The Making of Matt Read Online Free PDF Page A

that, Mrs. Carter.”
    Noticing I still had my shoes on, I kicked them off and flexed my toes. Even they hurt. How much did I actually drink last night? The daylight hitting my pupils felt like someone gouging my eyes out with a rusty spoon, so I closed them while I waited for my coffee fix. Every so often I would smile at the conversation occurring in the kitchen area. I couldn’t hear most of it, and what I did was just random shit about the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy, but I just loved how well my mom and Alex got along. He made her laugh, whereas I tended to piss her off most of the time.
    “He tell you I’m buying a bar?” I asked my mom as she perched the tray of coffees on the glass table in front of me.
    “A bar of what?”
    “An actual bar, Mom. You know, one that serves alcohol.”
    “I’m just teasing you, honey. Yes, Alex told me all about it just now. It will be good for you. Give you something to focus on apart from vodka and hussies.”
    I thought about objecting but soon realized she was absolutely right. He didn’t say as much, but I think Alex was quite impressed that I remembered our conversation, and that I was still on board. He had to work early today and said he was going to talk to his boss, who was apparently some kind of legend in the club and entertainment industry, about upcoming opportunities. He headed upstairs to get ready for the day after downing his coffee in record time. That’s when my mom told me my cousin Ashley was moving back to LA.
    As kids, Ashley and I were inseparable. We went to the same school, hung out with the same friends, and she was also responsible for turning me from geek to god when I hit puberty. If it weren’t for Ashley, I’d probably still be wearing beige slacks and striped polos. But then we grew up. I went on to tour the world with Souls of the Knight and she went on to marry a fucktard called Adam who stopped her wearing skirts above the ankle and managed to fit a quote from the Bible into nearly every freakin’ sentence.
    “I’ll never understand why she married him.” He was a moron. “She’s worth so much more.”
    “She loves him,” my mom said, shrugging. My Aunt Carol, Ashley’s mom, died when we were fourteen and her dad disappeared before she was born, and so my mom had always been very protective of her. “And I’m sure he loves her too. He has his beliefs and it’s not for us to judge, Matthew.”
    “He’s still a jackass,” I muttered under my breath.
    “I need to head off,” she said, pretending she hadn’t heard me. I knew she had, however, because of the disapproving scowl on her face. Once it’d softened into a smile, she took both of my hands in hers, like she used to do when I was a boy. “It’s good to see you finally moving on from the band,” she said, her voice sweet and motherly as she squeezed my hands a little tighter. “To see you settling down. Maybe love will follow next, huh? Grandbabies?”
    “Whoa, slow down, Mom,” I said, palpitations suddenly clogging my throat. “I’m not sure love will ever be on the cards for me, anyway. When you look at all the women I’ve had…”
    “Um, do I need to hear this?” she interrupted, dropping my hands and scrunching up her nose.
    “What I mean is, I didn’t feel a connection to a single one of ‘em. Statistically, surely one of them should’ve made a dent in my heart. Unless you count Belle, but looking back I think she affected my di…Wait, you definitely don’t need to hear that.”
    “There’s someone out there for everyone, Matthew.”
    “ You’re single.”
    “Mine was your father. No one has been, or will ever be, able to take his place. I wish he’d lived long enough for you to remember him.” She sighed dolefully and so did I. Cancer stole my dad from us when I was eighteen months old. It was hard growing up without him, emotionally and financially, and from being ten years old I was determined to grow up and be successful enough