Golden Boys (Golden Boys, #1)(69)

“But that leads me to my next announcement. We need a few extra hands in the office to help our fundraising coordinator in advance of the gala—it’s a fundraising gala, after all, and we have a lot of big guests on our contact list, and that means a lot of work. We’ll be bringing in a few of you to help in the office over the next month based on who was able to get the most donations so far this summer. And for those of you who don’t get picked, we’re giving you the rest of the day and all tomorrow off as an extra special thank-you.”

She pulls out a binder and flips open to the first page. “I’m so pleased to announce that the team with the most donations is Art and Matt!”

We all applaud for them, and I start to enjoy the idea of the rest of the week off, though I worry I’ll have even less time with Matt if he’s in the office all the time. But then Ali says, “And the second-place team, who will also be joining us in the office for the rest of the internship experience, is Tiffany and Gabe!”

? ? ?

When Matt opens his door, he looks so cute that there’s a very real part of me that wants to lean in for a kiss. Once we got back from the office, or what Ali dubbed double orientation, Tiffany and Art both left straight to their other plans, and we barely had time to change before meeting up.

“You look nice,” I say. “I feel like I’ve seen you in that shirt before.”

“I only packed, like, ten shirts, so you’ve seen it a few times. But it’s my favorite. I wore it the first night we met, just like that bad boy.” He flicks the center of my tree-hugger shirt and laughs.

“This is our seven-week friendiversary,” I say, “so we’re obviously just feeling nostalgic.”

We walk next to each other, down the street past our usual restaurant, so far that we find ourselves in another neighborhood.

“Do you know where we’re going?”

“Just a bit farther. Sorry, we should have grabbed a cab.”

“No, no. It’s a nice day.”

“Matt, it’s literally ninety-five degrees and humid. It’s not a nice day.”

He laughs. “And I’m willing to lie about my comfort levels to you. That has to mean something right?”

I snicker, but think, Yeah, that actually does have to mean something. I bat at his hand playfully and lead him up the stairs to a Chipotle.

“Not to offend, but I think we passed four of these on our walk here.” He hesitates dramatically. “Is this Chipotle special?”

“Shut up,” I say. “You told me you loved Chipotle earlier this week. This isn’t the date part of the date. That comes after.”

We order our food and eat at one of the two-person tables by the window, watching the after-work crowd flood the streets. We don’t have much of a conversation, but we talk a little about the new tasks we’ll be doing at the internship. We don’t know what to expect, but we’re both pretty much thrilled that we don’t have to be outside anymore this summer.

We head out, and I lead him into a park. This time I’ve got a packed bag, and just as we start to take the stairs down into a second section of the park, it clicks for him.

“A movie in the park!” he shouts, not unlike a child would. “I’ve always wanted to do one of these. What are we watching?”

“Okay, don’t laugh, but I don’t exactly pick the schedule. It’s Jurassic Park, the original, and it might be awful.”

“Oh, a classic. Dad watches it all the time, still. Have you never seen it?”

I shrug. “I haven’t, but I’m glad it gets the stamp of approval from your dad.”

We set the blanket down, and I pull out a bag of popcorn I popped just before we left, a couple of cans of Diet Coke, and a few bags of candy.

“I wanted to show you a little bit of what my life is like back in Ohio. There’s this drive-in theater we go to a lot, it doesn’t matter what’s playing, and we all sit in the back of my friend Heath’s truck and just hang out. It’s one of the things I miss most about being away from Ohio in the summer, but then I saw this and thought it might be fun.”

“I’m glad you’re letting me in on this tradition, then.” He smiles at me, and as the sun goes down, he moves closer to me.

I place my hand on his, just briefly.

“Is this okay?” I ask. “I’m so sorry. There’s so much I want to say, but I—”

He places his finger over my lips, and I hush.

“Just tell me this: Are you serious about this? Whatever this even is. I need to know that you’re not just messing around. Or if you are, I guess that’s fine, but I would still like to adjust my expectations.”

“I don’t know what this is either, but I can’t believe I screwed it up. With Sal, there’s a history and it’s complicated, and we can talk about all this later. I promise, I’ll be honest with you. Just know that, right now, I’m serious about this. You’re really special, Matt. Whatever this is, I’m all in, and I don’t want to waste another minute of this summer.”

He leans in and gives me a light kiss. “Then let’s just enjoy the movie, and we’ll take it one step at time.”





CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

SAL

It’s a dim, windy day in DC, and though the humidity is high, I feel like I can breathe for the first time in weeks. It could be that it’s not ninety degrees and sunny for once, and I’m not running from an event venue to the Capitol in a bow tie or something. But it also feels like something’s been lifted from me, and that’s good.