The Making of Matt (Souls of the Knight 3)

She’d bolted through the door before I could respond.

“Rashes? What the fuck have you done to me, dude? Not only do I look ridiculous I’ve got to put up with my balls feeling like they’re on fire all night!”

“You’ll be fine. That’s what the cream’s for.” Ryder’s laughter had faded but only because he was too busy tapping out a message on his cell. “By the way, Sawyer says you took it like a pro.”

“You sent it to Saw?” What the fuck?

“And Jake, Mase, Elle…”

“You’re dead to me, dude.” I wriggled back into my clothes like it was an Olympic sport and yanked the door open so vehemently I’m surprised I didn’t rip it from its hinges. “I’ll get you back for this. You’ve just declared war.”

I pounded my feet into the ground with each step I took to the car. Ryder followed, his cheeks a beaming shade of red from the exertion of laughing so hard. Motherfucker.

“So, your date,” Ryder mentioned as I drove through my gates. He spoke so normally, as if he wasn’t a total douchebag.

“Pretty sure I don’t need your advice anymore. What’s your next suggestion? That I should take him to a who can fit the biggest cactus up their ass contest?”

“You need to chill out. It was a joke not a dick. Don’t take it so hard.”

“Maybe I’ll forget about it when my balls stop feeling like they’ve been dipped in acid. Was that chick even qualified? I feel violated. Was the whole thing seriously a goddamn joke?”

“My initial comment was a joke. But then you fell for it and it kinda spiraled. Now man the fuck up and concentrate on the important issue here. Your date.”

He was right. Tonight was important and so, for now, I would put aside what a jackass he was and figure out a plan to avenge him on behalf of my poor testicles another time.

Only after thinking about the things I liked to do did I realize how boring I was. I didn’t have any particular hobbies or interests; I’d been too busy with my career to forge any.

“Ugh,” I grumbled. “We’re gonna end up eating pizza in front of the TV at this rate.”

Lounging by the pool, Ryder sipped on a mocktail he’d concocted behind my bar. “What’s your favorite thing to do in the whole world?”

“Fuck.”

“What’s wrong?”

“No, fuck. I like to fuck. That’s my favorite thing.”

Rolling his eyes, Ryder set his glass down on the table next to his lounger with a clink. “You need to think with your head right now.”

I shrugged. “Just being with Alex. That’s the thing I look forward to most every day.”

“Then you have your answer. You don’t need to put on a big show for him. Do something that’s just the two of you. Why not cook for him here?”

I extended my arm, offering my hand for him to shake. “Hi, I’m Matt.”

“Okay then hire someone to come and cook for you.”

“Guess you’re running out of ideas now, too.”

I promised Alex something special and in my book, special meant unique. Something we hadn’t done before. I don’t know how or why it came to me but once again my mom gave me guidance. “I’ve got it!” I shrieked, jolting upright and swinging my legs off the edge of my sun lounger.

“I remember, years ago, my mom telling me about the night she realized she was in love with my dad. They toured Europe for a couple of months and one night they camped out on a beach in the south of France. I remember at the time thinking it sounded so lame. No music. No people. No excitement. But I get it now. All that other stuff is a distraction. I want Alex. Just Alex.”

“Sounds perfect,” Ryder said, a warm smile dancing on his lips.

A cloud of enthusiasm ballooned in my stomach. “Where can I buy a picnic?”

“Um…pretty sure you make a picnic.”

“P and J sandwiches are the height of my culinary skills.” I sighed, deflated. I was running out of time.

“Then you should make them.”

“They’re hardly special,” I argued.

“They will be to Alex because you made them. You need to remember you and Alex have lived very different lives. In your world you can have whatever you want whenever you want.”

“So can Alex. I’ll give him anything he wants.”

“Nah, mate, you’re missing the point. If anything I think Alex probably feels inadequate at times because he can’t give you the things you’re used to.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Isn’t it? “He’d have told me.”

Ryder raised his eyebrows and cocked his head. “Would he? Can’t be an easy thing to admit.”

Just the idea that he could feel that way made my chest hurt. Suddenly, I became determined that by the end of the night Alex would know beyond a doubt that he was everything I needed.