Page 28 of One Night

"Yes," I say with a sigh.

He sits back. "Go ahead. I'm all ears. But if I ever meet another girl, you owe me girl advice." He laughs a little.

"Deal."

Matt's such a nice person. I wish it could've worked out between us.

"So do I know this guy?" he asks.

"Um, kind of. He came to your suit store."

"You mean Dylan?" Matt asks, as if it's the first person he thought of.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

He shrugs. "It was just a guess. I hate to admit this but when I met him, I kind of thought you two would make a good match."

"Why?"

"I can't really explain it. It was more of a feeling. Like when I was talking to him, he kind of reminded me of you."

"How so?"

"He's intense but also laid back. Does make that sense?"

"Yeah. I'm intense about things I'm passionate about and laid back about the stuff that doesn't really matter."

"Exactly. Dylan's the same way. When he talks about his music he's intense, but ask him about a suit and he doesn't really care. He told me to pick whatever I thought was best."

"Why didn't you ever tell me that?"

"Because I didn't want him stealing my girl." He looks down, then back up. "I know he's friends with Austin and Amber so I wondered if maybe you and him had hung out sometime."

"No. Never. Matt, I never cheated on you. I didn't even consider it. I hope you didn't think I—"

"I didn't think you did anything with him. I just thought maybe you'd hung out with him."

I shake my head. "I haven't. Not since before I met you."

"So before you met me...did you two date?"

"No. We um...we spent a night together. It happened at a party last May. Looking back, I can't believe I did that. It's completely unlike me, but I did, and it turned out to be..." I pause. "I shouldn't be talking to you about this. I'm sorry, Matt. Just forget I even said it."

"Amber, I can't give you advice if you don't tell me anything."

"I know, but this is weird. Talking about some other guy with you? It seems wrong."

"Eventually you'll have to talk about some other girl with me, so then we'll be even." He smiles and nudges my arm. "Come on. Tell me what happened. You spent a night together and then what?"

"I panicked. That night was so great that I wanted to keep it as it was. A perfect night that I would remember forever. So I snuck out the next morning and never talked to him again."

"You didn't leave a phone number?"

"No. And I never gave him my last name. I told him I didn't want more than that night."

"Is that what he wanted too?"

"No. He wanted to keep seeing me but I told him I was moving to New York the next day. Like I said, I totally panicked. I didn't want anything to ruin that night."

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