Page 26 of What Broke First
Matt: “Emily says you forgot your magic wand. She’s deeply concerned you’ll be powerless at work tomorrow.”
Sarah snorted. Then texted back.
Sarah: Tell her I’ve got a backup wand in my purse. Mom sorcery runs deep. Would you... Call me?
The three dots appeared almost instantly. Then they disappeared. Then reappeared. And then, her phone lit up with his name.
She answered before the second ring. “Hi.”
Matt’s voice came through, warm and almost playful. “I was starting to think you’d never ask.”
Sarah let out a breath that had apparently been hiding. “I didn’t plan to. But tonight was... weird.”
“How weird?”
“I went on a date with James. The art gallery guy.”
“Oh,” Matt said, not hurt, just listening.
“He was lovely. Grown-up. The kind of man who keeps extra chargers in his glove compartment and knows what kind of wine pairs with pork.”
Matt chuckled. “So naturally, you spent the night thinking about me.”She rolled her eyes, smiling. “Unfortunately, yes. You were in every shadow. Every silence. Every time I zoned out mid-sentence.”
“Well,” he said, mock-serious. “I hope I haunted you tastefully.”
Sarah laughed, and once she started, she couldn’t stop. He said something else, something absurd about James probably doing CrossFit in cufflinks, and it sent her over the edge. She snorted. Loudly.
“God, don’t make me laugh like this. I’m going to cry.”
“That’s kind of my brand,” Matt said. “Tragic comedy with decent hair.”
Sarah sniffed, still smiling. “That’s generous. You’ve always had slightly chaotic hair and questionable comedic timing.”
“I beg to differ. You once laughed so hard you spilled an entire smoothie in your lap.”
“That was because you tried to moonwalk in flip-flops on tile and went down like a tree.”
He groaned. “That bruise was the size of Nebraska.”
“You wouldn’t let anyone see it unless they promised to rate it on a scale of one to epic.”
Matt laughed. “It was at least a nine.”
Sarah was quiet for a beat, but it was the good kind of quiet. The kind where the silence didn’t strain or pull, it just held.
“I forgot we used to be like this,” she said softly.
“Yeah,” Matt said. “Me too.”
There was a rustle on her end, the sound of her getting comfortable, settling in.
“Can I ask you something?” she said.
“Anything.”
“If I had said yes tonight... if I’d let James kiss me... would it have changed how you feel?”
“No,” Matt said without hesitation. “But I might’ve screamed into a pillow for a while.”
