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Audra and I both started laughing.
"It's the Glorious Pig," she corrected him.
"It's really a terrible name for a bar, isn't it?" he scrunched his face.
Audra giggled and nodded her head.
"You're just here to bartend? For the summer?" I raised my eyebrows.
"No," he shook his head. "I'm interested in moving here. I really love snowboarding. My family and I vacation here sometimes. I'm from California. Just checking things out. Trying to figure out if I should make the move. Figured I could make some money while I was here."
"Last question," I smirked, satisfied with his explanation. "How do you feel about Pokémon?"
Audra snorted and the sound carried through the restaurant as the stranger crinkled his nose, obviously smitten with her.
"I can't name a single one," he threw his hands in the air, defeated.
"Well," I looked across the table at Audra, "I think you should go to dinner with him."
Matt's brown eyes come back into focus as he hits the door above my head. "She's going on another date with him."
His body slumps against the wood beside me.
"And that upsets you?" I guess.
Matt pushes off the door. "No. Yes. Fuck. I don't know."
"Come on," I motion towards the kitchen. "I'll make you some hot chocolate."
"Why did you tell her to go?" he exhales as he throws himself dramatically into a chair at the kitchen table. "I don't want his penis anywhere near my child."
I roll my eyes as I pour milk, vanilla, cocoa powder, sugar and a dash of cinnamon into a pot on the stove. "Pretty sure your child is protected by some kind of barrier."
"Really?" Matt chews on his bottom lip.
"I think it's the cervix or something like that. Not sure really. I just remember Danny and Tommy having some discussion about it while Nora was pregnant with one of the boys," I explain.
"Your family is so weird," Matt huffs as his fingers drum on the table, agitated.
Like he should really talk.
I slowly stir the rich chocolatey mixture as it heats on the stove top. My heart clenches in my chest when I notice the liquid is the same shade as Kyle's eyes.
God, I miss him.
I miss his lips and his touch and his arms and the way he says my name.
Most of all, I miss who I am when I'm with him. I'm a better version of myself. A stronger Jenny.
After refilling my cup and getting Matt a mug of hot chocolate, we sit across from each other at the table. He takes a sip, shakes his head. "How do you drink this crap all the time?"
My lips twitch into a thin smile. "Easy. I like sugary things."
"You ever think about trying something new?" he suggests as he blows on the steaming liquid.
If only you knew, Matt. If only you knew.
It dawns on me, as I watch him cool off his hot chocolate, that even though Matt doesn't own any pieces of my heart anymore, he's still in there. Threaded deeply in the scars and almost healed wounds. He's faded, barely visible unless you squint really hard. A gentle reminder that I survived my first heartbreak.
