Impress Me Not: Neon Underground

Chapter 79

"What do you mean?" Melvin asked, pulling away just to look at him.

It had been a nice day after the whole ordeal in the rain. Mateo hadn't seen Melvin this clingy. He used to hate clingy people, especially when he was dating them. He was that type of person, at least, when he really liked them. Mateo hated that he was clingy for many years. It took until he fell for Melvin that he realized how much he enjoyed it. He loved the attention those dark blue eyes gave him with every single word Mateo said.

That was why he didn't want to give up on them, even when Melvin was trying to push him away in the rain. Mateo had recognized that stuff in himself. He had ruined some really good relationships by getting angry with himself and wanting to push them away. It wasn't so much to hurt them, but to hurt himself.

"I just knew where you were coming from," Mateo answered. He wished they could go back to flirting. It was scary just how powerful the man's words had on Mateo's body. The sweet torture was just what he needed to end this dramatic day.

"It was more than that," Melvin asked. "Wasn't it?"

Those deep ocean eyes pulled him under once again, through the memories that Mateo had once hid from. He kept himself above water, where he thought he was safe. He had no clue the terrible things those waves had brought ashore while he did his best to avoid it.

Melvin was the only person he felt safe to venture through them with.

"My dad never really cared about me," Mateo shrugged. "To him it was either I make a living and become as rich as him to expand the family successes, or cease to exist in his eyes. There was no in between."

"So, you had something similar to me?"

"Kind of," Mateo answered. "I didn't get kicked out. I was just pressured to go out there and do something with my life. I don't think my father really ever paid attention to me, but I tried to do anything to get a reaction out of him when I was younger. I even came out as bi to him right when I found out, just to see if he would care."

"How did he react?" Melvin looked at him curiously.

"He literally just shrugged and said 'That's good, Mateo, now how are those job applications going?'. It was the weirdest reaction I've ever heard."

"I'm surprised someone as rich as your parents cared so much about you getting a job."

"That's because they weren't really rich," Mateo sighed. "They both had good paying jobs, but they lived off from credit cards." The two of them had racked their debt up so much when he was younger, it was ridiculous. "I've had to lend them money at one point. That's how I found out just how far in debt they had gotten."

"They wanted to use you as another bank," Melvin frowned. "Is that why you were so focused on money?"

"Kind of," Mateo said. He turned to lay on his back as he looked up at the bare ceiling. "I absolutely hated working, honestly. I don't get some of these people who can have full time desk jobs and absolutely love it."

"Some of them wind up being the most kinkiest people," Melvin chuckled. It was nice to see him in a good mood. "You have no idea."

"Other than people who like own their businesses, or something like that," Mateo shook his head. "Does anyone really like their job?"

"There are people," Melvin answered. "It's just hard to find a job that you really enjoy for most people. Instead of trying to find happiness in work, they usually try to just find happiness elsewhere."

"Well, I didn't really want any of that," Mateo shook his head. "I cut contact with my parents and sister to make sure they didn't try to ask me for money. Then I was just planning on saving up enough money to where I could retire at a young age and just live simply for the rest of my life."