Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“Here we go.” Miles rolled his eyes.
“What the fuck? He’s our friend, man.” Just as Oliver went to dial Matt back, his phone rang again. “Hello?” he answered, his heartbeat doing the fifty-yard dash over and over. What had Matty in such a hurry to get ahold of him?
“Hey. I’ve been trying to call you all night. Where have you been?” Matt’s voice was soft, a little sad, and he would swear, almost unsure. He hadn’t heard that tone from him in years.
“I was out with Chance and Miles. What’s wrong?” He paced back and forth, one hand in his pocket, the other clutching the phone. Both Miles and Chance eyed him expectantly as Oliver tried to fight the twist in his gut, his buzz disappearing fast.
“How do you know something’s wrong?”
How could he not know? That was what friends were for, what they did, especially one who’d known someone as long as he’d known Matt. What he said was, “You called five times and it’s late.” Short. Simple. To the point.
Matt chuckled, but Oliver could tell it was forced. He didn’t want Oliver to know something was wrong. And, I need to stop trying to read Matt’s mind.
“I guess that makes sense. Are you still with the crew?” Matty asked.
He looked up and locked eyes with Chance and Miles. They were both staring intensely at him, nearly bursting at the seams to know what was going on. “They just left. I’m waiting for my car,” he lied. Maybe that made him an ass but he was nervous that if he didn’t, Matty wouldn’t talk to him.
Miles rolled his eyes but Oliver ignored him.
Matt let out a deep breath. “What’s wrong, Matty?” Oliver asked again before he leaned against the black building with peeling paint.
“Parker and I broke up.”
Oliver closed his eyes, trying to block out the lively city around him. “I’m sorry,” he told Matt, and he was. The last thing he would ever want was for Matt to be hurt.
“I just…fuck, I don’t know. I need to get away, to clear my head. I’m at the airport now. I’ll be in LA in the morning. I know it’s last minute, but can I stay with you?”
It wasn’t as though Matt didn’t have the money to get a room. Staying with his family wasn’t something Matt would do. Oliver knew that. They were good people, but Matt always had a strange relationship with them. They loved Matt and Matt loved them, but they didn’t understand each other. It made things awkward between them, something that just got worse the older Matt grew.
“Shit, I don’t know why I asked you that. It’s not your responsibility to put me up. There’s no reason I can’t get a room—not anymore.”
But why should he have to? Oliver had space. He opened his eyes and looked at his two friends, knowing they would get the wrong idea about his answer. “That’s ridiculous. It’ll be like old times. You know you’re always welcome to stay with me.”
He watched as Miles shook his head and Chance frowned. What? They wouldn’t let Matt stay with them if he needed to? They might worry about Oliver when it came to Matt, but they cared about him too. Both of his friends standing in front of him would let Matt stay with them if he needed a place to go. There was no difference.
“Shit.” Matt cursed softly through the line, but Oliver wasn’t sure why. Then he added, “Thank you. I appreciate it, Ollie. I’m about to board. Can you not say anything to Chance and Miles just yet? I think I just need to breathe for a day or two before I see anyone else.”
Oliver locked eyes with the men in question. A little late for that. “No problem. I won’t say anything to them.” He cocked a brow at his friends. Miles threw his hands up in the air as though he didn’t know what to do with him, and Chance grinned, obviously liking being in on a secret he wasn’t supposed to be in on.
“Thank you. I land a little after eight. I can get a car—”
“I’ll pick you up. You can worry about a car later.” Oliver cut him off. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Miles because he knew he’d get the evil eye.
“Yeah, okay. I need to go. I’ll…I’ll see you soon.”
He could hear the denial in Matt’s voice, hear him trying to hold back the emotion because Matt wasn’t big on letting people know how he felt…but he had to be struggling. He’d just broken up with the man he loved, and Matt was obviously devastated. “Bye, Matty. I’m sorry about you and Parker.”
“It’s okay,” he said and then, “talk soon,” before he hung up. The second Oliver moved the phone away from his ear, Miles started in.