Sticky Fingers (16 page)

And what kind of friend am I to think that he’d ever flirt with me—well, flirt and actually mean it—when he has Courtney?

“I know you do, and Courtney loves you too. Totally,” I tell him as I pop the lid off my latte to help it cool faster. Well, and to buy myself a few seconds to get my head together. “So why are you worried about it? You don’t think they decided to go somewhere and chat after work just because?”

Of course I feel like a total hypocrite as I say this,
because I definitely suspect that’s not all there was to it. I have that sixth sense emanating from my gut, telling me there’s something odd here. I can just
feel
it. And apparently Mat does too.

“No, this is different.” He shoves a hand through his dark hair, then leans back in the chair so it tilts up on its back legs. “You know that Dunkin’ Donuts over on Route 126? That’s where they were. I was driving by and I noticed Courtney’s car in the lot. Scott’s red car was parked right next to hers. I mean, you couldn’t miss them.”

I know what he’s getting at without him having to spell it out. No one ever goes to that Dunkin’ Donuts. We usually go to the one where Mat works, or to the Starbucks where we are now. Or a million other places.

“They didn’t want anyone to hear whatever it was they were talking about,” he continues. He’s not acting all drama-ish about it, just confused in a very macho, guy-ish way. “I thought maybe they were planning a surprise party for you for getting into Harvard. It was the only reason I could think of for them to be there. But I asked Courtney later—in a
very offhanded way—if she was planning to do anything like that, and she said no, she’d just gotten you a gift.”

I yank at the neck of my sweater so the necklace pops out.

“That’s pretty,” he says. “That’s what she got you?”

I nod. As I tuck it back in, I say, “So you got worried. When you saw them out and couldn’t figure out why, I mean.”

“I shouldn’t be. And I
wouldn’t
be, because I absolutely trust her to not cheat on me, let alone with Scott. But you know, there’s a lot of other weird stuff going on with her. Aside from her parents breaking up. She’s skipping out on classes and she doesn’t tell me first, even in classes we have together. She doesn’t talk to you or to Anne like she used to. And …
Não sei.
I don’t know. It’s nothing specific, but when I think about it all together, I’m just gettin’ a real bad vibe about things. And so is Anne. She stopped by during my shift one night last week for coffee. She acted like she was just there as a casual thing, but she was grilling me about Courtney the whole time. She didn’t come right out and say
anything was wrong, but she’s obviously worried about Courtney too.”

So Anne was busy last week. “Have you asked Courtney about it?”

“Not really.” He lets his chair clonk back down onto all four legs. He leans toward me, putting his elbows on the table. “Definitely not about skipping school. You know how defensive she’ll probably get.”

“Been there, done that. She promised not to do it again, though.”

One of his eyebrows cocks up. “Well, that’s something, I guess. I did end up asking her flat out about that night she was with Scott. A few days after I saw them, we were on our way to her place and we drove by that same Dunkin’ Donuts. So I mentioned seeing her car and Scott’s car there. I did it in a way that sounded like it just occurred to me as we were passing by. You know, so she’d know I was curious but so she wouldn’t think it was any big thing.” He shoots me a lopsided grin before adding, “I left out the part about how I’d made a U-turn in the middle of Route 126 and parked across the street and watched them for ten minutes.”

“You didn’t!”

“What can I say? With everything that’s been going on, I was worried about my woman.” He says “my woman” in a lovey way, one that’s not derogatory or possessive at all, which makes me like him even more. And makes me think that he really is good for Courtney, even if they did hop into the sack faster than I think is smart.

“So what’d she say about it? Anything?”

He shakes his head. “She claimed they got together to talk about their manager at Stop & Shop. That she’s being a real jerk about time cards and a million other things. But it was a lie.”

“It was? How do you know?” I feel like a total dork playing dumb about all this, but I’m getting the sinking feeling that Courtney’s about to screw up her relationship with Mat even worse than she tried to screw up our friendship that night at Bennigan’s. And if Mat ends up breaking up with her over this, she’s going to fall apart, and I soooo don’t want to have that happen.

“First, she’s never once complained about her manager to me, and for all the time we spend together
talking, you’d think she’d have said something. At least once. And she also told me a couple other people from work were at the Dunkin’ Donuts, too, and they were all discussing the same things. She made it sound like a big get-together.”

He sucks in his lower lip, then takes a long sip of coffee, like he’s trying to keep himself calm. When he sets his cup down and speaks again, his voice is completely flat. “Jenna, there were only a few other people in that Dunkin’ Donuts. And they weren’t Stop & Shop types, either. There was this one old couple sitting on the opposite side of the seating area from Courtney and Scott. Everyone else just walked in, stood in line, got their coffee, and left. No one else was talking to them at all.”

“Couldn’t they have been there already and left?”

Mat shoots me a look. “What do you think?”

“Okay, okay,” I say. “But don’t read too much into it. And whatever you do, do
not
let your imagination run away with you. Courtney is
not
cheating on you. I swear.”

“But it wasn’t just a casual coffee, either. Something is going on.”

I can’t convince him otherwise, so why try? “Yeah, I think something is going on too. But it’s not cheating.” Despite Courtney telling me about Scott’s yum factor.

“Do you know what it is, then? Or is it some deep, dark secret?” He levels a stare at me that makes me want to tell him about what I overheard when I picked Scott up from the store to go bowling. Or all about Scott making up that story about Courtney applying to Syracuse. But what good would it do?

“I have no idea. But like you said, Courtney’s my best friend. I have to trust her. And if something’s really wrong, we have to hope she’ll come to one of us.”

But the truth is, I really don’t trust her right now—not completely—and I’m not sure I’m convincing Mat that I am. Then a brainstorm hits me. “You know, Scott’s parents are divorced, and his dad just remarried. Maybe Courtney feels like she can talk to him about it in a way she can’t talk to us. Neither of us have ever had to deal with anything like that.”

“Maybe. That hadn’t occurred to me.” He looks
doubtful, though. Probably because he’s thinking that Courtney would be far more likely to talk to Anne about it all.

And now that I think about it, the dead meat comments don’t make any more sense in the share-our-misery-over-divorcing-parents context, either.

“If you see or hear anything, will you let me know?” he asks. “If something more serious is going on—something other than her parents’ divorce, even if she’s breaking up with me for whatever reason—I’d rather know about it and deal with it than constantly be worried about her.”

“I will. But really, I think it’s not the big thing you think.” I hate that I’m making excuses for Courtney, but telling him I’m just as suspicious as he is will make everything worse.

And it really
could
be nothing.

“Let’s hope.” He finishes the last dregs of his coffee, but leaves the cup on the table while I work on mine. There’s something calm and polite about him that I really like, and I can totally see why he rings Courtney’s bells. After watching her parents’
up-and-down relationship for years, I bet she finds him stabilizing.

“So, what’s the plan for tomorrow night?” he asks, clearly ready to put the whole awkward conversation behind us. “Courtney says there’s some big party at Aric Jensen’s. Scott mentioned it to me too. I think he’s all hot to go, but Courtney said she wanted to go to the movies with you. Did you and Scott ever figure it out?”

“Oh, crap! I meant to ask Scott about that.” Courtney’s gonna kill me if I don’t let her know tonight. “I have no clue what we’re doing. I want to go to the movies, but I should double check with Scott first.”

“He might not be home yet. You wanna try his cell?”

I’m already pulling my phone out of my purse and dialing. When Scott answers, it’s obvious he’s still in the car. I can hear his radio blasting in the background.

“It’s just me,” I say. “I forgot to ask: What’s the deal tomorrow night? Mat and Courtney are wondering too. Court asked me if I want to go to the movies, and I was thinking—”

“I didn’t tell you yet?”

“Nope.”

“Hold on a sec.” The sound of the car radio fades in the background, then he comes back on the line. “Sorry. Needed to turn that down. I meant to tell you that I told Aric Jensen we’d go to his place, so he’s kind of expecting us. I figured that way you can go out with Courtney on Saturday night. I was thinking of going over to the gym for some hoops with the guys then, since they’re opening it up for the night. That way, you guys can have your girl time, after everything that’s been going on.”

“You don’t think Aric’s will be insane?” I say, even as Mat is pretending to gag on the other side of the table. I shoot Mat a
stop it
kind of grin, then pretend to ignore him as he rolls his eyes.

“Probably, but it’ll be fun. And if it’s not, then we’ll leave. No big deal. Since we missed Rick Dando’s and Lucas Ribiero’s parties at the beginning of break, we really should show for this one.”

I can tell from the way he’s talking that he won’t change his mind, and since he’s encouraging me to go out with Courtney on Saturday and being supportive
of what I want, I don’t see the point in arguing. “Okay, I’ll let Mat and Courtney know so they can make plans. Have a good time learning fiscal responsibility.”

“Yeah, right. I’m sure it’ll be the most exciting night of my life. I just pulled into the driveway and I can see my mom through the den window. She’s all geared up.”

“I’m so sorry,” I say, trying not to laugh.

“I can tell. Talk to you later, okay?”

I tell him good-bye, then snap the phone shut. Mat’s still pretending to gag, so I toss a wadded-up napkin at him. “Apparently the school gym’s open for basketball on Saturday night, so he suggested that Courtney and I go to the movies then. It’s a good idea, so what was I going to say?”

“That Aric Jensen’s a drunk and you don’t want to go to his party?”

“It won’t be so bad.”

Mat takes our two empty cups over to the trash. As he tosses them in, he says, “Nah, it won’t be bad. You, me, and Courtney can stick together and we’ll be fine. But I just hate these parties where all anyone
does is play stupid drinking games or hook up in the bedrooms. It’s juvenile.”

“College will be worse.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

He pulls his keys out of his pocket, then asks if I’m ready to go. I nod and pull my jacket off the back of the chair. He—get this—takes it out of my hands and helps me into it. I’m not sure if it’s dorky or if it’s just that he was raised this way. But as we walk out of Starbucks and he opens the door for me, allowing me to go first, I decide it’s all pretty cool. “You know, you’re all right, Mateus the Great,” I tell him, using the name Courtney always calls him. As if he’s Alexander or something, out to conquer lands and women’s hearts everywhere.

“You thought I wasn’t?”

I look sideways at him as we cross the parking lot, and I’m about to say something to cover myself when I see that he’s got a teasing grin on his face. “Shut up,” I say, and laugh, though when he uses his clicker to unlock the car, I race ahead of him to open my own door before he can do it. Just because.

I hear him laughing as he walks around to his
side of the car. He has confidence in himself that’s completely different from the kind of confidence Scott has. Mat’s is the kind that other people might not see right away. It’s subtle. On the other hand, everyone who meets Scott knows from the get-go that he’s the kind of person who runs his own show. Not because he brags about himself or anything; it’s just that he has this aura about him he can’t hide, even when he’s quiet.

“Sorry, but it’s snowing,” I say once he’s sitting in the driver’s seat. “No sense in your taking any longer to get into the car than you needed to.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he says. He knows the way to my house, since he and Courtney have picked me up several times, so I don’t bother giving him directions. When we arrive, he pulls up so my door is right next to the front walk, just so I won’t get my feet messy going in. “You want me to get out and open your door for you?”

“Smartass. But thanks for the ride.” I grab the handle, but he reaches across and puts a hand on my elbow to stop me.

“Promise me you’ll keep an eye on Courtney?”

“I promise.”

He squeezes my elbow, then lets go.
“Obrigada por tudo.”

I wave to him from the porch as he backs his decade-old silver Nissan out of the driveway, then watch as he turns down the street, heading for his house. I can’t put a finger on why—certainly not because of the weather—but I have a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.