“Because you’re an asshole. And I’m not friends with assholes, Matt.”
“Jo, come on. You have to forgive me. I miss you.” He reached for my hand, but my icy glare slid over the movement and caused him to pull it back.
“I don’t have to do shit, Matt. You made your bed, now you can lie in it.”
With a heavy sigh, he flagged Hanson over. “I lost. Another round of Bernie’s.”
Hanson nodded and disappeared around the corner to make our shots.
“Why do you have paint on your hands?” Aaron asked, pointing to the white specks of paint I’d missed when I washed them before work.
“I’m painting some trim in the spare bedroom of my cabin. The whole thing is in pretty rough shape, but I thought a little paint would at least brighten it up until I can afford to pay someone for repairs.”
“A spare bedroom?” Matt asked, and I turned to glower at him.
“Yeah.”
“Is, uh, is anyone staying in that spare bedroom?” he asked.
Furrowing my brows, I shook my head. “Nope. No roommates for this girl. Just me.”
“Hmmm.” He pursed his lips, and I could almost see the wheels turning inside his mind.
“There you go, Matt!” Tony slapped the bar. “You can live with Jo!”
“What?” I choked on the sip of margarita I’d just taken.
“Matt lost his place to VRBO, and as of this weekend he’s homeless,” Aaron said. “I offered to let him sleep on my couch, but he said no.”
“I’ve seen the chicks you bring home to that couch.” Matt shuddered, and the visual caused me to do the same.
“My girlfriend isn’t keen on having another dude in the house, something about toilet seats and dirty underwear, so I’m out,” Tony said. “So yeah, you can move in with Jo! It’s perfect!”
“Hell. No.” Shaking my head, I crossed my arms.
Matt dropped his eyes to the bar, his shoulders slumping forward as he gave up the fight before it started.
“Oh, come on, Jo.” Tony bumped me with an elbow. “He was your best friend. Are you really going to make him homeless when you have a bedroom he could live in?”
“Yep.”
“Jo,” Aaron soothed. “It’s time to get over this. You need to forgive him. We all forgave him. It’s your turn.”
“Nope.”
Forgiveness was not my thing.
“You’d really turn your back on a friend in need?” Tony shook his head.
“No. I would never turn my back on a friend in need. But Matt isn’t my friend, so it’s irrelevant.”
“Guys, it’s fine. I don’t expect Jo to let me move in with her. I’ll figure something out.”
The defeat in his voice plucked away at the tiny threads of empathy residing somewhere deep inside me. But I waged a war to stop their resonating before they grew too loud to ignore. Matt was a betrayer. Matt didn’t deserve my forgiveness or my mercy. Nope. I wouldn’t lose one second of sleep over where Matt would lay his two-faced head.
Then why do I feel so guilty saying no?
Shaking off the nagging guilt brewing inside me, I lifted my chin and tried to change the subject. “Who’s up for another round of bar dice?”
“I’m in.” Aaron grabbed the cup.
“I lost. I go first.” Matt reached across me to confiscate it. When his hand brushed across mine, I yanked it back, startled by the sensation from the touch that used to be so familiar. So natural.
His eyes shot to mine, before darting away. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“And I’m sorry those guys are trying to force you to take me in. I don’t blame you for saying no. It’s fine.”
I didn’t answer.
“Although, if you happen to change your mind,” he said, then raised his hands in submission, “though I don’t expect you to, I am super handy and can help you fix up the cabin.”
The cabin did need a lot of work. A new roof, new flooring, work on the plumbing, new appliances... the to-do list was longer than my arm. Having grown up as a tomboy, I was pretty handy with tools, but these projects were a little out of my skill set. And financially it was a lot of money to hire out. For a moment I contemplated his offer, thinking having Matt and his extensive skill set with construction and building would be a smart move. But it was only a moment I considered it before shaking my head.
“I can’t. Sorry. After what you did, I just can’t.”
“I get it. It was unforgiveable. Hell, I’ll never forgive myself for falling for Nikki’s temptations and betraying Jake.” He looked up, those dark eyes meeting mine. “But, I did. And there’s nothing I can do to take it back. But I really am sorry, Jo. I miss you. So much.”
I missed him, too. More than I would ever admit to anyone, and it would seem even myself, because sitting next to him after spending a year apart was like torture. I missed how hard he could make me laugh, how comforting his hugs were when I was having a bad day, and how easy it was to be with him. He got me. He always had, and I missed the friend who’d been at my side since the day I could walk.
But he is a liar. A cheat and a liar.
It was that realization that stung the worst. The man I would have trusted with my life was the lowest of the low and finding out the person I thought I’d known better than anyone in the world was an untrustworthy piece of crap had shaken my world to the core.
Fighting to keep the words I miss you, too lodged inside my mouth where they belonged, I took a sip of my margarita to keep it busy.
“Hopefully someday you’ll forgive me. But until then, I’m not going to stop trying.”
With that, he shook his bar dice and spilled them out onto the bar.
“Fifty-six in one. Beat that, Jo.” He smiled and pushed the cup my way.
The softness of his smile, and the warmth he radiated with it, assaulted the icy wall I’d built around myself whenever he came near. Fighting to resist the heat threatening to turn it into a puddle at my feet, I glared at him and took the dice cup.
“You’re on.”
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The Other Half (Door Peninsula Passions Book 1) Page 25
