Chapter 2
“So what are you doing tonight?” Matt asked as he watched Emily tie the drawstring to the sweats he lent her.
“Shane’s meeting me at my house,” she said naming her boyfriend and one of Matt’s best friends, Shane Helms.
“That’s cool,” he said, “How long have you two been together now?”
“8 months, thanks to you,” she replied with a grin.
He smiled, knowing he was the one who set the them up. Jeff never understood why he did it. Why he’d “give up” Emily to one of his best friends.
Matt never saw it as giving her up. He always thought having Emily as his best friend was something more important than having a romantic relationship with her. Not to say he was never jealous of Shane and Emily’s relationship. There were certain times he felt lonely and even longed to be with her. But those moments passed quickly as he saw how happy Emily was with Shane.
“Matt? Matt? Did you hear me?” Emily asked, disrupting Matt from his thoughts.
“Sorry, no,” he said, “What did you say?”
“Never mind, it’s silly” she said turning away from and looking at her reflection in the mirror.
“What? Come on Em, you can tell me,” Matt said coming up behind her.
Emily watched Matt stand behind her. His hand gently rested on her bare arm, she felt chills run up and down her spine. Their eyes met in the mirror.
“Em?” he whispered, his eyes not letting go of hers.
Emily didn’t remember what she was going to say. She felt lost in the moment, caught in Matt’s eyes.
“It was nothing,” Emily finally managed to say turning around breaking the gaze with Matt so she was now facing him, “It was stupid, I was just thinking out loud.”
“Come on Em,” Matt said watching her nervously twist a strand of her dirty blonde hair around her fingers.
“I was just wondering what would have happened if you never introduced Shane and me,” Emily said with a shrug, “and we started dating. Like I said, it was stupid.”
“No it’s not,” Matt said, his brown eyes burning into Emily’s, “I’ve thought about that too.”
“And…” Emily asked.
“I honestly don’t know,” Matt told her as he pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.
Emily blushed as she was once again lost in Matt’s chocolate brown eyes. There was something about his eyes…
“I do care about you.” Matt said, “You know that, don’t you Em?”
His eyes were too much for Emily. She looked down at towards the floor. The tension in the room was unbearable.
“Of course I do Matt,” Emily said shyly, once again twirling her hair around her finger, her eyes not leaving the floor, “It’s just sometimes our relationship confuses me.”
Matt placed his hand gently under her chin and directed her head up, her eyes locked with his.
“I…” Emily started.
“Shhh,” Matt whispered, covering her mouth softly with his finger.
Emily’s heart felt like it was going to pop out of her chest, her mouth felt as dry as cotton, her mind was racing a million miles an hour, it was too much for her to take.
“I have to go,” Emily finally managed to say turning around, “I’ll give you your clothes tomorrow.”
“Ok, sure,” Matt said running a hand through his long, curly brown hair, “Whenever.”
“I’ll call you later,” Emily said as she quickly walked out of Matt’s room, “Bye.”
“See ya,” Matt called after her. He heard her jog down the stairs.
“Bye Jeff,” he heard her call.
“Later Em,” Matt heard Jeff say. Then he heard the front door open and shut as Emily walked out the door.
Chapter 3
Chapter 1