Free Scarred by Amber Lynn Natusch Page A

out.”
    “Yeah,” I agreed, knowing damn well why he'd had to do that. I fiddled with my mug, twirling it round and round in my hands.
    “I'm not mad at you, Ruby. Not anymore, but...that was a lot to take in, ya know? I had to get away to clear my head for a bit.”
    “I'm so sorry,” I whispered, my head low. I couldn't bring myself to face him.
    “Once I left town, I had some time to process things a bit. Get some perspective,” he said softly. “I know that you were protecting me that night. Is it weird that part of what made me mad was my pride? That I wanted to be the one to protect you ...not that you seemed to need it.”
    The waiter came and placed two medium pies down in front of us, recruiting a nearby table to house one of them. It was a ridiculous amount of food, but smelled amazing. I couldn't resist having one piece.
    “Atta girl,” Matty said, sounding every bit the little league coach he'd likely be one day. “Get right in there. You look thin―tired. Are you eating enough?”
    “Why are you the second person to comment on that today? Do I look like a walking eating disorder or something?” I asked, grabbing a second piece of pizza to curb the conversation. In response, he smiled like his mother. Carmen liked to stuff you so full of food that she had to roll you out of the dining room afterward. She was the reason elastic waistbands were invented—“buffet” pants, as Matty liked to call them.
    “Moving right along then,” he said, surrendering for the second time that day. “Ma said you stopped by a couple of times. She said she didn't tell you where I was.”
    “She knew ?” I asked, dumbfounded. She'd told me she didn't know what was going on with him at the time.
    He smiled, sheepishly.
    “I told her I didn't want to see you when I left. I didn't tell her why, but I'm pretty sure she thinks you broke her little boy's heart. Carmen may really like you, but no mother is going to stand for that.”
    “So where exactly did you go?”
    “I went out to the west coast. I have a buddy out there—does some commercial fishing. He said he needed somebody for the summer, so I went.”
    “In L.A.?” I asked, trying to remember if that was on the ocean or not.
    “No, down the coast a little further, but I went up there and took some classes. I even did a couple of auditions, just for kicks.”
    “Did you get any gigs?” I asked, leaning forward with excitement. Matty didn't understand how breathtaking he was on stage. I hoped someone out west noticed him.
    “Almost. I just missed making the final cut for Lady Gaga's next tour,” he said, taking a piece of pizza off the metal pan and rolling it up. “They said I was too tall. They've got short girls out there in L.A.. Maybe I would have made it if you tried out with me.”
    “That's too bad, Matty. It sounds like it would have been an amazing opportunity,” I said, before giggling to myself. “Although, she does make the boys wear some freaky shit.”
    “Yeah,” he said with a mouth full of pie, “I noticed that after the fact. I did breathe a little sigh of relief. My dad wouldn't have done too well with that, ya know?” I tried to picture Dom watching his son dance in assless chaps with women in bondage gear draped around him, but aborted that mission before anything solidified. “So, now that my buddy doesn't need me anymore, I decided to come back,” he said, looking at me intently. “Besides...I missed some things while I was gone.”
    “Things?” I asked, squirming under the intensity of his gaze.
    “More like people .”
    A subject change was in order.
    “So, are you back to dance for good now?” I asked weakly, hoping to deflect the conversation.
    “Yep. I called Pam last week. She said I was good to go,” he replied, turning his attention back to his meal. “She said she wasn't sure what to do with you anymore. None of the guys worked well with you.”
    That was an understatement. Pam had relegated me to group