Maybe Matt's Miracle(15)

He shakes his head. “I don’t love her.”

“But—”

“I like her. We’re friends. But that’s it.” He shrugs. “And she’s seeing someone. It’s getting pretty serious.”

“When was the last time you guys…?”

He grins. “Yesterday.”

I roll my eyes. “Then it can’t be very serious with this other guy.”

“Just the fact that there’s another guy means it’s not serious with me.” He heaves a sigh. “And I don’t love her. That’s one thing I’m sure of. Because the thought of the woman I love sleeping with another man should tear me up inside, but it doesn’t. There’s something wrong with that.”

“Okay.” I don’t know what else to say to him.

“So, about April,” he says.

“I don’t want to talk about April.”

He glares at me. “Too bad.”

This is Paul. This is what he does. “What do you suggest?”

“She’s getting married, man. It’s time to get over her.”

I throw up my hands. “I’m trying.”

“You should go to the wedding. Get it all out of your system. Take a hot chick with you.”

“Where am I going to get one of those?”

He looks at me like I’ve gone apeshit. “Dude, you can find tail anywhere.”

Maybe I’ve been looking in the wrong places.





Skylar



I spend all day on Monday working out my employment issues. I had a meeting with my immediate supervisor, who rushed to assure me that my job was not in jeopardy, that my situation was discussed during the meeting, but only to the extent that they all wanted to know if there was anything they could do to support me through this transition. What an asshat Phillip is. And what’s worse is that I almost believed him.

I couldn’t be happier that this situation forced me to cut my ties with him, particularly when I walk around the corner and find him by the water cooler standing much too close to another one of the first years. She looks a little frazzled when she sees me, and she very quickly walks in the other direction.

Phillip starts toward me but I wave him away. “Don’t even think about it,” I warn. I keep walking.

He follows me all the way to my car without saying a word. He doesn’t speak until after he watches me fumble with a box of papers and my trunk. He doesn’t offer to help me. Not once. Would Matt stand there and watch me while I struggled with a box? Something tells me he wouldn’t. I really shouldn’t compare anyone to Matt, though, since I truly don’t know him.

“You’re going through with it, aren’t you?” Phillip asks, folding his arms across his chest.

“Going through with what?” I ask, blowing my hair from my face.

“Those kids,” he spits out. “You’re keeping them.”

I laugh. “They’re keeping me, actually,” I say.

“I never took you for stupid.”

I snort. His face turns red. “The only stupid thing I ever did was pick you. Asshole,” I say under my breath as I get in my car. I pull out while he stands there watching me. It’s all I can do not to put the window down and stick my middle finger out it to flip him off. But I’m a mom now. Moms don’t make public spectacles of themselves, do they? Probably not. I settle for doing it in my head. It’ll do for now, too, because he looks pissed.

I turn the radio up loud as I drive across town. I should feel bad about our breakup, but I’m not heavyhearted. Not at all. Not like I should be. I actually feel free. And I have to admit that I feel a little bit hopeful. I have a feeling Matthew Reed has something to do with that.

Heck, I just broke up with someone I thought I was in love with. I shouldn’t be having feelings for Matt. It’s too soon. Plus, I have too much going on in my life to add a new boyfriend to it. What man in his right mind would want me and my three kids? I snort to myself as I walk into the day care to get the girls. One of the other moms scrunches her nose up at me and ushers her kid by me quickly, taking a wide berth. I guess moms aren’t supposed to snort out loud, either.

Seth told Joey and Mellie that I would be picking them up from school today, but I’m not completely sure they know what’s going on when I walk in the door. Joey hides behind her teacher’s skirt, and Mellie sticks her thumb in her mouth. I drop down to their level and say, “Hi, girls,” with a soft voice. A soft voice won’t scare them, will it? Crap. I am terrible at this mom stuff.

“Mrs. Morgan?” the teacher asks. I called her last week and talked with her on the phone about our situation. She was very nice and really understanding.

I stick out my hand. “Miss,” I say to correct her. I’m definitely not married, and it doesn’t look like I ever will be now.

She shakes my hand and steps to the side to get Joey out from behind her. Both the girls are still in day care, and they combine the classes at the end of the day on the playground. The girls apparently stick to one another like glue. Is that normal? Heck, normal is just a setting on the dryer, right? I wouldn’t know normal if it bit me on the butt.

“Miss Morgan, if I can make a suggestion…” The teacher grimaces.