Bonus Post!

Once we were back at Matt’s and had put in our order for Thai food I changed into leggings and an oversized sweater (a key outfit for a cozy night in). As I was walking back down the stairs I saw Matt on the floor with Bella giving her a belly rub and it made me smile.

“Now whose gunna have the problem when we have to give her back?” I asked playfully.

He jumped when he heard me and started laughing, “I didn’t know you were watching”

I giggled, “I’m gunna give Bell her dinner now” I said as I walked into the kitchen and grabbed her kibble and bowl from the bag Brian left.

Matt got up and came into the kitchen as well as Bella when she heard the sound of her kibble hitting her bowl.

“Want something to drink?” He asked, going over to his cupboard with the glasses.

“God yes!” I laughed, “I could use a stiff drink to unwind from school” I explained.

Matt laughed at my enthusiasm, “Alrighty I think I’ll make you my specialty then!”

“What’s your specialty?” I asked curiously.

“Well it’s pretty much straight booze so you can either drink it like a shooter or sip it like you would scotch…” He trailed off as he started going through his cabinets and pulling out bottles and a martini shaker.

“That sounds intense,” I giggled, “but I’ll try it! I’ll have it as a sipper please.”

“Yes ma’am” he answered and grabbed 2 small cocktail glasses.

He handed me the amber colored drink with a few ice cubes and waited for my reaction as I took a small sip. It was strong, but did have a nice flavor considering it was basically pure alcohol.

“That’s actually pretty good” I said taking another sip.

Matt smiled, “You sound so surprised! Do you really think I’d make you something gross?”

I laughed, “No you’re right. What’s in it?” The second sip was even better and I couldn’t make out what was in it, it was cinnamon-y and sweet, but not overly.

“I’m glad you like it, just drink slow because they are killer” He said, taking a small sip of his own. “It’s actually really easy and only 3 ingredients – 1 shot patron tequila, 1 shot Fireball whiskey, and then just about a teaspoon or so of grenadine.”

“Explains the cinnamon taste!” I said, more to myself than Matt.

Our food arrived shortly after we finished our first drink and we settled on the couch with our full plates, ready to pick a movie. Bella followed us into the basement but just lay down beside the couch and didn’t beg for food once. That didn’t really surprise me considering she was around food all the time when Brian brought her into Tom’s.

After eating, Matt paused the movie to put the plates upstairs and get us both a glass of wine. When he walked up, my phone buzzed. I looked at the screen and it was a Snapchat notification. Usually I don’t bother opening them but I was killing time while Matt was upstairs so I unlocked my phone and opened the app.

It was from Amy, on our track team and I smiled hugely when I saw the picture. It was a selfie of her giving a kiss on the cheek to Adam, while he was smiling! This made me so happy because I knew Adam had a thing for Amy forever but was always too shy to say anything.

I was surprised that Adam hadn’t mentioned anything so I texted him,

S: Ummm, just saw Amy’s snapchat and almost squealed from excitement lol  what’s up?!

Just then, Matt walked back downstairs with 2 glasses of red wine.

“Ahhh thank you, you’re the best!” I said.

He chuckled, “Is that all it takes is bringing you wine and food?”

I playfully swatted him, “Not what I meant! You’ve been so patient these last 2 weeks with my schedule and today was really nice. And what you did for Bella coming and stuff, it was really sweet.” I said smiling at him, “But yes the wine and food always gets you brownie points.”

He laughed and kissed me on the forehead, “Your welcome, I think it’s actually pretty cool how dedicated you are to school, most of my friends throughout college just scraped by enough to graduate.”

“Yeah I know a lot of people like that but I just can’t grasp that way of thinking. The way I see it, I worked my ass off to get the grades to get in and to get some scholarships so I can’t just let it go to waste.”

Matt opened his mouth to speak but his phone started going off on the table. I could see the screen it was an unknown number.

“Sorry…” he said as he answered it.

“Hello?”

“Speaking” pause “Ugh yeah I’ll accept.”

He started walking upstairs and I couldn’t really hear anything anymore. I didn’t really think anything of it so I just checked my phone while I waited.

Adam had answered me,

A: Haha I was gunna talk to you at practice this week. We kinda hooked up on Halloween and have been hanging out since..

I was so excited for him!

S: That is so awesome!! Okay we have to catch up at practice for sure, I’ll see you this week!

Just then Matt came walking back down the stairs and he did not look happy.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

He sighed, “That was my mom, she was arrested and they’re holding her at the jail and are going to transport her to Nebraska State Penitentiary if she doesn’t pay her bail.”

“Oh…what was she arrested for?”
“Dealing. Her and James have done it to make money on and off over the last 5 years. I guess the cops have been watching them and got a warrant to search their car and my mom was alone when they did it so they only arrested her.” He explained, sounding tired like he had been through this more than once.

He continued, “She’s been trying to get a hold of James but can’t so that’s why she called me, she knows Nathan wouldn’t bail her out, he cut ties with her years ago.”

“How much does she need?” I asked.

“They set the bail at $5,000.”

“Wow,” It was all I could think of saying, all this information just came flooding in and I wasn’t used to being in these kinds of situations.  “What are you going to do?”
“Well I can either send it and leave it at that, go looking for James, or just act like she never called…” He said.

I really didn’t think going to look for James was a good idea, the guy seemed like bad news, and obviously violent after what he did to Matt’s truck. I also didn’t think it was fair of her to even ask him for the money after the way she’s treated him over the years.

I didn’t want to overstep, so I just tried to get a feel for what way he was leaning towards.

“Matt, you shouldn’t feel guilty for the things they have done, it’s not your responsibility what they do. But I understand that family is important so just do what feels right to you.” I said as I linked my hand in his.

“They aren’t family, family doesn’t treat people this way. Maybe it’s time she actually faces the consequences of her actions. I’ve always been there to bail them out and Nathan gets pissed because he knows they think they can just do whatever they want and I will come to their rescue.” He shook his head, “But I’m sick of it. She can either hope that James shows up with $5,000 by tomorrow or she can deal with going to prison. I’m done.” He slouched back into the couch and put his arm around me.

“Are you sure?” I asked, feeling he was still tense.

“I am. I need to do what Nathan did years ago. I’m tired of them trying to control my life. I want to enjoy the rest of the weekend with you.” He said, looking a lot softer in the eyes.

I smiled at him and moved back into him like we were watching the movie before.

He pressed play and acted like everything was normal but I had a feeling that it wasn’t and that this was bothering him a lot more than he was saying.