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His girl? Why did I want to squeal over that? It was possessive, but I liked the sound of it, surprisingly.
“Yeah, he’s been super secretive about you, but we all can’t wait to get to know you better.” The other twin laughed.
I glanced over at Matthew, who looked a little sheepish, one hand still holding the popcorn he had bought and the other one draped over the back of my chair. He leaned in closer to whisper in my ear. “Sorry for not telling you. I thought it’d be a fun surprise. And—oh, look! They made it!”
Matthew glanced up, and it was then that I noticed the couple he must have been talking about heading to the seats next to us: a beautiful, dark-haired pregnant woman and the man whose palm was against her back, guiding her towards our chairs.
“Bryan! Elizabeth!” One of the twins exclaimed as they settled into the bench beside us. “Glad you could all make it.” The woman—Elizabeth—settled in next to me, and her husband sat beside her. I gave her a small smile as I waited for Matthew to introduce us.
“These are our other best friends, Bryan and Elizabeth.” Matthew gestured to the two of them, and then his free hand was slipping into mine again, squeezing it. “This is Noelle.”
“Hi,” I gave a sheepish smile, looking around at the group. “It’s nice to meet you all.” We all exchanged hellos before he turned back to the twins. “Are your girls coming tonight?” Matthew asked Cole and Tanner, who just shook their heads.
“I’m sorry, hold up a moment,” I said, interrupting the conversation while looking at Matthew, “I’m still trying to get over the fact that you’re friends with two of the Blazers?” I was pretty sure my jaw was still on the ground.
Matthew shrugged. “We all went to college together.” He grinned at me. “They offered me tickets tonight and I couldn’t turn them down.” And when he had said everyone else was busy… it seemed like all his closest friends were right here. Oh.
So maybe I was the first person to cross his mind. After all, his friends had called me his girl. I sat a little straighter, feeling the warmth and pride from the idea flowing through me.
“Matthew has told us so much about you,” Elizabeth gushed from my side. She was gorgeous, with her tanned skin and dark hair and a glow to her that was radiant.
He had? “I wish I could say the same,” I fake glared at him, though I was really trying to hold in a smile that he had been talking about me with his friends. Why did that make me… happy? “But I’m afraid Matthew hasn’t shared much about any of you with me. He’s somewhat of an enigma.” He just looked back at me with the most adorable feigning-ignorance eyes.
Bryan, from Elizabeth’s side, chuckled. “You have no idea, Noelle. I’ve known him for over twelve years, and I still haven’t quite figured him out.”
“Oh, well.” I locked eyes with Matthew, unable to pull myself away from the icy blue of his eyes. I was always getting lost in them. “Hopefully one day I’ll understand the whole of Matthew Harper, huh?”
“If anyone can do it, you can,” Elizabeth said, nudging me in the side. I think I flushed a little, the red spreading over my freckled cheekbones at that declaration.
And… what? What did he tell all of his friends about me that they were so sure I was going to crack Matthew’s perfectly crafted interior? What made me so special that they thought I alone could melt the ice around his heart?
But… maybe I already had, considering how much he did for me. Considering how much he had shared with me in the last two weeks.
I muttered something unintelligible under my breath, and then Cole and Tanner were departing, and everyone was wishing them good luck on the game, and I was pretty sure I was still just staring at Matthew.
As the game began, all of the players from both teams ran out onto the court as they were announced, and I lost myself in it. Did I know what was going on most of the time? Absolutely not. Did I still stand up with the others and cheer when our team made a basket? Yeah, I did. (I was trying, here, especially after Matthew told me he played in college. I hadn’t wanted to seem like an idiot.)
Halfway through the game, they started the dreaded Kiss Cam up. I groaned when I saw it, burying my face into Matthew’s shoulder, and sighed in relief as it almost stopped on us several times but moved to someone else. Finally, it focused on Bryan and Elizabeth, who got a loving peck on the lips from her husband.
And then up on the screen—there were our faces. Yep, that was us, on the kiss cam. I didn’t know when I had gotten so terrified of public displays of affection—it may have been because I guessed that Matthew didn’t like them, but I didn’t want either one of us to be comfortable. And it felt like if we did this, if we kissed here, in front of all of his friends, we couldn’t go back from it.
Maybe we didn’t want to, not anymore.
“Matthew—” I started to protest, looking at him. I knew we had kissed before, but this—in public? I was trying not to freak out.
“Hey. Breathe. Just don’t think about them. Focus on me,” he breathed, hand resting on my thigh as he leaned in closer.
But yeah… I wanted to kiss him again, didn’t I?
Before I could say anything else, his lips were on mine, softly at first, and then he wrapped his hand around my neck, bringing me closer to him and deepening the kiss. His tongue was pushing against my lips, seeking entrance, and I couldn’t help but let him in. God, this kiss... It was full of passion, longing. Our tongues joined together as our mouths connected, and I was melting underneath his touch. My hands were in his hair—when had they gotten there? —digging in tight to his wavy blonde locks. Pulling myself closer to him.
The crowd erupted with cheers as Matthew full-on kissed me right there, in front of everyone. Oh. Oh, God. I pulled away, breaking the kiss, and my face flushed as he stared at me, his hands finding my face, lingering there, thumb caressing my cheekbone over and over as he looked in my eyes.
And… What did a kiss like that between us even mean? Because I could tell, from the way he kissed me, that he wanted me as much as I wanted him. I knew it, fundamentally in my bones, from the way I lit up just from his touch. The way his hand lingered on my neck sent little fireworks down my body, even as his lips pulled away. I was on fire, heated just from the simplest of touches, but all I wanted was more, more, more.
Somehow though, at that moment… He made me feel comfortable, even with all the people who were watching us. And all I wanted was his lips on mine again. I couldn’t deny the way he had made me feel. Comforted, wanted, and always cared for.
“You good?” he breathed. I nodded into his hand that was still cupping my cheek, trying to pretend like I wasn’t nuzzling into his large palm. But I couldn’t find it in myself to be embarrassed, even when he pulled away and tucked me underneath his arm. I cuddled into his side, resting my head against his chest.
