Running Scared (Running Hearts Book 2)

by Saffron Blu

  Chapter Ten

  MATT

  I glanced at Sam as she drove us to Aimee’s parents’ house. I’d planned on booking myself a hotel, but she’d insisted there’d be room, and it wasn’t like I would mind sleeping in her bed with her.

  I couldn’t believe how well we’d hit it off. It was as if we’d had some magical connection over the phone when I was trying to find Sam and bring her to Aimee.

  Don’t get me wrong, Sam had been extremely worried about her best friend, but she’d not been able to stop giving me sneaky glances and blushing every time I caught her looking. I didn’t know if she realized the fact I caught her meant I had been looking at her too.

  I’d made it clear what I was feeling with gentle touches here and there, but it hadn’t gone any further than that. Sam was too concerned to take it any further, and I didn’t blame her one bit.

  “She’ll be okay, you know?” I stated, knowing she was once again thinking about her friend lying in a coma on the other side of the world.

  Sam tucked some loose dark hair behind her ear. “I know. I just hate the fact that I had to leave her there.”

  Reaching out, I placed my hand on her knee, causing her to flick her eyes my way. “I know you don’t trust him, but Dom will look after her.”

  Sammy gave me a quick smile before returning her attention to the road. “I sure hope so.” She didn’t sound convinced at all, but we both knew there wasn’t anything she could do to change the situation. Sam was here, and Aimee was with Dom in New York.

  I wished I could ease her mind, but she didn’t know Dom, not really. She knew what the media showed him to be, and honestly, some of that wasn’t always good stuff. In fact, a lot of it wasn’t great. The real Dom, my best friend, was a good man with a huge heart, who I knew, without a doubt, would do everything he could for Aimee while she was still in America. Hell, knowing Dom, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d be in her life for a hell of a lot longer than that.

  Sam pulled the Mini Cooper onto a pebble-dashed driveway, parking it between what looked like a Chevy Colorado—only it had a badge that wasn’t Chevy on it, most probably Australia’s version of that—and another Mini Cooper. I could tell both Minis were different models since the one we were in seemed longer in size and blue than the one we were parking next to being red.

  “You guys like Minis?”

  Sam laughed. “Yeah, to Spencer’s dismay, Aimee’s dad,” she clarified, obviously noticing my questioning gaze. “He’s a mechanic and insisted that parts are super expensive for them, but sadly, that didn’t sway either of us from buying something he didn’t approve of.”

  Three kids rushed at the car around the side of the house, and Sam’s face lit up as she hurried to get out. “Boys!” she greeted them as they all seemed to throw themselves at her in a mass group hug. I laughed as I exited the car, drawing the attention of a woman who looked to be in her early fifties and had just rounded the house.

  “Hi, I’m Sarah. Aimee’s mum.”

  I took her offered hand in mine, squeezing it gently as I gave her a warm smile. “I’m Matt. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from both Sam and Dom. Dom’s my brother in every way except by blood.”

  “Ah, just like Sammy and our Aimee.” Sarah smiled, looking over at Sam. “Family by choice.”

  I nodded. “Exactly.” It wasn’t like I didn’t love my own family, but we weren’t close-knit like the Saxtons. I was blessed the day they chose to bring me into their family because they taught me what a real family was like, and I wanted nothing more than to show my own kids the love shared with me.

  “I miss Mummy,” the youngest boy said as his chin wobbled.

  Sam dropped to her knees in front of him and placed her hands on his shoulders, holding him at arm’s length to look him into his eyes. “I know, sweetie, so do I. As soon as she wakes up, she’ll be on the phone to you, and the minute the doctors let her fly home, she’ll be here, giving you all the hugs she can. So many hugs you’ll be begging for her to stop.”

  “I’ll never ask her to stop,” the little guy said adamantly.

  Sam stood and tugged on the boy’s hand. “Come on, do you think you have the muscles to help me drag my suitcase into the house? Matt over there is a total weakling. You should’ve heard him complaining when he pulled it to the car from the airport.”

  The boy ran a wary eye over me.

  “She’s totally lying,” I said, hooking a thumb in Sam’s direction.

  Sam gave us both wide eyes faking mock astonishment. “I never lie,” she promised before throwing a wink in the boy’s direction. He let out a belly laugh as she dropped his hand and opened the trunk of the car.

  I reached in and lifted the case out before she could, making sure to pretend it was extra heavy as I did. I figured I might as well play along.

  “See. So weak,” Sam whispered conspiratorially in the boy’s ear, making him chuckle again as he pushed the suitcase across the drive and toward the front door, where a gray-haired man, who looked to be around five-foot-seven, was waiting.

  Sarah pulled Sam into a hug, both ladies had watery eyes, and I turned away to lift my backpack out the trunk before closing it, hoping to give them both what privacy I could.

  “This is Matt,” Sam offered as the two broke apart, gesturing to me.

  Sarah offered me a warm smile before turning back to Sam. “We met when you were talking with Dan.”

  “Oh, okay. I’m sorry I didn’t warn you about having Matt with me, it was a last-minute decision.”

  “Actually, Dom told me as soon as Matt booked his flight. I haven’t set him a bed up, though, because I didn’t know if he’d be in your bed or not?” Sarah flicked her eyes between the two of us curiously.

  I turned my attention to Sam, wondering what her reaction would be because I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wanted to know the answer to that question too. Sam’s face had turned the brightest shade of red I’d ever seen on her, and I had to fight back a smile.

  “I can easily set him up a bed if I was wrong in suggesting anything else,” Sarah stated clearly, thinking she’d been on the wrong track.

  Sam shook her head. “No, as long as you’re okay with it. We’re under your roof, after all.”

  “You’re both adults. Neither Spencer nor I will dictate how you live your lives.”

  “Thank you.” Sam turned her gaze to mine. “Unless… you’d rather sleep in a room of your own?”

  I gave Sam a soft smile as I stepped in closer. I slid my hand against her cheek and tilted her head back slightly before pressing a quick and gentle kiss against her soft lips. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but next to you.”

  “Aww. Both my girls have found their guys,” Sarah crooned, her voice filled with emotion.

  “I wouldn’t get ahead of yourself, Sarah. Aimee and Dom haven’t even had a conversation except for when she was concussed.”

  Sarah waved her off dismissively. “Pfft… I’ve seen that boy watching her when he FaceTimes me, and the look he has on his face tells me there’s a connection there. Just as there is between the two of you.”

  Sam watched Sarah, her eyes wide in shock. She didn’t even blink when Sarah turned on her heel and headed into the house. I slid my hand down Sam’s arm and slipped it into hers.

  “Are you going to show me our room, then?” I asked, trying to break her inner freak out.

  Chapter Eleven

  SAM

  “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but next to you.”

  Matt’s words were running in my head on a loop. It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to me, and I was completely freaking out. How could someone like him feel that way about me? He could have the choice of any girl out there. What does he see in little old me?

  I liked him a lot before I even met him, but as I was getting to know the real him, my feelings were becoming stronger. I couldn’t help but think I wasn’t interesting enough for som
eone like him to commit to someone like me. I was starting to worry that the more I got to know him, the closer I was getting to heartbreak.

  The knowledge that I was going to share a bed with Matt was making me freak the hell out. It wasn’t like I didn’t want Matt to share my bed, but the last time we did, I hadn’t had a chance to enjoy it. I was so exhausted and wracked with worry about Aimee, so doing it again in a better frame of mind was something I wanted. It simply scared me because it had been a while since I’d been with a guy.

  After my last boyfriend, I’d taken time to find myself and essentially fall back in love with the real me because somewhere along the way, I’d completely lost her and the love I once had for her. So dating again and being intimate with someone was a terrifying thought. I wasn’t going to let it stop whatever was happening between Matt and me, though, because Sarah was right, there was some insane connection between the two of us that needed to be explored. I wanted to give us a chance.

  I led Matt to our room, waving him in and closing the door behind us. As I glanced around the cozy area, I noticed my bed had fresh purple bedding on it and made a mental note to thank Sarah for making it up for me. The desk against the wall had a small pile of unopened mail and what looked to be a book delivery from Amazon. I wasn’t in a rush to open anything, so I flicked my eyes over to the two floor-to-ceiling bookcases beside the desk and hoped Matt wouldn’t be put off by my taste in reading material. There was a lot of gay romance on those shelves, and I didn’t know how straight guys felt about that kind of stuff.

  Matt dropped his backpack on my bed and walked straight over to the bookcases, running his fingers over a spine here and there. He stopped on the shelf that held the books written by me and pulled one out. It was my most recent release, a gay romance that I absolutely loved writing, so much so that I’d planned out a whole series and spin-off series for it.

  His eyes raked over the cover—two half-naked guys in a loving embrace. “You wrote this?” he asked before flipping it over and reading the blurb.

  I waited until his eyes came back to me before I answered, not wanting to disturb his taking in the words. “I did. Gay romance is a popular genre, and it’s one I’ve loved for a long time as a reader and now a writer. The LGBTQI reading and writing community is welcoming to all, and it’s somewhere I feel at home,” I said, my voice sounding defensive even to my ears.

  I couldn’t help it, but in my experience when people found out you read or wrote LGBTQI romance, they assumed you were all kinds of kinky, but that was so far from the truth. Gay romance seemed so much more emotional to me because the obstacles the characters come across were often hard-hitting and just deeper than a lot of heterosexual romance books. Something about that spoke to me, and that was why I was drawn to them.

  “Hey,” Matt offered me a warm smile. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m impressed that you’re writing a genre you don’t have personal experience in. It must be hard to do and require a lot of research.”

  “Sorry. Most people don’t think that way.” I gave him an abashed glance. “Yeah. I guess it’s not as easy as writing heterosexual romance, where I can find inspiration from my own life experiences. The internet is full of inspiration for my muse, though, so it’s not overly hard.”

  Matt chuckled as he slotted the book back into its place. “Well, I guess gay porn is easy enough to find.”

  Heat rose on my cheeks at how close to the truth he was. I’d spent many hours watching videos on a gay porn star’s Twitter feed during the writing process—all in the name of research. We can’t have sex scenes being unrealistic, can we? “I meant photos like the one on the cover and music. You’d be surprised how easily lyrics can spark a plot bunny, even if the song was written about a guy and a girl.”

  “I know the power of lyrics pretty well.” He nodded. “Every time Dom hands me his lyrics, and I hear the melody in my head, I know exactly what chords will go where. I pretty much get lost in the process until I have a whole song.”

  “I didn’t realize you guys worked together like that. Did it happen naturally, or did Dom choose to focus on the lyrics?” I asked, curious about the process. Aimee and I have co-authored together, and we fell into our characters pretty easily, no arguments over who wanted to be the voice for who. I wondered if songwriting was similar.

  Matt shook his head. “No, nothing was forced. Dom’s always been better with words. He feels them just as I feel the music. I guess those differences between us are why we work well together.”

  Matt sat on the edge of the bed, leaning back on his elbows. Taking his cue, I toed off my sneakers and kicked them under the bed where they usually lived before lifting a pillow and sitting against the headboard.

  “Kat and the others? How does it work with them? Do they not get upset that they don’t get a part in bringing the songs to life like you and Dom?”

  “Kat puts her mark on them. She’s amazing behind that drum kit. I could never give them as good a beat as she does. Al used to be our keys player, and our old school buddy, Will, was a bass guitarist, but they both left the band for personal reasons when we were signed, and we’ve never managed to replace them with anyone permanent. We usually just get new guys who learn the songs for the tour.”

  My eyes widened with his admission. “Alberto was part of the band?”

  Matt nodded. “He’s a fucking whiz on the keys.”

  “He’s not someone I can imagine in the limelight.”

  Matt grinned. “He hated the attention fame was bringing, and that was before we even really hit it off. He didn’t want to lose his privacy or put the kind of pressure that brings to his future relationships.” He frowned. “I guess maybe he’s the smart one out of the band.”

  “What about the other guy? Will, was it?” I played with a loose strand of cotton between my fingers as I watched the thoughts behind Matt’s eyes, unable to read into them.

  When I thought he wasn’t going to answer, he opened his mouth. “Will was…” He laid back and looked off to the ceiling, his eyes unseeing as a small smile graced his lips, “… more than simply an old school buddy. He’s my soul mate. Dom, Will, and I were like triplets, completely inseparable. Dom noticed girls before we did, and that started it all, I think.” Matt blinked and turned his head to face me. “Anyway, when we were signed, it was clear how the record company wanted to present us, and Will didn’t want to be someone he wasn’t, so he chose to step away and focus on his love of art. He’s a tattoo artist and now owns his studio back home in Cold Spring.” There was a sadness in his voice that urged me to hug him, but we were too far apart for that.

  Reaching across the bed, I placed my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. “I bet it was hard losing that connection all of a sudden.” Worry flashed in his hazel orbs. “You said you were pretty much inseparable, so I’m assuming once you were signed, you were whisked away to do music stuff, and he was back home living a life you were no longer a part of,” I clarified.

  Chapter Twelve

  MATT

  My heart hammered in my chest until Sam explained her comment. I thought I’d let more slip than I’d meant to. It wasn’t like I didn’t want Sam to know everything about my life and friends, it was just that some relationships were more personal than others, and as much as I felt for Sam, I wasn’t sure I was quite ready to bare all to her just then.

  I relaxed, turning on my side so I was facing her and linked my fingers with hers as her hand slipped from my shoulder. “Yeah, it was hard, but I kept busy, so I didn’t really have the time to dwell on it. It probably wasn’t anywhere near as hard as it was for you to move away from your family. How did you end up in Australia, anyway?” I asked, turning the subject to her, wanting to know anything she was willing to share with me. I wasn’t lying back at the airport when I’d said I wanted to get to know her more.

  Sam’s eyes fell on our hands as she talked. “I miss them every day, but I’ve always wanted to see the world, and what better way
to do that while getting to spend time with my soul sister.” The smile she was wearing made it obvious how much she cared about Aimee. Although I’d already known that from how much she worried about her. “I FaceTime with my family regularly, and I plan to go back home for a visit next year. I spent a year in Texas as an exchange student at the age of fifteen, so I’ve spent time away from my family before.” That explained her accent. I’d thought it had an almost American twang hiding behind the German.

  “Technology is a wonderful thing. We all get to feel like we aren’t too far from home via video messaging when we’re on tour, too.” It was nice connecting with Sam over similarities when we were from such different walks of life.

  Tapping on the door pulled me from the depths of sleep. I rubbed a hand over my face and smiled when I saw Sam’s sleeping form beside me. She’d obviously changed her position on the bed after I’d dozed off, still in the same spot I’d been in with my legs hanging off the side of the bed.

  Another tap came on the door accompanied by a feminine voice. “Sammy? If you guys sleep any longer, you’ll be awake all night. Jet lag isn’t nice. I’ve been there a few times.”

  I cleared my throat. “Thanks, Sarah.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m making coffee if you want one,” she offered.

  “I’d love one, thanks.” I stroked my hand over Sam’s cheek. “Sam, you need to wake up. Do you want a coffee?”

  She gave me an indecipherable grumble.

  “I’ll make her one. Sam never passes up her elixir of life,” Sarah informed me. I heard her footsteps gradually fade away and focused my attention back on Sam, who didn’t look like she was even trying to wake up.

  “I’m awake,” she mumbled, probably sensing my eyes on her.

  I chuckled. “You don’t look it. Your eyes are still shut.”