Maybe Matt's Miracle(21)

“Oh thit,” I swear, when I see that the kids didn’t follow us. She sits me down in a chair and puts a towel under my nose. “That hurts wike a mudder fudder.” I sound like I’m all stopped up with a cold, but the blood is still dripping, so I pinch my nose closed.

“I’m so sorry,” she says as she drops down in front of me. She rests her forearms on my thighs. I can smell the pizza she just ate on her breath, and I really, really want to kiss her, but I have blood all over my face and hands. “I’m so sorry,” she says again. “I didn’t know it would fly out of my hand like that.”

“You hab ta wap it awound your wist,” I say.

“I have to wrap it around my wrist?” she repeats.

“To keep it fwom fwying.”

“Crap,” she says again. “I am so sorry.”

She already said that. She gets up and goes to get a wet towel. She cleans my hands and wipes gently beneath my nose. My nose hurts like a son of a bitch. I jerk my head back, but she just follows, probing and prodding.

“I think the bleeding has stopped,” she says. But I let her continue to fuss over me, just because I like it. “Do you want some ice?” she asks.

Yeah, but I need it for my dick and not for my nose. “Pwease,” I say. Her face is only inches from mine. But then she goes to the fridge. She comes back with a bag of ice. She’d probably get offended if I shoved it in my pants, so I lay it against my nose, instead. I brace my chin with one hand and hold the ice with the other.

“I really didn’t mean to hit you,” she says. She looks so worried that I have to let her off the hook. Hell, I lived with four brothers. I have had more nosebleeds than I could ever begin to count.

“I’ll wiv,” I say.

She leans close and kisses my cheek. I want to turn my head and press my lips to hers, but I don’t.

“You in lub wif me yet?” I ask.

She laughs and turns her head away, closing her eyes. Her giggle is so damn cute. She winces.

“I gwess dats a no,” I say.

I lift my shirt and wipe the edge of my nose since she took my wet towel. When I do, her eyes go to my frog prince, and she leans forward and presses her lips to him. She looks up at me, her blue eyes blinking widely as she holds her lips there for a second. Then she makes a loud smacking noise and pops back up, grinning. “There. All better?”

Fuck no. We’re just getting started.

Seth sticks his head into the room. He smirks at me and shakes his head. “Dude,” he says. He laughs. “That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.”

I throw down the ice. “Dat’s it. I’m going kick your ath at bow’ing, Seth. You are going down.” I follow him into the other room, take a controller, and try to pretend like she didn’t just rock my world.





Skylar



I am so into the game that I don’t even realize how late it is until Mellie climbs into my lap and falls asleep. I know she’s asleep because I feel her drool slide down my leg. I sit up, careful not jostle her, and pull her into my arms. She makes a sleepy little murmur beside my ear and burrows in closer. I take a deep breath and soak it in because these moments are few and far between.

“Okay, that’s it,” Matt says, and he bends over to turn off the Wii. “I think there has been enough butt-kicking for one night.” He shoves Seth’s shoulder. Seth shoves him back and they tussle on the floor. He pins Seth down and grins. “How was wrestling today?” he asks.

Seth sits up, brushing his hair back into place. “It was okay. We have practice matches on Wednesday night.” He looks up at Matt. “You want to come watch?”

Matt lies back on the floor, acting like he’s winded after wrestling, but I think he’s shocked that Seth asked him. He picks up a ball and starts to toss it up in the air and catch it. “What time?” he asks.

Seth shrugs like it doesn’t matter. “Seven, I think,” he says. “So you want to go?”

Matt sits up and nods. “If it’s okay with your aunt,” he says. Matt winks at me, like Seth can’t see him. Seth does, though, and shakes his head.

“Quit scamming on my aunt, man,” he warns.

“It’s not scamming. It’s…” He stops and looks at me. “Hell, I don’t know what it’s called.” He looks a little uncomfortable. He throws the ball into Seth’s chest, and Seth falls back on the floor, clutching his belly.

Joey walks up and sits down on Seth’s stomach, bouncing and laughing when he groans. “Why are you still up?” he asks. He looks at the clock. “It’s past your bedtime.”

He grabs her hands and stands up, tossing her over his shoulder. She squeals. He comes over to me and dangles her in front of my face. “Kiss Aunt Sky good night,” he says. She leans forward, takes my face in her hands, and kisses my cheek.

“’Night, Aunt Sky,” she says quietly.

Seth points to my lap. “I’ll be back in a second for that one,” he says.

“Actually, I’ll take her,” I say. I stand up and lift Mellie gently into my arms. She cuddles closer to me, and I realize she’s been sweating against me when the cold air hits where she was lying. But I wouldn’t change it.