Page 108 of The Matchmaker Club

“Yes.”

He handed me his Matchmaker letter and walked out of my room. I sat down on the edge of my bed and took in a deep breath before opening the envelope.

Dear Matchmaker,

Not so long ago, I was engaged to be married. I loved her and wanted nothing more than to build a family with her. She was a beacon of light in my dark little world.

Or so I thought.

My whole life, I very rarely let anyone in, and when I finally let her in… I later found out it was all a lie. She never really loved me, and she certainly didn’t care about building a family.

It wasn’t a broken heart I suffered so much as a hardened one. I completely closed off from everyone. I couldn’t talk about it. Instead, I focused on the steady things, things I could control. Things I excelled in: responsibility, reliability, routine.

Then a small-town girl came into my life, and everything changed. From the first moment I met her, she challenged me. I felt like I had woken up from a long sleep.

I wanted more of it.

I wanted to know her and how her mind worked. What she loved and why. What made her angry and happy and sad, and all those buttons of emotion that made up who she was. The more time I spent with her, allowing myself to dive into her world, the happier I became. I’ve never been more fascinated and more scared of a woman in all my life.

She showed me a side of myself I never knew existed until she flipped my world upside down. The strangest part? I feel more alive and more myself than I ever have… although, I’m not sure I can fully explain what that is. I’m still trying to figure it out.

I’ve always done what’s expected. But now, I’m falling in love with her despite all the reasons I shouldn’t. And I’m not sure what to do about it, especially since she still has feelings for another guy who once broke her heart and now wants her back. I have no business trying to compete with that.

I don’t know what will come of this, and part of me wants to walk away and immerse myself in the familiar again. Maybe that’s just what will happen in the end. That I’ll go back to my old ways and shut off completely. And, somehow that scares me more than falling in love again.

If there is any magic to this Matchmaker thing, I could sure use it about now.

Thanks for listening.

Beast

I opened Lucas’s door, and he instantly stood up from the bed.

“I’m not in love with Austin.”

“You’re not? But I saw you—”

“He kissed me, and I felt nothing. I told him I don’t want to be anything more than friends.”

“You felt nothing at all?”

“No.” I crossed the threshold and inched closer to him. “Because I’m in love with you.”

Before I knew it, his mouth was on mine, and all the reasons we shouldn’t be doing this shattered into nothingness. There was only warmth and that overwhelming need to feel closer to him.

I pulled Lucas into me and pressed my back against the wall. My legs were around his waist like before as I disappeared into the sweet ache of his mouth on mine… every stolen breath and tease of his tongue, until he couldn’t take it anymore, kissing me even harder.

I dug my nails into his back until the fabric of his T-shirt twisted into my fist.

He ripped his mouth away and pressed his forehead against mine, breathing heavily. “How is this possibly ever going to work?”

My hands lined his jaw, and I unraveled my legs from around his waist. “I don’t know.”

He pulled away slowly and laced his fingers with mine. That light in his eyes was back. “A Freeman and a Reed falling in love? What are the odds of that happening?”

“Not as good as the odds of us not working out in the end.”

Now that light was beginning to disappear. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “We should take this slow.”