JADE

Chapter 3

Chapter 3
May 15, 2023

I stood there baffled, It was Matthew. My first boyfriend/ my first love. I had dated him before Braxton.

"Yeah it's me, babe," he smiled. I used to miss that beautiful bright smile. Mathew is 2 years older than me, he has dark green eyes and dirty blonde hair. I looked at his neck and see a tattoo poking out of his shirt.

I don't know what came over me but I jumped up and hugged him. I could hear his soft chuckles erupt from his throat. "What are you doing here?" I asked him as I pulled away

"I wanted to see you, it's been a long time."

"Yes, it has been a while. You have changed"

"Yeah so have you. Am I allowed to come in?" He asked I nodded my head. As he entered the house, Dawson ran into the room. He was smiling but when he saw who it was, he frowned.

"That's not daddy" Dawson pointed out, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes I know, daddy is going to be gone for a couple of days. This is my friend Matt." I gestured towards Matthew. "Say hi"

"Hi." My son gave him an emotionless face and waved at Matt.

"It's nice to meet you....." He looked at me waiting for me to say his name.

"Dawson" The little boy stated.

"It's nice to meet you, Dawson. How old are you?" Grey held up 3 fingers.

"He's so cute, just like his mother" he commented, moving his head towards me. I felt myself blush at his comment.

"No, no," Grey said out loud, waving his fingers at Matt. I gave Dawson a weird but also confused look. I shook my head and looked at Matthew again.

"I was just about to cook lunch, would you like some?" I offered Matt, he smiled at me again.

"I would be honored to. I have always loved your food"

I smiled and picked up Dawson. I led Matthew to the large kitchen. Grey squirmed in my arms, wanting me to put him down. "Games!" He yelled.

"Okay, you can go play your games until lunch is ready"

"Yeah!" He shrieks and then runs to the living room.

"He's a sweet kid" I look at Matt, then down the hall where Dawson just ran down.

"Yeah, he is. He looks just like Braxton"

"Oh, you're still with Braxton?" He gave me an odd face when he mentioned Braxton.

"Yes, he's my husband. Why don't you like him?" I asked

"Because he gets to have you, clearly I can't." He looked down at the counter.

"You were the one who left, not me. I needed to move on." I stated. I started preparing all the food to make my mom's secret recipe for tacos.

You shouldn't have moved on, you fucked up, the voice said.

"I know, that was the biggest mistake of my life. I let go of the one person who mattered in my life." I felt myself freeze at his words.

I was the one person who actually mattered. He's upset that he let me go. I wish Braxton could say that about me.

I heard Matthew get up from his seat. But I didn't know if he was leaving. Then suddenly, I felt two arms wrap around my waist. "You matter to me." He whispered in my ear. I turned around to look at him. My arms thought before my brain did, I jumped and hugged him.

"Thank you" I mumbled as I hugged him tighter.

"Why are you saying thank you?"

"Because you made me feel special, even when we aren't together," I answered. I let go of him and continued cooking.

"So what have you been up to?" I changed the subject.

"Since I left, I went to college. Now I'm trying to find a place to start my life"

"Since you left, I got married out of high school. Then had Dawson, now I'm taking online classes"

"You got married out of high school? I thought you wanted to wait until it was right"

"It was right"

I heard his footsteps leave the kitchen, then I heard laughter from the living room.

6 hours later

Throughout Matt's visit, Dawson has been laughing nonstop. And I have been smiling, laughing with them. Matt and Dawson have been playing all of the video games we have. I hop off the couch to go cook dinner.

"I wanna help!" Dawson jumped up and down.

"Okay, what do you want for dinner?" I kneeled down to his level.

"Spaghetti and meatballs!" He yelled.

"Okay, Matthew I will call you when it's done. Make yourself comfortable." I tell him. Then I left with Dawson for the kitchen.

*Braxton's POV*

I am currently staring out the window in Italy, waiting for my trip to be over. This was a regular business trip, mostly meetings. I take my phone out of my pocket and dial Jade's number.

"Hello?" A deep voice answered the phone.

"Who the fuck is this?" I snapped angrily at the unknown person.

"Me? I'm Matt. Who are you?" He asked. That name sounded vaguely familiar.

"Me? I'm Braxton, Jade's husband!"

"If you are her husband, why aren't you here with her?" Matthew questioned.

"Get out of my house, or you will regret it, you little bastard!" I shouted through the phone.

"Matt? Dinner is ready" I heard an angelic voice coming through the phone, it was Jade.

"I will be right there, babe" I heard him answer. I would feel my grip get even tighter on my phone, it was on the verge of breaking.

Babe?

"You hear that? My dinner is ready, Braxton" and then he hung up the phone. I still had the phone up to my ear, I was so furious I couldn't move.

Why is he there! I'm her husband, not him. Is she cheating on me? I want to cut that guy into pieces!

I need to go home. Now.

*Jade's POV"

When dinner was ready and I called out to Matthew, he replied with calling me "babe." I stood in the middle of the kitchen baffled. He never called me that when we were together, why would he start now? I didn't invite him to dinner for sexual reasons, I was being a nice person. I wanted to talk to him since it has been years since we had spoken.

When we finished dinner, and I was exhausted. Dawson and Matt were watching a movie together on the couch. I stayed in the corner, farthest from Matthew so he wouldn't get any ideas. I glanced over at the clock to check the time and feeling a little tired. "I'm taking a little nap," I told them and laid my head on the comfortable couch.

Before I fell asleep I felt Dawson slither into my arms.