A Game of Hearts

by Tigris Eden

  Portia and Patricia agreed and grabbed their plates to take outside. I was hesitant. We’d clearly taken a step in the right direction, but this little idea of having more than one woman around was discouraging.

  “What’s going on, Matty?” I asked him straight up.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why are they still here?”

  His eyes searched mine before he dipped his head and stole a kiss before I could protest.

  “They’re here for the remainder of the week, just like us. It’s cool.”

  “It’s not cool. Portia keeps eye-fucking you, and Patricia, I can’t put my finger on it, but she acts as if she’s already part of the in-crowd. I’m not comfortable with this at all.”

  “Zori, up until yesterday, you were adamant about us not being together. What changed? And don’t say my excellent bedside manner. Give it to me straight. Be real with me.”

  There was a huge lump in my throat that I couldn’t swallow. It choked the air right out of me because I was scared. Scared shitless.

  Because he was right.

  “I was wrong. That’s what changed.”

  “Wrong about what?”

  “Us?” I said quietly.

  “All right, well, what if I was wrong about us?”

  My head snapped up, and I searched his eyes, getting caught in his smoky gaze and the confusion I saw lingering beneath the surface. Shit. What if I’d messed this up? I knew I’d changed my tune rather quickly. It had all happened so fast. But the feelings were always there. I’d just buried them. He’d rejected me in high school. So why aren’t you telling him?

  “You don’t mean that. Do you, Matty?”

  Instead of answering me, he tugged me off the chair, grabbed both our plates, and motioned with his head for me to follow him out onto the veranda where the other girls were already sitting. Only they weren’t alone. The man from our flight the other day was there. What was his name? Shephard McIntyre. He smiled over at me then stood from the table as we approached. I could feel the tension in Mateo. He wasn’t at all happy that Mac was here.

  “McIntyre, why are you here?”

  The other male chuckled slightly and took a plate from Mateo.

  “I’m here to spend time on the island with the beautiful señoritas. Kenderly said my presence would be beneficial here. So, here I am.” Mac placed the plate on the table and gestured to the empty seat next to him. I noticed that Patricia and Portia managed to save a spot for Mateo, right in between the two of them. Bitches. I tried to stop the fire from spreading up my cheeks. But whenever I got upset, I couldn’t help it. I knew my displeasure was on display for all to see.

  “You okay, honey?”

  Honey? Now Mac was calling me “honey?” I glanced across the table to find Mateo glaring in Mac’s direction. Why would Kenderly tell him to come here? Keep an open mind. Maybe it was to distract the other two women. I remembered reading in a review that Kenderly was supposedly psychic. Maybe this was her way of an intervention? But the ladies were still enamored with Mateo. And it seemed Mac was into me.

  “I’m fine,” I said between thin lips.

  I picked up the fork and dug into my French toast, which didn’t taste so good now. There was only one house on this island, and now there were five of us. Three women and two men—if I didn’t count Patricia’s father, Javier.

  Breakfast was a flurry of questions back and forth. I learned that Mac was, in fact, very well off, and he’d been looking for love in all the wrong places until now. He was on the island to sell his whiskey to Mr. Aragon. Portia was immediately interested in his conversation, and Mateo is quickly forgotten. I wished I could say the same for Patricia. She was still very much into Mateo.

  “I hear you guys have activities planned today. Some hiking, the girls were saying?”

  I nodded in Mac’s direction but didn’t say much else for the remainder of breakfast. My mind worked double-time. I watched Portia, and as I did, my stomach tightened further and further. Not in anticipation or excitement, as her interest in Mac was clearly through the roof. It was with dread. I was Mateo’s Portia.

  Chapter 12

  Zori

  Everyone was dressed for the hike across the island. Portia wore some expensive contraption that implied she might secretly be Lara Croft’s twin, only with blonde hair. Patricia was dressed in comfortable shorts and a tank top with a backpack filled with goodies and a first aid kit. Of course, she’d be practical. Something I wasn’t. I hadn’t packed for a hiking trip. I’d almost wanted to say I couldn’t go, but I was determined now.

  After my realization earlier about the similarities between me and Portia, I vowed to make things right. I wore shorts and a bikini top with one of Mateo’s button-ups and a pair of Keds. It was as close to proper shoes as I could get.

  My mind buzzed with all the horrible things I’d done, not only to my best friend but also to myself. I was my parents. Trying to keep up with the Joneses. Wanting the materialistic things in life that would never bring me true happiness, but only keep me starving for more. Life was always simple when I was around Mateo. It was fulfilling. He made me laugh, not only with him, but at myself. When I was around him, I could be the true me, the person I was meant to be. Why I’d ignored what was in front of me for so long was a question I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to answer.

  I loved my best friend. He was everything I needed. There were so many roads, and all of them with choices and crossroads, each offering things that I either wanted or needed. But I’d taken the path of most resistance, in my opinion. Had I chosen Mateo, my life would have actual meaning. We’d have been married now for sure, probably with kids, and so what if we had to scrimp and save for everything? We’d be happy.

  He rejected you.

  He had. But we were young. We were kids. He didn’t know any better, and neither did I. How were either of us supposed to know the future? All one could do was hope. The game we played now was a dangerous one. It was one that could either make or break our future and challenge our friendship.

  Could I even accept him leaving here with Patricia? Because if I were him, I’d think she was the better choice, and I was the easy lay. No, don’t think like that. You are worth it. You deserve Mateo.

  “All right, Javier has assured me there is a path, and we just need to follow it to the other side. There are supposed to be a couple of dips here and there, but nothing too dangerous as long as we stay on course. There are no big animals here, so we’re good to go on that front,” Mateo told everyone as he turned and headed in the direction where the trees were denser.

  A meandering dirt path with plants and ferns strewn on either side guided our way. The sun wasn’t high enough to cause much damage, but then we had the trees for cover. I could hear the sounds of birds and mosquitoes buzzing. I tried not to think of all the insect life teeming above and beneath my feet. They said everything was bigger in Texas, but I begged to differ when I saw a giant, fuzzy spider spinning a web directly overhead. I ducked and rushed forward, tugging Mateo by the arm.

  An arm that lifted and glided across my shoulder to pull me in for a quick hug.

  “It’s all good, Zori. You’re safe.”

  Easy for him to say. He wasn’t afraid of bugs. I freaked out over roly-polies. I screamed like a girl. I’d rather face a shark, or hell, even a jaguar, than a freaking insect any day.

  “What’s the matter, lass, you afraid of that spider,” Mac asked, pointing skyward toward the spider that was still busy doing its thing.

  “It’s cool, man, I got her,” Mateo said, and I could tell by his voice that he wasn’t happy that Mac had inquired about my well-being. We passed a mossy boulder, and the sand was no longer visible as we headed deeper and deeper into the trees. I could smell flowers and damp leaves; it was a sweet combination mixed with the smell of decaying wood.

  “Mac, tell me about your distillery,” Portia said, leaning on him the same way I was leaning on Mateo. Patricia wa
s on the other side of Matty, but she didn’t say much. I felt out of my element because this wasn’t something I was used to. Mateo had never expressed an interest in hiking before, and it made me wonder if I really knew him at all.

  “I have a couple of distilleries back home in Ireland. But I’ve lived in the States since I was a young lad.”

  “You plan on ever going back?” Portia queried.

  “I do, and often, to oversee things. What about you, Portia, what do you do?”

  “Oh, right now I’m between jobs. But my dream is to stay home and raise little ones.”

  What a bunch of shit. What happened to her trust fund? Between jobs my ass.

  “What about you, Zori?”

  “Uh, I’m an executive assistant for a huge law firm back home.”

  “You want to stay home and make babies?”

  Mateo snorted.

  “Um, I’d like to have kids. I may stay home the first year, but only so I can bond with my children. Plus, I don’t trust daycares—”

  “I’d have a nanny,” Portia interrupted.

  That was something I would have said, too, if I were honest. But I found that I really did want to bond with my kids. If Matty and I were married, I’d have to keep my job. But you’d make it work. True. I’d make it work somehow. Save up. Make sure we had at least a year’s worth of wages plus more for the arrival of a baby so I could take the time off.

  “Nannies are unnecessary,” Mateo commented.

  “How so?” Mac and Portia said at the same time.

  “They’re replacement mothers. I feel like if a couple decides to have children, they need to make the adjustments to accommodate the needs of their child. Not replace themselves with another person. It’s wasteful if you ask me, and I’d still want to take care of my own kid even if I had a limitless amount of money.”

  “Really,” Patricia asked, very interested. “I agree, Mateo. I would want to stay home and nurture my child with his or her father. Babies are not a hindrance or something to pawn off on another. They are a blessing.”

  Where had that come from, and why hadn’t I thought about it like that? Patricia would make some man very happy someday. Just not my man.

  Ugh.

  “Yeah, what she said,” I sighed, utterly defeated. Chin up. The game isn’t over yet. It wasn’t; we still had a few more days, but what if Mateo slept with her like he slept with me? I would not be able to handle that. Not even a little bit. I was never one to be jealous or insecure, but with Patricia being all Mother Teresa-like, I started to have concerns.

  “Mateo, I think you’d be an amazing father,” I said. I didn’t do it for points, but it was true. I’d seen him with his little cousins, and he was great with them. Never yelled, never got angry. He was calm and collected.

  “Thanks, Zori, I’m glad you think so.” He squeezed my side and kissed me on the forehead. Again with the mixed signals. One moment he was into me—or at least I thought he was; and the next, he treated me as if I were just a regular person. You’re overreacting. Was I?

  The hike took us a little over an hour, and when we finally reached the other side of the island, there was nothing but white sand and calm waters. There was even an amazing picnic area set out. Javier must have been there earlier. Two large bamboo mats with huge black-and-white pillows held a beautiful spread of fruits, refreshing drinks, and the catch of the day.

  “Oh, now this is lovely. Mac, would you sit by me, please, I’d love to hear more about your business and all the exotic places you’ve traveled.” Portia grabbed his hand and steered him towards a bundle of pillows. He didn’t complain, but there was a slight annoyance in the line of his jaw. Mateo grabbed me around the waist and kissed the tip of my nose.

  “You think we could take a walk?”

  “The two of us?”

  “Yeah, just us.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  “Glad you think so.”

  Patricia didn’t even bat a lash, and I felt kind of bad for her. Portia had attached herself to Mac, and Mateo and I were now taking a walk to the other side of the beach.

  “Let me take off my shoes, I want to feel the sand between my toes.” I unlaced and tugged off my sneakers.

  When I straightened, the first thing Mateo did was hug me. It was warm, inviting, his arms were the best place ever. He always gave the best hugs. He pulled away first and took my hand to lead me down the stretch of sand littered with shells and pieces of kelp. We walked in silence for a few beats, and it wasn’t awkward, but it felt like there were things that needed to be said.

  “Mateo—”

  “Zoraida—”

  We both said at the same time before laughing.

  “You go first.”

  “No, you can go first.” He squeezed my hand. “What did you want to say?”

  “I’m an idiot,” I blurted out.

  “Not at all what I expected to hear,” he laughed.

  “I’m screwing this up. What I mean, is that… I know I haven’t been the easiest person to get along with.” I took a deep breath and kept talking. “When you told me back in high school that we could only be friends, well, I gave up on us.”

  “I wasn’t ready then, Zori, and neither were you. We were just kids.”

  He stopped our progression and turned to stand in front of me. His eyes were so expressive, the color a honeyed brown that almost glowed. How could I have not noticed before that he had feelings for me?

  “I know you said you’ve felt this way forever, but seriously, how long is forever, Matty?” I asked, my chest aching as we stood there suspended in the moment. He looked past my shoulder as if trying to come up with the right words before our gazes collided again.

  “I’ve felt like this for a very long time, but every time the opportunity came to say something, you were either not receptive, or we were each dating someone or had just gotten out of a relationship.”

  Not receptive?

  “But you never once said how you felt until recently.”

  “No, I did, you just didn’t want to acknowledge what was happening. The night I moved above the garage, I tried to tell you. You fell asleep in my arms. Remember?”

  That was like three and a half years ago, and he’d been talking about saving up to buy a house for his future family. I had fallen asleep, but not because I was bored, because he’d kept running his fingers through my hair–something he did a lot.

  “I remember that night, Matty, but I didn’t think you were talking about me. Us.”

  He grabbed the back of his neck and winced.

  “Yeah, I wasn’t very clear about a lot of things. Then you kept trying to hook me up with Paige. Who’s a sweet girl, by the way, but she’s not you.”

  “So, what happens now?”

  “I thought I made that clear, but if you’re still fuzzy on how things are between us, let me put you up on game.”

  Mateo took a knee.

  Took a knee!

  My heart rate picked up, and I realized that I wanted this, had always wanted it, and it had always been with him. None of the other things mattered. Money, cars, all the pretty clothes in an amazing walk-in closet. None of it mattered. Nothing but Mateo. A closet couldn’t make me happy, and neither could all the fancy, name-brand clothes. I was safe with Mateo, and if we were ever in a bind, we’d find a way out of it together. No matter what it was.

  My hands shook as he peered up at me, and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I knew what my answer would be, but other than that, my body wasn’t firing on all cylinders. How had we even gotten here, and why had it taken me so long to understand what was happening between my best friend and me?

  Mateo cleared his throat as he pulled out a small, black box and opened it.

  I didn’t glimpse the ring in his hand, and I didn’t care what size the rock was either. Instead, I threw myself on top of him and rained kisses down his face. As he laughed, we fell, not so gracefully, onto the sand.

  “Yes,
yes, and a thousand times yes, Matty,” I cried. His arms wrapped tightly around me, and I could tell he was just as nervous as I was as he pulled in a deep breath.

  “So, you’re saying you’ll move in with me?”

  Wait. What?

  “What do you mean move in?” I asked, checking his face. Did I miss something?

  “Yeah, share my bed, my life, my world. Give me children. I want tons of kids,” he said against the shell of my ear. As his arms banded tightly around me, his voice deepened to a quiet rumble. It made my entire body tingle all over. “I love you, Zori.”

  “I love you, too. And, yes, all that and more, Mateo Vargas.” My heart literally did summersaults behind my ribcage, and the smile I wore split my face.

  “Well, it’s about damn time, dude. I’m starving over here. And if I have to listen to that blonde, money-grubbing bimbo regale me with her tales of idiocy any longer, I’m gonna die of boredom.”

  “Shut up, Mac, we’ll be right there.”

  “Do you two know each other?” I asked, standing up with Mateo.

  “Yeah, we do.”

  I glared at Matty, who actually had the audacity to shrug his shoulders while smiling. Mac laughed, and I was once again confused.

  “Explain,” I said.

  “Shit, Zori. Mac being here was a total coincidence, I swear.”

  “Being where? Here on the island? Or here-here?”

  “Here on the island. I repaired a few of his bikes. He liked my work so much, he kept coming back for more. But him showing up here on the island… Total fluke. Don’t know how that happened.”

  Kenderly had something to do with all of this, I was sure of it.

  “So, why didn’t you say anything when we first got off the plane?” I asked Mac.

  “Didn’t want to ruin the trip for you two. Mateo and I are more business partners than friends.”

  “Business partners?”

  Mateo tagged me around the waist and kissed the side of my neck.

  “Yeah, Mac is going to invest some money into the shop so we can expand.”