Page 3 of With Love, Alex

“Matthew or Matt. Whatever you want to call me.” He answered back with another smile. “Would you ladies like another drink if we can flag down a server?” he asked loud enough for the whole table to hear.

“I don’t think you’ve got to worry about finding someone to help.” I indicated the three different waitresses who were begging for the chance to wait on Colton Patrick.

Matt looked over at the waitresses waiting and let out a small chuckle. “I guess you’re right. Want to help us out man?” He gave a chin nod to Colton.

As if he hadn’t noticed the line of people to his left that were dying for him to give them even the smallest amount of attention, he turned his head and gave one lucky waitress the go ahead to approach. She had a tentative smile on her face with her shoulders slightly hunched. With long, black hair that matched her outfit of a tank top, short skirt, and heels, I watched it sway with each step she took.

“M-m-may I help you.” She stuttered. I couldn’t blame her either. I don’t think I would have had the courage to even take a step toward him, let alone talk to him.

“Sure, darlin. We’d love to order some drinks. I’ll have a Jack and Coke. What would you lovely ladies like?”

Dawn, Shelli, and Matt all ordered beers, while I ordered a Malibu with pineapple juice. As I watched, I was impressed with the way Colton was gentle with our shy waitress. I had a feeling he picked her from the others because she didn’t think she was hot shit like the other two waitresses who had been panting on the sidelines. He wanted her to feel special, and maybe he was doing the same to us.

After taking a few sips from my new drink, I figured I should talk to the man sitting beside me. I was sure he thought he got the wrong end of the stick being stuck by me, someone who had barely said two words to him since he’d sat down.

“So, how do you know Colton?” I asked as an ice breaker even though once the words had come out of my mouth I realized how lame they were. I might as well of asked him how he liked the weather, but I didn’t know what else to say.

“His wife, Anna, and my ex-wife have been friends for years, so eventually we became buddies.” He answered with his mouth so close to my ear, I could feel his hot breath with each word. I felt a tingle at his closeness. If he moved any closer his lips would brush against the shell of my ear and for the first time in a long time, I relished the attention from a man.

“Really? That’s cool. Who’s your ex?” I asked, my body turned his direction, but I was nowhere near as close to him when I spoke.

“Sophia Kerridge,” he answered, this time he kept his distance.

“The Sophia Kerridge?” I asked with way too much enthusiasm. It was obvious he didn’t want to talk about her from his stiff body language.

“Yeah,theSophia Kerridge.”

“Oh, wow,” I started to reply, but he interrupted with his own ‘wow’ which came out sounding highly annoyed. I could tell he’d misunderstood my wow, and I wasn’t sure if I should try to clear up the misunderstanding or try to find something else to talk about keeping the conversation easy.

“Go on and say what you want to say.” Matt said after a few tense moments of silence.

Closing my eyes, I prayed to say the right thing. I was really blowing it with this guy. I hoped he’d give me a chance to explain. “I said that because I didn’t know who you were. It’s so dark in here. I didn’t recognize you with your hat on. You’re Matthew Ryan, right?”

Not talking about his ex-wife and recognizing him seemed to appease Matt, at least going by the easy-going smile that crossed his face once I mentioned his name.

“You really didn’t recognize me?” he asked with a smirk on his face. One that I found slightly annoying. Did he need his ego stroked?

“Until tonight, I’d never laid eyes on one movie star, let alone two. It never occurred to me that you might be someone famous. It makes sense since you’re hanging out with him.” I indicated Colton across the booth from us.

“It’s cool. I guess I’ve spent too much time in LA where everyone knows everyone, or so it seems with the paparazzi following every move you make. I forget what it’s like to be out amongst the rest of the world.” His arm slipped behind me as he inched toward me. “This is my first time here, and I understand why Colt likes coming here. Even if people know who you are, they aren’t constantly yelling your name, asking for an autograph, taking pictures of your every move, or following you. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the fans who genuinely want to meet me. It’s the people who are making money off trying to catch me making an ass of myself or anything gossip worthy. If we were in LA right now, there’d be pictures all over the internet of us sitting here by now. They’d say how we’re sleeping together, or how you’re my girlfriend, or more than likely how I’m a manwhore.” He shook his head in disappointment, making me feel sorry for him.

I’d seen the gossip magazines and I knew what he was talking about. There were people out there who believed everything they read just as I knew there were people out there who lied about what they wrote to scandalize whoever the article was about and make money. I’d hate to be under the microscope the way they were. I’d seen some of the things that were written about both Colton and Matt. Most of what was written about Colton was good since he had dated and was now married to America’s sweetheart. As for Matt, he had a lot of negative press about him in the recent years.

Mostly it was about how it was his fault that his marriage to Sophia Kerridge had disintegrated. Supposedly, he had an affair with the leading lady while on location for a movie. I’d only known him for a few short minutes, but he seemed nice enough. I didn’t know if any of what was said about him was true or not. I sure as hell wasn’t going to ask him. It didn’t matter anyway since I doubted I’d ever see him again. Unless it was on the big screen. I was going to enjoy my time in the company of two movie stars who had chosen to sit at our booth. Not think about what I’d read or heard about them. This was a once in a lifetime experience. I was going to make the most of it. Starting now.

Shape of Youby Ed Sheeran came on making my body start to move in my seat and Matt chuckle next to me.

“Would you like to dance?” he asked as he moved out of the booth taking my hand to help me out. It seemed Colton, or the club had told our waitress to keep our drinks coming because every time one of our drinks started to run low a new drink was put in its place. Whichever it was, the alcohol was flowing, and I was undeniably feeling the effects after the few strong drinks I had with dinner.

“Yes,” I yelled back with my arms in the air as we made our way to the dance floor. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw both Dawn and Shelli laughing as they made their way over to me.

I didn’t care who I was dancing with by that point. With each move or turn, I had one of the three around me as my partner. Dawn and I always thought our height difference was funny when we saw ourselves in the mirror. Tonight was no different. Dawn may have been almost six-foot-tall, but she still wore crazy high heels causing me to be eye level with her cleavage. I repeatedly stumbled into it either from the drinks or the heels. Her hand held me there making it look like I was motorboating her. She laughed, and a loud cheer came from the surrounding men. I hadn’t noticed we had an audience until I heard and then felt the heat from the crowd. Letting me go, Dawn started to dance with a guy who had stepped up to take my place. I couldn’t help but laugh as she pushed him away when he tried to motorboat her.

Matt’s hands grasped my hips from behind as I kept dancing to the beat and watched my friend as she took over her new dance partner. I felt Matt’s face against the side of mine as the front of his body met my back. Slowly one of his hands shifted to wrap around my stomach and pulled me further against him. If the alcohol hadn’t been in my system, I probably would’ve pulled away, but I was feeling its effects and enjoying the feel of a man as he moved with me and made me feel sexy.

As the songs played on and we danced together, Matt’s hands wandered, but nothing too inappropriate. I could only smile as I stepped back into Matt and ground myself on the side of his leg. Matt took that as a sign to move on from his innocent hands over my dress to kissing up my neck and making his way to my mouth.

At first, I was in shock, I hadn’t been kissed in years. I’d stopped kissing my husband when he started smoking, hating the taste of cigarettes. When he asked why I simply told him the truth. He didn’t stop smoking or even bother to brush his teeth or wash out his mouth, which ended our kissing and eventually our marriage according to him. Matt tasted of beer, which I wasn’t a fan of, but it was way better than cigarettes. He was gentle in his kiss, probing to make sure I wanted it as much as he did. Once I felt his tongue caress against mine, my body met his move for move with the beat of the song. The kiss was something I’d been missing and didn’t even know it until that moment when it wasn’t harsh and wild with fury, but soft, wet, and lush.

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