Page 29 of The Other Room

His charming smile stretched wider and mirth danced around in his eyes. I knew that look. I’d seen it hundreds of times and it usually prefaced us getting into a boatload of trouble as kids or running from the cops as adults.

“If I told you the details, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

“Is this one of your ‘it’s going to be fun’ ideas that ends up with one or both of us needing to get bailed out of jail? Because they told us last time, they wouldn’t let us go with just a warning again.”

Matt tossed his head back and laughed. “Oh, come on. That was fun and you know it.”

Pursing my lips, I shrugged. “Yeah. I guess it was. But no cops today.”

Clamping a piece of bacon between his teeth, he lifted his hand and extended three fingers, mumbling, “No cops. Boy Scout promise.”

“You weren’t a Boy Scout.” I gave him a knowing glare.

“Don’t you trust me?” he asked, and the simple question held more weight than I was prepared to comprehend only several minutes after waking up.

Do I trust him? The short answer was no. Not anymore. But the long answer was more complicated than that. The long answer was once I trusted him more than any human being on this planet. Once I trusted him with my life. But now... now I was just starting to move toward forgiveness and trust. But full trust... that was still a ways away.

With a shrug, I smiled. “You haven’t gotten me killed... yet.”

That disarming grin grew again and took down more of my dwindling defenses. “Then you’re in. Good. It’s a Roomster bonding day.”

“Would you quit calling me Roomster?” I laughed as I finished my bacon.

“Nope.” He popped the last piece in his mouth and put his dish in the sink. “I’ll clean them when we get back. Now hurry up and put on your suit.”

“Jeez. Slow down there, Speed Racer. Just give me a few.”

“Chop, chop,” he teased and clapped his hands as he blew by.

After he disappeared into his bedroom, I went in the bathroom to wash my face, brush my teeth, and get ready for the day. When I was done, I grabbed my suit that had been hanging from the shower and tossed it on along with my coverup.

When I came out, Matt leaned against the screen door, his mirrored sunglasses hiding the trouble dancing in his eyes judging by the smile playing across his face. The day-old scruff wrapping around his jaw gave him that extra edge of mischief, and I tried to force away the thoughts fighting their way to the front of my mind.

God, he looks hot.

Damn it. That one slipped by.

Just friends.

My mantra. The one I’d had to recite on occasion over the years when I’d caught those not-so-friendly thoughts slipping into the forefront of my mind. Times when I noticed just how handsome he was. When I’d notice the way his square jaw ticked as he struggled to suppress his laughter. How the tiny flecks of gold in his brown eyes sparkled in soft lights. The way his biceps flexed when he’d snag a fish and crank the reel. The times I wondered what his lips may taste like.

Times like this one.

Chasing the thoughts from my mind about how hot he looked in his board shorts and t-shirt that fit oh-so-well, I took a breath and grabbed my beach towel hanging from my door.

“Ready?” he asked, pushing open the screen door.

“I have no idea where we’re going, but I could use a beach day.”

I grabbed my purse off the couch and headed out the door. Petunia meowed and trotted out of my bedroom, sending Matt scampering out after me, slamming the door to separate him from the cat who bid him goodbye with a hiss.

“You still scared of her?” I snorted.

“It hates me, Jo.”

“She hates you. But she’ll get used to you... as long as you stop running away from her screaming like you’re starring in some B-rated horror movie and she’s an axe-wielding psychopath.”

Shuddering, he shook his head. “If I was starring in a B-rated horror movie, I’d be the smart one. The one that lives to the end. That thing would kill me in my sleep if I didn’t push a chair in front of my door at night.”