Page 36 of Taming You

I’m almost two blocks from the restaurant when Matt’s car pulls up beside me and he rolls down the passenger window.

“Zo,” he calls, but I keep walking.

The sound of his car door closing echoes through the air before I hear him working to catch up with me. He grabs my wrist and stops me in my spot.

“Zo, look at me.” His voice is pleading.

I reluctantly turn around, and his eyes slowly take in my face.

“Why did you leave?”

I roll my eyes, using it as my defence to prevent me from saying it hurt to watch that woman fawn over him knowing I mean nothing to him besides being his sister’s best friend.

“Just thought I’d leave and give you and Melinda the chance to catch up,” I say.

His eyes widen, and he shakes his head. “I didn’t want to catch up with Melinda. I was enjoying my time with you.”

“Matt, you don’t need to lie. I know neither of us planned to be having dinner together, and I’m sure you went into that date thinking you’d be getting more at the end of the night. I was giving you the chance to get that.”

He sighs. “Yes, neither of us planned for the night to go the way it did, but I don’t regret it. I enjoyed having a nice meal with you. Talking, seeing you laugh.”

His words warm my blood, but I can’t fall into that feeling.

“Just go find Melinda, Matt.”

“No.” The word comes out strong, sure. “Zoey, I’m not ending our night like this. I’m definitely not letting you take the train home when I can drive you. If you want to call it a night, fine, but I’ll be driving you home.”

I open my mouth to argue, but he takes a step closer, and it’s like the air in my lungs freezes. He tucks a piece of windblown hair behind my ear. “Let me take you home, Zo.”

I melt, wishing there was more meaning to those words. A gust of wind comes through, and I shiver slightly. His hand moves from my face to rub up and down my arm.

I know that, like his sister, Matt is stubborn and won’t let me just walk away. I nod, relenting, and he leads me to his car, opening the passenger door for me.

I don’t want to talk right now, because I’m sure the second I open my mouth, I’m going to say something stupid. Relief hits me when Matt puts on music, and we make the drive to Henry’s in silence. When he pulls into the driveway, he quickly rounds the front of the car and opens my door, helping me out. I thank him, and he walks with me to the front door. I stop and face him, unsure of what to say.

“I had fun with you tonight, Zo.”

I can’t help my soft smile, and even though the night didn’t end in the best of ways, I did enjoy myself. “Me too.”

He leans down and places a soft kiss on my cheek, and I fight the urge to lean into it.

“Sleep well, Bug.”

My heart skips a beat. Matt is fucking with my head. I slip inside the house and wait until I see his headlights pull out of the driveway before I make my way to the kitchen for a glass of water.

“So, you’re dating Matthew Carter.” Henry’s voice scares the shit out of me, and I jump.

I fully enter the kitchen and see him standing at the sink with his ankles crossed and his arms folded over his chest.

“No, I’m not.”

“You said before you left you were going on a date, and he just dropped you off. How does that not equal you guys dating?”

I fill a glass with ice and water from the fridge and turn to face my brother. “I got stood up, he was at the same restaurant for a date and also got stood up, we decided to make the most of it and had dinner. Nothing more.”

No matter how much I wish that were the case.

His brows furrow. “That seems like quite the coincidence.”

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