Page 44 of Good as Gold
The kiss escalates, as Rory’s always do. It’s hot and possessive.
Possessive is something Rory does well, she’s discovered. It’s nice to feel needed.
She wraps her arms around him, which means she doesn’t notice the man standing outside in the snowy dark. The one who’s staring up at the picture window.
* * *
Snow is falling on Matteo’s hair and eyelashes while he looks up in horror. Pain blooms behind his breastbone as Rory lays another deep kiss on Leila.
He was so eager to see her, he couldn’t wait another two hours for the pond party. He’d borrowed Damien’s taxi and run right over here, her gift in his pocket.
But now he can’t bring himself to ring the doorbell. Not with everything crumpling inside him. He’s too hurt. And way too angry at himself for staying away too long.
For not realizing this would happen.
For thinking—even for a minute—that he had a chance with her.
He’s completely forgotten to breathe, and when he finally remembers to gasp for air, that hurts, too.
Everything hurts. He turns away, but the image is burned in his mind, even as he climbs back into Damien’s taxi and drives three blocks away.
Fuck the pond party. He’ll go home to the crowded trailer and see his family.
First, he needs a minute to steady himself. Hell, more than a minute. If he returns immediately, everyone will ask what’s wrong.
Just everything.
He pulls the little box out of his pocket and lifts off the lid. Inside, there’s a classy, silver and gold snowflake pendant on a delicate silver chain. He’d returned to that jewelry shop almost three years later, and the design was still available.
It’s a sign, he’d thought.
So stupid. She probably forgot all about it.
Just like she forgot about him.
The vise that’s gripping his chest makes it hard to breathe. He closes the box, opens the glove compartment, and throws it inside. Literally throws it. Then he slams the compartment shut.
You can’t have her, Rory had said once. It had been teenage smack talk, but he’d known in his bones that it was true.
Still is.
He pulls out his phone and opens his text thread with Sean, where there’s a new message waiting.
Hey dude. You make it okay? What’s the boss’s jet like?
Bitchin.
Guess what? I changed my mind. I’m in. When I get back, we’ll start planning.
The dots pop up right away. Sean is typing.
DUDE. STOKED!
Matteo hears those two words in Sean’s voice, and he almost smiles.
Almost.
Sean wants to start their own backcountry tour company. It’s super risky, and Matteo has been on the fence about it. So much could go wrong.
