Chapter Thirty Eight – Sneak Peek

Lately, I'd started to feel like I'd lost all sense of human behaviour.

You know when you're expecting a person to act a certain way after a certain situation, but they end up acting completely opposite? And you start to question your own sanity.

After the conversation in the parking lot, I don't know how I was expecting Matt to be, but it definitely wasn't so...normal. Like nothing had even happened. Like I hadn't literally thrown myself at him, almost kissed him the night before, and then told him we were nothing more than not enemies the next day.

Naturally, I'd been hesitant about going to his house for training. And just as expected, he'd shown up in my room again. Even before I could've started to come up with some lame and awkward excuse, he'd dragged me downstairs by my arm, across the street to his house, and straight up to his music room.

He'd pointed me towards a chair, and I'd sat down. And before I could've even opened my mouth to say something to make myself feel worse, he'd picked up his guitar and started training me like everything was just like it used to be before the trip.

I'd still walked on eggshells for a while, but after a point, it started feeling pointless. Like there was nothing to be careful about in the first place. And before I knew it, we'd fallen back into our routine.

Over the week, we had collectively agreed that his bed was way more comfortable than his music room chairs.

So, I kicked my shoes off and jumped on the soft mattress, cradling Cheeto in my arms. He was more playful than usual, trying to bite my finger every few seconds.

"Nope. Not happening." Shaking his head firmly, Matt trod over to the bed, snatched him from me, took him to the door, and set him down outside the room, giving his back a tiny push. "Go away."

Just as Cheeto was about to run back in, he shut the door and made his way back to me.

I gasped. "Why?"

He rolled up the sleeve of his gray sweater, revealing a trail of scratches on his forearm. "Those kittens are in the worst phase at the moment. You don't want them around you."

"Oh my God!" I ran my fingers over the scratches. "I was wondering why you had full sleeves on. You're usually—" I cut myself off from saying flaunting your muscular arms.

"Usually what?" he asked, settling on the bed with his guitar. While I had taken up almost half his bed with my legs sprawled forward, he was sitting on the edge with his feet on the ground.

"Usually wearing short sleeves." I shrugged.

He set the guitar on his right knee and brought his right arm around it to hit the strings while his left hand positioned over the frets. One thing I'd realized while training was that I loved watching him play. It was so satisfying.

"Before we begin, I'm gonna get myself a coffee. Do you want one?" he asked.

"You mean your perfectly brewed coffee?"

His brows pulled together.

"Never mind." I scoffed. "I'm good."

"Fine. I'll get one for myself."

"Right. Make it perfect."

"What is this about?"

"Nothing." I shrugged.

Eyeing me skeptically, he started to leave the room but remembered something and stopped at the door, raising a brow at me. "Do you want a soda?"

"That, I'll have."

"Figures."

I smiled sardonically. "Fine. I crave sugar. I'm sorry I can't survive on bitter coffees from hell."

Rolling his eyes, he walked out of his room.

I tapped my nails on his nightstand while waiting and decided to take a stroll to his window. I could clearly see my house, and if I focused a little because it was at quite some distance, I could see my room window as well.

Then I walked back to his bed and ran my fingers over the guitar strings. Overcome by sudden impulse, I lifted it and arranged my fingers on the frets like he did and started strumming softly. It didn't sound like Matt's strumming at all.

To say I was utterly disappointed in myself would be an understatement. He always made playing the guitar look so easy, and I wasn't even able to produce a coherent tune out of it.

"Fuck it!" Just as I started to put it away, a little movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. My head snapped up to find Matt standing in the doorway, watching me.

With a sheepish smile, I carefully put his guitar back and gave it a light pat. "It's like I didn't even touch it. You won't even be able to tell the difference."

He walked up to me and handed me my soda.

"I could teach you that."

"I get it." I chuckled while opening the can and tipping my head back to take a sip. "You could but you won't. I'm starting to speak and understand Williams."

With a straight face, he set his coffee down on the nightstand and then snatched the soda out of my hands.

"Hey!" I complained, baffled over why he would first offer me soda, then deprive me of it.

He set the can next to his coffee and sat down on the bed. I watched as he lifted his guitar and positioned it on my knee.

"You really mean it," I muttered in disbelief. "You're really gonna teach me how to play guitar."

"And why not?"

When his eyes lifted to my face, I made an attempt to pick up my jaw off the floor but it insisted on remaining a little slackened as I stared at him with incredulity.

"The singing's getting repetitive anyway." He gave a little shrug.

If I thought he'd caught me off guard with that, his next move definitely had more to offer as it left me blushing next to him. He brought his arm around me and grabbed my right hand to position it over the strings.

"Like this," he said but I'd stopped paying attention.

Don't you dare lean into him and sniff that cologne, Becks.

My breath hitched as my mind went down a hazy spiral. And suddenly, I was reminded of something I'd been pushing to the back of my head after the camping trip— I couldn't deny the fact that he had some kind of effect on me. Maybe it was the overwhelming feeling of making friends with a person you never thought possible.

Right! Maybe we were friends now.

And just like I loved being around my friends, I loved being around him too now.

"What about the chords?" I asked, curling the fingers of my other hand over the frets.

He brought his left hand over mine and arranged my fingers over different frets. But all I could focus on was his chest pressed up against my left shoulder.

"This is C chord. The easiest. It was the first one I ever learnt." He arranged again and for a moment, I just stared at his face—at how engrossed he looked while explaining the chords. "I know it can be confusing but you'll get the hang of it pretty soon if you keep playing. And this is A minor. Got it?"

He lifted his eyes to my face and I blinked. "Yes."

"Good!" He began to move my right hand in small, quick movements over the strings and before I knew it, I was strumming it pretty well. It sounded so much better than before.

A slow smile started to reach my lips. I was truly enjoying it. I'd always found the strings and chords confusing but then, I'd never actually tried to learn. It was easy with him. Everything was easy with him.

"This is D chord," he muttered, switching the position of my fingers on the frets again and it started to produce a different sound.

"Wow," I muttered, smiling. "I thought I'd never be able to play an instrument. You proved me wrong, Williams."

"This isn't the last time I prove you wrong about something you think can never happen."

While my eyes remained locked on the guitar, my mind raced in all directions before it went silent like a faulty equipment screeching right before completely shutting down.

I swallowed, raising my eyes to his expecting ones. "What do you mean?"

He tilted his head, a little smirk forming on his lips. "I'm talking about you beating Rebecca at the music challenge."

"Oh." I had sounded way too relieved for my liking.

"What did you think?"

"Nothing." I shrugged, running my fingers over the strings mindlessly. "What's the capo for? I've seen you use it."

"You wanna try?"

"I don't even know what it does but sure."

He got up and looked around for a moment, then his eyes narrowed as he muttered, "Aiden."

I realized that once he'd pulled away, my interest in playing the guitar had dimmed, so I put it aside, raising a brow as I watched him stalk towards the door as he said over his shoulder, "I'll be right back."

Something told me Aiden was going to have an unexpected visit from his brother. And suddenly, I started to wonder if he took Matt's things like that just to annoy him. It must be fun to piss him off.

"Wait!" I suddenly spoke up when I spotted it on his table and pointed towards it. "There it is."

Matt stopped in his tracks, eyeing it suspiciously like it had just teleported there. "Oh."

He grabbed the black object and walked back to me, clamping it over the frets.

"I've never seen you hanging out with Aiden though," I pointed out while taking a sip out of my can.

"Why would I hang out with him? He's lame and no fun."

"Typical older brother words." I shook my head. My brother Blake gave mom the exact same excuse every time I tagged along with him for birthday parties as a kid. He hated taking care of me. It spoiled his fun but I always told him he didn't need to look out for me, that I could handle myself. I would roam around, make friends and have fun on my own, which would only make him have to trail behind me like some bodyguard.

He gave up his complaining as we grew older. Maybe because he realized I was way more fun than him and he also got to meet lots of girls because of me. I was practically his wingwoman at parties. I missed him. I really missed him.

"No seriously," Matt continued. "Aiden's a little bitch. He means nothing to me. And he hates my cats."

My jaw dropped slightly. "That's mean, Matt. How can you just—"

A knock on the door made us look up to find Aiden standing in the doorway, his hand still halfway up. He'd heard Matt, the look on his face said it all but it also said that it wasn't his first time hearing that. He had a straight face on.

"What do you want?" Matt asked, not even slightly guilty.

"Will you keep your wh—" he cut himself off, throwing a look at me. "Your dates out of my room?" Then he threw what looked like a crumpled pink muffler at Matt, who caught it gracefully, examined it and threw it right back at Aiden.

"Never seen this before."

"Then how did this end up in my room?"

"I don't know."

"You had someone over last night. Are you sure she wasn't wearing this?"

I froze.

"I'm not. Even if she was, she obviously didn't care enough to take it with her."

I blinked at him. He brought girls home? Did his parents not object? I suddenly remembered that I hadn't seen them around at all. Maybe they were away for business.

"Fine. I'm gonna throw it away," Aiden warned.

"Whatever." Matt shrugged.

"And can you keep your cats in check? They scratch. Bad. Especially the little ones." He scowled.

"Then stay out of their way."

I realized I'd just rolled my eyes along with Aiden. He shook his head in annoyance and left. A moment later, I got up to run after him.

"Where are you going?" Matt called but I ignored him.

"Aiden, wait." He'd made it far enough in the corridor when he turned around at my voice. I pointed to the muffler. "We should keep that. I have a feeling she's going to come back."

He eyed it for a second. "You wanna keep it?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

"Okay." He handed it to me and I made my way back to Matt's room. He was on his way out probably to come to us until he saw me and then his eyes landed on my hands. "What are you doing with that?"

"This stuff isn't free, okay? At least keep it for a day or two. She might come back."

"Okay. Whatever," he said indifferently.

"So, you just bring girls home?" I raised a brow.

"Something wrong with that?" he asked nonchalantly while picking up his guitar and settling back on the edge of his bed.

Suddenly, I was a little ticked off.

"Your parents don't object?"

"They have to be home for that."

"They're never home?"

"They're mostly in Texas for business. They go once in a while but when they do, it's never a short trip," he explained just as his phone buzzed next to him. He frowned at it and got up. Then he began to sort through his nightstand drawer but didn't find what he was looking for and thought for a moment.

"I'll be right back. Do you want another soda?"

I bit down on my tongue to hold back a curse. I was so not done talking to him about it. But I shook my head nonetheless, and he walked out of the room, but my eyes were fixed on his phone lying on the bed.

His unlocked phone he'd carelessly left lying on the bed. And in that moment, I forgot all about my anger.

Not wasting any time, I snatched it like I'd hit the jackpot.

"Almost forgot..." I was startled by his voice as he appeared in the doorway and stared at his phone in my hands. "...about that. What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing." I smirked, mindlessly scrolling on the screen. "Just giving you a taste of your own medicine."

He narrowed his eyes. "Put it down."

"Make me," I challenged.

"Becks." He clicked his tongue, stalking towards me. "You don't mean that. Trust me."

"Oh, I do, Matty!" I went to his inbox and started scrolling through his messages. "I really do—shit!" I jumped out of his bed with a screech when he made a lunge for me.

"What are you doing with it?" he demanded.

"Just taking a quick look."

Laughing, I fleeted across his room, thankful for his bed between us. But when he effortlessly skimmed over it and headed straight for me, I recoiled with a loud gasp, my arm missing his hand barely by an inch.

"Shit! Shit!" I was laughing on top of my lungs, feeling the adrenaline pumping through my veins upon having him right on my tail.

I knew I couldn't ditch him within the confines of his room for long so I had to think fast. And I finally found a way in the corner of his room.

I dashed into the bathroom and hurriedly locked the door behind me.

"Ha!"

His fist landed on the door. "Rebekah!"

"Aw what happened to Becks? Something the matter, Williams?"

My heart was literally beating inside my throat, but the serotonin boost from the little victory was unreal.

"You're being a kid."

"Let's see what this kid finds in here." Chuckling, I went to his messages. The latest message was from Chris.

DUDE!! Please tell me you have my watch. Lent it to Aiden last week, he said he put it in your drawer. My mom's gonna kill me.

It felt a little wrong to read his messages like that but I reminded myself that he'd used my fingerprint in my sleep to unlock my phone and deleted a picture. I could've had anything in my gallery.

"Rebekah, open this door or I swear to God—"

"Come on, Matty. You can go through my phone and I can't go through yours? It's a two-way street, Williams."

"Becks!" he warned and I burst out laughing.

"Don't worry," I shouted. "I won't take a peek in your nudes' folder."

I heard him scoff.

I scrolled further. There were tons of messages from Rebecca he hadn't replied to.

Baby, wanna hang out tonight? I've got a surprise for you.

That was before the first day back to school after summer break. Didn't that make him even a little curious? Hell, I wanted to know what the surprise was.

Oh my God! You and that bitch in the boys' changing room? Seriously?

I smirked.

She just told me you're the one who asked her to sing with the group. Is that true?

Matt?

MATT??

I chuckled, resisting the urge to type out a response myself.

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT COMMENT ABOUT??

Oh my God! Rebecca really couldn't take a hint, could she?

I need you to be honest with me. Are you screwing her? Are you guys together?

I personally wanted to reply no to that...or maybe a yes just to irk her? No way, Rebekah. Stuff like that always lands you in trouble.

Can you stop looking at her all the time? It's annoying.

I blinked. Was she really that delusional?

Obviously, I didn't believe that text, but I couldn't deny the flutter in the pit of my stomach either at the possibility of it being true.

I looked at the door. Matt had been silent for a while. Maybe he'd given up on my childish antics.

Shaking my head, I began to unlock the door but a low thud in the silent bathroom startled me.

I sprung around at the sound of a few things getting knocked to the floor behind me and my eyes grew wide at the sight of Matt, halfway through the window, climbing inside.

"Oh my God! You're crazy!" I shouted, twisting the knob to get out but the door wouldn't open.

"Yeah. Of course," he said once he was inside, facing me squarely. "I locked it."

"Oh God!" I felt a tingle run down my spine when he advanced towards me.

Desperately looking around, I hid the phone behind me, then shoved it in my back pocket and sprinted to the bathtub, laughing and shouting, "Matt, stop."

"Becks, I won't hesitate to put my hand on your ass. You know that." He pointed to my jeans.

"You're being really crazy right now. It's just a phone."

"Well then give it back," he slowly walked up to me and I jumped on the other side, shoes sliding over the sleek marble. His eyes widened and he held his hands up in front of him. "You're going to slip and crack your head open. It's going to get ugly."

"Then stop chasing me! God!" I climbed over the edge of the tub, balancing myself against the wall.

"Give me the phone." He stepped into the tub and my plan was to sprint to the window and escape the same way he got inside. I almost jumped away from the tub but his hand closed around my wrist. My eyes widened and I tried to break free, hoping to make a run for it again but he didn't give me any time. I knew he was strong with all those weights he lifted but I didn't expect him to pull me down in one swift move and lock his arms around me so easily. "There."

"No way!" I laughed, trying to wriggle myself free but it was pointless. And so, after a moment, I gave up and just breathed. Once again, I found myself secretly revelling in his cologne, being pressed up against his hard torso like that.

One of his arms loosened a bit as his hand travelled to my back and lowered to my ass. I held my breath when I felt it reach my back pocket but he didn't linger even for a second longer than he had to. He got his phone and released me.

For some reason, I felt a sense of loss when he pulled away. Clearing my throat, I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"What were you doing with this, Andrews?" He stared down at the screen, a brow raised. "Of all the things you could've seen, you chose to read Rebecca's messages?"

"In my defense, I was making my way through your inbox when you decided to go all ninja. How did you even climb up here? Have you done this before?"

"No. Desperate times." He fished out a key from his pocket and unlocked the bathroom door.

"I see." I smirked. "Of course, you must've been desperate to hide the fact that you watch me all the time at school," I joked.

He did not turn around and deny immediately like I'd expected him to but when he did look at me, his eyes held a challenge. "What makes you say that?"

He never paid any attention to Rebecca's messages, did he?

"Read Rebecca's last message."

His eyes fell on the screen, then he let out a scoff. "Wow. She's more delusional than I thought."

"Uh huh." I frowned slightly while following him out.

To my surprise, Aiden was in the room, leaning against the doorframe with a smirk playing on his lips. "Hey, guys. I didn't wanna interrupt whatever business you had going on in there, so I waited here quietly, but I heard nothing besides her giggles, I promise."

My jaw dropped while Matt just glared at him like he'd be dead if he didn't leave right then.

Before I could tell him that we weren't doing anything, Matt beat me to speech and asked him with a straight face, "You want something?"

"Just came to tell Becks that she was right. The girl's back."

"Who?" Matt's lips twisted into a frown.

"The girl you brought home yesterday. The one who left her muffler here." He pointed to his chair, both brows raised and eyes gleaming with mischief. "Ring any bells?"

"Oh?" Matt stared at his brother, baffled. Then, his eyes slowly narrowed at him. "Right. That girl."

"You better hurry up. I told her you've been dying to see her after last night."

His brows crinkled with frustration, and he glared at Aiden like it was all his doing, like he was the one who'd brought her home. When Aiden threw him a little smirk, his temper flared. "You little..."

And he started to advance towards Aiden. I don't know what came over me when I put my palm on his chest. "Hey!" Then I don't know what came over him when he actually stopped, only giving his brother a death stare now.

"Wow." I heard Aiden's amused chuckle behind me. "I really think you should deal with the girl first, brother. If I were you, I'd ask for Becks' help to blow her off." With that, he walked away while Matt shook his head and grabbed the muffler from his chair.

I stared at him blankly. "I'm not helping you blow her off."

"I don't need you to."

I almost threw my hands up in the air in frustration but I knew that no reaction of mine could accurately depict the turmoil raging inside me at the moment. The phone snatching and getting chased had made me forget that he'd slept with a girl the night before.

And now she was here.

"You know what? I can just leave. I should leave. Maybe there's some unfinished business here that I might interrupt."

Swallowing, I darted across the room, grabbed my phone off his bed and almost walked out of the door when his tall frame blocked the doorway. His eyes searched mine and I could've been mistaken but there was a hint of satisfaction gleaming in them.

"That won't be necessary. I'll give this to her and she'll be on her way."

She better.

"Are you sure? Because I'd hate to spoil any plans." I smiled sourly.

"Yes."

"So, you're not going to invite her in?"

"No."

I licked my lips in thought. "I wanna witness it."

He stared at me for a moment, his brows pulling together. "Why?"

"Just need a little dose of entertainment. Who knows? Maybe, you even get a smack for blowing her off after sleeping with her."

He smirked. "Right."

His indifference about the whole thing was both pissing me off and hurting me. So, everything that had happened at the camping trip was nothing but a usual for him? And here I was, overthinking the tiniest detail.

I'd been so embarrassed about everything but now I was just wondering if he'd be even slightly affected if we'd actually kissed that night.

"Seriously, you don't have to." He took a step back, almost like he didn't want me to witness it all but I was suddenly adamant.

"I want to. Don't worry, I'll hide behind a furniture or something. Your one-night stand won't see me just in case you wanna have another go." I gritted my teeth.

He flexed his jaw. "Suit yourself."

He walked out and I followed him to the front door, taking cover behind a wall.

The girl was standing on the porch, brushing a strand of brown hair behind her ear right before she hooked her thumbs in the pockets of her jeans as she looked around, bored. Then, she saw Matt coming and for a moment, she just stared at his face, then a smile formed on her lips as if dazzled by the sight of him.

"Hey," she muttered.

"Hey," he greeted unsurely.

"I can't believe Aiden asked me to—"

"Here's your muffler." He extended the cloth towards her abruptly.

Her smile faltered a bit as she looked around in the house for a moment, then composed herself and smiled big again. "Oh, thank God! I thought I lost it. I wouldn't have to show up for it if I had your number. I could've just asked you."

"It's alright."

The accidental brush of her fingers against Matt's hand while grabbing the muffler didn't go unnoticed by me and instead of putting it around her neck, she curled it around her fist and bit down on her lip. Just as Matt took a step back, she quickly started, "I can't believe I couldn't stay longer last night."

"That's okay."

An attempt to close the door at which he failed when she started speaking again.

"Your brother told me you've been thinking about me." She stepped up to him, eyes suggestive and voice husky. "Not for nothing, since the past two minutes, I've been thinking about you, too."

"My brother's a freaking idio—"

"Tell me, Matt..." She gave him a flirty smile, unbuttoning the first few buttons of her shirt and flipping her hair to the side like she was feeling very hot in the chilly weather out there. "...do you wanna relive last night? It can be more real this time, I promise."

Here comes Rebecca 2.0.

My chest was burning with an unfamiliar emotion and I could feel my face becoming hot and red, probably making me look scarier than demon Rebecca from my dream.

I couldn't see Matt's face but I could bet the girl had given his ego a big boost with the way he just stood there speechless for a moment. Or was he undressing her in his head? The thought made me furious.

"I don't think so," he finally spoke and something within me eased.

"Some other time then?" Her eyes lit up hopefully.

"Not really."

"Oh, okay. Do you want my number?"

"I'm good."

"Oh... um, just in case you wanna connect over social media sometime, my name is—"

I rolled my eyes so hard; I saw the stars. And before I knew it, I was making my way over.

"Hey, babe," I called, stopping right next to Matt and giving him my best smile. "What's the hold-up?"

His lips parted in surprise, and I held a laugh, turning to the girl and pretending to finally notice her. "Oh hey!"

She looked between us, instantly realizing and uttering a disappointed oh.

"Who's this?" I asked Matt.

"This is..." he started, realizing he didn't know the girl's name. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again. He'd slept with her and didn't even know her name?

"Polly," she answered, not even offended.

"Polly, this is Rebekah. She's..." he trailed off, not sure what to introduce me as.

"I'm his girlfriend," I told her with a fake, over-excited grin.

The moment the words left my mouth, I could feel Matt's eyes on me. After a moment, he threw his arm across my shoulders and pulled me into him. I could feel my face heating up again, but when I looked up at him, I narrowed my eyes playfully. I only caught a glimpse of the glimmer in his eyes before he turned to Polly. "Damn right."

"Oh! Nice meeting you." Polly put on her muffler. "I better get going."

"Nice meeting you too." I smiled, then pointed between my fake boyfriend and the girl in confusion. "Wait. How do you guys know each other?"

She looked at Matt for a moment, then shrugged at me. "I think your boyfriend can tell you that."

At least she didn't make up some excuse and lie to me. If I were actually his girlfriend, I'd definitely be doubting him of cheating on me and the girl would have saved me from an asshole boyfriend.

She threw Matt one final look before marching down his driveway to her car and leaving.

"So, you did end up helping me blow her off."

I yanked his arm off my shoulder and lifted my hands to my hips. "I did it for her. I felt like I was doing her a favour."

A playful warning flashed in his eyes. Meanwhile, I was dead serious, on the verge of giving him a piece of my mind. I still wasn't over the fact that he'd slept with a random girl the night before.

I swallowed my anger and took a step away from him. "I'm gonna head home now and sleep early. Big day tomorrow."

"Why? What's tomorrow?"

"I'm going to the football game with Sean."

All humour vanished from his face, and for a second, it was like he almost cared. But why would he? When he'd just slept with someone else not more than twenty-four hours ago?

I watched as he crossed his arms over his chest and nodded sternly. "Right."

"Bye."

I was halfway down his porch steps when his voice stopped me.

"Don't be late for training tomorrow."

I turned around, trying to keep the sass out of my tone as I replied, "I don't know if I'm gonna be able to make it at all so don't wait up."

"The game's in the afternoon." He raised a brow. "Unless you guys are planning to hang out in the evening as well."

"No plans yet. But there might be." I shrugged. "How about I text you and let you know tomorrow?"

He watched me for a second, then gave a hard nod. "Okay."

"Great!"