Page 72 of Give Me a Chance
It’s the meeting his mom part. Fuck, I should have asked him to drop me off at his house first.
Of course, he’s the type of man to drop everything when his mom needs him. That’s Matt. The good guy. And of course, he hadn’t even thought about the awkwardness of me meeting his mom. We’re all adults, right?
My stomach is in knots the entire way there. When he parks the car on the side of the road, I contemplate staying in the car and scrolling on my phone, but that would be too rude. So, I put my fearless mask on and exit the car.
His mom hugs him tightly before setting her sights on me. Her eyes are as green as Matt’s, but she’s probably a foot shorter. I guess she was at work since she’s wearing heeled booties and a pantsuit.
“Mom, this is Natalie. Natalie, this is Cecilia, my mom.” I try to put out my hand, but she pulls me into a tight hug as well.
“It’s so nice to meet you, dear,” she coos, with kind eyes and a wide smile.
I know his mom can’t wait for him to settle down, I’ve heard him talk about it. And I can only imagine she’s currently planning our wedding in her mind—which makes acid build in my throat.
She looks nice and caring, and she raised the incredible man standing between us, but I have no place meeting her. Matt and I are not like that. We’re not serious.
Matt eyes me for a second before pulling Cecilia’s attention away from me.
“What happened, Mom?” She gets into the story about how she must have run over something sharp, but I stop listening.
I try to take deep breaths before I hyperventilate, but the buzzing in my ears only gets louder.
We can’t be serious. I don’t do relationships.
One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.
I do the breathing exercise I taught myself back in college, trying to push away the fear.
The two of them are either engrossed in tire changing or avoiding me altogether, but I’m thankful for the reprieve. My breathing finally calms down as they finish the job.
“Are you okay, dear? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she asks, bringing her attention back to me.
“I’m not feeling too well.” She gives me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
“Maybe you’re coming down with something. You better take good care of her.” She points a finger at Matt, who is gazing at me warily.
“You know I will, Mom.” He presses a gentle peck on her cheek before she climbs back into her car.
“It was nice meeting you, Natalie.” She peeks her head out of the car. “You should bring her to lunch when she’s feeling better.”
“Yeah.” He sighs. “Drive safe, Mom.”
I manage a meek wave before I crash on the passenger seat of the car.
“Are you OK?” he asks, closing his door.
“I’m not feeling well. You should take me home.”
“Did I do something?” He starts the car.
“Nope. I’m just not feeling well.”
“You sure?” His hands clench around the steering wheel.
“It was too much.” My gaze is trained on the side of the road.
“What was?”
I huff out a frustrated breath. “Meeting your mom, Matt. It’s not who we are.” I motion to the two of us.
