Shaking my head a bit in confusion, I blink a few times before saying, “For what?”
Mateo looks down at her again, studying her eyes, her breathing pattern. I think he’s making sure she’s really asleep and not playing possum. Once he’s satisfied, he says, “You could’ve made her hate me with the truth.”
Smiling, I stare up at the ceiling. “A brilliant man once advised me to lie, said people would love me for it.”
“He was right,” Mateo says lightly.
“She might still love you, if she knew,” I offer, though I can’t say for sure. Maybe Meg isn’t a jealous woman, but that wouldn’t have anything to do with jealousy. Perhaps seeing that I’m obviously not broken because of it would allow her to move past it, but maybe not.
“I doubt it,” he returns. “But she never will, so that’s irrelevant.”
I nod, thinking of the gifts he’s showered down on me ever since I lied to Meg. Not that he needed to, but the obvious tokens of gratitude are nice. “Nope, she never will.”
“I appreciate that.”
I glance over at him, smiling faintly. “My loyalty’s yours, remember?”
His gaze warms, but it makes my stomach feel weird, so I avert my gaze.
“I’m going to go get breakfast,” I tell him, pushing the covers off and climbing from his bed. Before I can escape his company, I need to find my phone. I know I had it in the bed last night, and although the latter part of the evening is a bit fuzzy, I don’t recall getting up to put it away. Leaning over, I pat down the bed, feeling around for something hard. My gaze drifts across the bed to Meg again, to Mateo’s arm curled possessively around her. I remember he used to hold me the same way, though obviously there was no real tenderness behind the embrace when it was me in her place.
He notices me watching, so I go ahead and voice my thoughts, “Would you have been like that with me?”
I can’t believe I asked. I remain calm on the outside, but there’s a stampede going in my stomach right about now.
Mateo doesn’t even need time to consider it. “Yes.”
That shouldn’t tug at my heart, but it does—just a little.
Instead of betraying that, I smile. “I guess it’s a good thing we moved out then.”
The corners of Mateo’s mouth tug upward as well. “Yes, I suppose it is.”
My fingers finally curl around the hard surface of my cell phone and I straighten, glancing at the display. Three missed texts from Vince. I should probably call him and let him know everything’s okay. Poor guy. He was not excited about this girls’ night plan.
Sparing Mateo one last glance, I tell him, “Well, I’ll see you at dinner.”
“Tell Vince I said hi,” he says, his tone laced with mischief.
I turn back just long enough to give him a playfully narrowed glare, but I know he’s just teasing. Not because he wouldn’t torment me—obviously he would—but because he promised Meg, and I don’t care what she says, she’s harnessed him.
His playful little smirk makes me sigh, so I shake my head and leave Mateo’s bedroom, pulling the door shut behind me.