Page 80 of Anything But Lonely

“What about your friend’s sister?” Mateo says before I can even finish my sentence.

“If you’d let me talk,” I playfully slap his shoulder, and he dramatically reels back like I actually hit him with enough strength to move him. “I would tell you that Ava’s sister, Georgie, is looking for a job. She’s already helped out with their neighbor’s cat.”

Mateo’s eyes lit up, and it reminds me of Crew.

The two boys have the same look of excitement, and I don’t like what it does to my chest.

We figure out that Ava and Anderson’s place is a short bike ride from Mateo’s house, and I send a text off to Ava with the job offer for Georgie just as Jack shouts my name over the conversations surrounding us.

Mateo and I look over to Jack, who points at Crew. He signals that it’s Crew’s group’s turn to go through the house, so we make our way closer to the house to make sure he can see us if he checks to see if we’re watching.

My phone buzzes in my pocket.

Ava

She’s in

As long as she can go after school since Winter Break ends tomorrow

Anything for Mateo Lane, right?

I roll my eyes at Ava’s texts before dropping my phone back into my jacket pocket.

“Ava says Georgie can do it,” I tell Mateo just as Crew sticks his head out one of the windows, his eyes immediately finding us and waving his arm over his head.

We wave back just as Mateo says, “Thanks. It’s one less thing for me to worry about.”

“What else does the great Mateo Lane have to worry about?” I ask, our eyes fixed on the Survive Alive House.

“Oh, nothing,” Mateo answers with a sigh. “Just the usual midlife crisis stuff. Turning forty. Figuring out what happens when I’m not the frontman of a band anymore.”

I turn to look at him, and he looks just as surprised as I feel.

I don’t think he meant to let those words out. But that’s the thing about the thoughts we keep buried—the ones we replay over and over in our own heads. We spend so much time giving them a voice in private that eventually, they forget they’re not supposed to be spoken aloud.

“And here I am thinking you were trying to figure out how to use your newfound sexual confidence.” The joke comes out so naturally, yet I will never get used to how easily it is to get Mateo all hot and bothered.

He rubs the back of his neck with his palm with an awkward chuckle. “Waking up to find you gone without a trace the next morning didn’t do much to my confidence,” he admits.

“Had to leave you wanting more, rockstar,” I tease, but this time, the joke doesn’t land as well.

“Daddy!” Crew’s voice rings out over the crowd, followed by a fit of giggles as he runs over to us. “I did it! I made it through the Survive Alive House!” he says, holding up a red ribbon and a certificate.

Jack follows close behind him.

Mateo kneels down to catch Crew as he barrels towards him, wrapping him in a hug that lifts him off the ground.

“I’m Mateo,” he says to my brother once he sets Crew back down, holding out his hand. “Thanks for taking him through the house.”

“Jack,” my brother says as an introduction, shaking Mateo’s hand. “And no need,” he adds. “Crew was actually the one to lead me.”

I look down at Crew. “You?” and he nods his head so fast I’m worried it might pop off. I reach down, brushing a few strands of hair away from his face. “Always the best helper.”

He wraps his arms around my legs, and my heart stutters—almost like it trips over itself at the unexpected affection.

Crew has hugged me before, but this feels different.

Maybe it’s because of today. Because of Mateo’s grin or the way Jack’s usually stoic expression softens as he looks at us. Maybe it’s because this morning, I put on this pink sweater my mom loved without falling apart.