CHAPTER 43

**CHLOE DUARTE**

“Oh, of course! I've seen her at times, but what is the Colucci girl doing at our mere concert? I thought she was more into classical music than rock music

Colucci's girl?"

Damn, looking at him right now I might have seen him at the dance the night before and that's why he mentioned my musical tastes when he saw me dancing with James at that party.

“I think you are misinformed, I am not Colucci's girl or anyone else's girl.", infortunately, I can't control the irritation in my voice and I think he realizes it when the smile on his thin lips grows.

“Mmmm, I see we have a feral kitten here, I like it!", his eyes creep up and down my body slowly.

“Don't mind that, princess. Simon likes to tease, doesn't he?", Matt comments visibly annoyed by his friend's gaze on me.

“Forget what I said kitten, I thought you were the big boss's girl."

“The news is wrong about that.", I say and he finally nods.

Matt starts a lively conversation with his friends while Samanta and I listen in and participate a few times, but I see that Jesse doesn't seem to like our presence.

She snorts or sighs every time I or Samanta speaks up in the men's conversation, I feel someone approaching me and when I turn my head I see Ken with his face close to my ear before whispering:

“The problem is not just with you two, she hates any girl who talks or tries to get close to Simon..."

“Okay, but I'm not trying to get close to anyone.", I say in a low tone and he agrees before continuing to whisper:

“We know that, but either way, she feels threatened by any female presence that draws Simon's attention. He doesn't realize this or doesn't want to, but Jesse has always been in love with him."

At this moment I turn my head toward Jesse who is still sitting in front of the dressing table with her back to us, but even through the reflection of the mirror, I can see her expression change each time her eyes are fixed on Simon who is talking to Matt.

We stay in the company of the band for another half hour until we decide to leave the shed and go, it has been an electrifying night and a remarkable experience in my life.

Samanta says goodbye and calls an Uber to go home while Matt and I leave the shed and follow him to where his motorcycle is parked.

The weather at this time of the night has changed completely, the cold wind chills my entire skin when we get close to the motorcycle, I hug my own body trying to get warm, and when I see that Matt approaches me taking off his leather jacket and putting it over my shoulders.

“Thanks, Matt!", he smiles helping me to get on the bike and put my helmet back on.

In a few seconds we are heading to the other side of the night city, the way back seems to take longer, and to make matters worse it starts to rain.

But it's not just a light rain, it's a rain with heavy drops that are accompanied by thunder and lightning that cut the dark sky.

“Matt, it's too dangerous, don't you think it's better to stop and wait for the rain to subside?", I shout a little louder at the noise of the rain that falls heavily on our bodies.

The motorcycle is a dangerous thing if you are not careful, and I am afraid because the motorcycle tires seem to slide on the wet road because of the heavy rain.

“No, I'll go slowly, don't worry, princess!", he answers me and I go back to being silent, grabbing his waist more tightly than before.

Even slowly, we arrive at my building about twenty minutes later, we are completely drenched and I am shivering with cold.

The rain gets worse than before and at this point, Matt says that he needs to wait a bit because he doesn't want to risk this danger.

“Okay, let's go inside and dry off!", I invite him in and he nods quickly, following me inside the building to my apartment door.

I unlock the door and the first thing I do is take the wet, heavy jacket off my shoulders and hang it up to try to dry the fabric.

I look at Matt who removes the soaked cap from his head and I laugh at this when I see the strands of his hair sticking to his dark eyes.

“Wait, I'll get some dry towels!", I leave him in the living room and rush into the bathroom where I get two dry towels for both of us.

When I return I find Matt removing his wet white t-shirt that seems to stick to his body, he soon notices my presence and when he turns around he looks embarrassed.

“Sorry princess, it was too wet and bothering me, but I can put it back on and...", he starts to apologize, but I nod and throw one of the towels in his direction.

“No problem!", I say, starting to dry myself off too.

I start to dry my dripping hair but stop breathing for a second when my eyes lock on Matt's upper body and I stare unblinkingly at him drying his own healed body.

I blink several times trying to push out the insane thoughts that surround my mind at this moment, Matt practices Krav Maga and is always at the gym taking care of his body and now I can see the result of all that effort.

“Excuse me, I'm going to change clothes!", I try not to stutter as I walk as fast as I can to my room, but the worst happens when I trip over something on the floor and fall.

The noise is loud and so is my groan of pain, I hear footsteps rushing through the apartment and soon Matt appears still shirtless at my bedroom door.

He widens his dark eyes when he sees me lying on the floor and quickly rushes to help me up, but when I try to do so I feel a twinge in my ankle and my forehead burn.

“Come here, princess...", Matt easily picks me up on his lap before setting me down and sitting on my bed.

“Where does it hurt, Chloe?", I point to my right ankle sighing.

Quickly his hands replace mine as he begins to examine my injured foot carefully, his dark eyes fix on a spot on my face and I frown feeling something hurt too.

“Your forehead is bleeding, princess!", he gets up asking where the first aid kit is and I point him in the direction of the bathroom.

While he is gone I stretch my neck towards the bedroom mirror seeing my reflection and a medium cut on my forehead that is bleeding, maybe I hit my head somewhere when I fell to the floor.

Within seconds Matt comes back holding my first aid box and an ice pack in his hands, he kneels in front of me resting my leg on his pot as he places the ice pack on my sore ankle.

I'm thankful that I wasn't wearing heels during the fall or for sure the consequences with my foot would have been much more ugly and serious than a simple sprain.

“Ouch!", I complain as Matt wipes the cut with absorbent cotton soaked in one of the wound care products.

He continues to clean and tend to my forehead, the cut is hurting more than my ankle at this point and it panics me because I could have hit my head harder and lost consciousness.

I turn my head slowly watching the spot where I fell a few minutes ago, sighing when I see one of Mia's toys right in the middle of the space where I must have stumbled.

Damned cat!

“What happened, princess?", I turn to see Matt who looks at me while holding the ice pack over my foot still resting on his thigh.

I remember the moment before I fell and automatically my eyes fix on Matt's still bare chest, I stare for a few seconds at the dark skin of his body.

A beautiful body.

I shake my head again trying to get these kinds of thoughts out of my head, but my best friend does have a body that would make anyone envious, I wonder if underneath the dark jeans is what the rest of his body looks like.

My God, Chloe! What's the matter with you?

Matt's body is very nice and then another body comes to my mind, both are very nice, but they have some differences from each other.

Matt is more muscular, the kind of man who lives in the gym trying to get even more pumped, but James is more slender and has a wonderful body too.

“Princess?", I blink several times when Matt waves his hands in front of me.

“What?"

“Why are you looking at me like that?", he asks this with an amused and curious expression on his face, leaving me completely embarrassed to be caught watching his naked body.

“The hours you spend in the gym have done your body good...", I say, touching his sore forehead where he has bandaged it to stop the bleeding and not leave the wound open.

“Damn, you hit your head hard and it's messing with your brain, princess?", I frown as he continues to look at me amused.

“Why do you say that?"