Page 38 of Wish You Once More
We worked together in silence for the next twenty minutes, combing the park for any remaining litter. When we were convinced there wasn’t any more, I took our full bag over to Bryan.
“I think that’s the last of it,” I said. I kept half an eye on Mat who stood in the centre of the fenced off area, staring straight up at the night sky. I wondered what he was thinking about. Or who.
“Good work, Bree. Darla said to head over to the bar now. I’ll finish up here.” Bryan gestured to the security guards who had been patrolling unobtrusively the whole weekend. “They’re going to make sure nothing goes walkabout.”
After the previous evening when they’d managed to miss the small group of vandals who had trashed the place, I didn’t hold out much hope.
I walked back to where Mat was. “Shall we go and get a drink?” I plucked at my orange polo shirt. “Although I think I might like to get changed first.”
He stepped closer to me, his hand covering mine where it held the hem of my shirt. “Orange suits you.”
“You’re kidding, right?” I tried to keep my tone light, despite the feeling of his skin on mine again. His warmth seeped into me.
“Although I like anything you wear.” His voice was low, and I had to lean in closer to hear what he said.
His breath on my cheek smelled of beer.
Pulling myself out my reverie, I told myself Mat had drunk too much and didn’t know what he was saying. If he said much more, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold back.
“We should go.” I looked around the field and saw that with the exception of Bryan and the security guards, there was no-one else there. We were the last to leave.
“Do we really have to go to the pub? I don’t want to spend the rest of my night making polite conversation with a bunch of people I don’t know or particularly like.”
It was as if he could read my thoughts. While I was all for celebrating the success of another Dart Sundowner, the committee weren’t exactly my kind of people.
“Callie’s at The Black Cap. We could go there instead.”
Mat narrowed his eyes, almost as if looking at me for the first time. “Can we go back to yours? I don’t much feel like being around people right now.”
I blinked.
“Please, Bree?”
Immediately, I started thinking about the state of our flat, how I hadn’t made my bed this morning, that Callie had probably left unwashed crockery in the sink. But all those thoughts disappeared when Mat grabbed my hand and started pulling me out of the park.
“Come on, otherwise I’ll end up going to Jonny’s.” He said the words as if the thought was the most abhorrent thing he’d ever heard of.
Powerless to resist, I caught up with him. We walked hand in hand along the road, similar to our actions of the previous evening. A small part of me wondered whether there would be a similar outcome of Mat kissing me again.
I unlocked the door which led up to our flat, situated above a charity shop, suddenly embarrassed about how it must look to Mat. He was probably used to security-controlled apartments with amazing views and vast spaces, rather than our more boxy, practical two-bedroom place. If he was, he didn’t show it.
Once inside, he slumped onto the sofa, kicking off his boots.
Awkwardly, I hovered in the middle of the room, seeing the place through Mat’s eyes; the peeling paint around the door frame, the tired sofa, the thin rug on the wooden floor, the mess of two twenty-six-year-old women who hadn’t quite grown out of university living.
But his eyes weren’t looking around the room, they were firmly fixed on me.
“Can I get you a drink?” I asked for the want of something to say. “Beer? Whisky? Tequila?”
I already knew the answer before I got to the third option. There was the unfinished bottle I’d bought on Friday night in my room.
“I think you know the answer to that, Bree.” The corner of his mouth curled up.
“Let me go and grab it. I’ll put some fresh clothes on too.” The material of my polo shirt stuck uncomfortably to my body. Thank God I wouldn’t have to wear it again tomorrow.
Leaving Mat alone, I dashed into my room. Hastily, I stripped off my polo and jeans, replacing them with a pair of denim cut off shorts and an oversized checked shirt. I took my hair out of its functional ponytail and fluffed it up over my shoulders. Reaching for a can of deodorant, I slipped it under my shirt and sprayed. After a second, I slid the can to my nether regions and gave them a quick squirt. It had been a long, sweaty day after all. The bottle of tequila sat on my bedside table. I swiped it and went back into the living room.
Mat’s head rested on the back of the sofa; his eyes closed. I took the opportunity to examine him. Outwardly, he still looked the same. The dark hair and smooth skin etched with a few more lines than the last time I’d seen him. The hard, muscled body I’d always swooned over. His right arm had more tattoos than I remembered, and I struggled to identify the newer ones. The jawline peppered with a couple of days’ worth of stubble. The lips which had kissed me last night, bringing back all sorts of feelings I thought I’d buried long ago.
