Page 113 of Pucking Matt
On that note, I kick him under the table. “I think your bandage needs to be changed.”
He lifts his fork. “It’s all this chewing. Hurts like a bitch.”
I scroll through our lists. “We have a few random things in common, Matthew. Would you look at that?”
He focuses on his phone for a moment and says, “Yeah, but I don’t think cookies count as candy.”
I shrug. “I’ll always choose cookies.”
“Okay, but if you had to choose a candy, what would it be?”
“I actually always reach for the KitKats.”
“You’re such a liar,” Matt laughs. He throws the crumpled sugar packet trash at me. “Are you done?”
I look down at my plate and nod.
“Okay, we should get going.”
I reach for my bag.
“Please,” he says. “Don’t touch your wallet this weekend, Hughes. You’re with me.” He reaches for his wallet from his pocket. He touches the sleeve of his hoodie, suddenly very interested in it. I glance down at it, wondering if he dropped food on it. “Feel this,” he says, pinching the fabric of his hoodie. I touch it. He stands and leaves the booth, so I grab my things. “Smell this?” He pulls his collar out so I can get a whiff.
I lean in and smell his cologne.
“You know what that is?” he asks now that I’m closer. He hovers above me because he’s so tall. “That’s boyfriend material.”
I exhale, laughing. I push him as he steps away from me, and then in a split second, I’m under his arm.
“I’m serious, Hughes. You’re not paying for a damn thing this weekend. You’re not opening your own doors. You are my girlfriend for the weekend. You’re getting the full treatment. I owe you.”
I lean into him, enjoying the warmth of his body next to mine. And maybe, just maybe, I’m enjoying what he’s saying too.
He continues, “We have to pull this off in front of my mom. She thinks we’ve been together for months.”
He releases me to pay for the bill and then we walk out the door.
“So, I have to pretend to be in love with you?” I ask.
He glances over his shoulder at me. Our eyes connect as he says, “Yeah, that’s what a fake relationship is.”
“Great… So, you’re pretending to be in love with me?”
He grabs my hand, locking his fingers with mine. My heart thumps in my chest.
He says, “Faking it will be easy.”
“Maybe for you, but not for me.”
He brushes my hair behind my ears as he says, “Remember all those times you hated me?”
“Yeah,” I say while he leans in closer.
“Do you know that love and hate are the same feeling?”
I shake my head, staring into his eyes.
“Like excitement and nervousness. They feel the same in the body, it just depends on howyoulabel it.”
