Page 47 of Pucking Matt
“Zack, my boy. What’s up?” I say, walking over.
“Just stopping by to see if you can make a mean sandwich.”
“Which one do you want?”
“The turkey.”
I nod. “Good choice.”
I turn around to make the sandwich, wondering why Amber is still hiding around the corner. She comes walking out.
“That’s Zack. One of my roommates,” I say, and he waves. “Zack, this is Amby.”
Zack nods. “Oh, this is Amby.”
She shoots a look at me. “Do you talk about me?”
I chuckle. “In your dreams. Zack taste-tested the sushi you ordered me.” I narrow my eyes. “He heard the note you gave the Uber driver.”
Zack nods at her. “You have horrible taste in sushi.”
I make Zack the sandwich and then when he leaves, we’re left with no customers. I ring myself up and pay for the sandwich I just made for Zack.
“What are you doing?” Amber asks as I tap my card.
“I’m paying for the sandwich.”
Amber glares at me.
“What? I’m not going to get fired for giving away a sandwich.”
She laughs.
“Is it normally this empty?” I ask.
She’s wiping down the counter. “Sometimes.”
When I put my card away, she says, “You could’ve used your complimentary lunch on him.”
I scoff. “You couldn’t have told me before I charged myself?”
She shrugs. “I thought it was nice you bought him lunch.”
Our eyes connect, and I think there’s a tiny chance that my trying to impress my friend also earned respect from this hard-working, stubborn, strong-willed woman who hates my guts.
Chapter 13
After processing all of Ms. Pearson’s divorce paperwork, I have a better understanding of her son. This woman is hiring a divorce attorney for much bigger reasons than just a divorce—they always do—but she’s going after Mr. Cress for everything he has. Including, not limited to, his assets he’s had before her. Not that it’s even that much, but she’s going to an extreme to suck him dry. And I can’t help but wonder if Matt’s tactics are learned behaviors from his mother rather than his own choices, kind of like a reaction rather than an intention. Sometimes being a child means adapting to your parents lifestyle as a means of survival. It’s apparent to me that even though I don’t like Matt, I can have a simple understanding that as children, we learn from what we see. And I bet he’s seen his mom do some wild things while growing up. It has me reconsidering this entire situation with Matt. Guilt is the heaviest emotion in my chest. I feel bad for what I’ve done now. So when he revealed he took punches from Grey the day before I attacked him, I knew I had to apologize for making his life worse. There I was, dialed into my own problems,that I never once considered what Matt had going on. He’s so cocky and holds himself with such ease and confidence that he seems like the asshole popular kid that had zero problems. And the day I went after him, he let me. He let me use him as a punching bag, and boy, was that a huge mistake. I see it now. Instead of seeing him as a cocky, arrogant jerk, I finally see the soft side to him. The wounded inner child. Thanks to the Grind Stone. And I guess you could say I’m an inconsiderate piece of shit for being spiteful and petty when it comes to Matthew Pearson. Now I have some serious making up to do.
When he walks into the Grind Stone, I know that today he clocks in after hockey practice.
“Heads up, Matt,” I say, throwing a sandwich I specifically came in early to make for him.
“What’s this?” he asks rounding the counter, catching the sandwich.
When I don’t reply, he says, “Aw, Amby, did you make this for me?”
I ignore him because I can see a big smile on his face. I don’t have the bandwidth to witness it.
