Page 8 of Exposed

“I don’t think that’s really fair,” Mason said.

I stared at him. “And you’re the worst of all. We’re family, man. You’re supposed to always have my back.”

“We both know that Brooklyn’s family too.”

Was Mason fucking kidding me right now? Brooklyn wasn’t my family. She was married to someone else.

“How about we all go to dinner and cool off,” James said. “We can fill you in on everything that happened this week and…”

“I can’t do this right now.” I knew I’d snap. And right now, I just wanted to be numb for a little longer. “I’m going home.” Well, not home. Back to Tanner’s place. I turned around to call for Nigel, but he’d already appeared beside me.

“Come on, man,” James said. “Just give us a chance to explain.”

“Shame!” Nigel said and pointed at James. He trailed his finger through the air pointing at all my friends. “Best friends have each other’s backs. Shame! Shame on all of you. Let’s go home, Master Matthew.”

Damn right, Nigel.At least one person in my life hadn’t been sabotaging me behind my back.

“Did Nigel just call him Master Matthew?” Rob asked as Nigel and I walked away.

I didn’t even care about Nigel being weird anymore. He had my back more than anyone else. And maybe Tanner. Wait, where was Tanner?

I looked back over my shoulder as Nigel and I walked out of the stadium. That homecoming show hadn’t been random. The song. The dance on the float. And based on Brooklyn’s reaction, she definitely hadn’t planned it. And my friends probably would have said if they’d done it.

I only knew one person who loved grand gestures on an extreme level. The same guy who insisted Kennedy wasn’t a good match for me. The same guy that said he’d find me a more suitable match.Fucking Tanner.

***

“Touchdown!” Tanner’s voice boomed as Nigel and I entered the apartment.

Nigel and I both looked at each other. Tanner rarely watched sports on TV. He preferred to attend “live spectacles” as he put it.

I rounded the corner into the great room. “Tanner we need to talk…” My voice trailed off.

There was a naked little boy holding a football in the middle of the room. Well, the child wasn’t entirely naked. He was wearing a hat that was way too big for his head. It completely covered his eyes.

“What’s going on?” I asked. I remembered earlier this week Tanner had been talking about hanging out with a kid. And sleeping pills. Or something. And I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.

The boy ran behind Tanner to hide.

“It’s okay, little man,” Tanner said and patted the kid’s head. “This is a friend. He’s safe. And nice. You’ll really like him.”

But the boy didn’t run back out.

“Tanner, did you kidnap this child?”

Chapter 4

Saturday

Brooklyn

Miller wasn’t answering me tonight. And I was pretty sure I knew what that meant. That he wasn’t bargaining with me. That he meant what he said in his letter. But he wasn’t the only one I could go to for advice.

I walked through the cemetery and froze when my feet reached my uncle’s gravestone. I hadn’t gotten to visit it nearly enough before my father took me away.

“Hey, Uncle Jim,” I said. “It’s been a really long time.”

My uncle had liked Matt. They’d gotten along. I could still picture watching a movie with the two of them back at my uncle’s small apartment. It had felt so normal. It felt like home.

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