Page 76 of Exposed

“And I brought wine.” She lifted up the bottle. “I’ll be honest with you, I know very little about wine. Daphne is great at picking things out though and she recommended this one.” She lowered her voice. “She orders everything just like her daughter. It’s a nightmare when we go out to dinner.”

I laughed. “Okay, so Sophie is Daphne’s daughter. And Daphne is married to Rob, right?”

“Nailed it.”

“I was kind of a mess on Saturday. What is Mason’s wife’s name again?”

“Bee. She had a work thing or she would have been here too.”

Daphne walked back over carrying the cupcake. “I can’t believe Matt restored this house. I really thought he lived in a bachelor pad.”

“Wait, you’ve never seen this place?”

“No,” Daphne said. “He never invited us over.”

“Really?” I knew Matt was close with his friends. And his friends’ wives.

Penny nodded. “I only saw it because I showed up unexpected with a housewarming present he didn’t want. I refused to be turned away.”

“I wonder why he didn’t want you to see it,” I said.

Daphne looked at Penny.

“What?” I asked.

“I know everyone’s already told you this, but ever since I’ve known him he’s been holding on to all this pain. And…” Daphne looked around the kitchen. “This is a family home. Do you think maybe he made it for you?”

Matt had said that. He kept this part of his life private from his friends. Not just the house. But his paintings upstairs.

“One of the reasons why Daphne is amazing,” Penny said. “She’s the most understanding person I know. She…gets it.” It looked like she wanted to say more, but she pressed her lips together.

“I lost my brother,” Daphne said. “And I know that’s not the same. At all. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through. But I’m here if you want to talk. We all are. Matt wouldn’t let us in. But I don’t want it to be that way with us. I know only Mason and Matt are related, but I view them as family just as much as Rob and James. As far as I’m concerned, if you’re with Matt, you’re basically our sister.”

“Agreed,” Penny said.

I barely knew these women. But Tanner was right. I did feel loved. They wanted to get to know me just as much as I wanted to get to know them. But I didn’t know if I wanted to spend the whole night talking about how much my heart was hurting. I’d rather fill in some missing pieces. “So what on earth is it like being married to Rob?”

Daphne laughed. “An adventure. Even more so now with the kids. Every day is like a circus.”

That was a really great way to put it. “And is that your son?” I looked back over at the kids. The little boy didn’t look very much like Rob or Daphne. He had a head of blonde hair. “Or is that maybe Mason’s son?”

“Mason and Bee don’t have any kids,” Penny said. “Yet. But I bet they will soon. That’s Axel. He’s the son of my friends Tyler and Hailey. You’ll love them too. Sophie, Scarlett, and Axel are all the same age. They’re practically inseparable. And now Jacob too. How old is he?”

“Four.”

“That’s so perfect. They’ll all be in the same grade. All the kids are enrolled in the same kindergarten. We’ll have to get Jacob a spot too.”

“Oh. I don’t think…” my voice trailed off. These women were both married to Hunters. They were filthy rich. “I doubt I can afford the same school that your kids are going to.”

“Well Matt can,” Penny said.

I was sure that was true. But Matt and I weren’t technically together. And I wasn’t going to ask him to pay for my son’s kindergarten. As far as I was concerned, children should go to free kindergartens.

“Sorry,” Penny quickly said. “It’s just…the two of you are going to end up together. I have a really good sense about these things.”

“Penny thinks she’s a matchmaker,” Daphne said. “She’s definitely not. She set Matt up twice. Once with a girl who accidentally set his dick on fire. And once with our wedding planner, Justin, because she thought Matt was secretly gay.”

I had a lot of questions about what she just said. But my mind stuck on one thing. “Wait. Justin Belle?”

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