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“Thank you,” I whisper, getting into the waiting car. “Hey, Jerry. Sorry for the late night.”
Jerry beams a smile back at me. “It’s no trouble, Miss. I’m honoured to be driving a national hero home tonight.”
I roll my eyes as Matthew looks between us, a bemused expression on his face.
“Where to?”
Too tired to respond, I lean my head back and leave Matthew to sort it all out. It feels good to have someone take charge now and then, to not always have to be the responsible one.
“So,” he says as we glide along. “What do you think of international soccer?” He’s clearly referencing how dismissive I was of the game back in high school. Something about watching paint dry…
I open one eye and look at him. He has a hopeful expression on his face now, like my opinion really matters to him. “Eh, it’s ok.” He tickles my ribs, and I snort. “Fine, that game was amazing. Though I never thought a nil-all match could be described that way.”
“It’s what makes it ‘the beautiful game.’”
I picture Matthew out on that field, with his sweat-slicked jersey clinging to his broad chest and his muscular thighs flexing as he chased the ball, and have to agree. Matthew and soccer combined are the very definition of beautiful.
“I still don’t understand the off-side rule,” I mumble, blinking slowly, fighting off sleep. It’s so warm and cosy in this darkened backseat with Matthew.
“You know, I attempted to find you. After high school?”
My eyes fly open. He attempted to what now?
“You did?”
His smile is bashful. “You didn’t make it easy for me, what with the whole not having any social media accounts.”
He tugs on my hair, and I smile. “I hate all of that stuff. It’s all fake.”
“But it helps people keep track of people.” His rough finger traces the curve of my cheek and my eyelids flutter closed.
“One quick search on Instagram isn’t putting in a great deal of effort,” I point out.
“It was more than that. I did some digging.” He pauses. “But then I remembered that even if I did find you, it’s not like I could just turn up on your doorstep unannounced.”
“But you considered it.”
He stares at my mouth for a beat. “Yeah, I considered it.”
A thick silence fills the car and I hold my breath, urging him to do something. And by something, I mean KISS ME.
Matthew straightens up, clearing his throat, a sharp sound in the quiet car. “But then I remembered that you probably didn’t want me to find you…”
“Because I thought you were a villain from a 90s rom-com,” I add with a grimace.
He grunts in response. “Yes. So, I let it go. Until fate stepped in.”
I peer up at him. “You believe in that sort of thing?”
Now it’s his turn to shrug. “That shoulder injury wasn’t the first time I’ve been hurt in my career. But it was the first time I’d been whisked to that hospital. Where you had just started working. I don’t know about you, New Girl, but there are a whole lot of coincidences that led you to be sitting here with me right now.”
A sigh escapes me and I say a little thank you, to fate or whatever, for bringing him back to me.
“Let’s not mess it up this time, then.” I yawn. “Wouldn’t want to make fate mad at us.”
He tugs me closer to him and pulls my head to his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m not letting anything mess this up again.”
This vow, said with such sincerity, warms my insides and with my head on his comfy shoulder, I close my eyes. I’m just falling asleep when my glasses are plucked from my face. Peeling one heavy eyelid open, I watch Matthew tuck them into his front shirt pocket; a thoughtful gesture that hits me in my soft spots.
