Page 12 of Where You Are

The good music fizzles out,and while I’m tired to the point of falling asleep where I sit, I’m kind of bummed. It’s fun watching Jack and the guys jam, and it’s different from the times before I left, as my attention has shifted to Matt more than it had before. In the YouTube videos I found when I was overseas, I admit I honed in on him, enticed by his sexy look and the confident yet dangerous air he exuded, while strumming away at his bass.

I get up to stretch my legs, trying to stay awake and I see other people do the same, shifting positions, grabbing another drink, and starting new conversations. But this only lasts so long before the night claims its first victim.

“Jack, why don’t you take one of the guest rooms and put your wife to bed?” Sarah says, stifling a yawn herself as she hooks her thumb over to where Mayzie is laying.

“Ha! You owe me twenty bucks!” Mike exclaims, appearing at my side out of nowhere and pointing over to where our sister-in-law is passed out on one of the lounge chairs. She’s so cute with her hoodie on, a towel over her legs and her hands tucked under her chin.

“Look at your frickin’ house! Do youneedtwenty dollars?”

“It’s the principle,” he reasons, lifting his chin.

“We have to get home to the dogs,” Jack explains as he walks over to where Mayzie is laying. “And she’ll be happier waking up in our bed.” He carefully sits her up as she groans, refusing to open her eyes before taking her wrists and wrapping her arms around his neck.

“She okay?” I ask, only slightly concerned, because he looks like he’s done this before.

“Yeah,” he answers, as he gets to his feet, hoisting Mayzie in his arms like she weighs nothing. “This isn’t the first time. My bride is kind of a lightweight.” He glances at the sleeping Mayzie in his arms and a blind man could notice the affection he has for her in his eyes. Never in my life have I seen that look on my brother’s face, and I melt just a little, acknowledging the concept that he truly does hold the love of his life in his arms.

I follow them to Jack’s truck where he gets Mayzie settled in the passenger seat with the seat reclined enough for her to be comfortable, and place their bags in the back seat for him. After making sure to tell him to drive safe, I return to the backyard where Sarah is saying goodnight to the rest of the guys as Mike tugs on her hand, already looking half dead with his eyes mostly closed. After making sure everyone has a safe ride home or is taking advantage of a guest room, she blows lazy kisses to everybody and finally follows her husband into their abode.

Matt, Chris, and Josh remain congregated around the fire pit, cracking open fresh beers, obviously tucking in to stay a while longer. Matt holds one out to me as I approach, intent on telling them goodnight.

“Oh no, that’s okay thanks. I’m going to head in too,” I inform him, gesturing both thumbs at the pool house.

“What? Come on,” he pleads. “Can’t you hang out a little while longer?”

“I’d love to but I am still jet lagged. Seriously, I’m about to pass out,” I tell him, giving him a pleading expression of my own, willing him to understand.

He cracks open the beer he was offering out to me.

“Oh, look at that, it’s already open,” he points out, holding it out to me again. “Don’t waste a beer. Come on.”

Oh, he thinks he’s so slick, doesn’t he?Well I’ve got moves too, and while I don’t like to make a habit of what I’m about to do next, I figure I’m home and headed to bed, so what harm can it do? It’s beer number three anyway. I take the bottle and tip it straight up, chugging like a pro until it’s gone.

“There,” I say, leveling him with a smart look. “It’s not wasted. And I’m going to sleep really well now, so thank you for that.” I’m lying. I’m totally going to be up peeing all night now. I give a girly shrug before turning towards the pool house, chucking the beer bottle in the tub with the rest of the empties on my way.

“Ooohhh…” Matt dramatically groans out in response as Chris makes a show of falling to his knees, arms open wide.

“That’s cold! M’lady! Why must you take your leave and deprive us of your enchanting presence?” Clearly, Chris was in his high school’s drama club. I laugh because it’s funny as hell. I can’t help but stop before the door to the pool house and turn to take in not only his little performance, he’s segueing into West Side Story now, but also Matt just behind him, who seems to have resigned himself to the fact that he’s spending the remainder of the night out here alone with his bandmates for company. I do feel a little bad leaving him at the mercy of the goofball and Josh, who’s engrossed with his phone at the moment.

And I do want to hang out with him more. I like being around him. He’s sweet and charismatic. Even though he’s sort of considered the responsible Papa Bear of the band, he’s fun. I might be crushing a little. Okay, if it weren’t for the fact that I’m seriously having a hard time keeping my eyes open, I’d probably stay out here for a while longer.

The fire light from the pit makes the side of his face glow and gives his eyes a glassiness as he openly gazes at me, and for the life of me, I can’t stop staring back. It goes on for what to some would be an awkward amount of time, but doesn’t even faze me. I could stare into those deep oceans all night and watch the flames reflect in their waters. The faint smile he’s giving me just seems to light them up even more.

I finally take a clarifying breath and proceed into the pool house.

MATT

I haven’t had that much to drink; I could probably drive. But it’s still a risk, right?

This is what I’m saying to reason with myself on why I can’t leave this place where Melanie is. I could go crash in one of the guest rooms like Chris and Josh did a while ago and then I’d have another chance at seeing her again in the morning. I could ask her to breakfast.

But who the fuck am I kidding? I’ll lay in that unfamiliar bed all night thinking about how she’s just across the pool, literally only yards away. I’m almost considering spending the night out here in one of these lounge chairs. They’re cushioned and pretty comfortable.

I don’t recognize myself right now. I’ve always liked Melanie and have always been drawn to her, badly wanting to get to know her and where all that inner sunshine comes from. And today I got my wish. I finally got more than five minutes of her time and everything I learned, I loved.

She’s so easygoing, warm, kind, and so unbelievably smart. Put it all together, and she’s sexy as fuck with a natural beauty to her. Her hair has some lighter strands in it than she had before she left, and she has a new sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her nose that are just begging for me to graze my finger across them. I assume these new additions are from all the time she said she’s spent in the sun.

Sun. That’s fitting. Whenever I see her, she emits that gorgeous light, and warmth just emanates right off of her. Damnit, she’s like the sun herself; that’s what I’m always comparing her to in my mind. Of course, if she were really the sun here on earth, her light would be blinding me and we’d all be incinerated. But that’s what she’s like, only on a smaller scale… a personal dose of sunshine here on earth.

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