Zori
When we arrived back at the office after lunch, Mateo was at my desk, holding his motorcycle helmet in his hand. Distressed jeans, boots, a soiled white shirt, and his leather jacket completed his outfit. He wore bad boy so well; he even had the tattoos. His hair stuck out from beneath his black beanie on the sides, and he sported a smile. Always a warm smile from this one.
“Beautiful girl, I thought we were having lunch today,” he said, fingering the business cards on my desk.
“I’m so sorry, Matty, I forgot. Mr. Carver and I went for lunch.”
My boss nodded in Mateo’s direction before heading back into his office.
“Yeah, you could have texted. Something. I left the shop early to come and spend some time with my best girl.”
That was the thing about Mateo…he had a way of making my shitty days bright. Always. When I rounded my desk and woke up my computer screen, I smiled back his way.
“You’re right.” I sighed. “I should have texted. I’m sorry. How about dinner at your place tonight?”
“You mean that?” he asked, hopeful.
You’d think we didn’t hang out, but we did. Like all the time. I saw him almost every other day, and we talked daily.
“Yeah, I’ll bring the wine. And Paige. You supply the food.”
At the mention of my other bestie, Paige, Mateo grunted and slid his hand to the back of his neck in frustration. I didn’t know why he wouldn’t give Paige a chance.
“I’d rather it just be us.”
“Matty, Paige and you would be good together,” I said. I had been trying to pair them up for months, but Mateo dodged her at every turn. Which was surprising because he wasn’t a serial dater. He was the type of guy who did long-term relationships. The problem was, all the girls he’d dated thus far were a total waste of space. Paige would be perfect for him. She was cute, smart, and funny. She would get his sense of humor, and I think she could even handle his moodiness. Probably not as well as I did, but she’d be pretty damn close.
And a bonus for Paige…Mateo wasn’t bad on the eyes. He was hot, and that beautiful, bronzed skin and tattooed body would be a dream come true for any woman. He knew how to treat a lady, too. I was sure that had everything to do with his amazing parents, who were still happily married. They made me aspire to that, to be like them when I got older. The one true constant with Mateo and me was that our parents were phenomenal with us. Even when we’d lived in a crappy part of town, they always knew how to make us feel special. Honestly, we’d never even realized how poor we were until the kids at school started pointing it out to us. Mateo shrugged it off. Me, I had a harder time.
I regarded my friend as he stared out the windows behind my desk to the world outside. I did have a killer view, but he still hadn’t answered my question. Okay, I guess he had, but he didn’t give me the answer I wanted.
“Earth to Mateo?”
“Yeah, yeah, if she really needs to be there, you can bring her.” He winked at me before turning to leave. On his way out, he stopped and talked to Elise. Or rather, she halted him. Elise was one of those snake-in-the-grass females. You know…the smooth until they slither into your bed and just never freaking leave kind? That would be her. She’d been trying to get into Matty’s bed forever.
* * *
“Remind me why I’m here.” Paige complained. I had thought for sure she wanted to come. She’d told me on a number of occasions just how hot she thought Mateo was, but now, she acted as if she couldn’t be bothered, like she didn’t want to get with him.
“Why are you acting brand new all of a sudden?”
“Brand new? Me?” She shoved her hand into my shoulder playfully. “I’m not acting anything. Mateo tolerates me because he loves you.”
“No, he doesn’t. Well, yeah he does. Love me. But he’s just shy,” I countered. He’s so not shy.
“Right, which is why I saw him a couple of weeks ago sucking face with a brunette in Kroger.”
“You did?”
“Hmmm, girl, and let me tell you, it was all tongue action. Like he was mimicking what he could do had he been giving her the business.”
“Gross! I don’t need to know that,” I said, laughing.
“Sure you don’t.”
“Honestly, Paige. I don’t.”
“That boy is dying to give you the business. You should just hook up with your best boyfriend. Things would definitely be easier.”
Mateo was hot, but thinking about him sucking face with anyone—let alone me—well, just no. It wasn’t something I wanted to think about. We had a rule. I didn’t bring my male friends around him, and he didn’t bring his girls around me. It had caused a crap-ton of problems in the past for both of us. Matty’s last serious girlfriend had broken it off because she was tired of being second. To which, I’d pointed out, she wasn’t. She was more like third, or possibly fourth.
For Mateo, only a few things mattered. Family, me, and the shop he worked at. Ask anyone who knew him, and they’d tell you. He knew how to treat his women; that was never the problem. The issues arose in trying to gain his attention. I counted myself lucky, as I’d been holding his attention since the day I moved next door.
We knocked, and when Mateo opened the door for us, the first thing that hit me was the smell of fresh veggies frying, and the aroma of arroz con gandules. Yum. And if he was cooking that, it meant we were having roast pork shoulder. He was a god in the kitchen, and he knew it. In high school, he cooked for every girl he went out with. Truth be told, I’d had a crush on him back then. A serious one. We’d been so close, and I’d watched him grow from scrawny kid to very masculine, very fit male. What high school girl wouldn’t swoon? But Matty had explained that we could only be friends. That he wasn’t ready for a girlfriend. Silly me, I had initially taken that to mean that when he was ready to be serious, I’d be that girl. It never happened.
That’s life.
Win some, and you lose some. In my case, I had gained a best friend out of the deal. He was always there for me, no matter what.
“Glad to see you beautiful ladies.” Mateo’s deep voice filtered out into the air. He was always so calm, so cool. He was the epitome of a gentleman. I hardly ever saw anything upset him or make him sad. He was just so well put-together. He wasn’t a pushover. He was just nice.
“Hey, Matty.” I was pulled into a warm embrace, and he gave the best hugs ever. Full body, full contact. Some would say he was too friendly. To me, it was just Mateo. He smelled like garlic and black pepper with hints of alcohol.
“Paige.” Matty didn’t hug Paige as much, which was what had me thinking he was into her but didn’t want to seem too obvious. He pulled her into a one-arm hug. I smiled because I could see them together. They would make such a cute couple.
“Hey, Mateo. It smells scrumptious in here,” Paige commented.
“It’s Zori’s favorite.”
“Oh, is it?” She had that tone in her voice, the one where she tried to get something out that should be obvious like, “oh, really.” Which made no sense. It wasn’t like I didn’t know he could cook. I ate at his house at least once a week because the food was so damn delicious.
“You two play nice,” I scolded, walking into his living room and setting down my purse. “I brought the wine, Matty, I’m just gonna go and put this in the kitchen. You two stay out here and talk.”
Both of my friends examined me as if I’d lost my mind. But I knew what I was doing. I was creating opportunity. The best kind.