Page 59 of Always Been You

“Man, I want to be there for her. She is my sister. She’s not a burden. I want her to know that.”

“I think it will just take some time. Over the last month, I’ve realized that some people have done some terrible things to her self-esteem, and what Drew did probably did some really bad damage to it. She’ll get better. She’s been smiling and joking, so I hope that means that she is happier.”

Just then, the door to the balcony opens and Liv steps out in a new sundress, her hair brushed up in a ponytail. “Hey Matt, what’s up?” she walks over and hugs him before turning and smiling at me.

“Not much, just needed to talk to Josh. How are you?”

“Good. Better after last night,” she smiles at him.

He wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her close to him, kissing the top of her head.

“I’m glad. You know that I’m here for you right? Always no matter what, you can always tell me anything.”

“Yeah, I know. I just don’t want to burden you,” she whispers.

“You are never a burden, Liv. Please know that.” She nods, and he places a kiss on her forehead before releasing her.

“You want to hit the batting cages?” Matt asks me.

“Sure, let me grab my gear and we can head out.”

I head into the gym, grab my gear, and meet Matt by the front door. Olivia is in the kitchen making herself coffee, and it takes everything in me not to go over and kiss her before walking out the door. Instead, I settle for calling out goodbye before heading down to my car with Matt. When we get to the batting cages, we pay our entrance fee and make our way inside. Matt sets himself up and starts hitting the balls as they are launched his way.

After a few hits, I ask Matt, “You all good? You’re more quiet than normal and you’re swinging that bat like it’s done something to personally offend you.”

He lets out a deep sigh and swings the bat at the ball that was just released.

“I feel like I’ve let Liv down. I should have said more to encourage her to leave Drew before it got to this point. I keep thinking that if I had said something earlier, she wouldn’t be experiencing this pain. I worry Gi is going to go through the same kind of pain, and I won’t be able to do anything about it. I feel like I’m failing as the older brother here.”

I can’t believe he’s feeling this way, because I sure as shit know that his sisters don’t think that. As his best friend, I need to get Matt’s head out of his ass and make him see this situation for what it is.

“Matt, you can’t believe that. When your sisters need support or help, you’re the one they turn to. They know that you’re there for them. I’m sure that Olivia is thankful that youdidn’t say anything to her about Drew, that you supported her and her decision and were there for her when she needed you. I know that if either Olivia or Gianna needed you, they would call you and they know you would drop whatever you were doing to help them. You can’t beat yourself up over this, man. You’re a great brother and they know that.”

Matt drops his bat and looks at me, his shoulder sagging a little. “I’m not sure. Liv didn’t even call me after she caught him. She called Zoey, and the girls were all there before I even got a call, and it was Zo who called me, not Liv.”

“You know Olivia, though. She wouldn’t have let Zoey call you if she didn’t want you there. She let Zoey tell you the whole sordid story too, not just that they broke up, and the fact that Zoey knew to call you and not someone else says a lot. Her best friend knew that the person to call when she needed support the most was you. I know how much she loves and relies on you. I think she’s just worried that she does it too much. Maybe you guys should spend a day together, talk to her about this.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

I take my turn in the cage, hitting a few balls, and we talk about nothing of importance. Once we finish up, we ride back to my place and Matt hops into his car. When I get upstairs, Olivia is in the kitchen making lunch while her music blasts through the speaker system. I stand and watch her dance around the kitchen for a minute before I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her, placing my chin on her shoulder after kissing her on the cheek. She leans back into me as she continues to season the chicken she has on the stove.

“Hey babe, smells good.”

“Thanks. How were the cages with Matt?”

“Good. He needed to work through some things. I’m hoping that our talk helped him.”

“Is he okay? He’s always worrying about Gi and me. I’m not sure that he takes proper care of himself. I worry about him at times,” she says sadly.

“I think he’s fine, just needed to talk some stuff out.”

“Well, I’m glad that you were there for him. I wish he would share more with me.”

“It’s nice knowing how much you guys love each other.” I kiss the top of her head before turning to the fridge, grabbing a water bottle out and drinking half of it at once.

“What can I do to help?” I ask.

“If you want to set the table, I’ll have the food done in a minute.”

---