But this time there were two wingback chairs. One for Tannerand one for Nigel. They were both pretending to read newspapers and I cringed,wondering if there was a picture of Poppy and me plastered somewhere in there.
“You broke curfew again,” Nigel said and slammed his paper onthe ground. “We were worried sick, Mr. Caldwell. How could you…”
“Nigel, please, you sound hysterical,” Tanner said and foldedhis paper neatly. “Matt, we were worried sick! How could you do this to me twonights in a row!”
He sounded almost exactly as hysterical as Nigel had been. “I’mreally sorry…”
“Sorry? You’re…you’re grounded, young man.”
I laughed. “What?”
“Go to your room immediately.”
“Tanner.”
“Fine, I can’t ground you because you’re practically an adult.”He threw his paper on the ground. “But seriously, what the actual hell?”
I walked over to him. “I’m really sorry, man.”
“Actions speak louder than words.”
“What if I told you I have a really good reason?” Honestly,Tanner was more invested in my love life than anyone else. He was going to bethrilled when he heard about Kennedy.
Tanner sighed. “Out with it then.”
“Tanner?” a girl called from somewhere down the hall. “Areyou coming back to bed?”
I laughed. “So you weren’t that worried,” I said.
“It’s better to be distracted while worried. It makes time fly.”He turned around. “I’ll be back in a minute!” he called to her.
“Isn’t the saying that time flies when you’re having fun?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, distractions can be fun. Tell me yourthing.”
For once I could make him wait. Yes, I’d kept him worried allnight. But he’d been busy with that girl. Surely he wasn’t that worried. And healways made me wait for stuff. “I’ll tell you tonight.”
“What, when you don’t come home before curfew?”
“Sick burn, Master,” Nigel said. He lifted up his hand andTanner slapped it. But it seemed like Nigel was going for more of a handshake. Becausehe ended up awkwardly grabbing Tanner’s hand mid-high-five.
“Nigel, whatever are you doing?” Tanner pulled away. “High-fivesare the protocol right now. We’ve discussed this.”
Nigel nodded. “Yes, Master.”
So weird.
“Ignore Nigel. He’s forgetful,” Tanner said. “When can Iexpect you home this evening? Don’t answer that. I have the perfect restaurant.And before you roll your eyes, you owe me.”
“I never roll my eyes,” I said.
“Internally. And before you even ask, yes, I’ll be scopingout the place for events. And yes, you do have to pretend to be my date. Socome to terms with your masculinity and get over it. If you’ll excuse me,Veronica needs my assistance.”
“Your assistance?”
Tanner laughed. “I may have tied her up. It’s trulyrefreshing. Women get kinkier and kinkier as time marches on.”
“What, since you were in high school?”
“Hmm? Yes. Exactly.” He picked up the paper off the floor. Ididn’t see any sign of Poppy’s forced pictures on the page he’d been on.
“Nigel will send you the location of the restaurant,” Tannersaid. “7 o’clock sharp. I don’t want to be late for our reservation.” He walkedaway, knowing that I wouldn’t say no. I was kind of at his mercy here.
“Here you go, Mr. Caldwell,” Nigel said and produced one ofthose green hangover smoothies. “Just in case.”
“Thanks, Nigel. What’s the secret ingredient in this anyway?”I took a sip and the little bit of pressure in my head faded instantly.
“It’s a secret,” Nigel said with a wink.
I forced myself to swallow down the sip I’d taken. The wayNigel said it made it really seem like he’d skeeted in it or something. “Um…I shouldget to work.” I tried to hand it back to him.
“Once you finish that. And your lunch is packed. I’ll drawyou another bath tonight, but no rose petals this time. They’re a pain to fishout of cold, unused bath water.”
“I’m sorry about the last two nights. But I don’t need you todraw me a bath, Nigel. We’ve been over this.”
“It’s no problem. I like preparing it for you. Have a goodday at work, Mr. Caldwell.” He turned on his heel and walked away too.
Tanner was really generous for letting me stay with him. But tonightI would fill him in on the deal I’d made with Poppy. As long as I keptpretending to be Poppy’s boyfriend, I could be safe back at my place. I wasn’tsure how much more I could take of Nigel. I picked up one of their discardedpapers and flipped through it.
There was a picture of Poppy holding my hand on top of thetable. It looked intimate and quite real. I cringed and threw out both papers. Ineeded to explain this to Kennedy. And to my friends before they all jumped toa wild conclusion. Well, not that wild, considering the picture. I shot off a textto James asking him to meet up, already knowing what his reaction would be. He’dtell me not to get mixed up with someone from Mr. Pruitt’s family. Becausethere was no way out.
Chapter 33
Thursday
I kept looking over my shoulder. But it wasn’t because I wasscared someone was out there watching me. I was just excited for Kennedy toarrive. Inviting her here may not have been my best idea. But I thought if shecould stand on this field and feel okay with it…then we could figure everythingelse out.
Mrs. Alcaraz had implied that Kennedy was a flight risk. I’dnever seen her that way, though. She was loyal. Moving out of the city hadn’tmade her forget about Brooklyn. It had just given her the space she needed to live.I hadn’t allowed myself that space. But maybe I was ready. Honestly, if Iwasn’t coaching this team, I’d probably convince Kennedy to jump on a flightwith me today. I’d go anywhere as long as it was far away from here. I think I neededsome distance. I think I was allowed that.
I exhaled slowly. Brooklyn would have wanted me to be happy. Justlike she would have wanted me to make sure things were right with James. I wasgoing to stop by his place after dinner with Tanner. I’d fix it. I’d fixeverything I’d made a mess of.
I watched Jefferson’s extra point attempt. This time the balldidn’t even leave the
