Matteo's Return (SEU, #2) COMPLETED ✓ ( PATREON STORY )

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FOUR

I pondered deeply on how Tosha could've gotten mixed with the likes of Alexander but no reasonable explanation came to mind. Then it hit me. The night I ran into her at the club, Xan had been doing a set. I remembered heading down to the club that night with a few of my boys from the team. I'd been in a good mood up until I stepped foot inside and bumped into him. To the public he seemed to mix in well with the other college students but behind it all, I knew who he really was.

To the public, Alexander was a well renowned technical genius. But to me, he was nothing but a thief, a dealer and above all things, a liar. How the fuck did he weasel his way into her life? What did Xan want from her? How long had she known him?

I sighed deeply to myself and checked the time on my phone. I'd driven back to the beach house in a hurry, needing nothing more than to calm my nerves with a smoke. Although Tosha and I agreed to meet at my place, I wanted to get back into my car and head over to her place instead. I had a list of questions I wanted to get off of my chest but every conversation I recited in my head hadn't settled well with me no matter how much I tried to deconstruct it.

I sighed, running my hands through my hair as the sound of the sliding patio door allowed me to escape my thoughts for only a second. I believed it was Trey who was stepping outside so I kept my head in my hands, massaging my messy curls and hoping to allow the blood flow to help me think a little clearer.

"I feel like I'm losing my cool, man." I muttered to my friend.

"That makes two of us."

My body became rigid at the sound of her gentle voice. A voice I'd longed to hear. A voice that was carved deeply into the files of my memory.

I looked up from my hands, my eyes searching until they landed on her face. I was met by big brown familiar eyes that appeared a bit glossy. Her lips were set in a pout while she rubbed her hands down her sides, reluctantly.

I stood immediately. I wasn't sure if I were to embrace her and comfort her as I should've done the night at the hospital or if I were to give her space. But she'd been given enough space. Maybe even too much space if she was now seeing Xan.

"Tosh." I decided to take a step to her and to my surprise, she mimicked my motion.

A weak smile graced her face but it didn't reach her eyes. She brought her hands in front of her pelvis and intertwined her fingers. "I...I...uh..." She stuttered, not sure what to say.

I was slightly relieved to know this was just as hard for her as it seemed for me.

I pointed to my patio set. "You want to sit?" It would be better if we sat. Standing in front of one another didn't seem fitting, especially as we had a lot to discuss.

"Uh...Yeah..." She agreed and chose the seat closest to me.

Exhaling quietly, I took the seat next to her and watched her from my peripheral vision. I looked out to the dark blue ocean under the midnight sky while she wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans nervously.

For a moment, we sat in a very uncomfortable silence. I wasn't sure if I were to be the one to start the conversation or if she wanted to be the one to open that bag of worms. I was aware that the conversation of her family would've been one to have the day we got pulled over by her father. For the short months that I've known her, she didn't speak much of her family and that wasn't something I wanted to force her to share with me.

"I just want to start off by apologizing for what happened a few days ago." She said weakly, ultimately breaking the stillness between us.

I glanced over at her and only then did I really see her. I finally saw the woman she'd worked so hard to keep hidden from me—from the world. I saw a woman who was too afraid to speak, a woman too afraid to be vulnerable, a woman too afraid to feel the genuine pain dormant behind her eyes that she learned to mask so well.