Page 47 of Matched

“You and me both.” He twisted his head to meet my gaze. “I’m not angry, really. Just a bit hurt, I guess. You haven’t fucked up.”

“You’re so gorgeous,” I murmured, suddenly struck by the way the sun was sending shadows playing across his face, the breeze ruffling his hair, and those big green eyes fixed on me.

“Shut up.”

“No.” Leaning forwards, I captured his mouth again.

Somehow, we managed to pull away from each other, and I groaned, scrubbing my hand over my face. My dick was tenting my shorts, and I refused to let my gaze drop to see if Charlie was in the same predicament. Willing myself to calm down, I took a deep, steadying breath. “Okay. Okay. Back to the conversation.”

“Yeah.”

“Even if Sophie wasn’t an issue. Even if she didn’t fancy you. Even if either of us wanted…uh…a relationship, it wouldn’t work. The fact is, I’ll be gone in a couple of months. You still have two more years here. Your uni life is just beginning, really, and mine’s coming to an end.”

He swallowed, his throat working. “You’re right.” Fuck, he didn’t sound happy. “So what do we do now? Go back to being friends?”

“Yeah. That’s what we do,” I said. “We go back to being friends.”

Anything more was too much of a risk. One I wasn’t willing to take.

18

“You make the best steak pies.” Sophie placed a hand on her stomach, smiling at Jonas. “I’ll miss this when you guys are gone.”

“He’s definitely got talent,” Jada said. “Even my gran praises his cooking skills, and she’s critical of everyone’s cooking.”

My housemate stood, beginning to clear away our empty plates from our kitchen table, and I pushed my chair back, gathering up the glasses ready to load the dishwasher. He gave me a small smile before returning his attention to his girlfriend and my sister. “I dunno about that. Anyway. Soph. I’ll still be around. You know Jada’s got another year still, and fingers crossed, I’ll have a job lined up by the time I graduate. You’re welcome for dinner anytime.”

“I’ll probably take you up on that. It’s my only chance to get proper, home-cooked food unless I go back to Swindon for the weekend.”

He nodded. “It’s a deal. Can’t let my best mate’s sister starve.”

I shot him a grateful look as I started loading the dishwasher. It made it easier to leave—knowing that although I was a four-hour drive away at the minimum, not accounting for London’s hellish traffic, Jonas would be here, looking out for my sister.

You’re welcome, he mouthed. Crossing to the dishwasher with a stack of dishes, he placed them on the counter. “That’s everything. I’ll be in my room with Jada, unless you want to do something all together?”

I shook my head. “Go ahead. I’m gonna watchJawswith Soph.”

He eyed me thoughtfully and then moved closer, lowering his voice. “How’s she doing? How areyoudoing?”

“Good question. I’m going to talk to her tonight.”

“Okay. You know where I am if you need me. Just say the word. Jada understands. She’ll give us space if you need it.” Squeezing my shoulder, his voice rose back to its normal volume. “I’ll leave you to finish cleaning up. It’s only fair since I cooked.”

“We’ve got it,” Sophie called from the table. “Go and relax.”

The two of us finished cleaning up in silence and then headed into the lounge. While Sophie scrolled through Netflix, I ducked back into the kitchen to grab snacks and drinks, dumping them on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

As the opening credits ofJawsstarted up, I glanced over at Sophie. She was sitting curled up in the corner of the sofa, hugging one of the cushions to her chest. Catching me watching her out of the corner of her eye, she turned her head and raisedher brows in a silent question. I reached out, squeezing her arm gently. “How are you getting on?”

“Okay.” She turned back to the screen, but not before I caught the downturned slant of her mouth.

“Soph.”

“Fine. I could be better.” She sighed, bringing her knees up, and tilted her head down so her hair swung forwards and hid her expression from me. “You know I had that date with Charlie? I thought…I suppose I thought it went well, and then we met up at the student union.” Huffing out a laugh that held no humour, she continued. “Of course, you know that, because you were there. I—we were together. Well, not together. I was there with him as part of a group, and I thought we were having a good time, but then he just…disappeared. He sent me a text later to apologise, but it was weird.”

Fuck. Guilt tore through me. I opened my mouth, although I had no idea what to say, but she wasn’t finished.

“He asked to meet me yesterday at the coffee shop. I had a feeling, but I told myself I was being paranoid. It turned out that I wasn’t paranoid. He told me he—he was only interested in being friends.” She exhaled a shuddering breath, swiping at her eyes, and my instincts to comfort her overrode the guilt. Pulling her into my arms, I stroked my fingers through her hair, like I’d done countless times before when she’d been upset. When our parents were fighting again, and she’d creep into my room with a tear-stained face, and I’d hold her while I was doing my best not to fall apart. I had to stay strong for her.

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