Chapter Twenty Eight - Walk The Talk

I was finally letting my hair loose during lunch after bearing a terrible headache all morning thanks to my Dutch braids.

I'd spent like an hour on them before school and even got Matt late for his practice, which I seriously doubt he would've made to at all if he hadn't eventually showed up in my room and dragged me downstairs by my arm, sulking all the way out to his car, "dammit, Andrews! Couldn't you have done this in the car or something? Coach is gonna kill me."

That was right before he'd shoved on my lap my packed breakfast and juice box, courtesy of Mrs. Brooke, and started driving.

"God! Why is it that the things we love the most always hurt us the most?" I sighed, undoing the last of the braids.

"Tell me about it." Cheryl appeared from a bathroom stall and headed towards the sinks to wash her hands. "Yesterday in the evening, I went over to Mack's house with a tub of ice cream, and right before we started the movie, I left him to take my mom's call. When I came back only a minute later, the ice cream was gone. All of it. I swear guys eat like pigs."

I gasped. "That's tragic. Hope you guys didn't break up over that."

"I was planning to. But then he drove me to this new pizza place and bought me food. So, I thought 'okay he's not that insufferable'."

"You guys are adorable, you know that, right?" I chuckled while running my fingers through my now slightly wavy hair thanks to the braids. It was a nice break from my dull, straight locks.

"You don't say." She blinked innocently, a noticeable blush forming on her cheeks as she pointed to the door. "Let's go? I'm starving."

"You go ahead. I have to give this back to Matt." I folded his jacket over my arm, ready to walk out.

Cheryl eyed it with half a smile. "You were wearing Matt's jacket?"

"Yeah. The morning was a bit cold and I forgot mine at home."

"Was it like the movies?" she asked with big, excited eyes. "He saw you shivering and took off his jacket to give it to you?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, Cher. I was shivering and kept complaining of the cold, asking him to turn up the temperature. He got annoyed and shoved his jacket in my face. My pride wouldn't let me take it, but like I said, I was cold."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"And they say chivalry is dead."

I chuckled. "I'll see you later."

I left the bathroom and quickly scanned the hall just in case Matt was heading to the cafeteria, but he wasn't, so I made my way to his locker. My pace slowed when I saw him at the end of the corridor, advancing in my direction.

I lifted my hand and waved to catch his attention, but he never noticed because he unexpectedly veered to the side and shut someone's locker, causing them to flip around in surprise.

"Hey, babe." Rebecca smiled brightly at him after recovering from her surprise.

"Don't babe me. What are you up to now?" Matt frowned.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Matt. Is this your way of picking a conversation with me? All you need is a hi, baby." She batted her lashes at him, and I watched as her hands slowly creeped up his torso before she angled her face up expectantly.

A part of me wanted to look away.

I hated that I was close enough to listen, but I couldn't bring myself to walk away and mind my own damn business either. Maybe because I was secretly hoping and waiting for Matt to push her away. What the hell was taking him so long anyway?

"What was this doing in my backpack, Rebecca?" He held up what looked like two tickets to something. "I know you put it there, so don't even bother denying it. What else? Did you go through my stuff as well?"

"No!" She gasped dramatically. "I just happened to have stopped by in the changing room while you were at practice, and your bag just happened to be lying there. So..." she trailed off with a suggestive shrug. "I wanted to surprise you."

Keeping a straight face, he exhaled slowly and extended the tickets to her. "I'm not going."

"Matt," she whined like an annoying, spoilt child. "But I already bought the tickets."

"Yes, I can see that." He was still holding the tickets out adamantly, and I found myself a little satisfied.

"Fine!" she snapped, yanking them from his hand. "I'll take someone else."

"Okay."

"It could be anyone."

"Okay."

"Even a guy." She smirked.

"I really don't care, Rebecca." He started to walk away, but she quickly grabbed his arm and feigned a hurt look by puckering her lips out and pulling her brows together like she was about to cry any second.

"Why are you doing this? You love this team, and I spent half my pocket money on buying these tickets. Only for you, Matt. Please."

"I didn't ask you to."

"Yes. But I wanted to," she argued in a high pitch like she was in some kind of teen drama, clinging onto his arm like her life depended on it. "You don't even meet me these days. Whenever I text you to make plans for the evening, you brush me off with 'I'm busy'. What are you even doing these days?"

"That's none of your business."

So, she didn't know he was training me and he wanted to keep it that way.

She sighed in defeat when he finally pulled his arm free of her evil clutches.

"Fine. Don't tell me." She rolled her eyes. "You've already given up your ticket for the next game, and I was really looking forward to that. But you can at least come to this one with me."

"I've already told you I won't."

"Matt," she heaved a long sigh. "I know you don't like going out with me because I start expecting more but this time, I promise we're just going as frien—" she cut herself off when he raised a brow at her, then started again, "just two people who'll meet at the game and go their separate ways after that,"

"Please, Matt," she begged. Enemy or not, I wanted to knock some sense of self-respect into her. How could someone be so pathetic? "I really, really wanna go with you. It's just a game."

Come on! Matt knows better than to fall for that.

He went silent for a moment, and I wondered what excuse he was cooking up until—

"Fine!"

Her eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Remember what you said."

"Right." She nodded cheerfully. "We're strangers who'll meet at the game. But are you sure we have to go our separate ways after that?" Her eyes became suggestive while Matt's eyes narrowed as she placed a palm on his chest and inched closer. "Because I can think of a thing or two we can do after that. No strings attached like always."

I'm gonna barf.

I hated my mind for even considering how good Matt must have been in bed to have Rebecca literally beg him for it in a busy corridor at school where a number of people could witness her desperation.

I'd been expecting him to be as repelled by that as I was, but instead, he looked like he was about to give in. I wondered if that was how it was always like with them—him trying to push her away, her offering sex and him failing. He was a guy, after all.

I could now notice a little smirk forming on his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Bet you'd like that."

"Wouldn't you?" She winked.

What am I still doing here?

She proudly put the tickets in her pocket and walked away while Matt just stood there. His smirk slowly vanished, and soon, he appeared to be internally cursing himself as he shut his eyes and shook his head. What? You regret it, now that her spell has lifted?

The fact that all it takes is a little coaxing to have a guy wrapped around your little finger is almost humiliating. But I shouldn't have been too surprised. It was Matt.

I realized there was a chance he didn't want her to know he was training me because he didn't want to hurt her feelings and risk losing his on-call fuck buddy. And that hurt me... somehow.

He started to walk in the direction of the cafeteria when he noticed me in the way. It could've been a mistake of judgement but his frown disappeared.

"Andrews," he said as a form of greeting while nearing me. Oh, don't you put up a normal act now. I've seen your horny, pathetic side, Williams.

"Hey," I replied plainly.

"Where are you headed off—"

"Here." I held up his jacket.

He eyed the jacket, then looked back at my face. "I don't need it right now. You can give it back later."

"No thanks." When he didn't grab it, I shoved it on his chest, turned on my heel and started marching away, hearing a faint what the hell behind me.

I pushed open the cafeteria door and located my friends on our usual table. Cheryl was showing Mack something on her phone and after a second, they both chuckled. When I sat down, she held up her phone at me.

"Look at this, Becks," she said with a laugh. It was a prank video. I would've laughed normally even if I didn't find it funny just for her sake but right then, I could barely pull a smile.

"Nice," was all I said with a sneer.

She put her phone down with a frown. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Just as I said that, Matt entered the cafeteria and headed straight for the table where the rest of his football buddies were. He seemed unbothered as usual but then, what else was I expecting?

"What did he do now?" Mack asked, following my gaze.

I blinked, then scoffed. "Nothing. He isn't important enough for me to waste my energy even getting angry."

I threw a glance at him and as if he knew, he looked up and our eyes met. I couldn't tell if he was curious or affected at all. But why would he be? It wasn't like he cared enough if I was pissed at him about something. Hell, he was probably used to it. Or even enjoying it.

Clenching my jaw angrily, I looked away.

"Right." Cheryl deadpanned, looking between us.

I ate my lunch in annoyance, completely ignoring his presence in the cafeteria even though I felt him watching me a couple of times but I didn't know for sure since I never bothered looking.

"Listen," I started, catching Cheryl's attention. "I'm gonna go study for the math test. I don't wanna flunk this one too. Are you coming?"

"Sure. Let's go." She turned to Mack. "Do you wanna study in the library with us?"

"You know I'm going wherever you are going, babe." He winked at her. Despite my irritation, it made me smile. Mack was one of the few guys who made me look up to relationships.

"Alright, then. Let's go." She gave a quick peck on his cheek.

I got up and made a beeline for the library, closely being followed by the chuckles and flirty whispers of the love birds behind me.

I settled down, pulled out my math notebook and without wasting any time, began solving. Five minutes into it, I wished I'd been doing it on my bed so I could take a nap whenever the hell I wanted, which was right now. I desperately needed a nap. My eyes were begging to be shut.

"Matt."

My head lifted up to Cheryl, who'd just said my enemy's name. I realized she and Mack had been watching me with anticipation and I raised a brow. "What?"

"Nothing." She shrugged.

"You just said Matt."

"I'm surprised you heard." She smirked and exchanged a similar look with Mack. "You haven't been paying any attention to what we've been talking about and the moment we say that name, we have your attention."

I leaned back in my chair and exhaled. "I don't know what you're trying to get out of me."

"What happened? Tell us what's got you so riled up."

I thought for a second, then finally admitted, "I'm mad at him."

"We figured that much." Mack rolled his eyes. "What happened?"

"He hasn't told Rebecca about the training."

Once again, they exchanged looks.

"So?" Cheryl was the first to ask.

"I..." I struggled to speak. "I mean, why not just tell her? I don't know...it's complicated, okay? This is why I didn't wanna say anything."

"Wait, Becks." A confused little smile fell on Mack's face. "What does it matter if he tells Rebecca or not? Maybe he's just considering her feelings since she hates you."

"Exactly." I hit the table with my palm, then mouthed a quick sorry to the librarian when she threw me a stare.

"He's considering the feelings of the person you don't get along with. Is that what's bothering you, Becks?" Both his brows were lifted in amusement and I could suddenly see where he was steering that conversation.

I deadpanned. "No."

"You can't take your words back." He smirked.

"You know what?" I sneered at him. "Fine. You're right. I'm overreacting. It's what I do."

"That's not what I said."

I shook my head and got up. "Never mind. I'm gonna go over there..." I randomly pointed towards the bookshelves. "...and find a... book. And then I'll come back, if I feel like it."

Right then, I decided that there was no way I was telling them how much Matt agreeing to go to the game with Rebecca had pissed me off. They wouldn't see my perspective.

Which is what, exactly? My inner voice asked and I told it to shush.

Huffing, I walked over to the bookshelf and once I was hidden behind it, I buried my face in my hands and muffled a scream. What the hell was going on with me?

Then I breathed for a few seconds while pretending to look for a book among the middle shelf. I grabbed a book, read its name, frowned, put it back and repeated the process with at least four different books. Finally deciding that I didn't want any, I spun around, annoyed.

And I bumped right into a chest.

A loud gasp escaped my mouth as I fell back a step in surprise and stared up into a pair of dark brown eyes fixed on me. He'd been standing so close and I'd had no idea. I wonder how long he'd been there.

Feeling a bit disoriented, I opened my mouth to speak but words refused to come out. But then I stopped trying when he took a step towards me and I involuntarily took one back, and my shoulders met the bookshelf.

That seemed to sit just well with him and I deduced his motive was to corner me. With one final, giant step, he closed in on me and I forgot about to breathe.

His eyes ran across my face while I kept mine focused straight ahead, on his chest. The silence was slowly becoming unbearable.

"What's wrong with you?"

I faltered at his question for a moment, then raised both brows. "Me? I-I could ask you the same thing. Get out of my way."

I started to step on the side but he placed an arm against the shelf to trap me. And as if all the fight left my body, I fell back against the shelf and sucked in a breath. Way to be pathetic, Becks.

Swallowing, I mustered enough courage to glare at him.

"You know, some people can take a hint, Matt," I snapped, averting my eyes to the books, then at the floor and the walls—anything to avoid his eyes when I knew they were set on my face so intently.

"Did Sean do something?"

His tone was heavy and serious and when my eyes met his, I was knocked breathless. Because I saw the emotions in them that I wasn't used to seeing for myself. His eyes held concern and a bit of impatience to know what had happened. And I suddenly felt shivers down my spine.

Once I'd regrouped and successfully ignored the butterflies in my stomach, I couldn't help but let out a little chuckle in disbelief. "Not like it's any of your business, but no. He's nothing like you."

"Excuse me?" He was baffled.

As I recalled his encounter with Rebecca from earlier, my agitation was replaced by annoyance and I narrowed my eyes at him.

I stopped leaning against the bookshelf and looked him square in the eyes while saying, "I don't know what I was expecting but you've disappointed me."

"Disappointed you?" He was clearly caught off guard. "When?"

"I'm not going to say anything because it's not my place to."

"You're already saying something."

"Yes, and I'm going to stop now. I'm not having this conversation with you again." With that, I tried the other side for escape but he quickly lifted his other arm to block that as well.

With both his arms trapping me, the distance between us was next to non-existent. When I breathed heavily—which was something I'd been doing a lot in his presence lately, especially when he was so close—my chest brushed against his and I just wanted to lean back into the bookshelf again and let it swallow me whole.

"What hint?" he asked.

I licked my lips and that caught his eyes.

"That I don't wanna talk to you unless I really have to," I muttered and his brows lowered into a deep scowl. "So, I'll be at your house in the evening for training. That is, if it's still on."

He was silent for a moment and I wondered if he was going to decline. Or put up another childish demand that if I wanted music training, I'd have to tell him what was going on. But that didn't happen.

"It is."

Oh.

"Okay." I nodded, lowering my eyes to his chest as I waited for him to let me go. After about five seconds—yes, I was counting—he withdrew his arms and took a step back.

And just like that, he walked away.

I exhaled.

*****

As I stood at his front door, about to ring the doorbell and preparing to smile at Garrett, the low rumbling of a car engine made me turn around. It was Matt's car pulling into the driveway.

He sat behind the wheel, his eyes fixed on me. The engine stopped and he stepped out, rocking a pair of black joggers and a gray t-shirt, the sweat forming a darker shade of gray right below his neck. Someone had an intense workout.

He shut the car door and I snapped out of whatever I was pulled into, blinked and looked away. He walked up to me but since I was avoiding him, I tried looking anywhere but at him, catching a brief glimpse of his packed forearms, the veins so clearly highlighted, it was like they were demanding to be seen. I stepped aside to let him unlock the door but he just stood there in silence, not even moving.

I recalled what I'd been repeating to myself all afternoon—that even though I was pissed about him giving in to Rebecca so easily, it was none of my business. So, after an inner debate, I slowly lifted my gaze.

His eyes were already fixed on me and when we made eye contact, they lit up with amusement.

"What?" I snapped.

Without a word, he pushed open the front door and walked in first, then held the door for me. A little surprised at his gesture, I walked inside.

"You're still not gonna tell me?" he asked and I had to double check to make sure he was talking to me. He was.

I glared at him while walking through. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The reason why your face has been stuck like that all day."

My eyes narrowed as he shut the front door.

"My face has been just fine." I shrugged. "I'm surprised you care enough to keep asking me when I've made it perfectly clear at school that I have no intention of talking about it."

"I see." He nodded as if to mock me, making my eye twitch. "Understandable. You can head up to the music room then and I'll be with you shortly."

I stayed in my spot, not moving. That's it? It wasn't like I wanted him to keep asking what was wrong but I wasn't okay with him being so indifferent about it either when he could clearly tell he'd done something to piss me off.

He started walking towards the kitchen and I found myself following him. I could tell he knew I was behind him. Even his walk was oozing self-satisfaction.

He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water, drank straight from it, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and set it down on the island. Then he looked up and finally pretended to notice me.

"You're still here?" He tilted his head.

Cursing under my breath, I lunged at him and poked a finger in his hard chest. "You're impossible."

He looked unfazed as ever like it was nothing new. Well, it wasn't.

"If you say so, Becks."

I saw red.

Gritting my teeth together, I snapped, "that's not something to be proud of. You're a despicable person. You should be sorry."

"And you..." Eyes focused on me intently, he slowly advanced forward and I swallowed nervously when he stopped about an inch away and observed me intently before adding, "...should do those braids more often."

I blinked. "What?"

He pointed a finger towards my hair, making me remember it was different—wavy, thanks to the braids. Did he actually just say what I think he said?

For a moment, I was left speechless.

"You know that sounds like a compliment, right?" My voice came out barely as a whisper, and I cleared my throat.

"It is." He nodded, a hint of a smile playing in his eyes.

Wow...

And just like that, all my anger was out of the window, and the reason for what had been my annoyance earlier—wanting him out of my sight—was something else now. It was the deep blush forming on my cheeks that I did not want him to notice.

So, with half a mind, I withdrew my finger from his chest, brought it to my own and stared towards the exit of the kitchen.

"I..." I pointed at it with my thumb. "...I'll head up to your music room."

"Okay." He nodded while keeping his bright brown eyes at me as I started to retreat.

"Or..." He raised a brow, making me stop in my tracks and watch him remove the banana peel before dropping the banana in the blender. "...you can let out your frustration while I make my protein shake."

Right! Frustration. Anger. I was angry at him.

Snap out of it, Becks.

I scowled at him while he watched me with a little smirk as he opened a cabinet and grabbed his protein bucket. Then, he added a scoop to the blender, along with some other ingredients, and secured its lid. He threw me a look over his shoulder as if saying 'last chance'.

When I didn't say anything, the next sound that we heard was the whirring of the machine.

A little annoyed, I stepped up to him and turned it off. He didn't look surprised at my action. Instead, he folded his arms as if ready for me to start speaking.

So, I did.

"The night of Chris's party," I said. "Did you sleep with Rebecca?"

His brows pulled together, and a deafening silence fell between us.

"Did you?" I pushed.

"Yes."

Why do I feel a sting in my chest?

I had to swallow before I could continue, "just a few hours after you'd used me to get her off your back by making her think you and I are a thing. How does that make me look, Matt?"

The conversation was completely out of the blue, which was why he was caught at a loss of words and looked utterly perplexed.

"I don't see where this is coming from."

"You're a coward," I snapped.

All of a sudden, the light composure dropped and his eyes turned cold, and I could see the anger slowly rising in them as he took a deliberate step towards me. "What did you say?"

"That you're a coward. Why can't you just admit that you care about her?"

"I don't see how this is any of your business."

"Yes, it is. That day, when you hooked up with her after using me to brush her off, you made me look like an idiot in front of her and today..." I trailed off, feeling my face turning red with anger.

"Today?" His eyes narrowed.

"You can't even tell her you're training me." My chest heaved up with a long inhale. "That's how I know you care about her, and everything you say about not giving a damn about how she feels is bullshit."

A speck of realization flashed in his eyes, but his scowl remained intact. "So that's what this is about."

I licked my lips and almost said something until he closed in on me and backed me up against the kitchen island, his eyes accusing and searching. "So what if I care about her? What is it with you, Andrews?"

This was exactly what I'd been asking myself all afternoon. I knew that question would come up, and the fact that I didn't know how to answer it should've been enough to make me keep my mouth shut, but unfortunately, it hadn't been.

"I..." I swallowed, feeling a tingle run down my spine when his eyes did a slow and sensual sweep across my mouth. Right then, I found myself in the shoes of every other girl he'd made out or slept with because I somehow knew that was what they got to see before they made up their mind. And am I making up my mind, too? NO! What the hell, Becks? I blinked furiously, saying, "I don't care about who you feel for or who you fuck. I just can't stand people who cannot walk the talk."

He went still.

Then, with a little frown, he pulled back. Keeping his eyes on me, he rounded the island and headed out of the kitchen, leaving me standing there in silence. So, he walked away from the conversation just like that?

With a scoff, I started to leave, but he entered the kitchen again, holding his phone up to his ear.

I proceeded to walk past him, but he blocked my way and held up a finger, telling me to stay.

"What?" I demanded.

He brought his phone down with a scowl, looked up at me, back at his phone and then as if he'd made a decision, he shoved it in his pocket and took a step towards the living room.

"Come with me."

"Where?"

He grabbed my hand impatiently and started to lead me out.

"What the hell are you doing? Let go."

But he did not. He led me to his car and held the passenger door open. "Get in."

"Where are you taking me?"

"Just get in," his voice was surprisingly calm, but I could sense the anger in his tone.

But since he hadn't barked that at me as an order, I slipped into the passenger seat and watched him round his car, get in, and begin to drive without a word.

"If you're taking me for an ice cream, I'm not in the mood."

He cut me a glance but said nothing. After fifteen minutes, the car came to a stop. I looked outside in confusion. We were in front of a house.

He stepped out, and I followed, slowly shutting the door behind me. "What is this place?"

Once again, he took my hand and started marching me up to the porch. I was too busy taking in my surroundings to protest or notice when he rang the doorbell. I suddenly grew tense and a lot more curious. Where had he brought me?

The door opened and my eyes widened in surprise at the person who'd answered it. It was Rebecca.

Her eyes lit up at the sight of Matt. "Oh my God! Hey! I just saw your missed call. Sorry I couldn't answer but I'm so glad you're—"

That's when she noticed me. And her mood instantly flipped. "What the hell is she doing here?"

"You wanted to know what I've been up to in the evenings," Matt started and my head snapped in his direction, eyes wide. Was he really about to do what I thought he was about to do?

Rebecca had a similar reaction of shock as she looked between us.

"Oh my God. Matt, please don't tell me—" she started but got cut off.

"I've been training her for the music challenge against you."

My jaw dropped. So did Rebecca's.

Matt averted his eyes to me. "There. Happy?"

I blinked at him.

He hadn't sounded pissed. Or disappointed like I'd made him do something he didn't want to do. He was completely fine with revealing that to Rebecca, and that was when I knew she really meant nothing to him.

But what about me? Did I mean something to him? He wouldn't just go all the way to Rebecca's house with me for something so petty, now that I realized, if I didn't mean anything to him.

"Matt..." I started, but he was done as he turned around to leave. I was still recovering from my shock to notice his hand was still wrapped around my wrist until I felt my feet move when he started dragging me back along with him.

I threw a look over my shoulder at Rebecca. Her face was red with anger, but it seemed like she'd suddenly decided to look at the brighter side as she blinked out of her thoughts and called after us, "wait! So that's it? Just training. You're not sleeping with her, right?"

Obviously, he chose to ignore that as he held the passenger door open for me once again. Too stunned to speak, I got in the car and watched as he did the same and started driving, leaving a pissed off Rebecca standing on her porch.

I turned to him. His jaw was set and I knew he could tell I was watching him because he kept his eyes fixed ahead.

"Why would you do that?" I muttered.

He cut his eyes at me sharply and a wave of guilt rushed over me. Had I been overreacting all day?

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

I swallowed. "Since when do you do things simply because I want you to?"

Another glance.

"I didn't do it for you, Rebekah."

I don't know what made me flinch. His words or him calling me Rebekah.

"Then for what?"

About five seconds passed before he answered while keeping his eyes on the road, "music."

"Oh." I blinked. "Right. I can't learn from you when I'm cross with you. So, you did it to put my mind at ease for the sake of learning music efficiently. Is that what you're telling me?"

Don't say yes because I will call bullshit on that.

He looked into my eyes and said it like he meant it, "yes."

Even though I was inclined to not believe him, I felt something drop in my chest. Because I wanted him to be doing it for other reasons. Like me. And not just for the sake of our musical equation. Why did I always have to make a fool of myself before remembering that it was all that there was between us? Just music. Nothing else.

And why the hell was I expecting there to be more? It wasn't like I wanted to be with him a second longer than I had to.

Or did I?

I swallowed, staring out of the window. "Okay then. Consider my mind eased."

Maybe I went a little overboard because I didn't wanna lose to Rebecca, of all people. Because deep down, I felt like I'd already lost to her when it came to certain things. Things related to him. Maybe I didn't wanna admit it even to myself.

I was glad when the car came to a stop in his driveway because I could make a run for my house after saying what I had to in case it got any more awkward than it already was, if it was even possible.

"I guess I was out of line today. What you choose to tell or not tell Rebecca, is none of my business. I'm sorry you had to do that because of me."

I bit down on my lip and stared down at my hands, feeling his eyes on me. I didn't want to look into them so with an exhale, I stepped out of his car and without looking back, I walked across the street towards my house.