matthew
I walk out of practice with my phone in one hand and my protein shake in the other, shaking it up and down. I pull open my text messages. The last text I sent Sofia is still unanswered but says delivered. I smile, knowing this was what she was going to do. I don’t even know why I’m so surprised right now.
I knew this morning when she didn’t come downstairs to get her coffee that she was putting space between us. I knew when I kissed her goodbye that she would not answer me. Last night was one of the greatest nights of my life. Fuck, being with her again. It was as if my soul was closed off for the last two years and I was finally alive. Which is crazy, but I now see I was just going through the motions of what I thought my life should be instead of actually living my life.
Instead of texting her again, I opt to call her. The phone rings four times before it heads to voice mail.
“You’ve reached Sofia Barnes. Please leave me a message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
“Hey, baby,” I say softly, knowing it’s going to piss her off. “It’s me, call me back. Miss you.” I hang up and head home.
As soon as I get home, I make my way out to the back of the house, going straight for the gym. I spend a couple of hours in there doing my workout, and the phone doesn’t ring the whole time. I mean, it rings but it’s not who I want it to be. Christopher calls me, my mother even calls me, but nothing from Sofia.
Walking into the house, I go straight to the kitchen and grab one of the prepared meals I have in the fridge. I put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes before standing and eating it straight out of the container. I quickly shower, and when I get out, I wear jeans and a white polo shirt before jogging out to my car. I dial Sofia again, but it goes straight to voice mail this time. She’s ignored me all day, and I don’t bother leaving her a message this time.
I drive by her workplace first, seeing her car isn’t there and all of the lights are off. Turning around, I head straight to her house. I pull up to her house and see a truck in her driveway next to her car.
I park on the street, looking at the truck twice before walking up the steps to her house. I ring the doorbell, turning to look over at the truck again. My hands go to my hips as my stomach gets tight.
I hear the door unlock, turning to see Sofia open the door. She is still dressed in her work clothes, looking just as beautiful as ever. The smile on my face quickly fades when she comes out of the house and closes the door behind her. The feeling I had in my stomach gets even stronger. “What are you doing here?” Her voice is almost a whisper as she looks at me with a frantic look on her face, then turns to look at the closed door.
I watch her and I swear I feel like I’m going to throw up all over the place. “Is someone inside?” I ask as my heart sinks in my chest. My breathing starts to come in pants as I wait for her to answer.
She’s about to tell me something when the door opens behind her and, I swear to God, I’m getting ready to throat punch whoever is in her house. The door opens, and I see Casey step out. I recognize him from the picture my uncle Matthew showed me. He’s wearing dress pants with a dress shirt with sleeves rolled up at the arms. He stares at me with a glare. “Oh my God,” Sofia mumbles from beside me, and I look over to see her closing her eyes and shaking her head.
“Who are you?” he asks, his voice calm and monotone. He puts his hands in his pants pockets.
“I’m Matthew,” I tell him, even though we did meet once a long, long time ago.
“Why are you here?” His eyes never leave mine as he takes me in.
“I’m here to see Sofia.” I look down at her and smile at her as she looks like she’s ready to freak out.
“Why?” he asks, and I have to think about how to say this without sticking my foot in my mouth.
“Okay,” Sofia finally cuts in, “that’s enough of the interrogation.” She looks at her grandfather and then looks over at me. “We were just going to have dinner.” She looks at her grandfather. “Do you want to join us?” she asks, and the nerves that were all over my body are now gone.
“No,” Casey snaps.
At the same time, I say, “Sure.”
Sofia walks away from me to stand in front of Casey. “Be nice,” she tells her grandfather, then turns back to look at me.
I follow her lead and stand in front of her. “Hi,” I say softly and then bend to kiss her on her lips.
“Did you just kiss me in front of my grandfather?” Sofia hisses, now almost yelling.
I roll my lips and look over to Casey, who is now glaring at me even harder than he was before. His hands are out of his pockets and folded in front of him.
“Yeah,” I finally say, “I guess I did.”
“Can you not?” Sofia says and I put my hand on her shoulder. She looks at said hand.
“We were just going to eat.”
“There isn’t enough food,” Casey states, and I just smile.
“No worries, I’m not that hungry,” I lie to him.
Sofia huffs and walks away from me, my arm falling beside me. She steps into the house, stopping beside Casey. “Why would you lie about the food?” Sofia folds her arms over her chest. “You think he’s not going to see the twenty-seven plates of food Grandma sent for me?”
She shakes her head and walks into the house, leaving Casey and me staring at each other. Each of us sizing up the other before Sofia storms back to us and pulls Casey by his arm away from the door so I can walk in. I step into the house, and Casey takes one more look at me before he walks back into the house, leaving me with just Sofia.
“You never called me,” I tell her, and she just shakes her head.
“You would think one would get the message.” I can’t help but chuckle as I wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her to me.
“Oh, I got the message loud and clear,” I inform her and her eyes soften when I lower my mouth to hers. “Now, let’s go before your grandfather plans my murder.”
Sofia throws her head back and laughs. “That happened the minute you kissed me in front of him,” she states, turning to walk into the house but my hand slips into hers. “You are pushing it.” She side-eyes me as we round into the kitchen and I see the plates she was talking about. Casey is standing in the middle of the kitchen, facing us, his phone in his hand. He’s typing like crazy and looks up at us.
His eyes go from us to our hands. “Oh, good, you stayed,” he says sarcastically. “Great.”
“Come and get something to eat.” She pulls me to the kitchen and hands me a plate.
“Thank you,” I reply, grabbing the plate as I pile food onto it. I’m so nervous I have no idea what I’m putting on it, only I need to keep my hands busy.
When Sofia sees me look at her, she points over at the stools. “Go sit.” I nod at her and walk over to the seats and look back at her.
“Where are you sitting?” I ask, knowing I am going to stake my claim as my uncle Matthew says, and the minute I think that, I know I’m going down a one-way street the wrong way.
“At the end,” she says and I pull out the stool next to the end. She comes over and places her plate down next to me, followed by Casey, who pulls out the seat facing us.
“What do you do, Matthew?” he asks, and I remember my uncle telling me about him, so I know he knows exactly what I do.
“I play hockey,” I reply, cutting a piece of chicken fried steak.
“How did you and Sofia meet?” he asks, and again, I know he knows.
“We dated a couple of years ago.”
“Oh, that’s right,” he says like a light bulb just went off in his head, but I know better. “And you dumped her.”
“We broke up.” I swallow down the bile. “Yes.”
“Pops,” Sofia says between clenched teeth, “can we not do this?”
“Fine,” he grunts, and sadly, I know he’s not finished with me. “So how did you two get back to talking?”
I want to groan and hit my head on the island in front of me, but I made my bed and now I have to lie in it, even if I don’t want to. I’m about to lay it all out for him. “We met in town,” Sofia interjects, “ran into each other one night.”
I look over at her, and she just looks at her grandfather. “Next question.”
“Are you two dating?” he asks.
I pfft out, “Absolutely.”
At the same time, Sofia says, “Not really.”
“That’s interesting,” he says, smirking at me, as I turn to glare at Sofia, who doesn’t look back at me.
“So you spent the night,” Casey states, right before he slides a piece of chicken fried steak into his mouth.
I look at him, never once looking away, because then I would be guilty of something. “Oh my God,” Sofia retorts, “you did not just ask him that.”
“Did he or did he not come here last night and leave this morning?” Casey tilts his head to the side.
“Pops,” Sofia hisses out, “you said you would mind your business.”
“Listen, it’s not my fault you have a Ring camera.” He holds up his hands. “And I get reports of who comes and goes.” He smiles at Sofia and then turns his eyes to me.
I look over at Sofia and smirk. “I did,” I tell him. “She’s here, so I’m going to be spending time wherever she is.”
“Is that so?” He leans back in his chair.
“It is.” I mimic his move, trying not to let him see how fucking nervous I am. “How long will you be in town?”
“I’m not sure yet,” he evades. “Haven’t decided.”
Sofia laughs at him. “He’s leaving after dinner.”
“That’s too bad,” I tell him, and he just stares at me.
“And why is that?” He sits up straight, his finger tapping the counter in front of him.
“My family is coming down on Saturday for my hockey game, and Sofia will be coming to meet them.” I put my arm on her chair. “If you were here, I would love for you to meet them.”
He looks at me, the two of us almost as if we are playing chess. Except I don’t know how to play chess, but something says he does, and he usually wins. “Count us in,” he declares, looking at Sofia. “I’ll be back Saturday with the parents.” He pushes away from the island. “I’ll call you later,” he tells Sofia and kisses her cheek, nodding at me. “See you Saturday.”
He turns to walk out of the house, and only when the door slams shut does Sofia turn her glare to me. “Now you’ve done it.”
“Done what?” I ask, feigning innocence. “I just invited him to a game.”
She shakes her head. “You have no idea what you just did.” She closes her eyes. “He’s going to bring my parents.”
“Good,” I reply, cutting another piece of meat. “Our parents can finally meet.”
“This is a nightmare,” she huffs. “It’s going to be a nightmare.”
I laugh. “What’s the worst that can happen?” Even with the words out of my mouth, I know I don’t even want to answer that question. All I know is that push came to shove and I had to show her I meant business.