Free Not Just Friends (Brookfield) by Lacey Wolfe Page B

ASAP.
    “I’m
really sorry.”
    “I
can’t believe this.” Anger boiled within her.
    “Calm
down, Alyssa,” Cody chimed in.
    She
shot her brother a glare of death. “Your place wasn’t violated.”
    “If
you’d be quiet for all of five minutes, maybe we could get to the bottom of
this.”
    “Fine,
whatever.” Alyssa crossed her arms and slumped back on the couch.
    “I
left Diane, as you have probably already figured out,” Matt said.
    “And
she’s knocked up,” Alyssa retorted.
    “Alyssa,”
Cody snapped.
    “I’m
quiet.”
    “I
know she’s pregnant. It isn’t mine.”
    Had
she heard him right? Was he accusing Diane of screwing around on him?
    “I
was trying to find somewhere to stay. A hotel or whatever. I was stupidly
sharing a bank account with Diane and she reported my card stolen when I left.”
    Sounded
like something her sister would do.
    “I’ve
been sleeping in my car. My back hurts. I needed to stretch out and really
sleep. I still had the key to your place, so I went through your home and down
to the shop. It was wrong, I know. I should’ve told you. But you wouldn’t have let
me if I had.”
    “You’ve
got that right. You’ve been a pretty big jerk to me since you came into town.”
Something in Alyssa’s gut had a red flag going up again.
    “You’re
special to me and I never meant to hurt you,” Matt started.
    “You’re
not confessing your love to my sister in front of me,” Cody interjected.
    “I
don’t want to hear it anyway. Something seems off. I need to talk to Diane.”
    “You
never believe me,” Matt snapped.
    “You’ve
not given me a reason to.”
    “Cut
it out,” Cody interrupted. “Geesh. I get it, Alyssa, the wounds aren’t fully
closed. But is arguing going to solve anything?”
    She
shook her head, knowing her brother was right. This wasn’t going to solve
anything. “I’m sorry you’ve fallen on hard times, Matt. Maybe if you’d asked, I
would’ve let you take a nap. Doubtful, but you never know. Can’t your family
help you out?”
    “They
don’t know I’m back in town.”
    Something
told Alyssa that Matt didn’t want anyone knowing where he was. Besides Connor,
she was the only one who had really seen him so far. He was obviously hiding
out and didn’t want to be found. It didn’t make any sense though. If Diane was
pregnant with another man’s child, why would Matt not want to be found? Diane
couldn’t make him marry her.
    There
was another side of this story, which meant she was going to have to talk to
her sister—again. Couldn’t life be a little uncomplicated right now? She was
starting something with Connor and she’d really like to enjoy whatever it was
without a care in the world. Just her luck.
    “I
assume you want us to come up with some plan for him?” she asked Cody.
    “He’s
going to stay here for now.”
    Alyssa
glanced at Matt, who seemed content with this. “I’m going to get out of your
hair then and go home. It’s been quite the day off.” She stood, rubbing her
arms. “Call if you need me, okay, Cody?”
    “Yup.”
    Alyssa
took one last peek at Matt, who was lounged back on the couch, a hand behind
his head. Something in his eyes told her she needed to call Diane soon and find
out what was really going on.
    Then
again, she could hear Connor’s voice in the back of her head. How is this
your problem?

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Twelve
     
     
    That
evening, Connor sat on the couch in Alyssa’s apartment, eating a once-frozen
meal of sorts. She’d explained the day’s events to him and like her, he thought
there was more to the story. While he couldn’t tell her to let it go, since it
dealt with her sister, he wished in some way he could take away everything that
might cause her pain ahead.
    With
his fork, he stirred the noodles in the brown mixture and took a bite. He
couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a microwavable meal. He wasn’t sure
how Alyssa survived on these. While it wasn’t the