Maybe Matt's Miracle(32)

“Are you going to see him wrestle, Matt?” Dad asks. He’s staring awfully hard at Matt, but Matt just nods.

“I’m planning to, sir,” he says. “I love to watch the matches.”

He looks down at me, and I smile up at him. Matt surprises me when he leans down and kisses the tip of my nose. I scrunch my face up playfully at him, and I feel a chuckle rumble through him.

“I went to a few last year,” Dad says.

Wait. “You did?”

He nods. “I go every chance I get. Seth is really good.”

That floors me. He never came to my dance recitals. Or my gymnastics meets. Or anything I had going on. But he’s making an effort with these kids, and now that these kids are part of my life, his efforts make me happy, for their sakes. They deserve to have people in their lives who care for and love them. “I know Seth will be happy to see you there.”

“Are the kids in bed?” Matt asks.

“You probably should have asked that before you attacked my daughter,” Dad barks. “It’s late.”

Matt nods. “I know.”

“What happened to your nose?” Dad asks.

Matt grins. “She hit me.” He jerks a thumb at me.

“Smart girl,” Dad says, and he smiles at me. He’s never looked at me with such fondness, and my heart lurches at the atrocity of it. Dad motions from Matt to me and back. “How long have you two been seeing one another?” he asks.

Matt arches a brow at me. “Not long,” I chirp.

Dad nods. “I guess I should be going,” he says. He stands up and shrugs into his jacket. I get up and walk him to the door. Matt goes, too, and he reaches out to shake hands with Dad.

“Don’t disrespect my daughter,” Dad says.

“Yes, sir,” Matt says. He dips his head and jams his hands into his pockets, looking a lot like Seth did today when I scolded him about confiding in Matt.

Dad leans forward and pulls me into a quick embrace. This is new, too. I don’t remember him doing it before. Or at least not in a really long time. “Good night, Dad,” I say. “Thanks for stopping by.”

“I’ll try to do it more often,” he says loudly, talking toward Matt.

Matt nods and ducks his head even further. I giggle.

“Your mother wants to see you,” Dad says. My giggle falls away.

“Why?”

He takes a deep breath. “She just does.”

“I’ll think about it,” I tell him.

Dad leaves, and I close the door behind him.

Matt sags onto the couch and lies down, flopping his arms out like he’s ready to pass out. “Oh my God,” he breathes. But he’s chuckling, too. His belly pulses with laughter. “Why didn’t you tell me he was here?”

He has one leg on the couch and the other on the floor, so I get on my knees between his spread legs and lean down over him, holding myself up with my hands flat on his chest. Matt doesn’t allow that but for a second, though. He pulls me to his chest and holds me close to him. His body rises and falls beneath me, steady and solid.

“I would have told you he was here if you had given me time.” I laugh against him, and he raises his head to look down at me.

“Don’t you dare laugh,” he says. “This is serious. Your dad is going to hate me from now on.”

“I don’t care what he thinks,” I say. I scoot myself a little higher, getting my lips closer to his. “That was, like, the worst kiss of all times,” I whisper dramatically.

“I know,” he whispers back. His hands land on my waist, and he lifts me, bringing my mouth even closer to his. He lifts the edge of my T-shirt, and his warm hands touch my naked skin. “I’m never going to kiss you again. Because that one was too awful.”

“Terrible,” I say quietly, looking at his lips. “But I think we should try again.”

Matt hooks an arm behind me and flips us over. He looks down at me. “You think this is funny?” he asks. But he’s grinning so I’m not worried.

“Hilarious,” I breathe. “Don’t you?”

His face lowers until his lips hover over mine. “You’re so f*cking amazing that you make my heart hurt sometimes,” he says. My heart trips, beating hard in my chest.

“Kiss me, Matt,” I whisper.

Finally, his lips touch mine. The kiss at the door was full of passion and want. But this one is soft and hot and so genuinely perfect that I squirm under him, trying to get closer. His lips slide across mine, soft and damp and silky smooth. His tongue licks across the seam of my mouth, and when I gasp at the sensation, he sweeps inside. His hips grind against mine, and I can feel the length of him pressed against my belly. He’s hard and huge, but he’s still so gentle. I touch my tongue to his, and when he tries to pull back, I nip at his lips until he moans against my mouth and comes back inside.

A tap, tap, tap on my arm draws me from Matt’s lips. I open my eyes to find Mellie’s dark eyes looking at us. Matt pulls back from me when I say something against his lips. Then he realizes Mellie is there. He sits up and crawls off me. I scramble to sit up, too.

“What’s wrong, Mellie?” I ask. But then I realize what’s wrong. The smell hits me, and I have to cover my mouth. “Are you sick?” I ask.