Page 50 of Fall Into You
“Sure we have.” I look up at him, trying to think back to the last night we didn’t sleep in the same bed, but I come up short.
“Nope.” Matt shakes his head with a smile on his face. “Not since Halloween, we haven’t. Maybe one night apart here and there, but we’ve spent almost every night after that together.”
“Oh my God, you’re right,” I say in wonder. Matt kisses my shoulder again, distracting me momentarily from the fact that we’ve barely spent one night apart in the past month. “How stupid do I have to be to not realize that you have basically been living with me?”
I see his smile flash in the darkness. “Not stupid, just…focused on other things. Which has worked to my benefit.”
I kiss him lightly and smile before pushing him off me.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, brow furrowed.
“Nothing’s wrong, but you should probably go back downstairs. I don’t want us to get caught.” I pull back a little—as far as I can in my twin bed.
Matt looks down at me for a beat and then rolls onto his back to groan in frustration, the mattress spring squeaking loudly. “Why are you doing this? Is it so fucking bad for me to want to spend the night with my girlfriend whom I haven’t been able to touch or kiss or anything since getting here?”
“What are you even talking about? You’ve been completely inappropriate and handsy all damn day. I had to keep pushing you away because your hands were always touching me behind people’s backs, and you kept trying to kiss me while other people were in the room.” I hear the edge in my voice, my exasperation bleeding into it.
“I’m so fucking tired of this, Liza,” he says in a low voice for the second time in the day. “I don’t think I can do this much longer.”
My heart starts racing, beating fiercely against my chest. Surely he can see it against the thin fabric of my tank top. The anxiety creeps in, crawling up my back, so I climb on my knees to look down at him. Matt avoids my gaze, his expression scaring me. He’s cold, distant, lips thin, and I can feel him emotionally start to pull away from me. The tears well in my eyes, and a sob forms in my chest.
I’m going to lose him.
Patient Matt has left the building.
I try to swallow the knot in my chest and press a small kiss to his lips. He doesn’t move an inch, doesn’t respond in any way.
“Matt…” my voice cracks, and a tear runs down my cheek. He turns to look at me now, and his expression turns into one of concern, of guilt, because no matter how mad he is at me, Matt will always be a gentleman first. He will always put my care first. The thought of losing him grips me harder still, and the tears start coming freely.
I know he’s struggling, and I know it’s my fault, but I need him to be patient with me—at least for the next couple of days. He’s not wrong in that we need to come clean soon, but now’s not the time.
“Hey.” He sits up, cupping my face, swiping away the tears with his thumbs. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so cold. I’m just upset.” He shrugs. “I’m so sorry.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head. “No, I’m sorry. This is all me. You’re right—I already told you so. And I know you’re mad and frustrated, but I just need you to go along with this for a couple of more days. I don’t want to mess things up between us, but I also don’t want to ruin the holiday with our drama.”
“It’s notdrama,” he says bitterly. “It’s our fucking relationship, Liza.”
I sigh, exhausted with this conversation. He’s hurt right now, and anything I say has a high chance of making the situation worse, so I stick with simple. “Let’s not talk about it anymore. Not tonight. Stay with me,” I capitulate, “and then you can sneak out of bed before the twins wake the entire house up at six. Let’s spend the night together.”
I catch a glimpse of Matt’s smile. “That’s aStonessong, you know?”
I snort, rub my eyes, and sniffle before saying, “Do you have your phone on you? Set your alarm so you don’t forget.”
“Don’t worry—I won’t oversleep.” He pulls out his phone, scrolling and tapping before sliding it carefully onto my nightstand. I lie back on my side with my back to him, and he pulls me close, breathing me in. “Thank you, Liza.”
I smile with my eyes closed in the darkness and drift off into a comfortable sleep in Matt’s arms, his heat enveloping me, warming every corner of my heart.
“LIZA!”I hear Danielle from the other side of my door. “I’m starting breakfast. Do you want French toast or waffles?”
I try to push through the morning fog, but the pillow I’m using is too comfortable, and the comforter is too heavy, holding me down. I take a deep breath as I hear Danielle pound on my door one more time, and the familiar cedar smell hits me like a freight train—a super-sexy freight train.
“Shit!” I whisper-yell, sitting up straight. Matt’s arm falls from around my waist, and he wakes, his eyes groggy and sexy as hell.
“LI-ZA! Are you dead in there?” She jiggles the door, trying to open it, and I thank God that Matt locked it before slipping into my bed.
What do I do? I need to get him out of my room without anyone noticing, but I have no idea how to do that! Did we sleep through the alarm? Did he not set it properly? Or is the rest of my family waking up unusually early these days? Danielle’s going to kill me, but there’s no way I can get through this without her help.
Matt stares at me with wide eyes, scratching the back of his head, sitting up. He mouths, “Fuck,” to me, and I roll my eyes. I want to kill him because setting the alarm was his responsibility, getting up before everyone else was his responsibility. Did he just turn the alarm off and keep sleeping?
