Page 22 of Forever Fascinating

VAPOR

Matthew felta surge of jealousy that was almost alarming the moment he saw Jana talking to Caboose. He watched her point at the dance floor, before the other pilot said something to her, brushing her off like she was a gnat, and saw that lonely, crestfallen look on her beautiful face.

His girl wanted to dance… and by golly, he was going to make it come true.

He’d gotten to his feet, his eyes glued on her, and began to cross the floor, only to see her breathtakingly warm gaze settle on him. Every time he laid eyes on this strange woman, there was an awareness within him, like his soul was sighing peacefully in recognition.

She was trouble.

He was going to get his nose broken… or the entire team would take him into the showers and ‘lock-sock’ him. The team all got along with Hot Cakes, and he knew he had very few friends in Ghazni, nor had he endeared himself in the last few months.

His mouth always got him in trouble, and the way he charged into things recklessly… and knowing all of that?

Matthew still couldn’t stay away.

When Jana told the other pilots to bug off, there had been such a sense of pride, knowing that she was claiming him, wanting to stay right there, dancing with him, that he felt like something shifted again deep within him.

The only person that interrupted them was her father – and he certainly couldn’t blame her for indulging her beloved parent in a dance, nor blame Mr. Sorensen for the veiled, softly spoken warning he’d given him.

Jana was the baby of the family, yet her father was supporting her choice to dance with him.

He expected trouble. He expected to be cornered in the hallway, dragged out back, harassed there on the dance floor, or warned off by several of the others… yet no one did.

Not even Hot Cakes.

The ride home had been full of careful questions from Alpo and Glory while he was squeezed between the two car seats of the children. They’d asked his opinion on the wedding, what he thought of the area, and asked questions about him personally.

Most surprisingly of all?

They asked if he had a cell phone.

When he admitted that he didn’t, Alpo stopped at the cellular store on the way home, practically dragging him inside while Glory waited in the car. Alpo ‘highly recommended’that he purchases a cell phone - ‘just in case’.

How could he have known something was going on between Matthew and Jana? Alpo patted him on the shoulder when he was paying, and he suddenly realized he was being pulled into the fold by an unexpected ally.

It was like having a big brother teaching and coaching him on how to be a part of the team, and he was grateful.

Matthew was starting to feel welcome, instead of ostracized or watched – and he could get used to having a ‘place’ to belong. He almost fit in, and he kept waiting for the shoe to drop… because it always did.

He now had everyone’s cell phone number, was receiving text messages, and under Alpo’s care. He had an unspoken wingman he never expected, and despite Hot Cakes’ warnings, he was being accepted.

He never anticipated any of this – having always been a loner, a reject.

Matthew ended up feeding a bottle to one of the twins awkwardly at the house, sitting near Alpo on the couch, who fed the other baby when they finally made it back to the couple’s ostentatiously pink house. Glory made leftovers for everyone because they were all still hungry despite having a slice of wedding cake.

Laying on the couch that evening, Matthew held up the business card before his eyes and smiled.

Feminine handwriting was scrawled on the back of Jana’s father’s business card. He was a corporate executive for a bank in Sturbridge, about two hours from his parents’ home.

It was so strange that out of this entire world, all the places he’d been, that this amazing girl had grown up not far away from him… and yet they met in Texas.

“Now I’ve got her email and phone number,” he whispered to himself in the darkness, finally closing his eyes happily. “… And a secret lunch date tomorrow.”

* * *

Matthew was sittingat the breakfast table with Glory, holding one of the babies and listening to Glory tell him how to burp the tiny child, when Alpo walked in to join them.

“Pat Madison on the back gently… No, a little harder… No, up. Move your hand upwards just a bit and do it on the back of her shoulder blades, now softer… there you go! Keep patting and… HEYYYY HOT STUFF,” Glory beamed happily, looking past him.

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