Page 10 of Exposed

“Can we play football?”

“Um…sure. I need a word with Tanner real quick, though.”

“My abuelo?”

“Yes. Your abuelo.”

“Down,” Jacob said after he started wiggling and Tanner didn’t immediately set him down.

“Sorry, little man. Still getting used to your demands.” Tanner set Jacob down on the ground and turned to me. “Children, am I right? You needed a sidebar?”

“What is happening right now?”

“I’m hanging out with my grandson.”

“We both know you’re not old enough to have a grandson.”

Tanner laughed. “Sure. Was there anything else? Because I’m really scared he’s going to start crying and I won’t know what to do with him if he cries.”

“Luckily I’m great with kids. If Jacob starts crying, I’ll be able to handle it.”

“I know. It’s all so wonderful, don’t you think?” Tanner clapped me on the back. “You’ve had so much practice with all your friends’ kids. You’ll be great with Jacob too.”

“I don’t want any part of this kidnapping scheme.”

“Get off it, old chap.”

What?I had no idea what was going on with that cute kid. But that could wait. “Tanner, did you plan that homecoming float fiasco?”

“Fiasco? I think that was an A+ grand gesture in my book. Everything is going exactly according to plan, Matt.”

I knew it was you.“What the heck? You knew Brooklyn was alive and didn’t tell me? And then you played that song…for…what purpose?”

“Because grand gestures bring lovers together.”

I shook my head. “Not even a little.”

He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I saw her come out of the school. If you ask me, it looked like it went very well. High-five, my man.” He lifted his hand.

I was going to kill him. “Is that why you said Kennedy and I weren’t a good match? Because you knew Brooklyn was back in town?”

“No, I hadn’t run into Brooklyn yet. I knew about your lackluster match because I checked my…” He coughed. “Thingamagig. Unrelated events. I knew that because you hooked up with Kennedy and I checked thingamagigs.”

“Great. So I fucked Brooklyn in the auditorium. Are we a good match? Spoiler alert, Tanner. We’re not because she’s married.”

“I’m sure it was more of a love-making sort of deal. And honestly, it’s a tricky situation. I can only give you my best advice. No checking anything. Because technically the two of you hooked up in high school. Way before I met her. So I’ll never be certain for sure. But I feel pretty good about this.”

“She’s married, Tanner.”

“Hmm,” Tanner said. “Interesting. Did you not speak with her before you made love? You really should speak with her. It’s been years. But trust me, I have this all sorted out.”

“I don’t trust you at all.”

“Well you should. Whenever you put your love life in the hands of someone, said person needs your undivided trust. And I promise everything is working out according to plan. Nigel and I have it all under control. We’ve been planning it for days, and usually our plans only take a few minutes.”

What?Nigel had just yelled at all my friends about keeping Brooklyn a secret. There was no way. I turned to Nigel.

Nigel pressed his back against the wall like he was trying to blend into it. But his orange lederhosen made that impossible.

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