Maybe Matt's Miracle(66)

“He really loved her, didn’t he?” I ask. I say it casually.

“He even wrote her a letter when he was dying. He made me promise to give it to her. I’d sooner rot in hell. But he made me promise because his brothers refused to give it to her.”

I smile even though my insides are roaring.

Matt comes to the table and takes my hand in his. “Come dance with me,” he says.

I nod and let him pull me to my feet. There’s a slow song playing, and he leads me onto the dance floor and then draws me into his arms.

“Something wrong?” he asks.

I shake my head and smile up at him. His brow furrows. “Did you get a chance to congratulate the bride yet?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “Not yet.” His gaze roams to where she’s dancing with her new husband. I maneuver us in that direction and then pull myself from his arms. I turn and lay my hand on April’s husband’s arm.

“Can I cut in?” I say with a huge smile. He looks down at his wife, and she shrugs. Then he sees Matt beside me and his grin falls, but he puts it back as quickly as he loses it.

“Matt,” he says.

Matt nods at him, a quick jerk.

As though he understands, the groom passes the bride to Matt, and he takes me in a dance. I watch out of the corner of my eye as Matt says something to April, and then he reluctantly takes her in his arms. He scowls at me and looks in my direction, but I give the groom my attention.

“A lot of history there,” the groom says.

“So I hear,” I say back.

“Mighty big of you to give her to him.”

“Yep,” I say, and I let out a little pop on the p.

“They’re done, you know?” he says.

I look over and see them talking while they’re dancing. “No, they’re not.”

He heaves a sigh. “I know,” he says. “It doesn’t bother you?”

I shake my head. It f*cking kills me.

The song stops, and I turn on my heel. I need to get out of here before I fall apart. I nearly run down the hall toward the exit. I jump into a waiting cab and give the driver the apartment address. But I don’t want to go home. When did the apartment with the kids become home? I don’t know, but it is. But I know Matt will go there and wait for me.

I pick up my phone and dial. “Hey, Dad,” I say when he answers.

“Sky?” he asks. “Are you all right?”

“Oh yeah,” I lie. “I’m fine. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I’ve had too much to drink, though. Would it be possible for you to go and stay with the kids tonight? I want to go to my apartment and crash there.”

Dad pauses for a second. “You want me to stay with the kids.”

“Would you mind?” I lay my head back against the seat. “If it’s too much trouble, don’t worry about it.”

“It’s not too much trouble,” he rushes to say. “I’ll go. I’ll go right now.”

“Thanks, Dad. Text me when you get there, will you, so I know everything is okay?”

“Sky,” he says, his voice hesitant. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Dad. Really I am. Text me when you get there. I have to go.” I hang up on him. And then, and only then, do I let myself cry.





Matt



Why the f*ck did she do that? One minute, I had Sky all nice and warm in my arms and the next I’m holding April. April, I can ignore. But the fact that Kenny has my Sky in his arms, that tears me apart inside.

“I’m glad you came,” April says softly.

I look down at her, and she blinks her pretty brown eyes at me. There was once a time when I could get lost in her gaze. Hell, I got lost in her. “I’m glad you invited me,” I say.

I am glad. I didn’t think I would be, but I am. Because what was between us can now be considered closed.

“Do you think we could ever be friends?” she asks.

I can’t answer that. I don’t possibly see how but saying that could hurt her feelings.

“I’d like to at least not be enemies,” she says, instead.

I stop dancing. “I don’t think you understand. I would have to care about what you do from here on out for that to matter, and I can’t really say that I do.”

“You did once,” she says. People are looking at us.

“I did, and then you stomped all over my f*cking heart. It took me a long time to get over it. Much longer than it should have. But I did realize one thing: I was in love with the idea of being in love a lot more than I was in love with you.”

She sucks in a quick breath.

“I don’t mean to hurt you. Heaven knows, I would have done that long before now if that was my intention. But what I felt for you wasn’t strong enough to last a lifetime. I know that now.” I take her forearms in my grip. “Thank you for leaving me. I appreciate it more than you know. Because what we had for one another was nothing compared to what I feel for someone else. So, if you invited me here to be sure you still had my heart on a f*cking string, let me confirm for you that you do not.” I set her back from me, even though she’s still protesting. “I need to go find Sky.”

“Matt,” April says, clutching onto my arm. “Wait.” I turn back to her. “I didn’t mean to fall in love with him,” she says.