Page 40 of Taming You

“Hey, Matt.”

Silence fills the line, and I know I have to be the one to break it.

“I missed seeing you tonight.”

I hear the rustling of sheets before she answers. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it.”

“You okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, we just did family dinner tonight.”

I know she’s fairly close to her brothers, and if they all wanted to do dinner, she wouldn’t miss it, but why didn’t she tell me before?

“How was it?”

A little hmph comes through the line. “It was dinner with my five brothers. It was—I don’t know that fun is the word—entertaining for sure.”

I laugh. “I’m not sure how you grew up with five older brothers. I’m not sure I could have handled more siblings beyond Liv and Gi.”

“I guess it helped being the youngest. John and Riley are the closest to my age, Kai, Ezra, and Henry are all quite a bit older, so we didn’t have the same type of relationship. It was a lot more of them taking care of me when I was young, and by the time I was a pre-teen and teenager, they were moving out.”

I nod, even though she can’t see me. “At least you have the support system.”

She makes a noise of frustration. “It would be great if my brothers would see that I’m a grown woman and can take care of myself.”

I weigh my words carefully. On one hand, I can see why her brothers are protective, I’m protective of Olivia and Gianna and always will be, but I can also see how she wants them to acknowledge her accomplishments and that she can take care of herself.

“You know they do it out of love, right? Big brothers just want to support and take care of their younger sisters.”

She scoffs. “So, you’ve told Liv and Gi who they can and cannot date?” she asks.

Jealousy hits me, and I clear my throat to push the feeling down. “No, but I’ve told them when I haven’t particularly liked someone they were dating.” She doesn’t say anything, and the next words leave my mouth without any thought. “Who did they tell you not to date?”

She sighs. “No one. It doesn’t matter. It’s not like it’s going to happen anyway.”

The jealousy grows. She’s over there pinning after some man, and all I want to do is drive over there and kiss her so she stops thinking about him. But I know I need to be a good friend. I need show her that things aren’t weird with us, even if I can't stop thinking about kissing her.

“Why won’t it happen?”

“I’m not his type.” Her answer is short and sure, but I don’t know how she wouldn’t be any man's type. She’s heaven and sin all wrapped in one beautiful package, and I know that without even having touched her. I bite my lip, holding back the groan that wants to leave me as I think about what her moans would sound like if I ran my finger up the inside of her thigh until my finger dusted over her panties.

“How do you know that?” I ask.

She huffs, sounding frustrated. “I just know, Matthew.”

The sound of her saying my full name only makes me harder. I don’t want to push her anymore, so I say, “So, about last night. I wanted to clear the air.”

“We’re all good, Matt. It’s fine,” she says flippantly.

“No, Zo, it’s not fine. You shouldn’t have felt like you needed to leave when Melinda showed up. I should have made sure you knew I wanted to finish our meal and spend time with you. It never even once occurred to me to leave with Melinda. I wanted to stay. With you.”

“Thank you.” Her voice comes out soft, and I wish I was with her right now to wrap my arms around her and pull in tight.

“No person should make you feel like you need to leave like you did last night. I’m sorry, Zo.”

“It’s fine, Matt. I accept your apology.” She yawns before she says, “I should head to bed so I can meet you at the rink tomorrow morning.”

Knowing she’s still going to be there tomorrow makes excitement radiate through me.

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