Page 135 of Men of Fort Dale: The Complete Series

“Okay,” Matt said slowly, unable to hide his trepidation. “What the hell are you talking about?”

William looked up, his eyes not nearly as cloudy as Matt expected from how drunk the man appeared. In fact, he was startled to see they were the same shade as Nick’s, though far more piercing and knowing.

“You tellin’ me,” William said, leaning forward in his seat, “that you ain’t never noticed one person who just...makes him different?”

“Er, different how?” Matt asked.

“Different. Lighter, freer, happier. Someone who lights him up from the inside just by his bein’ around them.”

Matt laughed. “I mean, you could just ask me if I’ve ever seen him in love with someone.”

“That I could.”

“Then, no.”

“No?”

“No.”

Sure, he’d seen Nick infatuated with a girl and seen him grow close to a couple.

But love? No, he’d never seen his friend light up, become easygoing, and truly relax around any of them.

The only time he ever saw Nick relaxed was when he was with the team and was completely at ease.

No, the only time he’d seen that was when it was just the two of them, without the world intruding and choking Nick with its presence.

William fiddled with the glass, gaze never leaving Matt. “I think ya have.”

“No,” Matt insisted, trying not to show his irritation, “I haven’t. No offense, sir, but I’m his best friend. I’ve known him for a decade and seen him through...just about everything. I’d have noticed if he was in love with someone.”

“Mmm,” William hummed thoughtfully, leaning back with a nod.

Matt didn’t trust it, though, the acceptance on the older man’s part. “It doesn’t sound like you agree with me.”

“Good because I don’t. Just having a moment of thought really, realizin’ something I should’ve thought before.”

“And that is?”

“I guess it’s harder to see a single tree when ya been surrounded by the whole damn forest.”

Matt frowned. “Again, no offense, sir, but that doesn’t make any sense.”

“No?” William asked with an innocent, wide-eyed stare.

Matt opened his mouth to reaffirm that no, it did not, in fact, make sense.

His lips parted, his tongue lifted, the tip pressing against the back of his top teeth in preparation for the word.

He sucked in a breath, his brow coming down further to deepen his frown of irritation at William’s belligerence.

And froze.

A beat. A moment in time that could have been a few seconds or five minutes.

His eyes widened, erasing the frown. A breath of air escaped him, emptying his lungs. His mouth open, lips parted in disbelief.

The words had sunk in, their meaning understood, but?—

“No,” Matt whispered, unable to shake his head. “No.”

There was no way in heaven, hell, or on Earth that what William was skating around saying was true.

“Nick wouldn’t be,” Matt finished.

“No,” William agreed. “He wouldn’t. Probably because he is, ain’t no past tense about it.”

Matt laughed, shaking his head. “But he’s not.”

“Boy, I raised that man. I’ve seen him for the past thirty years of his life.

You really think I don’t see it? Without you around, he’s still him, but he’s distant, quieter, not really in the moment.

With you around? He don’t look like he’s carryin’ the weight of the world on his shoulders.

He’s gotten better about it, but sometimes he still looks at ya, and there’s a light there.

..same damn light I bet anyone can see when I look at Kim or her at me. ”

“William…” Matt began, shaking his head.

“Say what you want, but I ain’t seen no one, and I mean no one makes him laugh the way you do.

Ain’t seen no one who makes him smile the way he does when it’s at you.

And really? Take this from an old man who might know a thing or two about love.

I know it when I see it. Him, he’s more when you’re around. ”

Matt was glad the window was behind him to lean against, not caring that the glass was cold.

He felt drunk, the kind where the world spun so heavily you were left begging for the room to let you get off.

He very much wanted to deny what William was saying, and he wanted to keep denying it till the sun came up.

But he could see the light in Nick’s eyes when Matt showed up unexpectedly.

He could hear the soft timbre of his voice, a tone Matt never heard with anyone else.

The way Nick’s arm lingered around his shoulders when they hugged as if trying to hold on a little longer before letting go.

Sometimes, Nick would watch him intently but never explained why or what he was thinking.

Hell, he had a whole slew of memories and little moments trying to crowd their way into his head, each demanding his attention, even as his brain tried desperately to filter them, trying to make sense of them as they flooded in.

They were friends. That was all they’d ever been.

Sure, their friendship raised some eyebrows, drew attention, and begged questions, but that was on other people.

He and Nick were incredibly close, and Matt had always been thankful to have Nick in his life.

Hell, they’d been there for one another during the pitfalls of romantic entanglements in the past. Was that something someone did when they had feelings?

When they were...in love with the other person.

Matt closed his eyes, knowing the answer before the question had time to finish flitting across his thoughts. It made so much sense and, somehow, no sense at all. Was he just blind, or was everyone else seeing things?

Could it really be true?

“Why tell me this?” he asked hoarsely.

And why now?

“A little bit for you,” William said, swirling the dregs of his drink at the bottom of the glass. “A man deserves to know the truth, even if he is bein’ blind as hell to it.”

Matt gave a strangled noise that he’d meant to be a laugh.

William cleared his throat. “And for my son. I’ve been watchin’ that boy dance around the truth for years now, and I was always kinda hopin’ he’d do somethin’ about it. Turns out he ain’t going to, so maybe, just maybe, I can help him, even if he don’t want it.”

“I don’t…” Matt began, not knowing what to say, let alone what to do about the information.

William shook his head. “Ain’t sayin’ you gotta do anything or that it’s all on you. Hell, you can keep the secret just like he’s been doin’ all these years. That’s up to you. But a man can’t do anything unless he’s got all the facts laid out, which ya do.”

“Not all,” Matt whispered.

“No, not all, but enough to get started on somethin’ if that’s what ya want.”

He could barely wrap his head around what William had just dropped in his lap.

“Well,” William said, standing up. “I think I caused enough trouble for one night. The missus is gonna kill me if she learns about this, and Nick probably ain’t gonna be much better.”

“I won’t...I won’t say anything,” Matt told him softly.

“Ya know, all things considered, I don’t think it would be bad if you did. At least to my boy.”

And with that, the older man drained the rest of his drink and sauntered slowly out of the room.

Matt stared at the empty doorway. The floor had dropped from under him, and he had to hold the cool windowsill to keep himself steady.

“What the hell am I going to do?” he asked the empty room.

But there was no answer, only more questions as he stood watching the shadows of snowflakes as they drifted past the window.