Page 44 of Pucking Your Best Friend

Now, however, he pushed the door open and gave her a curt nod as she dutifully turned her head towards him.

“Hey,” she said quietly, pausing the movie. Because that’s what she would normally do, right? “How was your evening?”

Matt shrugged and avoided her gaze.

“So, good then,” she teased and tried to smile.

He sighed heavily, kicked his shoes off wordlessly, and slipped out of his coat, revealing his dark blue Hawks sweater.

“Oh, you’re in a good mood,” she continued the one-way conversation. This was something new: a bad-tempered Matt.

He mumbled something incomprehensible and hurried to the fridge, where he pulled out a package of Babybel cheese. Matt was a stress cheese-eater. She had found that out over the last few weeks. It was a bit strange, but also a bit sweet.

“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you. You weren’t even gone for two hours.”

He mumbled something again.

“Matt? Did an evil witch turn you into a bear? If I’m supposed to go find the wizard who has the only antidote, blink twice now!”

The corners of his mouth twitched and Maddie smiled in return.

“The wizard wouldn’t look at you with a wand,” he explained quietly as another tiny wheel of cheese disappeared into his mouth. “And no, not a witch. Just Dax.”

“Ah.” She nodded. “The gnome. The witch’s henchman.”

Matt grinned and pointed to the cheese in front of him. “Would you like one?”

“No, keep your unhealthy eating habits to yourself. Give me more information about the Dax thing.” It seemed like a safetopic that they could talk about, like good friends who had never seen each other naked.

Matt sighed again. “Oh, it’s kind of silly.”

“I like silly problems the most.” She patted the couch next to her and purposefully slid to the right even though there was still room on the cushion for a small family. A small family of elephants.

Matt put the cheese away and ran both hands through his hair, then strolled over and sat next to her. He kept a safe distance, though. Had they maintained that distance before?

It was odd, but a week ago, she hadn’t thought about how close they sat together and now, it suddenly seemed important. No, not important, just…interesting.

“We had an argument,” he muttered slowly.

“Really? You argue?” she asked, surprised.

Matt frowned. “So far, not really, no.”

“Okay. What was it about?”

He frowned as his gaze briefly flicked to her and then back to the frozen image on the TV. “Well, it was about him not having time for me anymore.” He snorted as if he was uncomfortable saying it. “It’s stupid, isn’t it? I’m a grown man and…”

“What does that have to do with it?” she asked, stunned. “It’s always hurtful when someone you’re close to seems to be distancing themselves from you. That doesn’t change with age and certainly not with gender! And, you’re right, you know? Lucy and Dax are a little…self-absorbed. I mean, I get it: They’ve never been in a serious relationship before and are newly in love. But I get where you’re coming from, too. It bothers you. You shouldn’t forget your friends when you’re in a relationship, even if it’s inevitable that you have less time. Friendships are…important.” She smiled.

Matt stared at her blankly for a few seconds. Then he nodded. “They are.”

“I think it’ll get better, Matt,” she murmured, squeezing his hand, which was lying on the couch next to his leg. “You’re important to Dax. I’m important to Lucy. If we were in a bad situation, they would be there for us in a heartbeat.”

“They should be there for us at other times, too. When we need to…discuss things,” Matt murmured, frowning.

“Things?” she asked in surprise.

“Things.”

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