“Well what was that about?” I demanded. He half turned in his seat to look at me. He adopted an innocent expression.
“Colton!”
He turned around shaking his head. “Nothing Ari, it’s as you said, it’s what friends do.”
I opened my mouth but Theo who had got in the back with me, nudged me with his knee and when I looked at him, he shook his head.Fine, whatever, boys suck.
They dropped me off and said goodbye as if nothing had happened. I was being shut out again and I didn’t like it.
Tomorrow, tomorrow I was going to get answers.
I woke with intent and a plan. I showered much more thoroughly than I had managed the day before and when the call came to tell me they were five minutes away, I was dressed in a pair of white linen slacks and a pale blue mock wrap top which was nice and lightweight.
Seriously, the heat was going to kill me soon. My hair was pulled back in a Dutch braid in the hopes of keeping it off my neck. My sandals were flat and white and I am not going to lie, I checked several times to make sure they matched.
I was waiting outside for them when the car pulled up. Matt got out to greet me and open the door for me. I slid in as I had yesterday and was momentarily surprised to find Colton in the car along with Amy. Amy resumed her chattering once the pleasantries were out of the way. The three of us said nothing, happy for the conversation to be dominated by Matt’s youngest sibling.
Despite the initial awkwardness, the day flew by, much like it had yesterday. Matt’s dad had been sitting up front when I got in the car, so it was a full crowd which maybe allowed the day to move quicker too.Any conversations between the three of us were tension free and therewereno lasting effects from the night before – that was until lunchtime when Matt’s dad raised it without really thinking.
“Connor still hung up on you eh Arielle, shame really the new girl seems nice.” Matt raised his head sharply to look at his father. My eyes flicked to Colton before I could help myself. His head was down as he cut into his chicken salad, there was no indication he had even heard the comment.
“I am sure he isn’t,” I murmured as I felt my cheeks burning. However, he was not to be put off and when he went to follow up, Mary Ellen smoothly interrupted her husband. With that line of questioning curtailed the lunch continued with no further hiccups as did the rest of the day.
The day came to an end around four. I received warm farewell hugs from Matt’s family as they left us in the centre of campus. Mary Ellen reminded me quietly that I was to call her if I needed her at any time, or even just to call and say “hello”. She held me in a long hug and I felt so blessed to know that she cared for me.
When it was just the three of us, I turned rather apprehensively to Matt and Colton. I had been determined all day to address the issues we had. I took a deep breath – before I even got the chance to utter a word – Matt’s phone rang. He quickly answered it and I exhaled the breath I hadn’t known I had been holding. I glanced at Colton and caught him staring at me. He didn’t look away even though he had been caught and weirdly, I felt my cheeks getting warm as ifIhad been the one caught staring.
Matt hung up, glanced at me and then said quietly to Colton. “That was Aaron.”
Colton’s body tensed as he looked at Matt, “What the fuck does he want?” he growled.
“Wants to meet, you’re to call him,” Matt muttered flicking his eyes to me whilst talking to Colton. Was he reminding him I was there?
Colton cursed again as he pulled his phone out. He turned to me and pulled me into a hug – which was so unlike him – the hug was brief and unfortunately over too soon.
“I enjoyed the day Ari, thank you for letting me be a part of it.” He kissed the top of my head and with a nod to Matt he was striding across campus on his phone.
I didn’t envy Tattoo Neck that phone call that was for sure, I turned to Matt hoping for an explanation. “Please tell me,” I asked softly. He looked at me and looked away, after Colton.
“I can’t Bit, it’s for your own good. I promise, please believe me,” he was almost pleading with me. I took a step back and looked at him. Really looked at him. His blue eyes were begging me to understand. I frowned. I wanted to know – no Ineededto know – but Matt wouldn’t be looking at me like this if it was something, they were just not telling me because they didn’t feel like it.
No, this was obviously serious. Which didn’t actually make me feel better. In fact, I felt worse. A tight knot had formed in my stomach and I wasn’t sure what could make it go away. Was not knowing better than knowing? Matt was still looking at me, waiting for an answer and I didn’t know if I could let this go. I think knowing that it was something I didn’t need to know for my own good was something I could let lie.
“Matt…I don’t know if that helped,” I admitted. He grunted an acknowledgement as he took a step towards me, he took hold of my shoulders and crouched down slightly to look at me.
“Bit, I love you, you know that. You’re one of my best friends and I class you as family. I hate that I can’t tell you, but please believe me. If I could, I would,” he was so earnest and so desperate for me to understand.
My resolve at being hard headed about this, melted a little. “The minute you can tell me anything, I mean it Matty,anythingthen you tell me. Understand?” He pulled me into a tight hug.
“Of course Bit, thank you for understanding,” he muttered into my hair. I didn’t call him on the fact I didn’t understand at all. I felt the kiss on top of my head and then he released me. As he stood back, I saw him stiffen slightly. Turning in question to see what was wrong, I groaned inwardly as I saw Connor approach. I wasn’t sure I was ready to face him yet after last night.
“Matt now Lil Bit?” He was grinning, but I got the distinct impression it was lacking humour. Surprisingly, Matt pulled me back slightly until I was beside him. Connor noticed and his eyes narrowed. I forced myself not to look at Matt although I also wanted to know why there was friction here. Was it just because of last night? I mean I was still pissed at the way Connor had behaved last night, but I assumed the guys had worked it out after dinner, at home. Seems maybe not.
“Connor,” I greeted. I wasn’t about to make a scene here in the middle of campus, this kind of stuff could be dealt with when there was no potential audience. His eyes ran over me assessing me before his focus switched back to Matt.
“Where’s Colton?” He demanded. I glanced up at Matt, remembering that Connor apparently didn’t know about the fighting. Again, I was kind of surprised at the way Matt was looking at Connor. He regarded Connor with cool detachment. I glanced at Connor and saw him shift slightly in discomfort. Matt really could seem quite intimidating if you didn’t know him, or if he just didn’t like you. However, the thing was, Connor did know him so did that mean he just didn’t like him? This whole situation was getting odder by the minute.
“He’s not here,” Matt answered. Connor snorted.