The Best Kind of Betrayal

Chapter 19

"Hi mum," Matthew calls.

He closes the door behind us, and I'm stunned. From the outside, their house looked huge and intimidating, with lots of glass and white plaster and stone facing. But from the inside, it's nice and super cozy. There's bright colors and long, fluffy curtains, handmade quilts and more couches than in my whole house combined. Matthew guides me towards the smell of freshly baked pie, most probably coming from the kitchen, one hand resting on my waist the whole time. It's highly distracting.

"Hello, Mrs. Perez," I say and put on my best smile.

Matthew's mother looks up from where's she's leaning on the counter and scrolling through a laptop, a green apron messily tied around her waist. She's tall, her hair long and as dark as her son's, and her smile his warm and welcoming.

"Oh, you're home," she calls and smiles at us, "And – is this your girlfriend? June?"

I'm surprised. Matthew looks embarrassed.

"Um, yes," I stammer and offer my hand, "Nice to meet you."

It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact Matthew apparently told his family I'm his girlfriend. I don't know how far we'd take the whole fake relationship business but seems like Matthew went on with it thoroughly.

"Nice to meet you, too," Matthew's mother smiles and squeezes my hand, "I took a little break from work and made pie, do you want some?"

"Thanks, but I'm taking June upstairs," Matthew intervenes quickly and grabs two glasses and a bottle of water from the fridge.

His mother leans over to pat his cheek. "No problem, I'll bring you two slices."

I'd rather stay downstairs and chat with her while waiting for freshly baked pie. She doesn't make me feel as anxious as strangers usually do, plus I still have no clue what Matthew's actually planning to do in his room. He said something along the lines he just wants to "hang out with my girlfriend," on our way home, which sounds vague at best.

Matthew looks over his shoulder and smiles. "What are you doing, come on."

Uh, I'd rather not. Where is the fire exit? I cough awkwardly and shift my weight, until Matthew looks over his shoulder and gives this very warm, very Matthew smile.

"What are you waiting for?"

I shake my head and follow him, and it shows just how huge his house actually is. I feel like we're climbing the stairs forever.

Upstairs, there's a light hallway, and loud rock music coming out of an open door. Matthew pokes his head inside and furrows his brows at what looks like a perfect duplicate of himself, minus a few inches of height, plus long bangs, and gothic clothing.

"Can you turn this down?"

Matthew duplicate rolls his eyes but reaches for his phone and taps on it until the volume's significantly lower. "Who's that – girlfriend?"

"June," Matthew says and pushes me slightly forward by my shoulders, "My younger brother, Leonard. He's fifteen."

Leonard gives me a small wave and immediately focuses back down to the book in his lap – I can't see the title over the dark cover, though I'm impressed by the apparently over thousand pages. I'm also impressed by the fact that Leonard's room is in stark contrast to his appearance, with a fluffy cream carpet, pastel green curtains and white furniture.

I give Mini Matthew smile he doesn't notice.

"Well, that was introductions," Matthew says and pulls me back around, "My room is at the end of the hallway."