“Hey Matt, glad to see you home safe.”
They both looked at each other for a moment, holding eye contact until Amanda dropped her gaze to me. When she noticed me smirking at her, a blush colored her face that was almost darker than her hair. Amanda’s crush on Matthew hadn’t gone unnoticed by me over the years, although I was fairly certain he remained ignorant to it.
She pushed by us saying something about running before it got too warm. I heard her bedroom door shut, and I pulled Matthew out to the living room as Sydney’s snores started back up from my bed.
He sat on the couch and I moved towards the kitchen to put on coffee.
“When did you get in?”
He rubbed his eyes, and the tired look in his eyes transformed into exhaustion.
“About an hour ago, which is about how long I have been calling you. I found your hide-a-key above the door frame, and decided to let myself in.” He shot me a strict look before continuing. “I was able to find a flight finally, but it involved flying over night and two different connections.”
I pressed ‘start’ on the coffee maker and groaned as I moved back to the couch, slumping next to him.
“I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have come. This isn’t going to hurt your discharge in December is it?”
Matthew put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to him. “Shut up. My baby sister needed me.”
“I’m okay- really,” I added when a look of disbelief showed on his face. “I just want to get back to life.”
“I can somewhat understand that,” he yawned and pulled me closer. A door closed down the hallway and Amanda emerged in her running clothes, with her long locks pulled into a ponytail and her ear buds draped around her neck.
“I’m going to go run. I put my change of clothes in your room, Mads. Matt, you can take my bed since Sydney has occupied Maddie’s. You look like you could use a nap.” She slipped her feet into her running shoes and bent over to tie them. I didn’t miss Matthew’s subtle inspection of her body in her tight running capris.
“Thanks Amanda,” he said, snapping out of his reverie as she straightened up. “A shower and a couple of hours sleep sound fantastic.”
She nodded, gave a smile, waved, and was out the door.
“Quit checking out my friend,” I teased, attempting to pinch his flab-less stomach.
He gave me a guilty grin and wiggled his eyebrows. “She definitely has changed since you first started bringing her around.”
I rolled my eyes. “A 13-year-old and a 21-year-old don’t have a lot in common body-wise.”
He laughed and squeezed me again. “No, they certainly don’t. Speaking of, I missed your birthday last month.”
“I had to serve at a party that night anyway, it wasn’t a big deal.”
“You’re such a party animal.” Matthew stifled another yawn and I stood up, tugging on his arm in a feeble attempt to get him up too. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
“Just make it home safe and we’ll consider ourselves square. I’ll get you a towel and you can get some rest.”
He stood and picked up his rucksack before following me down the hall. He dropped his bag in Amanda’s room and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek in exchange for the towel before he stepped into the bathroom and closed the door.
I tiptoed into my room to grab my cell phone. Sydney was spread out across the bed, taking up every inch of the queen sized mattress as she slept.
I snuck back out and poured myself a cup of coffee from the kitchen, taking it to the couch. Going through my phone I saw I had eight missed calls from Matthew, and a one from Detective Wilson that came through just a half an hour before.
My hand shook as I pressed the voicemail button and brought the phone to my ear.
“Hi Maddie, this is Detective Wilson. I want to talk to you about something concerning your case from last weekend. If you could please call me back at your earliest convenience, I would appreciate it.”
I just stared at my
They both looked at each other for a moment, holding eye contact until Amanda dropped her gaze to me. When she noticed me smirking at her, a blush colored her face that was almost darker than her hair. Amanda’s crush on Matthew hadn’t gone unnoticed by me over the years, although I was fairly certain he remained ignorant to it.
She pushed by us saying something about running before it got too warm. I heard her bedroom door shut, and I pulled Matthew out to the living room as Sydney’s snores started back up from my bed.
He sat on the couch and I moved towards the kitchen to put on coffee.
“When did you get in?”
He rubbed his eyes, and the tired look in his eyes transformed into exhaustion.
“About an hour ago, which is about how long I have been calling you. I found your hide-a-key above the door frame, and decided to let myself in.” He shot me a strict look before continuing. “I was able to find a flight finally, but it involved flying over night and two different connections.”
I pressed ‘start’ on the coffee maker and groaned as I moved back to the couch, slumping next to him.
“I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have come. This isn’t going to hurt your discharge in December is it?”
Matthew put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to him. “Shut up. My baby sister needed me.”
“I’m okay- really,” I added when a look of disbelief showed on his face. “I just want to get back to life.”
“I can somewhat understand that,” he yawned and pulled me closer. A door closed down the hallway and Amanda emerged in her running clothes, with her long locks pulled into a ponytail and her ear buds draped around her neck.
“I’m going to go run. I put my change of clothes in your room, Mads. Matt, you can take my bed since Sydney has occupied Maddie’s. You look like you could use a nap.” She slipped her feet into her running shoes and bent over to tie them. I didn’t miss Matthew’s subtle inspection of her body in her tight running capris.
“Thanks Amanda,” he said, snapping out of his reverie as she straightened up. “A shower and a couple of hours sleep sound fantastic.”
She nodded, gave a smile, waved, and was out the door.
“Quit checking out my friend,” I teased, attempting to pinch his flab-less stomach.
He gave me a guilty grin and wiggled his eyebrows. “She definitely has changed since you first started bringing her around.”
I rolled my eyes. “A 13-year-old and a 21-year-old don’t have a lot in common body-wise.”
He laughed and squeezed me again. “No, they certainly don’t. Speaking of, I missed your birthday last month.”
“I had to serve at a party that night anyway, it wasn’t a big deal.”
“You’re such a party animal.” Matthew stifled another yawn and I stood up, tugging on his arm in a feeble attempt to get him up too. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
“Just make it home safe and we’ll consider ourselves square. I’ll get you a towel and you can get some rest.”
He stood and picked up his rucksack before following me down the hall. He dropped his bag in Amanda’s room and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek in exchange for the towel before he stepped into the bathroom and closed the door.
I tiptoed into my room to grab my cell phone. Sydney was spread out across the bed, taking up every inch of the queen sized mattress as she slept.
I snuck back out and poured myself a cup of coffee from the kitchen, taking it to the couch. Going through my phone I saw I had eight missed calls from Matthew, and a one from Detective Wilson that came through just a half an hour before.
My hand shook as I pressed the voicemail button and brought the phone to my ear.
“Hi Maddie, this is Detective Wilson. I want to talk to you about something concerning your case from last weekend. If you could please call me back at your earliest convenience, I would appreciate it.”
I just stared at my
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