Free Ricochet by Xanthe Walter Page A

about it, then it'll pass over more
    quickly.
    Matt nodded, thoughtfully. "You know, for an
    idiotic lunk, you're actually quite sensible at
    times."
    Rick managed a faint grin at that. "Did you
    say something about pizza?" he said, brightening a
    little as his stomach began to growl.
    "Yup. C'mon - you can eat lying on your
    stomach, can't you?" Matt grinned at him.
    "Sure - I've had plenty of practice!" Rick
    wished he hadn't said that the minute it was out of
    his mouth. "You know - from on the show," he
    added quickly to cover his mistake. "Alex is
    always eating that way after the chief has punished
    him."
    "Yeah. Sure." Matt patted his arm. They went
    into the living room, and Matt took off his jacket
    and scarf and hung them neatly over the back of
    one of the chairs, while Rick eased himself down
    onto the sofa with a sigh. "You really are having a
    crappy day," Matt said, handing him a slice of
    pizza.
    "Yeah, but it's looking a lot better now," Rick
    said, looking at the pizza, his mouth watering.
    "Pepperoni and onion? My favorite!"
    "I know." Matt went over to the sideboard,
    found a couple of glasses, and brought them back
    to the coffee table. Then he opened the wine and
    poured them both a glass.
    "Wine - very civilized," Rick said, taking a
    sip. "And expensive!" He let out an appreciative
    sigh and glanced at the bottle.
    "Of course." Matt inclined in his head. "You
    might act like a complete philistine, but I've
    noticed you always seem to know a good wine
    when we have a cast party. So - how do you feel?"
    "Sore." Rick winced.
    "I'm not surprised - twelve hard licks in one
    day - that has to hurt. What's it like?" he asked
    curiously.
    Rick took a bite out of his pizza. "You've
    never taken licks in public?"
    Matt shook his head. "I try to never get into
    trouble. It's really not that hard, Rick; you should
    try it someday."
    "Ha ha." Rick made a face. "Seriously - you
    never got disciplined at work ever?" Matt shook
    his head as he bit into his pizza. "How about at the
    Justice Hall?"
    "Nope." Matt shook his head again.
    "How is that even possible?"
    "Actually, it's quite normal for most people."
    Matt rolled his eyes. "You're the freak here, Rick."
    "And you're the control freak." Rick grinned.
    "Never getting into any trouble - ever?" He raised
    an eyebrow. "You need to cut loose and take some
    risks, Matt. You might find you actually have some
    fun."
    "Yeah, because it definitely looked like you
    were having fun on that news item earlier," Matt
    responded tartly. "And you didn't answer my
    question - what's it like?"
    "Painful. Hey - didn't you have a date with
    Ermentrude tonight?" Rick asked, changing the
    subject.
    "Yeah." Matt's face had that pinched look it
    always got when he was unhappy.
    "What happened?"
    "She dumped me."
    "What? Is she an idiot?" Rick tried to sit up
    and then winced and flopped back down again.
    "Are you upset?"
    "No. That's the weird thing. I think I should
    be, but I'm not. I'm more mad, I think."
    "That's good! Don't be upset - be mad. You
    totally didn't deserve for her to treat you that way."
    "That's not it; I wish it was. I think I should've
    got mad at her a long time ago, but I didn't.
    Anyway, I'm not mad at her - I'm mad at myself. I
    knew I wasn't enjoying being with her, and I
    should've ended it, not her. Damn it!" Matt kicked
    the pizza box and it went flying halfway across the
    room. He made an apologetic little noise and
    dashed over to get it and bring it back to the sofa.
    "Well, I'm angry with her, even if you aren't,"
    Rick said. "I always hated the way she ordered
    you around and treated you like you were
    something she'd scraped off her shoe."
    "Really?"
    "Yeah, Matty. She wasn't good enough for
    you. Never could understand why you stuck with
    her."
    "Me neither." Matt sighed.
    "Well, I'm glad it's over," Rick said between
    bites of his pizza. "You should play the field, Matt.
    You're a good looking sub - doms everywhere
    must be falling over themselves