He turned to walk back to the kitchen, hardly seeing Holly who had been lingering in the corner, eavesdropping the whole time. Her eyes were wide, silently communicating her shock. Alex’s legs were shaky, and his thoughts about anything but Matt scattered in a million different directions. It’d be a small miracle if he managed to make it through the rest of the day without screwing up every order that came into the kitchen.
Alex still wanted him. He ached in a way he thought he never would again, and his eyes stung because more than anything he had forgotten how deeply he loved Matt and how profoundly he had missed him.
Chapter Two
The starfish doughnuts were good, but Matt rarely ate anything fried. He could hear his personal trainer’s voice in the back of his mind screeching about the grease, to say nothing of all the sugar.
“Coffee, hon?”
Matt continued to dust the sugar off the doughy starfish without looking at the waitress. His fingers shook as the anxiety he was trying so desperately to hide refused to be ignored. He felt the heat of nervousness and embarrassment stain his cheeks.
“I don’t drink coffee.” He glanced up to see the pretty waitress pulling a face as he worked at cleaning the sugar off his doughnut. “Water’s fine, Fiji if you have it.”
“Okay,” she said slowly, giving him a baffled look before she turned around.
The restaurant was busting at the seams. People stood at the counter waiting for to-go orders. Holly’s fingers flew over the keys of the register. Quick and efficient as he remembered, she shoved the drawer closed with her hip as she reached over and answered the phone, balancing it between her shoulder and ear. She grabbed a ticket from a woman waiting and started working the register again.
“Eyes off the goods. Friend or not, you know Alex would poison your food for messing with his girl.”
Matt took his eyes off Holly, seeing George standing in front of him. “Hi, George.” He dropped the doughnut back into the basket and wiped his hand on the napkin. “Have a seat.”
“Nah, we’re taking off.”
George tilted his head toward Daryl and Brandon. Matt never knew any of them that well, but he wasn’t opposed to the distraction of company and was genuinely disappointed they were leaving.
George grimaced at Matt’s basket of doughnuts. “What’d you do to those starfish, boy?”
“My personal trainer has me off sugar.”
George arched an eyebrow, and he took an unconscious step back. The mix of snowbirds and town locals in Mirabella created a very real social gap; one George and Matt were on opposing sides of. Their shared friendship with Alex only bridged so much, and Matt winced, finding that he had been living in the highbrow world of corporate Atlanta too long. He had forgotten how to blend.
“It’s bad for your metabolism,” Matt explained.
“If you say so.” George took another step backward and gestured to his friends who were also inching toward the door. “We’ll see ya later, Matt. Try to get Alex out from under Holly and meet us for a few beers.”
He waved them off, thinking that if he could get Alex out, it wouldn’t be for beers with George. Needing the distraction against more carnal thoughts of Alex when he was here to find answers and nothing more, Matt looked back to Holly who had abandoned the register.
Glass in hand, Holly stopped in front of his table and set the red plastic glass in front of him. “Darleen has no idea how you expect her to get water from Fiji.”
“It’s a brand,” Matt explained.
“I know that.” Holly gave him a generous smile and pointed to the glass of water. “It’s the best Mirabella has to offer.”
“Right.” Matt pushed down the urge to look at the water in distaste. “Knowing firsthand the best Mirabella has to offer, I’d like to respectfully request any type of bottled water.”
“We don’t sell bottled water.” Holly helped herself to the other side of his booth, sliding in and then leaning her arms against the table. “Do you know how many water bottles end up in landfills every year?”
He winced, very afraid Holly had an actual number. “How many?”
“Enough to make serving bottled water a crime against nature.” Holly reached over and pushed the glass toward him. “This isn’t Frank’s. We have a really good filtration system. The water is fine. I promise.”
Matt avoided her eyes as he pulled the glass toward him. He made distracted work of opening the straw. Worse than her knowing, he could feel Holly’s pity as she studied him.
“Do you own this place with Alex?” he finally asked to fill the uncomfortable silence.
“Nope, just work here. I’m not masochistic enough to want to own a restaurant. Working in one is bad enough.”
“You’re good at it though.”
“Yeah, you can write it on my headstone.” Holly sounded unhappy with the prospect. “Here lies Holly; she worked a helluva fast register.”
“That’s not all you are.” He looked up at her sincerely. “You’re an amazing woman. I’ve always thought that, and Alex loves you. That’s—” He swallowed hard, lowering his gaze again and hating himself for being obvious. “That’s valuable, isn’t it?”
“I guess.” Holly’s knowing gaze found him across the table once more. “I’ve always liked you, Matt. You’re pretty cool for a snowbird.”
“I’m not a snowbird,” he reminded her, deciding to ignore the randomness of her statement. “I live in Atlanta full-time.”
“Fine, you’re cool for a tourist. Would you like to come to my place tonight? The beer’s cold. We own a deck of cards. You still play poker?”
Matt eyed her skeptically. “I don’t think Alex wants me over at your place. That would be awkward—for all of us.”
“My mama has a saying.” Holly gave him an impish grin. “Ask me what it is.”
“What is it?”
“It’s not a man’s business what he wants. He’ll get what he needs,” she said with a wide, conspiratorial smile. “He may not admit it, but he wants you to come over. Your friendship’s important to him.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” Matt said, feeling the cynical stab of pain that had been his constant companion since the night he and Alex broke up. “I know it isn’t.”
“How blind are you?” Holly rolled her eyes. “Take off, snowbirdie. Hanging around this place for five hours is ridiculous. We’ll be home by six. We’ll see you then.”
“Okay.” Matt looked back down at the table as a wealth of bittersweet emotions washed over him. He wanted to go to Alex’s place to at least connect with the friend he’d lost and finally get the answers to the questions that had been plaguing him. Yet, doing so had him feeling more vulnerable than he was comfortable being. He didn’t feel like the CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation. He felt awkward and out of his element showing up on the doorstep of a former lover, one who had made it very clear six years ago that he wanted nothing more to do with him. He should tell Holly to forget it and charter the first jet back to Atlanta, but all he said was, “Do I bring wine?”
“Beer’s better. Budweiser’s his favorite.”
“Right.” Matt nodded, his heart rate picking up a notch from the nostalgia that hit him without warning. “I remember that. I’ll bring the beer—”
“And cash, lots of it.” Holly stood up, her green eyes dancing with mischief. “Poker.”
“Right, poker.” He gave her a relieved smile. “Thanks, Holly.”
“Don’t thank me.” Holly’s voice was sad and sympathetic. “Just show up.”
“I don’t know where you live.”
“Yeah, you do—same shack on the beach. We’re creatures of habit.”
Matt looked around the restaurant once more, feeling almost claustrophobic. It was a completely different atmosphere than the old, run-down beach shack it’d been six years earlier when it was Frank’s café. As Starfish and Coffee this restaurant was fresh, exciting, and unbelievably busy. The pulse in the place was sky-high, and the servers ran instead of walked. Everything was very fast-paced and hurried, and still the wait was just a tad toward too long. But there was nothing to be done due to the sheer volume of customers. People didn’t seem to mind. They talked to their friends and family. It was a meeting place for Mirabella, and Alex was likely making money hand over fist because of it.
For the life of him Matt couldn’t fathom why Alex and Holly lived in the same beaten-down place they were at six years ago.
“Then I’ll be there,” he said, rather than comment on it. “Beer and cash in hand.”
Chapter Three
Six years earlier
August 2006
“Frank hired that snowbirdie Tarrington for the morning shift. I guess you’re babysitting.”
“But he’s a college boy.” Alex took a long drink of his beer as he stretched out on the couch and pretended to stare at the baseball game on the television to hide the way his heartbeat picked up. “Why’s he working for Frank when his mama’s got more money than God?”
“Probably some sorta bullshit soul-searching trek into the land of commoners that rich assholes like him do.” His brother Will shook his head and gave Alex a pitying look. “Better you than me, bro. Thank God I work the late shift. I think I would kill that fool. You know he’s gonna cry about getting his hands dirty.”
“Maybe not.” Alex glanced past Will to Holly, who had her beer halfway to her mouth. Her eyes were wide as a grin tugged at her lips. “He always seemed cool to me.”
“You think everyone’s cool. You’re too laid-back—typical beach bum.”
“Fuck you,” Alex said halfheartedly to his brother, still holding Holly’s gaze and meeting her grin with one of his own. He mouthed,
Holy shit.
Holly’s smile grew broader as she mouthed back,
I know.
“I hate when you two do that,” Will said in irritation. “I swear you share the same brain.”
“Truer than you realize.” Holly gave Alex a knowing smirk. She finally took a drink of her beer, grimaced, and set it on the coffee table. She reached over, grabbed Will’s drink out of his hand, and helped herself to it. “When’s Matt start?”
“Saturday.” Will gave Holly a look. “Get your own beer, Hol. You don’t live here despite evidence to the contrary. You don’t buy the groceries. If you’re gonna eat all our food and drink all the booze, I’m gonna start charging.”
Unperturbed, she gave Will an impish grin. “Can I spend the night again? The game’s still tied. I hate to miss the extra innings, but any later and I’ll be too tired to drive.”
Will snorted. “You live a mile up the road.”
“Stop being a dick. She’s had one too many.” Alex gave his brother a glare of annoyance. “Sure you can stay.”
“Thanks, baby.” Holly winked at him and then leaned back against the couch, her attention back on the game as she worked at finishing Will’s beer. “I’ll sleep in your bed—I hate the couch.”
Will glowered at Holly, his eyes narrowed. Then he stood and headed toward the kitchen. “No one get up. I’ll get myself another beer.”
“He’s gotten so surly lately,” Holly said, with a roll of her eyes. “What crawled up his ass and died?”
“He’s only surly when you’re here.”
“I’m always here. My mother thinks I moved out ages ago. I have my own closet and everything.”
Alex shrugged. “I dunno what his problem is.”
“Whatever.” Holly huffed, falling back against the couch. Never one to dwell on things for long, she started humming under her breath and finally whispered, “Matt’s an interesting development. You’ve been crushing on him since middle school.”
Alex sighed, trying to tell his dick to face reality. No matter how much time he was going to spend with Matt Tarrington, he wasn’t available. “Straight as a board, not a chance in hell.”
“I’d say bent,” Holly said, scooting over on the couch and cuddling up next to Alex. He put his arm around her and pulled her to him, enjoying the comfort that came from having Holly near. She beamed up at him. “I think you could work with the goods, especially if you’re at close quarters turning up the heat.”
Alex considered that, his cock hardening at the thought of working in the small kitchen at Frank’s restaurant with Matt to brush up against. “We gotta get you your own bed, Hol. Sharing one with you every night is seriously damaging my stress relief. We’re buying a sofa bed with our next checks.”
“You can jerk off in the shower,” Holly suggested, giving Alex a falsely innocent smile. “Put the soap to good use.”
“I don’t wanna jerk off in the shower. I wanna jerk off in bed and then go to sleep,” he snapped at her. “Help me out, will you?”
“Am I interrupting something?” Will asked, looking surlier than ever as he sat down on the other side of Holly, taking a long drink of his beer. He stared at the television, his shoulders stiff in annoyance as he cast another sidelong glance at the two of them curled up together. “Why don’t you two get a fucking room?”
“Wow, you are charming tonight.” Holly turned in Alex’s arms to look at Will. “Do you have a problem with me?”
“No, I love the idea of you freeloading off me for the past four years.”
“Excuse me?” Alex gave his brother an incredulous look. “Last I checked, I pay half the bills around here, and I do most of the maintenance for the rentals so you can get all your school shit done. Holly cleans them every time someone checks out and does all the sheets and towels, which you and I both hate. We wouldn’t even have this place if it wasn’t for her pitching in. Far as I’m concerned, it’s one-third hers, and if she wants to drink your beer, fucking deal with it.”
Will looked away, because he couldn’t argue with that. They got this little shack on the beach free of charge, but they still had to work their asses off maintaining the other ten beach rentals for Old Man Grover who took pity on Will and Alex when they’d lost their parents in a car crash as teenagers. It was a sweet deal, but neither Alex nor his brother was stellar at the laundry and housekeeping side of maintaining vacation rentals. Holly was a godsend.
Holly grinned at him, a tinge of pink showing on her tan cheeks. “I love you, baby.”
“Love you too.” Alex leaned down and kissed the top of her head before he got up to get his own beer when the game went to commercial.
“Bring snacks,” Holly called out. “Chips.”
“How do you stay so thin when you eat like you do?” Will asked, his annoyance fading away to general confusion as if Holly was a complete enigma to him. “Feeding you takes a second job.”