Page 21 of Eddie

It was time for Matthias to leave. No matter how much he wanted to stay, he couldn’t. That meant these were his last few seconds with Eddie, and he wanted to take advantage of them.

Matthias held his breath as he reached for Eddie’s cheek. Eddie’s eyes went wide, but he didn’t lean back. Instead, he leaned closer, allowing Matthias’s fingers to curl around his cheek. He nuzzled against it, then turned a small smile up to Matthias.

Matthias melted. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Eddie’s, conscious of the fact that they were in public and that Jenna was probably recording them or something. If she wasn’t, he was sure she was telling their mother exactly what was happening in as many details as she could. It was one of the reasons Matthias kept it small and light. He didn’t want to make a spectacle of himself, especially in front of his sister.

But it was their first kiss, and Matthias enjoyed it thoroughly. He wasn’t sure when he’d get the opportunity to kiss Eddie again, after all. He knew what he hoped for, but when his family was involved, it was always impossible to make predictions.

The sound of a door slamming made both of them jump. Matthias looked around, expecting his sister to be there, but when he looked at the truck, he saw she was still inside, watching him with her head cocked. Someone had exited their car nearby, though, and they were headed toward the diner, no doubt to get breakfast.

“You should go,” Eddie said.

Matthias wanted to say no, but instead, he nodded and took a step back. Letting go of Eddie was hard. “I’ll text you as often as I can,” he promised.

“Don’t worry too much about me. Focus on your family and solving whatever mess your brother made. I’m not going anywhere.”

Matthias hoped it was the truth. He supposed he’d find out in time.

After staring at Eddie for a few seconds longer and wondering if he should kiss him again, Matthias took a step back. If he did kiss Eddie again, he wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. The sooner he got home, the sooner he dealt with the mess his brother had made, and the sooner he could come back to Eddie, right?

That was what Matthias told himself as he turned around and climbed into his truck. He could feel Jenna watching him, but he ignored her and kept most of his focus on Eddie. He did manage to turn on the engine and put on his seatbelt, briefly glancing to check that Jenna had done the same. To his surprise, she had.

With a sigh, he got his truck out of the parking spot. He allowed himself one last glance toward Eddie, only to see him wave at him. His heart hurt, but he didn’t say anything. He waved back and turned his focus on the road.

It felt like leaving his heart behind, but that was okay. Matthias knew he’d get his heart back. He had to.

“So,” Jenna said as they left Green Hill.

“No,” Matthias told her.

“I’m just saying I understand better why you didn’t want me anywhere near him yesterday. How is he in bed?”

“We’re not doing this, Jenna,” Matthias snapped. “I’m not going to disrespect Eddie.”

“Oh, come on. I wasn’t disrespecting him, but this is the first time I’ve seen you having a one-night stand. I’m curious. Was he that good of a lay to justify the way you were looking at him? Because it was nauseating.”

“Don’t talk about my mate like that,” Matthias barked out.

Matthias heard Jenna suck in a breath. He hadn’t really meant to tell her, but she would’ve found out eventually anyway, and he didn’t want to listen to her talk about Eddie like that. Hell, he didn’t want her to talk about Eddie at all. Hopefully, that would be enough to get her to shut up.

“Your mate?” she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Matthias sighed. “Yeah. My mate. I’m sure you understand why I’m going to be grumpy this morning, so it’s probably for the best if you stay quiet.”

She was, for a few minutes, but Matthias knew it wouldn’t last, so he wasn’t surprised when she spoke again. “How does it feel?”

There was a softness in her voice that told Matthias she was being genuine. It was the only reason he answered. “Like I’m leaving my heart behind. I never want to leave him.”

“But you are.”

“I am. I have to, don’t I?”

“You have to take me home.”

“Exactly.”

“But you’re going to come back, right?”

“Nothing could keep me away from him.” He would make sure of that.