Page 16 of Starfish and Coffee
“Sorry.” Matt grinned. She really was a cute girl. He sort of wished he hadn’t been so drunk last night. It all felt like a blur. “You should’ve told me to keep my hands to myself.”
“What’s the fun in that?” Melissa wrinkled her nose with a devious smile. “I’m off tomorrow. Wanna do something?”
“He’s helping me with the rentals all day tomorrow,” Alex said before Matt could answer. “I’m cleaning out the shed. He offered to help me with some of the heavy lifting since Will’s got class.”
“Oh.” Melissa looked back and forth between them with a little frown. “Bummer.”
“Yeah, sorry.” Matt put the toast on her plates as he fought the urge to turn back to Alex in confusion. “Maybe later on in the week.”
Melissa beamed as she grabbed her plates. “Okay.”
Matt gave her a forced smile as she walked out. When they were alone in the kitchen, Alex turned to him and glared, making Matt feel exposed, and he wasn’t really sure why.
Matt held up his hands when Alex’s stare became too much. “What?”
“Just so you know, the bet’s not what makes you an asshole.” Alex pointed angrily at the door to the kitchen with his spatula. “That does!”
“What the fuck are you taking about?” Matt snapped. “You said it yourself, she’s hot.”
“If she’s so hot, why’d you just agree to help clean out the shed with me rather than fuck her?” Alex asked sharply.
Matt swallowed hard and looked away, feeling his cheeks flame in a way that had nothing to do with the heat in the kitchen. He definitely needed at least eight hours of sleep before he could handle Alex Hunter, because he suddenly got the feeling that all his darkest secrets were right out in the open for the tall, handsome beach rat to see.
“Look, if you don’t want help then—”
“I never said I didn’t want you to come over,” Alex cut him off. “I just don’t wanna see you stringing along Melissa. She’s a nice girl who probably thinks she just hit the jackpot with you.”
Matt snorted. “I’m not a jackpot.”
“Not for her, you’re not. I think it’s pretty obvious that’d never work.”
“It’s rich girls too; ask any of my ex-girlfriends. I’m just not cut out for dating, not right now.” Matt knew he was donning a persona he wore easily around his other friends. With Alex it came out awkward and forced, but he tried anyway. “Casual stuff, yes, but once it gets serious, it all goes to shit. They’re too fucking high maintenance, and I’m too busy to keep up with it.”
Alex turned around and placed a plate on the deck next to him, but instead of going back to the flattop he stepped into Matt’s personal space, leaving him floundering. Being close to Alex was doing something to him, and he fought to hide that weird reaction he got sometimes for the right kind of guy. It was rare; it didn’t matter, and he tried very hard to forget Alex had beenone of those guyssince Matt first noticed the problem.
“Maybe it’s not the girls, Matty.” Alex leaned into him, using his height to his advantage as he bent down and breathed into Matt’s ear. “Maybe it’s you.”
Matt sucked in a startled breath. He couldn’t help it. The rocket fire of lust that shot straight to his cock was both startling and sobering. He felt like he’d just been injected with pure adrenaline, and he turned to look up at Alex in a combination of awe and horror. Everything about this moment was making his heart beat erratically out of control in nervousness.
Alex met his gaze, his warm brown eyes suddenly burning with intensity as he studied Matt closely, as if looking for some sign or clue to a puzzle. Then he licked his lips, and Matt’s stomach muscles clenched against his will. His dick jerked inside his jeans, and he was pretty sure a sound actually escaped him—which wasn’t good.
“Break it off with Melissa.” Alex’s voice was low in a way that made the hum of arousal flare brighter. “Or I’ll tell her.”
“Tell her what?” Matt asked, unable to keep the hitch out of his voice.
Alex studied him once more, as if silently debating with himself before he finally said, “That you’re not coming over for the heavy lifting.”
Alex turned away, leaving Matt feeling oddly bereft and very confused. A part of him knew what just happened, but the majority of his brain was having a hard time catching up, especially with no sleep and the leftover buzz of alcohol still humming through his bloodstream.
It took him several more orders before he finally stopped to wonder what he was going over to Alex’s place for if it wasn’t to help with heavy lifting.
* * * *
Alex was twitchy.
He sat at the wooden table as the early-morning sun cast rays across the kitchen of their small two-bedroom beach shack. His leg shook, and he couldn’t get back to sleep to save his life when usually he loved the few extra hours in bed on his days off.
He’d been restless since yesterday at the restaurant when he’d basically laid himself bare to Matt Tarrington on nothing but a hunch. Now he was practically coming out of his skin with the not knowing. Something about Matt made him stupid, and he was irritated as hell that he was as good as exposed to a man he wasn’t even sure he could trust. What if Matt didn’t come over? What if it was a trick?
