Matchmaker (Empire High Book 4)

by Ivy Smoak

  All I wanted was to be able to stand her up and not die as a consequence. But I wasn’t confident in my plan. Especially because Penny still hadn’t texted me back. I turned away from the window. I needed a backup plan.

  Chapter 25

  Tuesday

  I climbed into my car and slammed the door closed. The hitwoman didn’t show up at practice today, which I was grateful for. But it was hard to be too happy when Penny was ghosting me. I pulled out of the Empire High parking lot and turned in the opposite direction of Tanner’s place.

  Tanner thought I was hanging out with Penny, so he wasn’t expecting me until later. I had some time to stop by my house before heading over to his place for the night. He never needed to know that I’d put myself in danger. Besides, I was pretty sure Mr. Pruitt would have already had me killed if that was his intention. He’d had plenty of opportunities. And it really seemed like Poppy wanted to wine and dine me before murdering me. I felt safe enough for now.

  I’d been researching tiny cameras all afternoon. Sure, I could just use my phone to record my upcoming encounter with the hitwoman. But it would just be the audio and not the video footage I wanted. Would that be enough? Probably not. I hadn’t found any suitable options yet. I needed to find an alternative soon though. Maybe I could just spend the rest of my night doing more research. There had to be something just as good as James’ stupid prototype.

  Or I could just apologize to him. But for what? He should be apologizing to me, not the other way around. And I hadn’t heard anything from him either. Earlier today when I thought I might die, apologizing had been on my mind. But now that I was nowhere near Poppy? I was still mad at him. Yes, over the years he’d apologized a lot for what happened with Brooklyn. But I don’t think he knew exactly what he was apologizing for. He’d fucking ruined my life.

  I turned onto my street and pulled into an empty spot along the sidewalk. Screw James. I didn’t need his stupid tiny cameras. I pulled out my phone and brought up a camera option on Amazon. Why were all of these so big? I had typed in discreet. I didn’t have the patience for searching for stuff like this. I sighed and climbed out of my car. If Mary wasn’t so nosy, I would have asked her to research them. But she would have had tons of questions. Maybe this was why all my friends had a staff. To do stuff like this. Maybe I could ask Nigel to do it…

  “Matt.”

  I’d been so distracted on my phone that I didn’t realize there was someone sitting on my front stoop. I looked up at Penny. Her cheeks were rosy and I could tell she’d been sitting out here in the cold for a long time. But what was worse was that her eyes were slightly red like she’d been crying.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Hey?” She shook her head. “That’s all you have to say?”

  What did she want me to say? It was pretty clear that her asshole of a husband had made her cry. But I didn’t bother asking her if she’d been crying. Because I knew she’d deny it. We were both quiet for a minute. Her staring at me from the stoop. And me just standing there like an idiot.

  “I should have texted you. I forgot you have practice after work and I shouldn’t have just shown up…. But can I come in? Please? We need to talk and I’m freezing.”

  I didn’t love the idea of needing to talk. That was never good. But I wouldn’t make her stand out here in the cold anymore. I quickly opened the door and ushered her inside.

  She sighed. “It’s so nice and warm in here.” She rubbed her hands together.

  “Let me get you a cup of tea.”

  She smiled, but it looked forced. “That sounds lovely. You must have a really smart friend that thought ahead and bought you a teakettle.”

  “A smart and thoughtful friend, yeah.”

  I filled the kettle up with water and turned on the stove. When I turned back to her, she’d peeled off her coat and was sitting at the kitchen counter. I stayed on the other side of the island. I hated seeing her upset. And I knew if I was next to her I’d touch her. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself.

  “I tried texting you earlier,” I said. “I figured you’d canceled our plans.”

  “Yeah. I was going to.” She shook her head. “I probably should have.”

  That didn’t really answer my question. “But you changed your mind?”

  She didn’t reply.

  I couldn’t read her tonight. Was she upset with James? Or was she upset with me? Because it kind of seemed like she was pissed at me. Had James told her about Brooklyn? I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what she knew. I wasn’t even sure how much of James and my conversation she’d overheard the other night, if any. It was better to play it safe. “I’m sorry that I barged in last night,” I said. “I should have just called.”

  “Called?” She finally made eye contact with me. “No, Matt. What you should have done was told James and me right away that someone threatened our daughter.”

  “Penny, I’m sorry…”

  “You could have gotten her killed.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sure James has already given you a piece of his mind. And you don’t need to hear it from me too. But I’m really freaking mad at you, Matt.”

  I swallowed hard. So she was mad at me. Not James. Fuck.

  “James is furious with you. But you know I always try to see the good in people…” her voice trailed off. “James and I got in a fight. And I…I just needed to talk to you.”

  So he had made her cry? It was easier to latch on to that idea instead of her being mad at me. James was such an ass. It just made me regret what I’d said to him last night even less. But why did she need to talk to me about their fight? There could only be two reasons. He either told her all about Brooklyn and she was wondering why I hadn’t told her. Or she was here because she finally realized James was the worst and she was giving in to her feelings for me. Because they were definitely there. I could feel it. Couldn’t she?

  The teakettle started wailing. I pulled it off the stove and poured the hot water into two mugs. I handed one to her after putting a bag of chamomile tea in it.

  “Oh it feels so good,” she said as she wrapped her hands around the hot cup.

  Just you wait. I thought about what else she could wrap her hands around to warm up. Stop. Her eyes were still puffy from crying. All I knew was that if she was mine, she wouldn’t be crying right now. I’d fucking worship that girl. Like she deserved. It was easy to think that was true. But was it really? Because I could never actually love her. And she certainly didn’t deserve to be someone’s second choice. “Are you going to tell me what you two fought about?” I asked.

  “Stress.”

  Wait, what? “Stress?”

  “Yes, stress. You unloaded all this stuff on him and it’s too much. He’s been working on stress management. After everything he’s been through…he’s under enough pressure balancing work and fatherhood because he has to pick up my slack...” her voice trailed off and she pressed her lips together like she’d said too much.

  “What’s going on with you?”

  She ran her thumb down the side of the mug. “I’m just worried about him.”

  “I’m not asking about James. I’m asking about you. What slack is James being forced to be pick up?”

  “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that James always puts the weight of the world on his shoulders. Isabella’s father isn’t taking his calls and he doesn’t know how to make sure Scarlett is safe. We both know what the Pruitt family is capable of. James hired more security, but we’re not dumb. We know it’s not enough. And on top of all that, he’s worried you hate him.” It looked like she was going to cry again.

  I swallowed hard.

  “I told him that of course that wasn’t true. That he’s one of your best friends. But he just told me I didn’t understand. What don’t I understand? Why are you two fighting? Things have been weird between you two ever since we came to your game. I overheard something about loving Brooklyn last night?”

  I couldn’t breathe.


  “I didn’t even realize you ever lived outside of Manhattan. And James is focusing on your fight and he won’t tell me what’s going on.”

  So she didn’t know? She thought we both loved living in Brooklyn or something? As in the place? Not my fiancée?

  “James tells me everything. So if he’s not telling me this, it’s because you specifically asked him not to. And I don’t understand. You know everything about me, Matt.”

  Not what it feels like to kiss you. “I don’t think that’s true.”

  “I don’t keep stuff from you. Secrets are awful. God, if I learned one thing in that huge scandal with James, it’s that secrets are toxic. So what aren’t you telling me?”

  I hated seeing her with unshed tears. I hated seeing her upset in any way. And I was pretty sure my brain short circuited, because somehow I’d gotten on the other side of the island and was standing right next to her. I didn’t want to talk about her husband. I didn’t want to talk about any of this. All I could think about were ways to silence her with my lips.

  She looked up at me. “Just tell me, Matt. Tell me what you’re keeping from me.”

  “You first.”

  She pulled her eyebrows together. “I’m not…”

  “You just said how toxic secrets are. But you’re hiding something too, Penny.”

  “This isn’t about me. This is about you and James.”

  “Fuck James.”

  “That is so far from the answer that I expected. Fuck James? Seriously? How could you even say that? You’re one of his best friends. And I’m not here to listen to you hurl insults at my husband. Don’t you see that insulting him is essentially insulting me?” She shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. Insult me all you want. I’m here because I love James and he’s upset because of you. I’m here to try to help fix whatever the hell is going on between you two. He cares about you and I thought you cared about him.”

  “He doesn’t care about me. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”

  “Excuse me?” She pushed her stool away from the counter and stood up. “James is right. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before. You are trying to ruin his life. You’re trying to turn me against him. And for what purpose? We’re not pawns in some stupid game you’re playing. This is my life. James’ life. We’re two of your best friends. I had your back. I told James that he was wrong. I tried to stand up for you and I came here to try to help mend whatever is broken between you. But you don’t even care. So you know what?” She stood up a little taller. “Fuck you.”

  I’d never heard her curse before. I’d never seen her as upset as she was right now. I should have just apologized. But instead, it was easier to throw more insults. “I’m not the one making you sad all the fucking time. You showed up at my doorstep wiping tears off your cheeks. Because of him. And don’t act like it’s the first time you came crawling to me when you want to escape from him.”

  She opened her mouth. And then closed it again. She started blinking fast like she’d done the other day before she’d run off without explanation. “I’m not depressed because of James.”

  I just stared at her. I never said anything about depression. Was she actually depressed? I just thought she was a little…sad. Her words made my stomach twist into knots.

  She closed her eyes like it pained her to say her next words to me. “James is the love of my life. He’s my whole world. He’s given me everything. A life I never even dreamed of. I love him so much that it hurts. I love his friends like they’re my own family. And it hurts that I can’t give him anything in return. And I just wanted to fix what’s going on between you because I can’t fix me.”

  What was she talking about? There wasn’t anything about her that needed to be fixed. She was beautiful and smart and funny. I stared at her as her eyes locked with mine again. She was perfect exactly the way she was. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”

  She wrapped her arms around her stomach liked she was afraid she was falling to pieces. “I’m not here to talk about me.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t have any siblings. But all of you guys? You’re like the brothers I never had.”

  Ouch. I’d been worse than friend zoned. I’d been brotherized.

  “And I know James thinks of you and Mason as brothers just as much as Rob. And until about ten minutes ago, I thought you considered him to be family too. I don’t know what’s going on between you. But I need you to fix it. If you care about him at all. Please, Matt. He can’t handle any more stress. And I can’t lose him. I don’t know what I would do if I ever lost him.”

  She’d mope around searching for ghosts on the city sidewalks. Just like I did with Brooklyn. Forever stuck. I pressed my lips together. There was no way to work around what she just said. She definitely did not reciprocate my feelings. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. I was supposed to kiss her and she was supposed to tell me how unhappy she was in her marriage. I was supposed to save her. My heart ached. I’d just wanted to save her. I sat down on one of the stools. Because I couldn’t save Brooklyn. I just wanted to save Brooklyn.

  “Matt?”

  I looked up at Penny. I was so tired of hurting everyone around me because I was so fucked up in the head. “I’ll call him, okay?”

  She nodded. “Thank you.”

  “I’m sorry, Penny. About not telling you guys about Scarlett sooner. About stressing James out.”

  “Are you going to tell me what all this is about? How did you get tied up with Isabella’s father? Do you owe him money or something? Because I can…”

  “I don’t owe him money. The only thing that matters now is keeping Scarlett safe. And I think I have a way to do that. But I’m going to need one of James’ prototype cameras.” That was probably the worst segue ever. But I had to ask her before she walked out the door.

  “The prototypes are at Hunter Tech headquarters. Why don’t you just ask Rob? It’s easier for him to grab them.”

  Rob. Of course. Why hadn’t I thought of that? I could have avoided this whole thing. Well, not really. I’d made a mess of everything last night. And it was just like Penny to come try to pick up all the pieces. “Good idea.”

  “You really think you’ll be able to get out of this alone?” asked Penny. “Because you don’t have to. It’s my daughter’s life that’s on the line. I want to help. I need to help. If you would just talk to me.”

  “Tanner’s actually helping me.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s good, I guess. He’s a really nice guy.”

  “Mhm.” I stared at her.

  She just stared back, waiting for me to tell her how I’d gotten into this mess. Or what my problem was with James. Or maybe to talk about how nice of a guy Tanner was. Or something. Anything. But I didn’t want to drag her into this.

  “I should probably go,” she said. “James is expecting me home for dinner. I told him our plans were canceled, even though I never told you.”

  I gave her a half-hearted smile.

  “Call him soon, okay?” Before she could even turn around to leave, the sound of my front door opening made us both freeze.

  But it didn’t take me long to get moving. I grabbed Penny’s hand and pulled her behind the kitchen island.

  “What’s going…”

  I put my hand over her mouth to silence her. “Don’t say a word,” I whispered.

  Penny looked terrified, but she nodded.

  I didn’t know what was going on, but it couldn’t be good. No one had keys to my place. Whoever had just come in hadn’t come in with good motives. It was like I could hear the seconds of my life ticking down in my head. I’d purposely upset Mr. Pruitt. I’d provoked him into action. And I’d even come to my house despite Tanner warning me not to. I had no one to blame but myself.

  But instead of freaking out, all I could do was stare at the woman kneeling beside me.

  I relished the way her lips felt on the palm of my hand. Her looking at me like she was relying on me. And for just a se
cond, I forgot all about the intruder. This would have been the perfect moment to kiss her. As the seconds ticked down. To show her how I felt. All I had to do was remove my hand.

  Chapter 26

  Tuesday

  A tear trickled down Penny’s cheek, pulling me out of my daydream. She was terrified. Her thoughts were probably swirling with her love for her children and James. Not me.

  I didn’t want James to be right about me. I didn’t want to ruin his life. Kissing Penny would be a mistake. And I was tired of making mistakes. I slowly lowered my hand from her mouth, knowing that was as close as I’d get to her lips kissing my skin. My crush on her was unrequited. But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t give my life to save her. She was still one of my closest friends. She was still able to make me smile when no one else seemed able to. I owed her for that. For making a few of the years after Brooklyn’s death bearable.

  We both sat there and listened to the footsteps in the foyer. It sounded like whoever it was had high heels on. Or high heeled boots. Which meant it was probably the hitwoman. She wasn’t here to hurt Penny. She was here for me. No one else needed to get hurt.

  I glanced at Penny. Another tear rolled down her cheek. We weren’t going to be able to hide in here for long. I hadn’t even had time to hit the lights to bathe us in darkness. We were almost completely exposed. I put my index finger to my lips to remind Penny to stay quiet. And then I crawled along the hardwood floors toward the other end of the kitchen island. I reached up and grabbed a knife out of the knife block and then sat back down.

  The footsteps were coming this way. I couldn’t save Brooklyn all those years ago. But I could save Penny now.

  I grasped the knife tighter in my hand. All I had was the element of surprise.

  Penny moved to sit next to me, then grabbed my arm and shook her head.

  I reached out and ran my thumb along her cheek, removing the tears. “Tell James I forgive him,” I whispered.

  She looked confused. But James would understand. He’d know I was talking about Brooklyn. The least I could do was make that right. I pulled my hand away from Penny’s face.