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“I should have figured.” She simply replied, her eyes averting to the floor, her lips falling into a thin line.
“What do you mean? Oh, God! Alison, please don’t be mad at me.”
“I’m not mad. Not at all. It’s just that Liam is… complicated. I don’t want to see you hurt. And now I’ve shoved Matt onto you, too. Shit, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
“I swear to God I didn’t know Liam was your brother.”
“I know you didn’t. I didn’t exactly come clean regarding who my family is. People tend to get close because of who I’m related to. Trying to climb the ladder, you know? So it’s something I try to keep to myself. I’m sorry.” She confessed, and I finally understood why such an amazing person had such a limited friend list.
“Alison, you don’t need to apologize for that. I couldn’t care less who you’re related to. I just couldn’t bear the thought of losing you because I have a thing for your brother.”
“A thing?”
“I don’t have a name for it, and I’d rather leave it without one. It’s too messy.”
“Yeah, I understand, and I just added gas to that fire. I don’t know how to make Matt back off. He’s not keen on following orders. Besides, they’re both quite persuasive and adamant regarding what they want. And I use those expressions loosely.”
“I don’t give a shit about what they want. I’m not getting any deeper into this clusterfuck than what I already am.”
“Let’s hope you have the choice—” Alison said before one of the waitresses interrupted.
“Dinner will be served in five minutes. If you wouldn’t mind taking your designated seats.”
“It will be okay.” Alison encouraged, pulling me into a hug before we stepped back inside, “We’ll figure this out.”
I scanned the crowd that was now moving into the enormous hall where impeccably decorated tables were set, searching for Liam, but he was nowhere to be found. Matt was just a few steps away, though, waiting for us, a broad white smile welcoming us back.
As soon as I was within arms reach, Matt pulled me into his rock-hard body, his arm curling around my waist. My hand landed on his muscled chest, trying to absorb the impact while he leaned over my ear, my skin tingling under the warmth of his breath.
“I’d prefer to have you sitting on my lap, but since my mother imposes certain etiquette rules, I’ve arranged for you to be sitting right next to me at dinner.”
Why wasn’t I pushing him off me? First, it felt good to be wanted for once, and by a man like Matt, nonetheless. Second, I was hell-bent on calling Liam’s bluff. I wanted to know exactly what he meant by “grounds for murder,” as he had phrased it.
“Straight for the kill,” I muttered under my breath, more to myself as a comparison between Liam’s push and pull and his brother’s unapologetic bluntness, but Matt heard it anyway.
“Not tonight. We’re still here as opposed to naked in my bed.”
I grabbed one of the drinks from his hand and gulped it down in one go. My head should be clear for this, but my senses surely needed to be numbed.
“Woah, calm down there, tiger.” Matt chuckled, taking the empty glass from my hand. “Do I make you that nervous?”
“No, sorry. Just had a bad week at work.” I dismissed, erasing any flirty edge possible.
“That bad, huh? What do you do for a living? It seems like your boss is sucking the life out of you.” I paused at that last part. It almost seemed like he was inside my damn mind.
“I’m an architect. I work at AD. What about you?”
“Oh, so do you work with Al or with Liam?” Matt asked, not bothering to answer my question.
“With Liam. What about you?” I asked again.
“With neither.” He chuckled, “So, how does my little brother treat you back at the office? Is he, by any chance, the reason you had a shitty week?”
Jack-fucking-pot.
“No.” I lied, “And I’m not answering any other question before you answer mine.”
“You want to know what I do for a living? That’s quite a tedious topic.” Matt avoided my question again.
