Page 106 of One Day Like This (Excess All Areas 1)

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“I’m so sorry, Matt,” Izabel said, trying to process what had just happened.

Matt held her hand tightly as they navigated their way to the exit. As the doors opened, rain blasted their faces as if the heavens were crying for them all. It seemed appropriate. A cleansing of sins.

He stopped in the street and cupped her face before kissing her desperately. It was a kiss of ownership, but also one that sought comfort. “I stood upstairs and realised I could only walk away with one thing. I could defend my brother and lose Luke. I could agree to lose you and keep the band. Or I could keep you and lose everything else. And you know what? It was the easiest fucking decision, Izabel.” He slipped his leather jacket off and placed it over her shoulders. It did nothing to keep her dry or ease the chill in her bones.

Her heart ached for him at the size of his sacrifice. “I’ve been selfish though. I wanted you. I wanted us. I honestly didn’t think Luke would react like that. But while it’s cost me my brother, it’s cost you everything.”

He ran his thumbs over her cheeks that must be streaked with mascara by now. Water dripped off the tip of her nose, her hair must be as wet and plastered to her head as Matt’s was.

“Do you love me, Izabel?”

“More than I can express in words.”

“Well, I love you in words I can. You wanted one day like this. Now, I want a lifetime like it. I want you and me in the good and the bad. I want to dance with you at weddings. Hell, maybe one day I’ll get down on one knee and then we’ll dance to cheesy songs at our own. I want to stand in the rain with you as everything else falls down around us, strong in the knowledge we love each other. I want to make love with you when the world seems like it’s at its darkest, and I want to hold you as the sun rises to tell us it’s another day. Another fucking day like this. I’ll love you when the stars align and even when they don’t.”

In his arms, bathed in the words he’d said, it didn’t matter that everything had changed, because the two of them hadn’t. Unable to reply, she stood up on her toes and kissed him, hoping her lips conveyed everything she felt. She hoped he could feel the turmoil, the anguish, the sorrow, but also the love and hope she felt for the two of them.

“Let’s go home,” he muttered against her lips.

“Wait.” She tugged away from him. “I can’t just leave. This is my event. My stuff is still in there. While I’d love to just run away from it all right now, I can’t abandon the event.”

Matt pressed his palm to his forehead. “Shit. I forgot. And now I’ve got you soaked through.”

“My jeans are inside. I’ll just get changed.”

“You looked really pretty in this dress, Iz. You look pretty in just about anything. Or nothing.”

Izabel tilted her head to look up at him. “You should be a songwriter you know.”

“Really, I hadn’t considered it.” Matt’s sad smile made her melt.

The doors burst open and both of them turned to see Jase run towards Matt.

Izabel felt Matt’s hands push her out of the way as Jase launched himself at Matt, taking him to the cobbled pavement with a sickening crack. Jase grabbed Matt by the collar of his shirt and punched him straight in the face. “I fucking hate you.” The words were spat out with venom.

“Jase, stop. Please,” she yelled as she stepped forward to break them up but realised quickly there was no way she could separate them.

“Please,” she shouted to the doormen. “Stop them. Break them up.”

One of the men shrugged and turned back to the convention centre.

Matt managed to free his hands and put his hand around Jase’s throat. “You’ll lose this, Jase,” he growled.

“Lose. We just lost fucking everything,” Jase said, punching Matt in the side of the head.

Matt managed to roll them over, to change their places. When he hit Jase, he held nothing back. Blood sprayed from Jase’s nose as he punched him.

Izabel pulled out her phone, about to call the police, when Ben and Alex thundered out of the centre, looking up and down the street.

“Ben,” Izabel screamed.

“For fuck’s sake, Jase,” Ben yelled as he and Alex dragged Jase and Matt apart. “Fucking give it up, man.”

Matt was finally on his feet. Ben and Alex stood between them as Jase rolled onto his knees, shaking his head as he wiped the blood from his nose on his shirt. Unsteadily, he got to his feet.

Izabel reached for Matt’s hand. Shaken from the fight, her heart rate lowered when he gently squeezed her fingers.

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