Page 103 of One Day Like This (Excess All Areas 1)

And he needed to stop expanding. Least said, soonest mended.

Their sethadgone smoothly. Stricken by what had happened when they’d fought onstage together, there’d been no stupid banter, no coke, no drinking. For once, Matt had been completely sober, something he intended to change very shortly.

Knowing it was for Luke’s sister, they’d all performed their best.

Jase delivered their drinks and they stood around a high table in the corner near the bar in the VIP area, ignoring those looking over at them. Matt leaned against the wall.

“So,” Alex said, rubbing his thumb over the label on his bottle of beer. “You going to tell us who this chick you’ve been seeing is?”

The question caught Matt off guard so much he assumed it was aimed at someone else, until he realised everybody’s eyes were on him. Matt caught Ben’s concerned glance that said he hated lying to his own brother.

“What?” Matt asked, buying himself some time.

Alex’s curls flopped in front of his eyes as he shrugged. “The chick. It’s been at least a couple of months since you hooked up with someone on the road. And you’ve chilled the fuck out. Plus, disappearing straight after gigs and stuff says there’s someone waiting for you somewhere else.”

Trust Alex to notice the change in his behaviour. He could try and lie. Or he could blow it off. He picked the latter.

“There’s someone I’ve been spending time with that’s getting more serious.” He took a sip of beer. Again, the smaller the lie, the harder it would be to trip up.

Jase laughed. “More likely fucking his own hand.”

Luke joined in. “Either that or he’s got some erectile dysfunction going on we don’t know about.”

“Two words I hope never appear in the same sentence as far as my dick is concerned,” Matt said, joining in the banter, to avoid answering. If anything, he had the opposite going on. Being around Iz, thinking about her, stealing moments with her made him constantly hard.

And it wasn’t just the sex he loved. He loved the quiet moments after, when they lay in each other’s arms, completely stripped bare, sharing stories about their day.

The conversation carried on around him. Banter. A few laughs. It was almost like old times. Luke and Jase seemed to be getting along.

The calm before the storm, maybe.

“I’ll get the next round,” Ben said. “Everyone in?”

Matt raised his almost empty glass. What he’d not drunk before the show he was making up for after.

He glanced over to where Izabel was still tied up with the reporter from the Manchester Evening News, wishing there was a way to just walk over there and stand next to her like the proud boyfriend he was.

She looked stunning in the black dress with thin straps criss-crossing her back and the heels that looked perilous and sexy as fuck. When he’d seen her that morning, after she’d pretended to sleep over at Gemma’s so she could wake up in his arms, she’d been dressed in jeans and a hoodie. He loved her in both. Especially when she was smiling like she was now.

Someone stumbled against him, and Matt turned, coming face to face with Harry. Harry’s face fell as Matt realised Luke was standing right next to them.

Of course Harry would get a ticket. From a quick glance around, there was no Sophia, just a group of male friends. Harry’s eyes flitted between Izabel and Matt.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Matt asked.

“Just came to support Izzie. I know this is important to her,” Harry replied.

“What did I say I’d do if you kept calling her Izzie?”

Luke shoved Harry’s shoulder. “Heard you gave her shit at the wedding?”

Harry put his hands up. “Look. That was months ago, and I don’t want trouble. You made your point loud and clear with your obnoxious displays at the wedding. She’s yours. Fair enough. Although, it was shit of you to keep her in that fancy suite of yours and miss the post-wedding lunch with everyone. Mum missed her.”

“Fuck off,” Matt said, shoving him away. “I promised I’d make it hurt next time I saw you. If you don’t want that to be tonight, you get out of my sight.”

Luke placed his bottle on the table as Harry stormed away. “What did he mean, your fancy suite?”

“Didn’t Iz tell you, she got upgraded?”

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