Nothing Matters (Family Matters Book 1) Read Free

totally besotted.  And in my head, I thought I was becoming a better person - I was dating a cool, popular, good looking guy, I was going to parties with him and having sex with him.  Other girls were envious of me, or so I believed.  I was no longer a virgin, no longer a piano-playing-private-school-nerd, as if these were now the most important things.
    In our third month of dating, my family was having a sixteenth birthday party at a restaurant for my cousin Raff, Jakey's younger brother.  My Grandad Chris, my aunts, uncles and cousins all came, there were thirty of us in all.  At the last moment Stacey had to cancel as his father was flying in from Singapore, where he had been working in construction.  It was a great night but I decided to leave early to surprise Stacey, so I got a ride with my aunt.  It was around about ten when I got to his apartment.  But I was the one who was surprised.  Stacey's father wasn't there.  Stacey was having his own little party, he was making out in his bedroom, in our bed, with Carly, a beautiful blonde senior, who I had seen at various parties.  I didn't wait for an explanation, I didn't even hang around for a fight.  I ran outside and walked a couple of blocks before phoning Cassian to come pick me up.
    I figuratively went home with my tail between my legs.  Daddy took me back, a bit like the prodigal son, and Stacey Portman was never talked about again.
     
    Jakey and Cassian took off, I turned back to see if the boy was looking; he was.  I smiled, and beckoned with a raise of my eyebrows and a flick of my head that he should come with me.  He caught me up in seconds. 
    "Hard luck about the game," he said, and I liked that he'd apologized when there was no need to.
    "They're not my team anyway," I replied with a shrug.
    "You're not from Beverly?" he asked, almost brightly, as if he would be pleased that I wasn't.
    "No, my brother and cousin are," I said, "I'm just supporting the supporters."
    The crowd around us was pushing and we were moving at a snail's pace.  I got shoved, and he put his arm around my shoulder, pulled me in close, then closer again. His touch was firm, strong. I felt an unfamiliar sensation of excitement course through my body.  My head rested snugly on his chest, like it belonged there.  He had a faint scent of boy deodorant spray, like Lynx or a copy.  His black t-shirt was soft and faded, his black jeans well worn and torn, his black Converse scuffed up.  He had two thin leather strands around his neck and several tied around his wrist.  I looked up and he grinned at me and what got me, what made my heart skip a beat, was the way he looked at me.  There was a spark, a joy, a longing in his sexy brown eyes.  I felt safe.
    He told me his name was Nathan, but that I could call him Nate.  I told him my name was Magdala, and that's what he could call me.  Nobody shortens my name, with the exception of Jakey who will on occasion call me Maggy, usually when he's pissed with me.  But it's funny, I've only ever called Nathan by his full name, and it seemed that I was the only one who did.  I liked that, liked that I had some unique connection with him.
    Before going to get something to eat, I suggested we detour to the beach, thinking I wanted some alone time with him before we met up with the others.  I could just imagine Jakey and Cassian scrutinizing him, giving him the evil eye.  He parked and turned off the engine and the lights, and faced me.  Nothing was said.  He leaned towards me, finding my lips - it wasn't hard, I was ready and willing.  We kissed, and it was like the Fourth of July, an explosion of fireworks that left my head spinning.  I was thrilled by the spontaneity of it all, the intensity, the passion.
    His phone vibrated and he pulled his lips off mine with a gradual separation, read the text and grinned. "We should go," he said, "they're waiting for us."  But he leaned into me again, more urgently, like there was no