Page 43 of Pucking Your Best Friend

“Something like that,” he replied gruffly. “But I don't want to rain on his parade.”

Jack narrowed his eyes. “Can I give you some advice, Matt? Relationships change. All the time. No matter who it is. Dax and I are the best example of that. So, whatever happens between you and my brother — or between you and Maddie…”

Matt opened his mouth, perplexed. “Between us…”

“I don’t want to know,” Jack interrupted, shushing him. “But Dax doesn’t exactly speak softly and her name came up. What I’m saying is, don’t keep your mouth shut and do nothing. When something is off, the other person has usually already noticed. And, sometimes unspoken words can destroy a lot more than spoken ones. It’s not good to put things on ice or ignore them for too long. They get harder every damn day.”

Jack raised his eyebrows meaningfully as his cell phone rang. Sighing, he pulled it out of his pocket and stared at the screen, a deep line forming between his eyebrows.

“Shit,” he muttered. “Speak of the devil. Just don’t screw it up, Matt.” He waved his phone and then slowly disappeared around the corner.

Matt stared after him.

Just don’t screw it up. That was easier said than done. Most of the time you only realize you’d screwed something up when it was already too late.

Chapter 11

Maddie stretched her legs and pulled the blanket higher over her as she stared at the giant screen without noticing what was happening in the film.

This day had been…too much. Way too much.

Eggsy had gone viral. A chicken attacking a hot hockey player was apparently worth a click, at least according to Hailey, who had called, all excited, to say that the video already had over six hundred thousand views on YouTube.

Maddie’s thoughts weren’t on the movie or the chicken, though, which was quite a feat considering that she adored romance films and was over the moon that Match Me! had made such a leap forward.

It’s just – there had been a moment.

Today. With Matt.

A brief, fleeting moment when everything had changed. The air had been thick and heavy and her skin had become heated, as had her eyes.

And then there was the way she had behaved this morning. If she didn’t know better, she’d say she was jealous of all the women who threw themselves at Matt! But why?

She’d practically pushed him to go home with other women for a year. She’dselectedthose women for him and it had never bothered her!

The bathroom accident was just the last straw.

She should have known that Matt looked amazing naked. All the clues had pointed to it: The shirts that clung to his chest like a second skin. She knew his biceps looked fine. Then there was the fact that he was a damn professional athlete!

But imagination and reality were quite different. The reality…God,the reality!

Matt’s body wasn’t normal. She knew he was a professional athlete, but hallelujah! In that moment, she’d heard a few angels playing trumpets – and some fainting.

Yes, she’d seen it all, not only his broad chest and his defined abs –everything. Andeverythingwas what had made the angels swoon.

Maddie hadn’t wanted to stare. But it was the truth: The last man she’d seen naked – aside from that one horrible incident with her father, who seemed incapable of keeping a bathrobe closed – had been Clemens. That had been five years ago. Besides, she didn't want to compare Clemens to Matt. That wasn't fair to Matt.

So, Maddie had stood there with her mouth open, sexually harassing Matt with a gaze so intense, she was shocked the police didn’t come knocking.

Groaning, she leaned her head against the backrest and pressed a pillow to her face. It was all extremely inappropriate! But hadn’t Matt been flirting with her earlier, when he’d practically offered to undress in front of her?

No.

Well, probably – Matt flirted with everyone. Even Eggsy! She certainly laid fifty percent of her eggs for him. His nickname was, after all,Charming.

Damn, she was confused. That could also be because Matt looked so incrediblygoodin only a towel. They had been friends for a year, but she had never seen him without clothes on. Obviously! They were…clothed friends, not naked.

Hearing the key in the lock, she flinched and hurriedly pulled the pillow off her head, then dug her fingers into it, stubbornly concentrating on the Netflix romance movie playing on Matt’s enormous flatscreen. It was ten-thirty and she was usuallyasleep at this time, but she had been so restless…and had thought that Matt would be late, so she wouldn’t end up seeing him again that night.

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