Page 84 of Pretend for Me

Audrey pursed her lips and rolled her eyes once she saw Matthew’s reaction to her annoyance. “Yeah, yeah, what if you two Jersey kids find a house tomorrow?” she inquired, crossing her arms.

“In this market?” I admonished, petting Oreo. I finally caved to giving the demon cat a chance.

Matthew snorted and said, “You’re also forgetting that my apartment hasn’t sold, and I’m jobless, so until that money comes in, I’m broke.”

The real estate agent assured Matthew it would be a quick sell, but he remained unconvinced.

I caressed his cheek and laughed. “Oh you’re not broke, honey. I’ll be your sugar mama with my big fat check from Marcus.”

Audrey huffed once more and walked away to finish getting the cats settled for the night.

Matthew and I cuddled on the couch, surrounded by the animals and a crazy Audrey.

We couldn’t help but think how lucky we were.

“I can’t believethe apartment sold so quickly,” I commented as I looked around at the bare walls. The movers did a fast job of getting our stuff out of there. Not that there was much for us to take after the raid.

“Yeah, it’s a sign I accepted too low of an offer,” Matthew joked, as he inhaled a deep breath.

We came to say goodbye to the place where we’d rekindled our love. A place that housed Matthew through lonely times. A place that held memories we would rather move on from.

I took a bite of the ice cream cone that Matthew got from the truck around the corner. Mid-bite, I spilled one of the scoops on the floor. I frowned, licking my lips.

Matthew was closest to the paper towels on the counter, so he crouched down to clean up the mess. As he was wiping chocolate ice cream off the floor, Matthew set down the paper towels and laid on the floor.

I looked at him questioningly. He’d full-on lost it.

Matthew gasped and reached his fingers farther under the fridge to grasp what had caught his attention. After a moment, he crawled up on his knees, his fist clutched around a familiar-looking object. My locket.

Matthew laughed and shook his head. He held it up and looked at me, as I stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

I thought it was gone forever after I’d tossed it aside in Matthew’s car all those years ago. Matthew hadn’t shared how he kept it ever since.

“Wow. You kept it?” I asked, stunned.

Matthew nodded once. “Yes.” He smiled, sighing and looking at me with a strange expression on his face.

“I had always hoped things would turn out okay in the end,” he admitted, still kneeling on the kitchen floor.

“Just okay?” I scolded, making a pretend pouting face.

“Well, it will only be more than okay depending on your answer to my question,” Matthew shared as I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

He was talking in riddles. Maybe he and Audrey were spending too much time together.

He placed the locket in my hand and muttered, “Open it.”

A light bulb went off as I realized he was finally giving me the green light to open the locket and see the engraving it mysteriously held.

Tentatively, I opened the locket, taking in the words he’d so carefully chosen at such a young age. My eyes widened and then the tears fell. I couldn’t control them. Wow, I almost lost this forever.

“Cassie?” Matthew questioned, worry covering his features as he awaited my response.

I nodded. “Yes,” I whispered softly, blinking through the tears to see his beautiful green eyes shimmering up at me.

“Yes?” he confirmed, taking my hand in his. Matthew muttered curses about not getting a ring, but he wanted me to pick it out myself.

I nodded and tackled him much like that fateful day when we first met in Helen’s kitchen.

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