“Ok, now spill.” Matt ordered as soon as we were back in our apartment. My mom and Banana were on their way to New York. Matt and I had stayed with my dad for a bit because he’d felt a little lonely. Now, we were in our living room, talking about the case.
“There’s not much to tell,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “I told Martinez what I saw, and that was it.”
“That wasn’t it,” Matt said shrewdly. “I hope you were protected at least.”
“Matt!” I glared at him, mostly because he’d come too close to the truth. “We didn’t have sex. Not in my old room. You should know me better than that.”
“You and I’ve had sex there,” Matt noted, a devilish gleam in his eyes. I fought to control my embarrassment, but I blushed, anyway. It had been on Chinese New Year’s Eve a few years ago. My parents had had a big bash, and Matt and I had had way too much to drink. One thing led to another, and we were having sex before either of us really knew what was going on. We didn’t use protection, either, which was the height of stupidity. Fortunately, I didn’t get pregnant, and we were more careful in the future.
“That’s besides the point,” I said, furious at myself for letting him get to me.
“Yeah, it is,” Matt said, dropping the jocular tone. “The point is that we know for sure who has Danny, so we have to do something about it.”
“That’s the cops’ job, Matt,” I protested, though I knew it wouldn’t do any good.
“What are they doing about it?”
“I don’t know—it’s not like Martinez would tell me.”
“Then it’s up to us.” Matt stood up, a determined look on his face. “Scar, I’m going to the club tonight whether you come with me or not. What’s it going to be?” There was no answer to that other than, ‘of course I’m going with you.’
“Wanna tell me what’s wrong?” Matt whispered into my ear. I shivered at his proximity, then scolded myself silently. This was Matt, not some rock star or something. There was no reason to get all gooey in the knees. I wondered at my reaction to him. Was I freaking out about Martinez? Was that why I was focusing on Matt? Was it some kind of weird transference thing? “Scar! Come back to earth.”
“Mr. Digs,” I purred, putting the act on again. I placed my hand in his and let my fingers tickle his palm. “My name is Scarlett Hsu. It’s a real pleasure to meet you.” I was gratified to see that Digger hadn’t tired of women and had reacted nicely to my overture by grinning like a buffoon. “This is my colleague, Matthias Reynolds. Would you care to sit down and tell us more about the club? It’s ever so interesting.”
“But not like that,” Matt said, gesturing to my dress. I stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek, leaving an impression of my lips behind. Great, I’d have to check my lip gloss before I left. As I was about to step back, Matt grabbed me by the hips and pulled me closer. He crushed my lips under his, completely ruining my lip gloss. Before I could ruminate on that thought, he moved his hands to my ass and squeezed. As usual, my body reacted by pressing itself further into him. I could feel his erection digging into my belly, and I had to make a decision. Two seconds more of this, and we weren’t going to the club for some time. A sense of duty made me pull away from him and put space between us.
“Shit. The cops think Kayla was taken,” Matt said the second I walked into the apartment. His hair was a mess, and it was clear that he’d had a beer or five. He had a fresh one in his hand, and he wasn’t just sipping it. I plucked it from his fingers and drank the rest of it in one gulp. “Hey, that was mine!”