Page 41 of The Playboy’s Playbook

Chapter Thirty-Six

LAILA

I couldn’t recall what happened at that rodeo if someone paid me a million dollars. I was lost in Matthew the entire time.

We just sat on the bleachers like a pair of lovesick idiots smiling at each other and not saying a single word. If I were a passerby, I would’ve thought it was cute, but in actuality, we probably looked stupid.

After the rodeo, we walked back to his truck and he drove me to my mom’s house. Instead of going inside, he laid some hoodies he had in his backseat on the cab of the truck and we laid down and stargazed.

Stargazing is a romantic thing between lovers and considering we’ve had no contact for a year, this should be the last thing we should be doing together.

“Did you have fun tonight?” Matthew asks, breaking the tension.

I turn my head to face him before completely propping up on my side. “I did. Thank you for inviting me.”

Matthew props up to face me, giving me a gentle smile. “Of course.”

We lie in silence once more, unsure of what to say or do. I want to move closer, to rest my head on his chest and feel his hands run gently through my hair. But I don’t. Instead, I get up, make my way to the edge of the cab, and hop out, heading inside to get Nola ready for bed.

Matthew tosses the hoodies back into the truck before following me to the front door with his hands tucked into his pockets.

“It’s gonna be at Dr. Hyde’s office just off of Old Main at eleven. Nola’s graduation, I mean. You don’t have to –”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Next weekend, right?” he asks, taking slow steps toward me.

Unable to speak, I simply nod.

“I’ll be there. I’ll uh…I’ll text you. If that’s okay with you?”

Once again, I nod and smile softly. I don’t know where my ability to speak has gone, but I need it to come back.

Matthew takes one final step toward me and kisses my cheek. “Goodnight, Laila.”

“Goodnight, Matthew,” I finally croak. I unlock the door and step inside, looking at Matthew one more time before shutting the door. I linger until I hear his truck roar to life and listen for the sound to fade away into the night.

I close my eyes and release a sigh, full of relief and anticipation. Tonight was amazing and it allowed me to prove to myself that I can be around him and have self-control. It wasn’t easy by a long shot.

I unlatch Nola’s kennel and she bolts outside to use the bathroom while I go get ready for bed. Tonight is going to be the first night in a long time where the dreams I have of Matthew are good and not plagued with sadness.

I feel like there’s hope for us to at least be friends.

“Nola, just wear the hat for ten minutes and then you can rip it up!” I cry in frustration as I sit in my car trying to get Nola’s graduation cap on her head.

I don’t know why the staff thought that having the dog’s dress up would be a good idea because they clearly don’t have to deal with the dramatics that I do.

Finally, after an extra five minutes of bribing her with treats and breaking into a sweat, the cap is on her head and we’re headed into the building.

I brush my free hand down my pink sundress and adjust Nola’s cap slightly so she doesn’t remember it’s on her head and tries to rip it off again. Just as I get on the top step, I turn my head at the last minute and see Matthew’s truck pulling into the parking lot.

As soon as he gets out, my heart begins beating erratically. He’s wearing light wash jeans, a pink polo shirt, and white sneakers. We haven’t spoken since the rodeo last week, so it’s funny that he and I are matching. At a quick glance, we look like a happy and in-love couple.

He approaches us and my heart swells at the fact that he has the toy bouquet in his hands. I remember packing it in the box I gave to Luke and didn’t think twice about it. Seeing that he kept it makes me feel guilty for giving it back in the first place.

“Hey,” he says with an easy smile.

“Hey,” I return the gesture as Nola begins squirming in my arms to get to Matthew.

“Woah, woah. Someone’s excited about graduating,” Matthew laughs as he holds Nola to his chest with one hand and holds the door open for me with the other.

“Hi Laila. Hi Nola. Hi man I’ve never seen before,” the receptionist, Brooke, greets as we approach the desk.

“Hey Brooke. This is Matthew. He’s –” I stop and turn to look at the man in question, trying to figure out what to call him.

My ex? We never put a label on our relationship. My friend? That’s towing the line a bit, but a safe option. “He’s my friend from school. I invited him to watch the graduation.”

Brooke passes us a kind smile as she hands me two programs outlining the ceremony and points us in the direction where all the other invited guests are sitting. Matthew passes Nola to Brooke so that she can go get ready to walk across the mini stage they have set up.

Matthew and I find two chairs in the front row with the perfect angle to see Nola walk in. I smile and wave to a few of the other pet parents who are here to watch their fur babies graduate, introducing Matthew to a few of them.

Surprisingly, most people here don’t know him and if they do, they don’t care about what he did. To them, he’s just another person here to watch their favorite furry friend get a doggie treat and take a picture.

Once we’re settled in our seats, Who Let the Dogs Out begins playing over the loudspeakers causing the audience to erupt into laughter.

I quickly whip out my phone and Matthew does the same as a slideshow presentation plays in the background that has a picture of the entire group of puppies that are graduating today.

One of the staffers is behind the curtain telling the dogs when to go to Dr. Hyde to shake her hand and retrieve their bone.

“This is too cute,” I beam as we watch dog after dog walk the stage. For each dog, a picture appears on the slide with their name, breed, and their favorite thing to do.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Matthew agrees.

The slideshow changes to Nola’s picture –she’s in a pink ruffle dress and her head is tilted to the side with her tongue out. I immediately press record to capture the moment my baby walks across the stage in a calm manner.

Well, at least I hope she walks across the stage in a calm manner – I never know when it comes to Nola Wright.

“Next, we have Miss Nola July Wright. Her mommy is Laila Wright. Nola is five years old and her favorite thing to do is run as fast as she can into everything in her way because she may be tiny, but she’s very mighty,” Brooke says into the microphone.

The blue curtain pulls back and Nola trots out and heads directly for Dr. Hyde, who has to squat really low since Nola’s the smallest dog in the group. I guess that’s why they saved her for last.

Nola lifts her paw to shake Dr. Hyde’s hand, turns her head to look at the photographer, grabs her bone, and trots off to her spot on the risers they have set up. I breathe a sigh of relief that catches Matthew’s attention.

“Are you okay?” he asks, concern in his voice.

“Oh, I’m fine. I’m just glad she did what she was supposed to do,” I answer as I continue to snap pictures of Nola, who could care less about what’s going on around her as she’s relegated herself to laying down and gnawing on the bone.

“Nola July? For the month you adopted her in,” Matthew states.

“Yeah. Her original name was Mary, but I renamed her.”

Matthew smiles down at me and is about to say something when Dr. Hyde interrupts him.

“Pet parents and friends, thank you for coming to the kin-dog-garten graduation ceremony! We’ve enjoyed watching your fur babies as they’ve grown from babies to the fun-loving and energetic puppies they are today! Please stay and take pictures and help yourself to the treats in the parents lounge.”

“Well, that was the shortest graduation I think I’ve ever witnessed.

When Clay graduated from kindergarten, we had to sit through an entire choir performance on top of the awards portion.

That was like a three hour ceremony for a bunch of five and six year olds,” Matthew explains as we stand to go collect Nola before she decides to no longer remain calm.

“Oh if this ceremony was anything longer than thirty minutes, Nola would not be participating. It’s a miracle she behaved for ten minutes,” I chuckle.

Once we’re close to the stage, I squat slightly and call for Nola to come to me and she happily does, making sure not to leave her treat behind. I try to pry to bone away from her, but it’s no use. Her small teeth have a tight grip on it and I’m not going to fight her for it.

“Congratulations, Nola,” Matthew coos. “I have something for you.” He pulls the toy bouquet from behind his back and Nola studies it for a moment before deciding that she’d rather chew on the bone. Matthew’s face deflates with defeat and I can’t help but laugh.

“Oh, that’s a lovely picture! I’ll be sure to send this to you, Laila!” the photographer shouts out as he turns and tries to capture more moments of pets with their owners.

“I didn’t realize he was taking a photo of us,” I whisper looking up at Matthew to find he’s already got his gaze trained on me.

I’m reminded why his eyes are my favorite part of him. They show every emotion that he’s feeling even when he’s not saying a word. His eyes lead directly to his soul and I find myself getting lost in the blue haze the longer I stand here.

“I should get back home. Nola barely slept this morning and I need to do some homework and send a couple of emails out for Senator Mitchell,” I say as I take a step back. Only then do I feel like I can breathe a little bit easier.

“Okay, yeah. I’ll walk you to the car.”

He places his hand on the small of my back and guides Nola and I to the entrance. We say goodbye to a few people and thank Dr. Hyde for the ceremony she put together.

Once we’re at my car, the air doesn’t feel as charged between us. It’s slightly less heavy, but the tension is still there. I don’t think the tension between Matthew and I would ever leave to be completely honest.

“Laila,” Matthew starts and once again, I’m lost in his eyes.

“Yeah?”

He takes a moment, considering his words. He looks down at Nola, who’s managed to fall asleep still holding onto the bone. He smiles ever so softly before bringing his heavy gaze back to me. I can see he’s nervous, but I don’t know what for. Immediately, I begin to think the worse.

He has a girlfriend that he met and they’re madly in love with one another, so this is him letting me down gently. I can hear the conversation now ending with my heart in pieces on the concrete beneath my feet.

“Go out with me.”