Page 97 of Risky Play

Matt called me, but I sent it to voicemail. I knew we were going to have a big, knockdown fight about this, but I wasn’t ready for that yet either. I wanted more time to figure out my feelings for him. I didn’t know if he felt the same way yet, and the fear of my brother losing it was too much for me to deal with on top of that.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready for this.

Chapter Twenty-Six

MATT

I tried her again, listening to the dial tone as I raked my hand through my hair.

Did I want her brother to find out we were together by catching us in his house when he had been out? Absolutely not. But it was getting to a point where something had to give, and we couldn’t pretend forever.

I groaned and slumped onto my bed as it went to voicemail again. She was being immature about this. Noah would be mad, sure, but he’d get over it. The longer we waited, the worse it was going to be.

I tried her again, but this time, it went straight to voicemail without ringing. I tried to text her instead.

ME: Sweet pea, please. We need to talk about this.

SWEET PEA: Fine.

Okay, not great, but a start.

I needed to eat first before talking with her. Telling Noah wouldn’t be so bad. Worst case, he punched me, but I didn’t think he’d do that. At least not in the face. Even if he did, I’d take the hit. Might lean into it.

I shoved my phone into my pocket, put on a shirt, and climbed the stairs to the main level. Dinah was in the kitchen doing dishes.

“Hey. I thought you went out,” she said.

I opened the fridge and pulled out all the Thanksgiving fixings. “No…”

Dinah angled her head at me, studying my grief-stricken face. “Oh my God! You had your girl over here. She didn’t have to leave.”

I didn’t have any reply to that. I grabbed a plate from the cabinet, piled food onto it, and popped it into the microwave.

“Sorry to be a cock block. My mom was driving me nuts about looking to adopt so she could have more grandbabies that we left early.”

I nodded at her but hoped she would go away.

The microwave beeped, and I stared at it for a second.

“Matt, what’s wrong?” she asked.

I shook my head and took my food out of the microwave. I sat at the large kitchen island and shoveled food into my mouth. Dinah’s brother was such a superb cook that even reheated, this Thanksgiving meal was great.

Dinah put a hand on my shoulder. “You can talk to me if you need to, okay?”

“I know,” I muttered.

“What happened with the girl?”

“She freaked.”

“Why? We’re not scary. Noah and I were looking forward to meeting her.”

I swallowed hard. How could I tell her they already met her and knew her pretty well? I needed to talk to Maddie. We needed to be on the same page. I was tired of lying to this woman who welcomed me into her home and of brushing off my mentor.

Dinah gave me a little squeeze. “I’m here if you need.”

She grabbed two beers out of the fridge and headed up toward the owner suite where she and Noah resided.