Page 14 of Taming You

I’ll be there.

I release a breath, relieved I’ll have some help to finish this.

I’m racing around my apartment, throwing things from the kitchen drawers into a box when there’s a knock on the door.

“Come in,” I call, and Matt walks in holding a Timmies bag and tray of coffee.

“Oh, my saviour.” I rush towards him, and he holds out a cup towards me. I take a sip of the sugary goodness. He holds up the bag of food next and follows me into the kitchen. We stand around the island as we both dig into the food.

“Okay, what’s left to do?” he asks.

“My bedroom, bathroom, and a few things in the kitchen. I’ve got most of the kitchen done, so I’ll finish that up.”

He nods. “Sounds good. I’ll start on the other rooms, then.”

Throwing our wrappers in the garbage, we move to our separate rooms and get to work. When I finish in the kitchen, I move into my room and stop dead in my tracks as I see Matt standing in front of my nightstand, holding a boxed toy.

I quickly gather myself before saying, “Oh my God,” and rushing towards him, grabbing the box, and shoving it into the open drawer and shutting it.

He stares at me and then back at the now closed drawer and then back at me.

“I’ll take care of this room,” I say, and he nods, staring at me for a few long drawn out seconds before moving into the bathroom.

Fucking great.My best friend’s brother just got a peek at my very extensive toy collection. I quickly find a box and empty the contents of the nightstand into it before closing it, making sure I clearly label it DO NOT TOUCH, and putting it in the living room with all the other boxes. Matt can’t seem to look at me for the rest of the morning as we work together to finish packing. When I ask him if pizza is good for lunch, he gives me a grunt of acknowledgement and continues packing.

When we sit to eat, he tries to scroll on his phone, and I hate this awkward energy that’s between us now. We’ve never been this way with each other. We’ve been teasing and comfortable, but never awkward. I grab his phone out of his hands, putting it on the counter behind me and out of his reach.

“Hey,” he calls indignantly.

“No phones,” I say.

“Why?”

“Because you’re making this awkward and we’ve never been awkward.”

He grips the back of his neck, a tinge of pink hitting his cheeks. I’ve never been one to shy away from topics, so I decide to lean right into it.

“Ask me,” I say.

His head shoots up, and his mouth opens slightly before he closes it. “What?”

“Do you have questions?”

“Zo—” he starts.

“Matt, please, just ask me.”

“Okay. Fine. Why so many?”

“Variety. Plus, they’re great teammates,” I say with a smirk.

“Teammates,” he draws out the word.

I study him, not sure if he doesn’t get my meaning or if he’s sitting there picturing them being teammates. “Yup.”

“And the new one in the box, was that for a specific someone?” he asks, and I can see the wheels turning in his head. He wants to know if I bought that toy with the purposes of using it with the dad from the rink. His eyes search out an answer, and I let him sit in the silence, watching him squirm as though not getting an answer was more painful than asking the question.

When I feel he’s squirmed enough, I finally answer. “No, I didn’t buy it with anyone in particular in mind. When I end a relationship, I like to get a new one. That’s been sitting, packaged, in my drawer for a while.”

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