Page 64 of One Day Like This (Excess All Areas 1)

“Who the fuck is that?” muttered Matt, pushing his chair back.

“What if it’s Luke?” she asked.

He squeezed her hand. “I’ll get rid of him. Just go to my bedroom for a minute, just in case.”

She did as he asked, sad that their moment had been interrupted. Closing the door so it was open just a crack, she tried her best to listen.

“I’m heading out for a beer with Ben and was going to ask if you wanted to join us.” Her brother’s voice carried toward her. “But I can see you’re busy.”

Shit. She’d left her bags on the kitchen counter. Hopefully he wouldn’t look too carefully. They were easily identifiable if he’d given them even the briefest of glances when she’d left them in his hallway. The voices became mumbled for a moment.

“Okay. Catch you later,” Matt said, finally.

Izabel heard the door shut and sucked in a breath of air as she flopped down on the bed. Her heart raced. What if he’d noticed her bags? Jesus Christ. She’d been careless.

“Iz,” Matt said, pushing the bedroom door open.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have set all this up. It’s too risky.”

Matt pulled her into his arms. “Your brother doesn’t have a key, nor does he know every single detail about my life. We’re grown-arsed men, Iz. I’m glad you did what you did. I’m glad we’re talking and dating and doing normal shit, because it takes the edge off lying to your brother. For now.”

“I hate hiding and lying, Matt.”

“Yeah. It’s not my favourite. But, I think we both know it’ll take a lot of talking to him for him to accept this. And this is the band’s moment. I don’t know what my life looks like if music isn’t in it. And I’ve been waiting forever for a big audience to find us. And it’s finally here. And so are you. And I feel like I’m betting against the gods or something by trying to keep both of you. I’m being a selfish prick, aren’t I?”

Izabel kissed him softly. “I don’t think there is anything wrong with wanting a meaningful relationship and having work you’re passionate about and love. But it’s definitely causing me to lose some sleep. I hate not being honest. It’s what I meant about Matt the decorator versus Matt the musician. It’s the musician we have to lie for.”

“I’m sorry. They’re both still me.” Matt pressed his lips to her forehead. “Can we go back to before the knock? When it was just you and me? When we were talking about your big concert and how amazing you’re going to be?”

“I don’t know where to begin.”

“Neither do I when it comes to your brother and Jase. But if we want the outcome badly enough, we’ll figure out a way. Ipromiseyou we’ll figure out a way together.”

He slid his finger beneath the thin strap of her dress, nudging it off her shoulder. Gently, he placed a line of kisses down her neck. “Did you want to go back and eat some more food?” His hand slid around her back and lingered on the zipper of the dress.

“I made apple pie,” she said, not giving a shit whether they ate it or not.

Matt’s lips smiled against her skin. “We can eat it later. Right now, I want to eat you.” He lowered the zipper and nudged the strap off her other shoulder, encouraging the dress down over her hips.

“You’re still hungry?”

Matt stepped back and took her hand. “If I tell you something, will you promise you won’t kill me?”

“Depends on what it is?”

He led her to the bed.

“I think this makes me a dick of the highest order, but after I’d gotten over the near heart attack of your brother in my apartment, it made me hard that we’d nearly got caught.”

“How incredibly exhibitionist of you.”

Matt grinned as he threw his shirt to the ground. “It’s an introverted kind of exhibitionism. Ireallydon’t want anybody to see us fucking, especially not your brother, because that would be incredibly weird ... but the idea of it. The thought of someone else witnessing just what you do to me ... To have them see what we’re like when we come together.” He stroked his length through his jeans, squeezing hard.

“Show me,” she whispered.

“Take off your clothes, Iz. Trust me that I’ll make everything else right.”

And believing him, she did as he asked.

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