Page 22 of Shattered Secrets

“I know, right?” Quinn rubbed his chin. “She hasn’t quite figured out the crawling thing, so she just kind of rolls everywhere.”

The proud grin on his friend’s face had a pang of jealousy socking Matt in the gut. If only his ex-wife...Nope. You’re not fucking going there!“That’s great, man,” he said, pushing those dark thoughts away.

“Thanks. I’ve been told by the gossip train ladies that we need to enjoy it now because once she starts moving, it’s apparently a whole other ball game.”

Matt tapped his pint glass to Quinn’s. Unwanted jealousy or not, he was truly happy for the guy.

After a waitress took their orders, the conversation shifted to Cade’s upcoming trip. Excitement buzzed around the table as his friend talked about the upcoming fights in London. Two fighters from his gym were getting their first title shots, and Cade was confident both would take home a belt.

Matt listened with half an ear. From where he was seated, he had a clear view of the bar. And of Scarlet. Her back was to him, but that didn’t matter. If anything, it allowed him to fully take her in. She wore jeans and a simple dark-gray T-shirt. Her long black hair, with its streaks of pinks, blues, and purples, was in some kind of intricate braid that fell to the middle of her back. She was petite—no more than an inch or two over five feet—so her Converse-clad feet barely touched the barstool rungs.

“Isn’t that right, Matt?” Gavin asked, pulling his attention away from Scarlet.

A brief scan of the table showed all eyes were on him.Shit. “Sorry, what was that?”

Gavin nodded toward the bar. “Scarlet. Xander was asking about her. She’s single, right?”

Matt’s hand tightened around his beer. Xander Bonetti was a personal security officer with Hudson Security. Good guy, somewhere in his mid- to late-thirties, former Special Forces. He was often assigned to clients who had families since he was good with kids.Fuck.

“As far as I’m aware,” Matt said through gritted teeth.

“Great. I’ll let him know.” Gavin smirked. The fucker. “That is, unless you have some kind of objection?”

“No objections here. It’s a free country.”

Xander and Scarlet would probably get along great. Which would be for the best. Even if the thought of seeing them together made Matt want to gouge his own eyes out.

He had no business being jealous. No business thinking of Scarlet in any non-platonic way. There were seventeen years between them. That was a ridiculous age gap. Hell, that was a larger age gap than Poppy had with her twinsons.

However, now that he had somehow found the ability to speak to Scarlet, he couldn’t seem to stop. Like he was trying to make up for lost time. Which was why he’d called her kid earlier. It had been his way of reminding himself that he needed to back off. But he shouldn’t have said that. It had been an asshole move.Shit, what a clusterfuck.

Since the day he’d laid eyes on Scarlet over a year ago, Matt hadn’t been able to figure out what it was about her that captivated him. She was just so damn alluring. Her warm smile, her slight but curvy figure, her soulful brown eyes?—

Holy. Fuck. Soulful brown eyes? What the hell was wrong with him? He needed to rein it the fuck in because nothing could come of this... thing... he had for Scarlet. Aside from friendship. Not that he was opposed to friendship. But he also wasn’t a complete idiot. He knew it was a terrible idea to be so attracted to someone he needed to stay friends with. Still, there was no excuse for being a dick.

“Christ, Alvarez,” Gavin grumbled. He glanced at Cade. “I thought he had a better poker face than this?”

Cade shrugged. “Usually, he does.”

“I agree,” Joe said, taking a sip of his beer. “I’d say this may be a case of extenuating circumstances.”

Matt glared at his friends. “What the hell are you guys talking about?”

Quinn chuckled. “You look like you’re about ready to devour the poor girl.”

“She’sthe extenuating circumstance,” Joe clarified with a grin.

“At least he’s speaking full sentences to her now,” Cade said. The traitor. “That’s a plus.”

Quinn elbowed him. “Well, you gotta start somewhere, I suppose.”

“You guys are dumb,” Matt grumbled, rolling his eyes.

Gavin barked out a laugh. “Nice comeback.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Hey, lady!”