His Secret

47. Matías

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

MATíAS

“Okay, we have to defend the buckets. Once it bounces, smack that shit away. Don’t let them win.”

Leslie and Carl laugh from the other side of their buckets.

“We’re gonna win,” Leslie says in a sing-song voice.

“Hey, Matías has good aim. He can win this for us.”

“Oh, my god. Just throw the ball,” Charlotte says.

“It’s not even our turn,” Adrian replies, neither of them actually looking at each other.

Charlotte waves him off then leans in to say something to Diane. They giggle.

“Anyway,” Adrian says. “Okay, go ahead.”

Leslie gets ready, bouncing the ball on the patio before it hits the edge of one bucket and falls to the side.

“Ha!” Adrian exclaims.

“Oh, shush,” Leslie says with a laugh. “Come on, babe. You got this.”

Carl tosses his ball over, but he also misses.

“All right, man. You can do it,” Adrian says, touching his arm before snatching his hand back.

I aim and get it in one of the last two remaining cups .

“Yeah!” Adrian and I yell.

“Okay, okay. Just don’t take your eye off the bucket,” I tell him. “You got it.”

“Booo!” Carl says from the other side.

The game quickly became competitive, and there’s been a lot of friendly trash talk, but we have to win this.

“Keep our streak alive,” I tell him.

“No pressure then,” he says with a laugh, looking at me briefly.

I grin.

Adrian holds the ball, ready to throw it, and I hold my breath and watch as it leaves his hand, hits the edge, rolls along the side then falls inside.

“Fuck yeah!” Adrian yells, arms in the air. We do a double high five before he turns back to our opponents. “You can’t beat us. Nobody can.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Carl says, waving his hand in the air. “We’ll have a rematch soon.”

Diane and Greg end up leaving first, then Leslie and Charlotte go inside, leaving me, Adrian, Carl, and Martin out here.

Martin’s talking Carl’s ear off about some car, so Adrian and I sit in the chairs that surround the fire pit.

“I guess tonight wasn’t too bad,” I say.

“Nah,” he replies, shaking his head. “Less people than those college parties.”

“Thank god.”

He smiles. “This was fun. All things considered.”

“Hmm.” I lift my chin. “Yeah, something seems up.”

He shrugs, but doesn’t go into detail. Not sure I want details, so I leave it alone.

“I’ll probably head out soon. I don’t wanna be the last person here. ”

“Makes sense.”

“How did you enjoy the show last night?” I ask, standing up.

He peers up at me. “Quite a lot. More than I thought I would.”

“Did you make a mess in my backyard?”

Adrian bites his lip, a smile forming. “Maybe.”

“Such a dirty boy.”

His lips part as he sucks in a breath, then he lets out a throaty moan.

“I thought I heard something similar to that last night.”

He stands up, putting his hands in his pockets. I glance around and notice the girls are still inside, and the guys are sitting at the table, their backs to us.

“It was the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. Let alone been a part of.”

I smirk. “I have another idea we’ll have to try. Text me later?”

He nods.

Walking toward the guys, I say, “Well, I’m outta here. I’ll see you two around, yeah?”

“Oh, yeah,” Carl says. “We’ll need a rematch of this damn game. I refuse to lose more than once.”

I laugh. “Sounds good. Tell the ladies I said bye.”

I walk across the yard and make my way into my house, grateful to have gotten through it with no issues, but desperate for alone time with him that’s not at work.

Hopefully he can get away soon.

The thing about affairs is that nobody involved is ever truly happy. The person getting cheated on feels the absence of their partner. The person sleeping with that partner feels like they’re not getting enough time. And the person doing the cheating has to feel the guilt and stress of trying to get away with it.

It’s an ugly situation for everyone, and yet, it doesn't stop people from doing it. Selfishness overpowers everything, and I’m not afraid to admit that I’m selfish enough to keep this up—because he is mine . He always has been. She’s just been borrowing him.