- Margot -
y palms were wet with sweat. It was silly really. Logically, I knew that.
I mean, what was the worst that could happen? Matt was hardly going to disown me.
Still, there was no way to predict how he would react to the news. After all, his blindsiding wasn’t going to be limited to the fact that Landon and I were together now.
He was also about to be struck by the reality that I was all grown up and ready for someone else to be my most trusted ally, my partner in crime, my future.
And I didn’t know if he was ready for that. Based on how he’d treated boyfriends of mine in the past, it was safe to say even my dad was further along in that regard than he was.
I pushed the counterproductive thoughts from my mind and tried to entertain the possibility that he might understand. It could happen. Maybe as a newly married man, he would be happy for us. Maybe breaking the news would be a cinch and the awkwardness would be over in minutes.
Dear God, let the awkwardness be fleeting.
I took a deep breath and pushed open the door to Margarita’s, hoping I’d waited long enough to ensure Matt was already enjoying a healthy buzz. The place was packed, so it took me longer than normal to weave through the bar area at the front, but when I reached the back section, I spotted them right away. There was a half-empty plate of nachos between them beside a pitcher of margaritas that was almost empty.
Matt was the first to see me coming, and his eyes lit up when he saw me, putting me instantly at ease.
“Margot!” he said, standing to give me a hug. “What a nice surprise!”
“Is it?” I asked, hoping the jovial noise around us would hide the desperation in my voice.
“Of course,” he said. “It’s always great to see you, and you’re just in time to meet Maggie.”
“Maggie?” I furrowed my brow. “Who’s Maggie?” I glanced at Landon.
He cleared his throat and stood up, his eyes reassuring me. “You’re Maggie,” he said, setting a hand on my lower back.
“Oh.”
“What?” Matt asked, his pupils dilating.
“Margot is Maggie,” Landon explained again.
I cocked my head. “I’m confused.”
“Me, too,” Matt said, focusing on Landon. “You better start making some sense.”
“There is no Maggie,” Landon said to him, his voice steady. “There’s only Margot. She’s the one.”
A wave of happiness crashed through me.
Matt leaned his neck forward like he expected Landon to keep going. “She’s what?”
“She’s the woman I’ve been seeing. She’s the one I’ve been telling you about.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Matt raised his palms between them. “Are you trying to tell me—” His eyes bounced off me and back to Landon as he struggled to sync up his thoughts and words. “Have you guys been— Did you—”
Landon raised his eyebrows.
Matt’s face fell right before his fist flew through the air. By the time I realized what was happening, I’d already heard the crack of his hand against Landon’s cheek.
“What the fuck, Matt?!!” I rushed to help Landon, who’d stumbled backwards over his chair and fallen to the ground. “Are you okay?”
He blinked slowly and rubbed his cheek.
I looked over my shoulder at Matt. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”
“Me?! What the hell is wrong with you? You’re the one playing house with my best friend.”
“We aren’t playing,” I said. “Playing is what we’ve been doing for the last fifteen years.” I grabbed the fallen chair and set it back up.
Matt rubbed his fist.
Landon rose to his feet as a large security guard approached our table. “Is everything okay over here?”
Landon nodded. “I had it coming. It won’t happen again.”
“Fucking right it won’t,” Matt said, looking more pissed since he threw the punch.
I couldn’t help but feel they were talking about entirely different things.
“I’ll go get you a glass,” Landon said to me, leaving to give Matt a chance to cool down.
“I didn’t think you’d take it quite that bad,” I said, pulling up a chair and trying to hide the fact that all I wanted to do was fawn over Landon and make sure he was okay.
“He was supposed to be looking out for you,” Matt said. “Not trying to get in your pants.”
“It’s not like that.”
He raised his brows. “No?”
I shook my head.
“Enlighten me, then. What’s it like?”
I knew I needed to choose my words carefully, but that was going to be difficult since my preferred way of describing our relationship involved colorful metaphors best suited to a background of rainbows and cheerful pop music.
“Start talking.” He drained the last of his margarita.
“I’ve been throwing myself at him since I was sixteen.”
Matt choked just enough to make his eyes water.
“And I had a massive crush on him before that. For years. He’s been my favorite person for as long as I can remember.”
Matt clenched his jaw.
“And despite the fact that he never did anything but discourage my advances, I refused to give up hope that he might want me back someday.” I could see the hurt in Matt’s eyes, but I had no intention of stopping when I had his attention. “So if you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me. Because I’m the one who wouldn’t let it go. I’m the one who would never take no for an answer.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to believe whatever you want. I just hope whatever that is, it’s something that helps you make sense of the fact that Landon and I are solid and our relationship deserves your respect.”
“Respect is a two-way street, Margot.”
“Don’t spew clichés at me like a bitter old man. Don’t you think we deserve the happiness you’ve found with Kelsey?”
“Leave her out of this.”
“I bet she’d be happy for us,” I said. “I bet she’d realize right away how lucky it is that two people she cares so much for have found something wonderful in each other.”
“Yeah, well, Landon never looked her in the eye and promised to always look out for you.”
“That’s what he’s been doing! That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’ve never been happier. If anything, he’s over delivering on the promises he’s made you in the past.”
“You’ve never been happier?”
“Never.”
He sighed.
“The only thing that could possibly make me any happier than I am now would be if you could be happy for me. For us.”
Matt hung his head and rubbed his eyes with one hand.
The silence between us was heavy compared to the gaiety around us.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m just trying to figure out if anything he’s told me the past six months is even true.”
“I understand.”
“Did he really quit his job?”
I nodded. “He did, yeah.”
“And was it actually because you wanted him to?”
“No, of course not. I had no idea he was going to quit.”
He narrowed his gaze. “So why—?”
“Our boss found out we were seeing each other.”
“So everyone in New York knew but me?”
I rolled my eyes. “He quit his job to save mine.”
“Why would he jeopardize his—?”
“Because he loves me, Matt. Because he’s in love with me.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“More times than I can count,” I said. “And he’s shown me, too, in so many wa—”
He raised a hand between us like he wanted me to stop there.
“I’m sure he was about to tell you that before you clocked him like an animal.”
“He deserved it.”
“Then so do I.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
Landon returned with a glass for me, sat down, and moved his chair back so he was out of Matt’s reach.
Right when I began to think the awkwardness of them staring at each other would kill me, the waitress arrived with another pitcher of iced margaritas.
We all nodded at her as if nothing was wrong, as if our whole dynamic wasn’t being juggled in the air while we sat around waiting for the pieces to fall.
“So,” Landon said.
“So,” Matt said.
It took all my self-control not to pile on with another so, but there was a western showdown vibe going on between them, and I was afraid to drop a pin, much less make a joke.
I leaned forward and poured three glasses while they kept stewing, but, eventually, I couldn’t handle it anymore. “I’d like to propose a toast.”
They each raised an eyebrow in my direction.
“To forgiveness,” I said, raising my glass. “Whether you need it because you just punched your best friend in the face or because you fell in love with his little sister. Here’s to forgiveness and its power to help us all move on.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Landon said, clinking my glass.
“My fear is that you want more than my forgiveness,” Matt said to Landon.
“I don’t want anything besides your friendship,” he said. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted from you.”
“Bullshit,” Matt said, sliding his glass nearer. “You want my blessing.”
“You’re right,” Landon said. “I do. I want that. Not just for me but for Margot, too, because there’s no one whose opinion we both value more in this world.”
Matt squeezed his jaw in one hand.
“But I don’t need it,” Landon continued. “I can keep loving her without your permission.”
Matt lifted his eyes.
“I couldn’t stop if I wanted to.”
I pressed my lips together, reached for Landon’s hand where it was resting on the table, and gave it a hard squeeze.
“Don’t do that,” Matt said. “Don’t make me feel like the third wheel. That’s not fair.”
I pulled my hand back.
Matt folded his arms. “Go home, Margot.”
I leaned back. “What?”
“I said go home.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, right. How do I know you’re not going to haul off and hit him again if I leave?”
“You don’t,” Matt said. “Neither does he. But until I sort the truth from the lies I’ve been told…”
I waited for him to finish, but he didn’t.
“Go on,” Landon said, nodding at me. “I’ll call you later.”
Matt looked torn between being grateful that Landon had backed him up and hating that he said he’d call.
I pointed my finger at Matt’s grumpy face. “Promise me you won’t harm a single hair on his head.”
“Why?” he asked, glaring at me. “’Cause you love them all?”
“Yeah.” My eyes watered. “I do.”
Something in Matt’s face softened, and I clung to the hope it gave me as I took one last sip and scooted my chair back. “Thank you in advance,” I said as I stood up. “For sorting this out and making me the happiest woman on Earth.”
“Would you go already?” Matt asked.
Landon’s eyes smiled at me.
I prayed they’d still be smiling later.