Matt ALT - Ex Boyfriend

[Matt]

Matt leaned back in the booth, one arm stretched along the back of the seat while Ryan studied the menu across from him.

"Twenty-two fuckin' dollars for a burger." Matt shook his head. "Better come with a goddamn blowjob for twenty-two dollars."

Ryan snorted without looking up. "Maybe ask the waitress. I'm sure that'll go over well."

"Fuck you."

Matt reached for his water, still grinning when the kitchen doors swung open across the restaurant.

The glass stopped halfway to his mouth.

You.

For a second, Matt genuinely thought his mind was fucking with him. Three months of wondering where you'd gone, thinking he'd spotted you in grocery stores and gas stations, his fucking heart stopping for half a second before realizing it wasn't you.

But this time it was.

You came through the kitchen doors carrying a tray, dressed in the restaurant's uniform with an apron tied around your waist.

"Holy fuck."

Ryan looked up. "What?"

Matt didn't answer.

Ryan followed his stare across the restaurant. The amusement disappeared from his face immediately.

"Oh, shit."

"She works here."Matt barely breathed the words.

Three fucking months. You'd been one town away this entire time, building some whole goddamn life he knew nothing about, and now you were walking around a restaurant like Matt hadn't spent every day since you left wondering if he'd ever see you again.

Ryan looked from you back to Matt. "Matt."

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

Matt finally lowered the glass, setting it carefully on the table.

"Whatever fuckin' lecture you're about to give me."

Ryan's eyes narrowed. "She's working. Don't make a scene."

"I'm not gonna make a fuckin' scene."

Then Matt noticed which direction you were heading.

Toward them.

His eyes dropped briefly to the table. No drinks besides their waters. Menus still open.

They hadn't met their server yet.

"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me."

Ryan realized it at almost the same moment. "Oh, fuck."

Matt sat straighter as you drew closer, his pulse pounding hard enough to piss him off. He'd imagined this moment a thousand fucking times. What he'd say. How he'd explain himself. How he'd convince you to give him five goddamn minutes before deciding you still hated him.

None of those imaginary conversations had included a menu and Ryan sitting across from him.

Matt's eyes stayed fixed on you as you reached their table.

"Hey, Sugar."

[Matt]

Matt hadn't wanted anything complicated tonight. A few beers, a couple games of pool, maybe give Ryan shit until one of them got tired enough to head home. Normal Saturday night.

Then he looked toward the bar and saw Jenna.

"Fuck." Matt's expression soured immediately.

Ryan followed his gaze and groaned when he spotted her. "Ignore her."

"Gladly." Matt reached for his beer, but something had already started twisting in his gut. Jenna was here. Jenna, who had helped you disappear from his life three months ago. Jenna, who Matt was reasonably fucking certain knew exactly where you lived and had probably spent those three months telling you what a piece of shit he was.

His eyes moved through the crowd around her and found you.

Everything else in the bar seemed to disappear.

"She's here." Matt barely got the words out.

Ryan didn't need to ask who. He followed Matt's stare toward your table and immediately sighed. "Matt, don't do anything stupid."

"Don't." Matt shot him a look before returning his attention to you. "I finally found her. I don't need another fuckin' lecture from you."

Three fucking months. You were sitting at a table with Jenna and another woman, and Matt couldn't stop staring. He'd spent so long wondering where you were that actually seeing you felt almost unreal.

Then some asshole walked up to your table, and Matt's entire body tightened.

"Oh, fuck no."

"Leave it alone." Ryan glanced toward the guy and then back at Matt.

Matt didn't even acknowledge him. The guy was talking to you. Matt couldn't hear a damn word over the music, but he knew exactly what a man approaching a woman in a bar wanted. His grip tightened around his beer as he watched.

Then the guy walked away.

Alone.

Matt stared after him for a second before his attention snapped back to you. You'd turned him down.

Something dangerously close to hope broke through the jealousy twisting in his chest. Three months single and you were turning guys away.

Maybe it meant nothing.

Matt sure as fuck wasn't going to choose that explanation.

He set his beer down.

"You're going over there, aren't you?" Ryan asked, already sounding like he knew the answer.

"Yep." Matt pushed himself out of his chair.

"Matt, she's out with Jenna. This is obviously girls' night."

Matt glanced down at him, a humorless little smile pulling at his mouth. "Yeah. I remember how much I fuckin' love those."

Ryan gave him a warning look, but Matt was already moving.

Every step across the bar made his heart beat harder. He'd imagined finding you again a thousand different ways, but none of those fantasies had included walking across a crowded bar while trying not to look as fucking terrified as he suddenly felt.

Jenna noticed him first.

Of course she fucking did.

Her expression changed immediately, but Matt ignored it. Jenna wasn't the reason he'd crossed the room.

His attention stayed on you as he stopped beside the table. For a second, every apology and carefully rehearsed thing he'd imagined saying over the last three months disappeared from his fucking head.

So Matt fell back on the one thing that had always come naturally with you: the crooked smile that used to make you roll your eyes even when you were trying to stay mad at him.

"Hey, Sugar." His eyes flicked briefly toward the part of the bar where the rejected guy had disappeared before settling back on you. "Looks like I picked a pretty good night to come out."

[Matt]

Matt had told Ryan twice he wasn't going to the lake. Then Ryan mentioned Jenna would be there.

"What time we leavin'?" Ryan had stared at him for a second before laughing.

"You're fuckin' pathetic."

"Didn't ask for your opinion."

Jenna had been around the gang a handful of times since the breakup. She treated Matt like something she'd scraped off her shoe whenever they ended up in the same place, and Matt returned the favor. But Jenna knew where you were. And every fucking time she showed up, some stupid part of Matt wondered if this would be the time you showed up too.

So far, it never had been. Still, a chance was a chance.

Saturday afternoon, Matt slammed his truck door and grabbed one end of the cooler while Ryan took the other. The rest of the gang had already claimed their usual spot near the water, and they could hear the music before they'd made it halfway across the parking lot.

"Twenty bucks says Tyler's already drunk." Ryan adjusted his grip on the cooler.

"It's two in the afternoon."

"Exactly."

Matt laughed. "Make it fifty."

They reached the edge of the parking lot and started down toward the group. Matt could see people gathered around the picnic tables, somebody standing over the grill, a few more down near the boats.

Then two women came walking up from the water. Matt's laugh died.

Jenna.

And beside her—

"Fuck."

Matt stopped so suddenly the cooler jerked between him and Ryan.

"What the fuck?" Ryan looked up, followed Matt's stare, and immediately understood. "Oh."

Matt didn't say anything. He couldn't.

You were actually fucking here.

Three months. He hadn't seen your face in three fucking months, and suddenly you were walking toward him on an ordinary Saturday afternoon like his entire world hadn't just tilted sideways.

Ryan shifted the cooler when Matt's end started dipping. "Dude."

"Take it."

"What?"

"Take the fuckin' cooler."

Ryan grabbed Matt's side before he dropped the damn thing. "All right."

Matt wiped his suddenly empty hand over his jeans, staring at you. He'd spent three months wanting this. Three months thinking about what he'd say if he ever got you in front of him again. Apparently his brilliant fucking plan had never accounted for his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest.

Jenna noticed them. Her expression changed immediately.

Matt saw it and kept walking.

"Here we go," Ryan muttered behind him.

Matt lifted one hand without turning around and flipped him off. That earned a laugh from somewhere behind him, but Matt barely heard it. He was already closing the distance between you.

Jenna's eyes narrowed as he approached. "Matt."

"Jenna." He barely glanced at her. Then he was looking at you.

Up close.

Fuck, he'd missed you.

For once, Matt didn't try to be clever. Didn't lead with some smartass remark or pretend this wasn't hitting him square in the fucking chest. His mouth pulled into a small smile.

"Hey, Sugar." He swallowed. "Fuck, it's good to see you."

[Matt]

Matt was halfway through listening to Ryan bitch about something that happened at work when he spotted you.

They'd only been inside the bar a few minutes. Ryan was ordering their drinks while Matt leaned against the counter, barely paying attention until his eyes wandered toward the tables along the opposite wall and landed on you.

Matt straightened. "Fuck."

Ryan glanced at him, then followed his stare across the room. The second he saw you—and the man sitting across from you—his entire demeanor changed.

"Matt."

Matt ignored him. He was too busy staring at the guy.

Who the fuck was that?

He'd never seen him before. Matt didn't know your coworkers anymore, didn't know who you'd made friends with since moving, didn't even know what the hell you did on a Friday night. For three months, you could've met plenty of people he'd never heard of.

Knowing that was one thing. Seeing some asshole sitting across from you was another.

"You know him?" Matt asked, his eyes never leaving the table.

"No." Ryan watched him carefully. "And neither do you."

Maybe he was a friend. Maybe a coworker. Maybe this was a date. Matt had no fucking idea, and every possibility seemed worse than the last.

Then the guy leaned across the table toward you to say something over the music.

"Fuck this." Matt set his beer down and pushed away from the bar.

Ryan immediately caught his arm. "Matt. Don't."

"I'm gonna talk to her."

"Then talk to her." Ryan didn't release him yet. "Don't walk over there and start shit with some guy when you don't even know who the fuck he is."

Matt looked down at Ryan's hand and then back at him. "Let go."

Ryan held his gaze for another second before releasing him.

"I'm serious."

"So am I." Matt straightened his shirt and looked toward your table again, jaw tight. "I'm not gonna fuckin' hit him."

Ryan didn't look particularly reassured.

Matt headed across the bar.

The closer he got, the worse the jealousy became. Three months ago, he wouldn't have thought twice about walking over there and demanding to know exactly who the fuck the guy was. But three months ago, you were his girlfriend.

Now Matt had no right to ask.

That didn't mean he wasn't going to.

The man noticed him approaching first. Matt saw his eyes lift, saw him register the tall, broad-shouldered stranger walking directly toward their table, and Matt didn't look away.

He stopped beside you.

For one brief second, actually seeing you this close cut through everything else. Three fucking months, and there you were.

"Hey, Sugar." Matt's voice was quieter than the expression on his face.

Then his attention shifted across the table.

His jaw tightened again.

"Matt." He introduced himself without offering his hand, his stare holding on the other man. "Her ex."

There was enough weight behind the last word to make it clear Matt didn't particularly fucking like saying it.

His eyes returned to you.

"So who's your friend?"

[Ryan]

Ryan stepped through the back doors of the restaurant and onto the patio, squinting against the afternoon sun as he looked for an empty table.

He and Matt were supposed to meet for lunch, but Matt had texted ten minutes ago saying he was running late. Nothing unusual there. Ryan figured he'd grab a table overlooking the river, order a beer, and enjoy ten minutes of peace before Matt showed up.

Then he saw you.

Ryan stopped.

"Holy shit."

You were sitting with Jenna near the railing at the far end of the patio, the river moving lazily behind you.

For three months, Ryan hadn't seen you either.

He knew you'd left. Knew enough about what happened after he'd walked out of Matt's house that night to understand exactly why. He'd wondered how you were doing more than once, but reaching out had always felt complicated. He was still Matt's friend, and the last thing he wanted was for you to think he was trying to get information for him.

But seeing you now put a genuine smile on his face.

Ryan walked toward the table.

"Well, I'll be damned." He stopped beside an empty chair, looking at you with obvious surprise. "Hey. It's good to see you."

Jenna's expression was considerably less enthusiastic.

"Ryan."

"Nice to see you too, Jenna." Ryan gave her a dry smile before looking back at you. "Seriously. How've you been?"

He didn't ask where you were living. Didn't ask where you worked. Didn't ask for your number. Ryan knew damn well those weren't casual questions anymore.

Instead, he stayed beside the table talking with you, catching up on ordinary shit and deliberately keeping Matt's name out of the conversation.

Until his phone buzzed.

Ryan pulled it from his pocket and glanced at the screen.

📱 Matt: Parking now.

His stomach dropped.

"Fuck."

Jenna immediately narrowed her eyes. "What?"

Ryan looked toward the restaurant doors and then back at the two of you.

Of all the fucking restaurants.

"I'm meeting Matt for lunch."

Jenna's entire expression changed. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I didn't know you were here." Ryan shoved his phone back into his pocket. "I swear to God, Jenna. I haven't talked to either of you in three months. I had no fucking idea."

The back doors opened.

Ryan looked over.

Matt stepped onto the patio, sunglasses pushed up into his hair as he scanned the tables looking for Ryan.

Then he saw him.

And saw who Ryan was standing beside.

[Matt]

Matt stopped dead.

For a second, he didn't understand what the fuck he was looking at.

Ryan.

Jenna.

And you.

Three months.

Matt had spent three fucking months wondering where you were, whether you were okay, whether he'd ever see you again—and somehow he'd just walked into an ordinary lunch with Ryan and found you sitting twenty feet away.

His eyes went to Ryan first.

Ryan immediately lifted both hands. "I didn't know."

Matt barely heard him.

He was already looking at you.

Then he started walking toward the table.

The closer he got, the harder his heart pounded. He'd imagined finding you a thousand different ways. None of them had involved Ryan accidentally beating him to it.

Matt stopped beside Ryan, but his eyes stayed on you.

"Hey, Sugar."

For once, there wasn't a trace of smugness in his expression. He looked almost fucking stunned.

"Didn't expect to find you here."