Flat-Out Matt
Jessica Park
Copyright ©2013, Jessica Park
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real events or real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Flat-Out Matt
Matt is a junior at MIT. He’s geeky, he's witty, he's brilliant.
And he’s also very, very stupid.
When beautiful, cool, insightful Julie moves in with Matt’s family, why (oh why!) does he pretend to be his absent brother Finn for her alleged benefit?
It seems harmless enough until her short-term stay becomes permanent. And until it snowballs into heart-squeezing insanity. And until he falls in love with Julie, and Julie falls in love with Finn.
But … Matt is the right one for her. If only he can make Julie see it. Without telling her the truth, without shattering them all. Particularly his fragile sister Celeste, who may need Julie the most.
You saw Matt through Julie’s eyes in FLAT-OUT LOVE. Now go deeper into Matt’s world in this FLAT-OUT MATT novella. Live his side of the story, break when his heart breaks, and fall for the unlikely hero all over again.
Take an emotional skydive for two prequel chapters and seven FLAT-OUT LOVE chapters retold from his perspective, and then land with a brand-new steamy finale chapter from Julie.
Author’s Note
Two chapters, The Sleepover and Keep Going, contain more mature content than Flat-Out Love (Keep Going, in particular), and were written based on reader demand. They wouldn’t have fit in well with the original Flat-Out Love, but given that this is a fan-driven companion novella, I think they work. While the content here is upped at bit, the scenes are tastefully done. (So, you know, sorry to those of you who wanted lewd and graphic stuff.)
Dedication
Flat-Out Matt is dedicated to the fans who believed in Matt and who fell in love with this unlikely hero. This book is for you, from Matt, with his eternal gratitude (and embarrassment) at becoming a “book boyfriend” for so many readers.
This is also for geeky guys everywhere who are finally getting the positive attention they deserve. And maybe a little action.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Flat-Out Matt
Author’s Note
Dedication
In This Together
#FlatFinnSaves
Staying
The Elevator
Under The Christmas Tree
New Year’s Eve
The Polar Plunge
The Sleepover
The Jump
Keep Going
About the Author
Acknowledgments
In This Together
A Flat-Out Love Prequel Chapter
Matt Watkins is visible only in infrared.
Finn Watkins I WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE A STRATEGIC ALLIANCE BETWEEN YOUR FACE AND MY ASS, INVOLVING A LOT OF KISSING.
Matt set his backpack down and retrieved a water bottle. It was in the mid-forties today on Mount Washington, so the water had stayed blessedly cold. They’d already done one hike today, and now they were in the midst of their second. Matt was sweaty, achy, and tired, and his feet hurt like hell. This was only the second time that he’d worn these hiking boots, and he knew that his feet were starting to blister. But he wouldn’t change a thing. When a third of the water was gone, he returned it to the backpack.
“C’mon, dude!” Finn shouted from twenty yards ahead. “We made it through the Fan. Keep going!” He lifted his sunglasses, rested them in his hair, and grinned. Finn was in his element.
The brothers were on the eastern side of the mountain, on the Huntington Ravine Trail that led to the base of an eight-hundred-foot headwall, and then to the steep slabs and ledges of Central Gully. It wasn’t a particularly difficult route at this time of year, but inexperienced climbers with bad judgment and little (or wrong) equipment could easily get into plenty of trouble during the winter months. Snow rangers had rescued more than one ill-prepared climber from this area.
Even without the danger factor that they both loved, Matt and Finn liked this hike. It had every sort of terrain, and they had already gone over large boulders, through rocky scrub, and across a small stream. Some sections, like the Fan, were scree fields, covered with dirt and gravel that could easily make hikers lose their footing. Even Finn wasn’t crazy about crossing those in wet weather, but they had dry air and sunshine today. They now had to tackle the ledges that would take them to Pinnacle Gully, and this next leg of climbing would be all about finding the perfect crevice for their hands to grip and relying on the high-quality soles of their boots.
Matt reached his brother. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Finn squinted in the sunshine, his blond hair nearly glowing in the light. “You sure? Let’s just sit for a few minutes. Enjoy the view a bit.” Before Matt could stop him, Finn sat on a slab of rock surrounded by grassy patches. “Besides, we should eat again. This right here is the food of champions.” He pulled a plastic bag of granola, dried fruit, and chocolate chips from his backpack and held it out to Matt while he rummaged for the beef jerky. “We should get Mom to serve this for dinner. Even she couldn’t ruin trail mix, right?”
Matt sat down a few feet away and adjusted the brim of his hat, shielding his eyes from the sun. “I wouldn’t count on that. I’m quite sure that she could do something irrevocably awful. Perhaps pulverize everything in a blender and serve us a bowl of dust for dinner?”
“We could just snort it through straws!” Finn let out his typical loud, infectious laugh. “Let’s not suggest this to her because she’d do it for sure.” He leaned back on his elbows. “Damn, Matty, would you look at that view. The mountains, the trees, the perfect sky. What more could you ask for?”
“Not much,” Matt agreed. He watched his brother, well aware of how deeply and unabashedly he idolized Finn. Finn, who could do just about anything, and knew how to handle the world with excessive competence and charm. Finn had all the social finesse that Matt knew he never would. Not to mention Finn’s annoying good looks, made even more attractive by how unaware he was of his flawlessness. Even minor things, like the fact that Finn’s hiking pants fell in a somehow cool style while Matt’s legs looked the same as they did in any pants. It was endearing and exasperating.
Finn’s face was flushed from the cold, which just added to his vibrant aura. “I know this is a pretty easy trip for us. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. But why did you want to do this? We could handle this in our sleep.”
“I just… wanted to hang out with you. It’s kind of hard to chat when we’re hang gliding, you know?” Finn cupped his hands over his mouth. “Maaaatttty! How are youuuuuuu?”
“Okay, fair enough.”
“So, little brother, let’s hear about this girlfriend of yours. It’s your senior year of high school, you’ve got a sweet lady to sneak into the house at night, and I’m not living at home to help cover for you. So how’s it going?”