Page 47 of Exposed

I figured that they’d had sex. And I was honestly really relieved that they hadn’t. I couldn’t stop staring at him. He’d never had sex without a condom before. He’d saved something just for me.

He was staring down at me, his eyes searching my face.

I think he probably thought I had a lot more questions about his time with Kennedy. Or with other women. But I didn’t want to know any of it. If Matt and I had a future, we had to learn to live in the present.

“Come with me.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me back into the house.Hishouse.

I couldn’t believe this was his house. Tanner said the owner had renovated it for years. And everything about it…it… “You painted your kitchen yellow. Why?”

“I mean…that’s what you wanted.”

He was going to make me start crying again. “Matt.”

“I did a lot of things, not realizing they were for you until they were done. That’s why I put it up for sale. Because I built a home for our family but you weren’t here. But you’re here now.”

I squeezed his hand. “I love it. I don’t know how to explain it, but as soon as I stepped into this house it felt like home.”

He nodded.

“And now we’re getting it all messy.” I tried to wipe my hands off on my sweatshirt.

“I kind of like this look.” He reached out and touched a strand of hair that was falling out of my ponytail.

“Like we’ve rolled around in the dirt?”

“Maybe we should do that on the Empire High football field.”

I laughed.

“But first…you want to know how we can move forward. When you don’t know how to let go of that feeling that I forgot you. I have a lot of ways to prove I never forgot. You saw how often I visited your grave. I coach football at Empire High because sometimes during crowded games, I can easily picture you in the stands.”

Yeah, he was definitely going to make me cry.

“And I painted this kitchen yellow. I made this home for you. But there’s more.” He pulled me up the stairs.

He looked over at Jacob’s closed door. And then back at me. “Is that…” his voice trailed off.

“He’s taking a nap. We probably have a few minutes.”

“Okay.” He kept staring at the door. “I’m excited to meet him. If you want me to.”

I nodded. “I want you to. He loves football. I think he’ll be excited that you love it too.”

Matt smiled. But he looked nervous. And I wasn’t sure it was because he was nervous to meet my son. Or nervous to show me whatever he was about to show me.

“This is probably going to seem really weird,” he said. “But I made you a promise on Thanksgiving. And I kept doing it. I…it made me feel close to you.”

I didn’t know what he was talking about. What promise?

He pulled a key out of his pocket and put it into the locked door. “Actually, doing it had exactly the effect that you wanted.” He pushed open the door. “I usually come in here when I’m stressed. Or sad. And…it helps me.”

I stood there in the hallway, staring at a large portrait of my face.Oh my God.

“Say something,” Matt said.

I stepped into the room and spun around, staring at all the portraits of…me. They blurred in front of me as the tears fell down my cheeks. All those years ago, Matt had been stressed out balancing football, homework, and wedding planning. He’d told me that he used to paint with his aunt. And I’d surprised him with paint supplies on Thanksgiving morning. Before everything broke. I remembered.

“I know you probably think I’m insane. But…I never forgot you Brooklyn. I was just working on this one a couple weeks ago.” He pointed to the one in the center of the room.

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