I meant with his dad, but his eyes flare with a strange heat at my words. If I were a different kind of girl, I’d blush. Reaching a hand to his side, Mateo pats the couch cushion slowly. Then he clears his throat and turns his attention to his phone. His bicep flexes, stretching the arm of his dress shirt, the smooth material pulling taut. It’s distracting, and I’m so annoyed that I can’t ignore it. Why can’t I just ignore it?
“No. You can’t sleep on that. You don’t even fit,” my voice is rising, both in tone and volume. He’s too tall and too wide to fit on the sofa. I don’t know why I care, it should be fine if he wants to stay close to his dad but… he’ll behere. All the time. With his big muscly arms and his distracting hands. If the last twenty-four hours have proven anything at all, it’s that I can’t be trusted around him. I’ll be thinking dirty thoughts around the clock. I’ll fuck up and do something stupid.
Mateo looks up, his dark eyes meeting mine. “Jules… I’m not leaving as long as that asshole is a threat. If that means I have to fold myself in half to make sure you and my dad are safe, that’s what I’ll do.”
“But… your dad said you have a new job.” I’m grasping lamely for an excuse, any excuse.
“I don’t start until next week.”
“But you need to get ready, right? There’s got to be something better you could do with your time than babysit us.”
There’s humor playing at the corner’s of Mateo’s eyes. “It’s a personal security firm. If you can think of a better way for me to get in the right headspace for that line of work, feel free to let me know.”
I gape at him, speechless. Obviously, I can’t come up with anything. “Don’t expect me to cook for you,” I say, shaking a finger at him before stomping off to my room. I resist the urge to slam the door and only succeed because I know Luis is sleeping. It’s not lost on me that this is the second time in under an hour that I’ve had to hide in my room from Mateo.
I’m just a mess lately. Between the stress with Grimaldi, the scare with Luis, and being barred from doing my job, I’m on edge. I need something to focus on that doesn’t involve the fit of my friend’s shirt and his damn shoulders.
I grab a pillow off of my bed and hold it over my face as I scream at the top of my lungs.
I’m fine.
This is fine.
We’ve been friends our whole lives, but something feels off since our dance at the wedding. I’d like to blame him for implying that I’m easy to get out of my dress, but if I’m being honest, there’s something else. Maybe it’s just weird because he’s been away the last few years. Maybe we just need to get back in sync? We’re just… out of step. And if I can just find that friend groove with him again, it will be smooth sailing.
I don’t exactly know how to do that, but I guess step one would be to stop picking fights with him… and not rising to everything he says. I can do that.
I think.
And, while I’m at it, I could probably stand to not be a dick about him sleeping on my couch. It’s not like he’s going to enjoy it. I bought that thing for looks and I can tell you firsthand how much it sucks to nap on. And I can’t fault the guy for wanting to keep an eye on his dad. After all, that’s why I brought Luis here in the first place.
As for Grimaldi, I don’t think he’s out to hurt me physically. Destroy my professional reputation and ruin me financially if given the opportunity, sure. But I can’t be positive that he’s not a threat. And Mateo is more than a match for him. Maybe having him around won’t be so bad. If nothing else, it will let me feel safe while I ride this shitty wave out. Luis will go home in a couple days, I’ll give my deposition, and all of this will be over.Easyfucking peasy.
That’s my mantra as I walk back into the living room, only to be confronted by Mateo’s back. His broad shoulders encased in that stupid fucking dress shirt tucked into the narrow waist of his gray dress pants. When the hell did he start looking like this? He should be out auditioning that body for action movies. Or male stripper revues in Vegas. Then again, I’ve seen him dance. Movies it is.
He doesn’t hear me come in, his full attention going to his phone call.
“Thanks, man. Yeah… yeah, Thanks for looking into it. I appreciate you letting me delay. If it were anyone else… Yeah. Thanks again, sir. I’m looking forward to working with the guys… I’ll see you next week.”
Delay? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Mateo lied to my face when he said he had nothing better to do this week.If it were anyone else…But that’s him talking about his dad. He’d do anything for Luis. I mean, we both would. A little wisp of guilt floats through me. If I unwittingly put Luis in danger, I would never forgive myself. And from the sounds of it, Mateo is putting off starting his new job. This is all because of me.
Well, really, this is all Grimaldi’s fault. I had no choice but to report him. But the fallout is already sucking for the people around me.
I watch as Mateo reaches an arm up, running his hands through his short hair and sighs heavily. I can, at the very least, get the two of them out of this. Crossing my arms, I clear my throat to get his attention. Mateo whirls around, dark eyes locking on me.
“Sorry. About losing my temper earlier. I get it. I wouldn’t want to be away from Gran if she was injured either.”
Mateo’s eyes tighten, and he presses his lips together. “I could have asked before camping out.”
“Luis should go home with you tomorrow. You’ve got time to look after him if you’re not working just yet. I don’t want him involved with any of my crap.”
Mateo’s eyebrows skyrocket. “It’s cute as hell that you think I’m going to leave you here alone like that. What do you think Dad would say if I told him I caught a slime ball threatening you and instead of watching out for you, I took him home instead? Do you for one second think he’d ever let me live that down?”
I open my mouth to argue, but he interrupts me.
“Not a chance. And the second he found out, he’d be back here setting up a razor wire fence with his own two hands. So I’ll leave it up to you. If you want us to go, you can tell him why you’re suddenly trying to get rid of him.”
“You’re really fucking irritating, you know that?”