“Are you okay, Thea?”
I nod slowly.
He touches the left side of his chest. “Part of this—my heart—belongs to you.” Matt swallows before he speaks again. “I’ve never lied to you. From the beginning we’ve been honest with each other, only sharing what we were comfortable with, haven’t we?”
I bob my head once.
“You had full disclosure about Tristan and me. Yes, we fucked, but that was as far as we got. Feelings weren’t part of the equation. That doesn’t mean that today I don’t have feelings for him. I do. He owns the other part of my heart.”
I smile, because I knew it. They belong. It makes me happy that he’s accepting it, and I hope Coop has admitted his feelings for Matt.
“Butterfly, I’m in love with you, and I want you by my side for eternity.”
One, three, six… the beats skip as my heart accelerates. My brain only grasps two ideas from everything he said:I’m in love with youandby my side for eternity.
I stare at the floor for several moments.
“You can take your time,” he says. “It’s a lot to absorb, and after last night…”
Last night and his confession have nothing to do with each other, except, I don’t know if I can ever be myself around him.
“Thea?”
I want to believe him, but am I capable of being with them?
“All I need is you, Butterfly. Your love.”
I finally look up at him. “Matt, what happened last night might happen again.”
He crosses his arms and gives me a skeptical glance.
“There are things I haven’t told you and I might never be able to. To this day, I have no idea how many sexual partners I’ve had. There’s so much, including that I might never let you touch me beyond a hug.”
“Counseling, couples counseling, and as long as I can hold you in my arms, I don’t care about the sex,” he says with a conviction I want to believe.
But he’s such a sensual man. How can that be?
“Give me time to assimilate what happened to me last night.”
Is that even possible?
The music, seeing my father, and the crowd brought up the memories of my childhood.
I place the tips of my index and middle finger on my temple. “There’s so much going through my head. The image of the fat guy who—”
Carl Winston’s face flashes again. Last night it was so vivid, even his name came back to me, but I don’t mention it because I don’t want Matt to connect the dots and learn more than I’m willing to facilitate.
“You don’t need to say it,” he whispers. “One day, you might tell me everything, including who you were back then. I could look into it, but I’ll wait for you to give me that—because you trust me.”
Can it be this simple?
“Oh, and I want one of those too.” He points at the crystal, and I laugh.
He sounds like a petulant kid that didn’t receive candy when the other child did. So, I explain to him why and when I gave it to Tristan.
Matt smiles. “We’ve always been connected, Butterfly. We just have to piece this in a way that works for all of us. It’ll happen.”
He’s so sure of himself, that I want to do it, give him a chance.