just with her father’s face,” she says sadly, “and for the rest of my life I’m going to make sure she never feels like she missed out by not having a dad.”
I walk over to her and give her a hug. “If it makes you feel better, I didn’t meet my dad until I was five.” She gasps. “He and my mother had a one-night stand before he left for the military, and then surprise, out came me. Five years later, she went back to town because her grandfather died and my father was also back in town.”
“Wow,” Addison says.
“Yeah, plus I’ve met Avery and she is the coolest kid I’ve ever met. And I have a lot of practice with cousins,” I assure her as I slip my arm in hers. “I want you to promise me something.”
“Oh,” Addison says, “I won’t tell anyone about tonight.”
“I don’t give a shit about that. I want you to promise me that if you ever need help, you’ll come to me.”
She looks down. “Thank you,” she says softly. “My parents disowned me when I had Avery.” I put my hand to my chest. “They refused to have a daughter who had a child out of wedlock.”
“Addison,” I murmur softly, my heart literally breaking for her.
“My sister and brother.” She wipes away a tear, and now I feel like an asshole for making her feel bad. “They didn’t want to piss off Mom and Dad, nor did they want to get their trust fund taken away, so they just found it was easier to pretend I didn’t exist. When I had Avery, I dressed her up in the cutest outfit I could find and went to see them. I thought for sure once they saw her, they would come to their senses.” She smiles through the tears. “Needless to say, they slammed the door in my face and pretended I wasn’t even there.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Excuse me, but they are assholes,” I tell her, “and they don’t deserve to have you or Avery in their lives.”
“Thank you,” she says. “Getting this job meant everything to me. Just being part of a team and not just a number.”
“You aren’t just a member of the team,” I explain to her. “You’re now family. I mean, dysfunctional, but still.”
“I’ll take it,” she replies as we get into the car. I start the car, and she just looks at me.
“What?” I ask, and she tilts her head to the side.
“You have to text him that you got in the car,” she reminds me, and I glare at her.
“If you think I’m going to do what he says to do, you have another think coming.” I shake my head. “He’s lucky I’m going to meet him, and the only reason I’m going to meet him is because he’ll probably show up at my house or at work.”
She snickers beside me. “This is going to be fun,” she says, clapping her hands.
I shake my head, not bothering arguing with her. I drop her off at Shelby’s house where she left her car and Avery. I pull out of the driveway and my phone rings. I look at the center console, seeing that Matthew is calling.
“Are you calling to cancel?” I say cheerfully, and he just laughs.
“I’m calling because you never texted me,” he huffs. “Where are you?”
“Where are you?” I answer his question with a question as I make my way into town.
“I just got out of the shower,” he actually answers. “Are you at the restaurant?”
“I am not,” I say, and he doesn’t even wait for me to answer him.
“Fine, I’ll come to your house,” he mutters and I laugh at him.