They were both mopping Jeff and Ari’s kitchen floor…again.
“Heather, do you like mopping with me?” Matt asked.
He had the cutest damn smile I’d ever seen. Little guy is moving in on my girl.
My girl…I wish.
She had barely spoken two words to me since everyone had left. I had finally talked Lynda into heading back up to Emma and Garrett’s house after an hour of her rolling her fucking eyes at Matt and Heather.
As I started to walk into the kitchen, Matt held up his hand to stop me.
“Oh no, Josh. Don’t walk on the wet floor. You’ll fall!”
“Gotcha, buddy. I wouldn’t dream of walking on this beautiful clean floor, especially not after the wonderful job you and Heather did cleaning it. ” I smiled at Heather. I was shocked that she smiled back at me. My heart dropped to my stomach.
“Matt, how about I take the mops and bucket outside and then Josh can take you to go see Stargazer? Would you like that?” Heather asked as she gave me a wink.
I swore that I would do anything this girl asked me to do.
Matt jumped up and down and then ran over to me.
“I’m gonna take that as yes. So, let’s go see Stargazer buddy. ”
When Matt smiled at me, my heart melted. Then, I thought about Jeff. Sue and Mark called to say they were on their way back to pick up Matt. That must’ve meant Jeff was with Ari. If I knew Jeff, he was falling apart inside, blaming himself.
I thought Gunner and Jeff were nuts for wanting to have kids so soon. I thought they needed to enjoy life for a bit before they got tied down with kids.
Heather walked by and gave Matt a kiss on the top of his head before she headed outside to dump out the bucket and clean the mops. She looked up at me and smiled again. There went my heart dropping to my stomach.
Maybe Gunner and Jeff weren’t so nuts.
***
Matt and I were just about to take Stargazer out for a walk on her lead when Sue and Mark pulled up. Matt started to run over to Sue, but then he quickly turned back and ran up to me.
“Josh, can I give you a hug good-bye, you assmole?”
I tried not to laugh, but I had to. I got down on my knees, and Matt gave me a big bear hug. Then, he did something I wasn’t expecting.
“I love you, Josh. Bye!” He spun around and ran off.
Sue called out her thanks as I waved good-bye to them.
I couldn’t stand up, so I sat down on the ground as I watched them walk off. Sue stopped to talk to Heather. I watched as Heather threw her head back and laughed.
I wanted what Gunner and Jeff had. It hit me like a ton of bricks the moment Matt said he loved me. I wanted it, and I wanted it with Heather. When she looked over at me, she stopped laughing. She turned back to Sue, and it looked like they were saying their good-byes.
After she gave Sue a hug, she started to walk toward me. Then, she stopped dead in her tracks. I heard someone come up behind me. I felt a kiss on my cheek, and I turned around to see Lynda standing above me.
“Hey, handsome. What are you doing down here on the ground? Did Matt wear your ass out?” Lynda laughed and then sat down next to me.
When I looked back at Heather, I saw that she was now walking back toward Jeff and Ari’s house.
Fuck me.
“Hey, Lynda. I thought you were going to wait for Emma and Garrett to get back. ”
“Oh, they’re home now. I heard them mention to Gunner’s folks that Sue and Mark were on their way to pick up Matt, so I thought I would come and see if you’d like to go out tonight. Maybe we could hit the honky-tonk in town and do some dancing?”