Page 4 of The Home Game

“Uh, thanks.” Antoni settled onto it.

“You want anything to drink?” Matty asked. “Water? Sports drink? Soda pop? Beer? Coffee?”

“Water is fine.” He offered Matty a tight, exhausted smile. “Thanks.”

Matty filled a glass, then handed it over. “So, what do you eat?”

Antoni shrugged. “Uhh, anything, really? I have about ten recipes I can cook and two of them involve sandwiches.”

“Are sandwiches actually cooking?” Matty asked, amused.

“They are if you put them in a pan and toast them.” A glimmer of a smile appeared on Antoni’s face. It made Matty happy. Antoni didn’t look quite so defeated now.

Matty grinned back. “Fair.”

“But yeah, I’m not picky. These days I do whatever is cheapest, easiest, and healthiest.” Antoni rubbed his hands over his face, then dropped them into his lap. “Alexis—my fourteen-year-old—she’s a vegetarian and talking about becoming vegan and I will scream if she does. I mean, not at her, of course. But I don’t even want to figure out how to afford that.”

“So, is a tight budget why you were crying in my driveway?” Matty asked.

“God.” Antoni covered his face with his hands again, his voice muffled. “This is so embarrassing.”

“Okay, you talk, I’ll chop things. I won’t even look at you.”

Antoni laughed, glancing up, his smile real this time as he brushed dark hair off his forehead. “I do look pretty bad, huh?”

“Well, I didn’t say that,” Matty blurted out. He turned away, his ears hot as he rummaged blindly in the refrigerator.

God, he wasn’t flirting with Antoni.

He wasn’t … he never responded to people like that. He didn’t get horny for strangers the way his teammates did. He’d seen Nico Arents go from flirting to sticking his tongue down some random person’s throat in about five seconds flat and it absolutely baffled Matty.

He didn’t do that—couldn’t do that. He just wasn’t wired that way at all.

And it wasn’t like Antoni’s smile made Matty want to bend him over the counter or anything close to it. He wasn’t horny for him.

But the whole situation did make Matty want to wrap the guy up in a big hug and tell him everything was going to be okay.

The silence stretched on as Matty bent over again, randomly pulling things out of the refrigerator and piling them on the counter next to it.

“So, uh,” he threw over his shoulder when the quiet grew awkward. “You’re supposed to be talking.”

Antoni cleared his throat. “Yeah, um, so my life is a little … weird right now.”

“Because you unexpectedly inherited four kids?” Matty supplied, turning.

Antoni blinked. “How do you know … oh, my Aunt Sharon told you?”

“Yes.” Matty closed the refrigerator door and leaned against the counter, looking across the wide expanse of the island with a sheepish expression. “Sorry.”

“No, that’s easier, honestly. I don’t really know what to say otherwise.” He laughed awkwardly. “It’s so … I’ve spent every moment since last spring just waiting for someone to tell me this isn’t real or I’m dreaming or … God, I don’t even know.”

He shook his head, looking dazed.

“You lost your friends in a car accident?” Matty prompted, voice soft as he pulled out plates and began taking food out of containers. “That sounds terrible.”

“Yeah.” Antoni’s swallow was audible. “I did and it was. Bethany and Corey Swanson. They were … so Bethany and I were close growing up. She was both my babysitter and de facto big sister. We both grew up two streets over from here, actually.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

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