Dad walks over and gives me an awkward hug. He’s not nearly as good as Seth is, but he’s trying. He gets points for trying.
I look up at my dad. “Did you tell him yes, Dad?” I ask quietly.
He brushes my hair back from my face. “Yes, Sky. I did.”
I grin. “I’m glad.”
“Me, too. Glad you met him. Glad he’s capable of loving you like you deserve.” He kisses my forehead. “Well,” he breathes. “Since I’m here, do you want to go see him? I was planning to stay the night.”
Go see Matt? I chew on my lower lip and think about it. “Would you mind?” I ask quietly.
He pulls me close and kisses my forehead. “I’d mind if you didn’t. Go get your happiness, kiddo. You deserve it.”
Before I go, I look in on Mellie and Joey, and Seth’s door is half open, so I look in on him, too. He stirs when I pull the ear buds from his ears.
“Aunt Sky?” he says, sitting up on his elbows. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I whisper. “I was just checking on you.”
“My mom used to do that,” he murmurs as he rolls over. “Love you, Aunt Sky,” he says quietly. Then I hear a snore erupt from his throat.
I grin. I can’t help it.
Dad is waiting by the door on my way out. “Take your raincoat. It’s pouring.”
I take it from him and shrug into it. “Thanks for being here, Dad,” I say.
He nods and rocks back on his heels.
I let myself out so that I can go to Matt. I just hope he wants to see me as much as I want to see him.
Matt
Fuck my life.
I close the door behind April. I have no idea what to say to her. She looks like she got hit by a makeup truck. And left. On the side of the road. In the rain.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” she says.
I see Paul get up and start toward the hallway to his room. “Don’t you even think about going anywhere,” I say to him. He freezes. He goes and gets a beer instead.
“April,” he says with a nod. “You look like shit.”
“Thanks,” she mutters. She sniffles.
He doesn’t linger. He goes back to the lazy chair. Fucker.
“Why are you here?” I ask. She’s dripping all over the f**king floor.
She hugs her arms around herself and shivers. I look closely at her face. Her lips are a little blue, and her teeth are chattering.
“Go get her a f**king towel, asswipe,” Paul calls. But he doesn’t get up to help me. I turn toward the linen closet, but suddenly there’s a knock on the door.
Shit. If that’s Kenny, I’m going to shove her out into the hall and straight into his arms. I steel myself and open the door.
My heart clenches when Sky raises her little hand at me, waves, and says, “Hi, Matt.”
I have never been so happy to see anyone in my life. “I am so glad you’re here,” I say. I hook my hand behind her neck and draw her to me because I have to kiss her. I just can’t wait another second.
She mumbles against my lips. “I couldn’t wait until tomorrow,” she says.
I lift my head and look down at her. “I’m so glad you couldn’t wait,” I tell her.
Paul chuckles from the couch and slaps his knee. He’s enjoying this too f**king much. Sky looks over my shoulder and freezes. “What is she doing here?” she asks. Her eyes search mine like she’s going to find the answer in my gaze. But she’s not going to find anything there because apparently I have shit for brains.
“I don’t have a f**king clue,” I whisper vehemently.
She stares at April for a minute, and then her face softens. “You have to help her,” she says.
“Help her with what?” I ask fiercely.
“Get her a f**king towel,” Paul calls again. “Duh.”
I ground my teeth together. I don’t want to get her a towel. I want her to leave. And to take all her waterworks with her.
Sky lets me go and walks to her. She takes her elbow and guides her toward the bathroom. “Come on,” she says gently. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
April lets Sky push her into the bathroom, her sopping-wet dress dragging along the floor like a wet seal is sliding across our carpet.
Sky shoves her into the room and turns around to glare at me. But then she shakes her head, sighs heavily, and then goes into the bathroom.
“That’s f**ked up,” Paul says over a maniacal laugh.
“You’re f**ked up,” I say. “You could have helped.”
“What did you want me to do? She’s your girlfriend.”
“Ex-girlfriend,” I correct.
“Well, your ex-girlfriend is in the bathroom with your current girlfriend.” He laughs again. “Go get me another beer when you go clean that water up.” He thunks his feet onto the end table. “And get your balls out of April’s pocket when you go in that direction.”
“My balls are not in April’s pocket.” They’re in Sky’s pocket. Happily.
“Mmm hmm,” he hums.
I take him a new beer and start to clean up the water.
Sky opens the bathroom door a crack and sticks her head out. “Can I get some towels? And something for her to wear?”
“What are you doing in there?” I hiss.
She looks back in the door. “She’s a mess,” Sky whispers. She steps out and closes the door behind her. “She was freezing, so I put her in the tub.”
“Emily left some girl shampoo here. It’s under the sink.”
“Can you find some clothes? Just some shorts or something will work.”
Sky disappears back into the bathroom. I get a pair of athletic shorts and a T-shirt that I don’t like. Hell, I think it’s one April bought. I knock gently on the door. Sky comes back out. “How’s it going in there?” I ask.
“It’s going,” she murmurs, rolling her eyes. “She’s had a hard day.”
Good. She should. She made her bed, and now she gets to lie in it. “Sorry to hear that,” I say instead.
She rolls her eyes and disappears back into the bathroom with the towels and clothes.
I pace for twenty minutes, until Paul barks at me. “You’re going to wear a hole in the carpet.”
“Who gives a shit?”
“What do you think they’re talking about?” Paul asks, grinning like an idiot.
“No idea.”
“I bet they’re discussing the length of your dick,” he taunts.
“Shut up.”
“Or all the ways you never learned to use your tongue.”
“Fuck you.” I have a lot of skill with my tongue.
“The way you shave your balls.”
“Asshole.” But a grin tugs at my lips.
He laughs out loud and shoves my shoulder. “Quit worrying.”
I look down at my thumbnail, which I have gnawed down to a nub.
The bathroom door opens, and I jump to my feet. Sky walks out first with April behind her. April looks a lot better. Her face is free of makeup, and her hair is damp but combed into a tidy mass. She’s wearing an old pair of my shorts and that shirt I hate. She crosses her arms in front of her chest. What happened to that monstrosity of a dress?
What happened to her marriage?
What happened to her baby? I look at her belly and realize that I can see a small swell there. What the wedding dress hid, these clothes do not. But it’s not mine so I couldn’t feel more removed from it. I force my eyes back up to her face.
“Thank you for letting me in,” April says quietly.
“Why are you here?” I ask finally. I do need to know.
“I didn’t know about Kenny and my maid of honor. Thanks for telling me. Apparently, I was the only one who didn’t know.” Her voice is quiet and a little hoarse, like she spent a lot of time crying.
“Where’s Kenny?” I ask.
She shrugs. “Probably at the hospital.”
Hospital? “What?”
“I sort of hit him over the head with a vase.” She holds out her hands to show me how big. “A big one.” She rotates her arm at her shoulder. “It was kind of heavy. My arm still hurts.”
Paul laughs from the couch. I shoot him a glare, and he shuts up.
“Hi, Paul,” she says.
“April,” he mumbles back. He turns the TV up.
“I should go,” April says. She turns to Sky and holds her arms out for a hug. “Thank you,” she says to her. “I appreciate it very much.”
I watch the two of them. Sky pulls her in and holds her close, rubbing her back softly for a second. What the f**k happened in the bathroom?
April steps back and wipes her eyes.
“I’m glad you hit him,” I tell April.
She smiles a watery smile. “Me, too.” She takes a breath. “Matt, I’m sorry for everything,” she whispers.
“I know.” What else can I say?
I pull Sky into my side and drop my arm around her shoulders. “It all turned out okay,” I say. “For me, anyway.”
April blows out a breath. “I got what I deserved.”
I nod. What the f**k else am I supposed to say?
Sky elbows me in the side.
“What?” I ask. I rub my ribs.
“I know I got what I deserved.” She lays a hand on her belly, and my heart clenches for her. “I picked passion over love and look where it got me. I could have been stable and happy.”
Yeah, but she wouldn’t have been pregnant right now. That part I don’t share with her because it’s none of her business.
April holds out her arms. “Can I hug you, Matt?” she asks tentatively.
Sky and I both say, “No,” at the very same time. April lets her arms drop, and she smiles.
“I don’t blame you,” April says. “For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t want to hug me, either.”
“I’m not mad at you, April. Not anymore.” I can tell her that much. And I don’t mind letting her know.
“Now you feel sorry for me?” she asks.
“I feel hopeful for you,” I say. I squeeze Sky to me. “Take care of that baby, okay?”
“I will,” she says with a nod. She walks to the door, and Sky opens it for her. “Thanks again, Sky.”
Sky nods, and April walks out of my life, hopefully for the very last time.
I draw Sky into a hug and whisper to her, “I’m so glad you got here when you did.”
Skylar
It feels really good in Matt’s arms. I let him hold me for a second and then I step back, shove him gently, and shake my finger at him. “What would you have done with her if I hadn’t shown up?”
He scratches his chin. “I have no idea.” He laughs.
Paul chuckles from the couch. “Damn,” Paul says. “Talk about looking like what the cat dragged in…”
I shoot Paul a look, and he rolls his shoulders in, trying to make himself smaller. But he’s not truly contrite. I know that much.
“I kind of feel sorry for her,” I admit. “You didn’t see her in the bathroom.”
“Thank God,” Paul mutters. “She had a lot of f**king nerve coming here.”
“She didn’t have anywhere else to go,” I tell him. “She lives with Kenny now, as of last week. And she just hit him over the head with a heavy object.” I laugh. That part makes me laugh.
“But she couldn’t possibly think that she would be welcome here,” Paul says.
“She’s made a lot of enemies. She’s not welcome in many places.” I point toward the bathroom. “Her dress is still in the tub. She said to burn it.”
“Can I just toss it out the window?” Paul asks.
I shrug. “She doesn’t care what you do with it.”
“You okay?” Matt asks, his gaze as soft as his fingertips, which drag across my forehead, pushing my hair from my face.
I jerk my thumb toward the door. “April and I had a long talk. Well, I talked, and she listened. I think she got it.”
His eyes narrow. “What did you tell her?”
I look toward his bedroom door. “Can we talk privately?”
He takes my elbow, much like I took April’s, and he leads me toward his room. Paul makes a coughing noise from the couch. He looks like he’s about to hock up a lung. He jerks his thumb toward the kitchen, and Matt rolls his eyes, goes to the kitchen, and comes back with a handful of condoms. They have a drawer full of condoms? In the kitchen? What?
Matt laughs as he closes the bedroom door behind us. He tosses the condoms onto the dresser. There are about twenty of them. “You were feeling kind of ambitious, huh?” I ask.
“A man can hope,” he says over a chuckle. “So what did you tell April?” he asks as he sits down on the edge of his bed.
“I told her that I appreciated her need for help this time, but that I’d appreciate it even more if she never sought you out again.”
He nods and makes a noise low in his throat. “Nice,” he says. “I like it.”
“I think she understood what I was talking about.”
“What else did you tell her?” He kicks his shoes off and reaches behind him to pull his shirt over his head the way men do. I look at the frog on his belly.
“I told her your frog prince has met his frog princess.”
He laughs. “You did not.”
“It was something like that.”
“I was just talking with Logan tonight about drawing a frog princess for me to put beside this one. I want your name inked on my skin, too. Something permanent.”