Matchmaker (Empire High Book 4)

by Ivy Smoak

  “That would be amazing.” She reached down and finished putting on her boots. “I should probably get going. My mom’s actually expecting me to be home for dinner.”

  “Let me grab your camera.” I picked it up off the kitchen floor. “Or what’s left of it. I’m sorry, Kennedy. Let me replace it for you.”

  “I don’t need handouts anymore, remember? Besides, it’s insured. Is it okay if I come back tomorrow morning to shoot the pictures?”

  “Fine by me. Just let yourself in.”

  She laughed. “I think I’ll knock next time just to be safe.”

  “Actually, can you hold off from taking the pictures for a few days?”

  “Why? Have you changed your mind about selling the place? It really is a beautiful home.”

  I hadn’t changed my mind. But I was worried about her safety. If I wasn’t staying here because of Mr. Pruitt, she shouldn’t be here either. “Yeah, I’m still thinking about it.”

  “No problem. I’ll let Bill know you want to hold off a few more days.” She stood up and winced.

  I wrapped my arm around her waist. “Let me drive you home.”

  “It’s all the way on the other side of town. I can take a taxi. I’ll be fine, really.” She wiggled her foot and pretended like she was fine. But I could tell she wasn’t. She was in pain and she was putting on a brave face.

  “I insist.” I scooped her up in my arms before she had a chance to protest. She didn’t say a word as I got her safely into my car and pulled out onto the city street. The silence was comfortable between us, but for some reason I still wanted to fill it. Maybe because I wanted her to fill in the gaps of her life that I’d missed. “What do you do for fun?” I asked.

  “Photography is my hobby and my job. There isn’t really much time for anything else. What about you?”

  Penny had asked me this same question recently. But I didn’t want to tell Kennedy that I worked out for fun. That seemed like a pompous answer. “I coach the Empire High football team.”

  “Really? Wow, I need to come to one of your games.”

  I caught her smile out of the corner of my eye. “I’d like that,” I said.

  She turned to look out the window. She was absorbing the city like it was her first time here. There was something sweet about it.

  We drove on in silence until I pulled to a stop in front of her mom’s old apartment building. Kennedy tried to protest again, but I carried her up the few flights of stairs. I tried not to look at Brooklyn’s apartment door. It would be filled with another family now. One not aware of the people that had lived there before. Something in my chest tightened.

  Mrs. Alcaraz opened up the door like she knew we were coming.

  “Mi amor! What happened?”

  “I’m fine, Mama,” Kennedy said. “Matt’s just being…Matt.”

  I laughed at that as I laid her down on the couch.

  She smiled up at me.

  “Matt.” Mrs. Alcaraz looked up at me. She looked almost exactly the same, but she had a few lines around her eyes now. She put her hands on both sides of my face. “Mi amor,” she called me, just like she called Kennedy. “Why do you look so sad? You’re in good company now.” She let her hands fall from my face. “Let’s eat. Dinner is getting cold.”

  ***

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d smiled so hard. I used to eat here all the time when Brooklyn and I had dated. Mrs. Alcaraz was the only woman I knew whose cooking rivaled my mom’s.

  Kennedy walked me to the door. “Thanks for tonight. It was nice seeing a friendly face in this city.”

  “Any time.” My eyes wandered to her lips. I have no fucking idea why.

  “Matt?”

  My eyes lifted back to hers.

  “Give me your phone.”

  I didn’t ask why she wanted it. But I handed my phone to her without protest.

  She typed something in and handed it back to me. “You can text me when you’re missing her. I bet I’ll be missing her too.” She shrugged. “Two lost souls in this crazy city could maybe feel a little less alone with a friend.”

  A friend. Right. I shoved my phone into my pocket. I believed that two lost souls could feel a little less alone together. In one way or another.

  “You deserve to be happy,” she said.

  “So do you,” I said.

  She smiled up at me. “How is it that you look almost the same after all these years?”

  “How is it that you look even more beautiful?” I shouldn’t have said it. I was used to flirting. But flirting with my dead fiancée’s best friend? Definitely off-limits.

  “You know what? Hold on one sec.” She left me alone standing at the door for only a minute. “It’s vacant right now. And my mom still had this.” She placed a key into my palm.

  I looked over my shoulder at Brooklyn’s old apartment. I couldn’t even imagine going in there.

  “It was the first thing I did when I got back. I think being in there gave me a little closure.”

  I doubted it would do that for me. But I closed my hand around the key anyway.

  She leaned forward to hug me. It took me by surprise, but as soon as her arms were wrapped around me, I sighed. I took a deep breath. Home. God, I wanted to just hold her right here forever.

  But she pulled back. “Goodnight, Matt.”

  “Goodnight, Kennedy.”

  She closed the door and I turned around and faced the door to Brooklyn’s apartment. My mind screamed at me not to go in. But my feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they approached the door. And my hand as it unlocked it.

  The door creaked opened and I stared at the empty kitchen. The whole place seemed so small. I stepped inside, picturing Uncle Jim’s warm smile. And Brooklyn’s big blue eyes. This place was filled with ghosts. I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I made my way into the small living room. It used to feel so full of love and laughter. And now it just felt…empty. I stopped outside Brooklyn’s bedroom door, leaning against the doorjamb.

  We’d fought in here. She’d threatened to push me off the fire escape when she was mad. And she promised to love me forever right there.

  My knees must have given out, because I was somehow sitting where her bed used to be. I’d held her right here when she’d cried. I held her in my arms, hoping she’d feel whole again when she lost her uncle.

  I promised her forever. Forever wasn’t supposed to be only for a few months. This wasn’t supposed to be what happened to us. She should have been here with me.

  My fingers fumbled, pulling my phone out of my pocket. And I texted the one person who would understand. Not my high school friends. Not Tanner. “I don’t want to feel alone,” I texted.

  Kennedy’s response came almost immediately. “Are you still in her apartment?”

  I didn’t have time to respond before I heard the door creak. She was limping slightly, but she still showed up. She sat down next to me and put her head on my shoulder, just like she always did when we visited Brooklyn’s grave. And she didn’t say a word when I cried. And I didn’t say a word when I heard her sniffling either.

  Her right hand was resting on her thigh. I reached out, lacing her fingers with mine. How had I been surviving without her? She’d been my rock after Brooklyn died. I looked down at her tear-stained face. I’d asked Brooklyn to send me a sign. Kennedy was it. I knew it. She had to be. I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly, the smell of home surrounding me. I just didn’t know what I was supposed to do with this sign.

  Chapter 28

  Wednesday

  The light streaming into my room made me close my eyes tighter. My whole body ached. What was I sleeping on? Bricks?

  Someone moaned.

  I opened my eyes and stared down at Kennedy’s head on my chest. We weren’t in my room. We were still on the hardwood floor in Brooklyn’s old apartment. My back ached. But for just a few minutes, I didn’t move. All I could do was stare down at Kennedy.

  She sniffled like she was cr
ying in her sleep. My chest ached. But it had nothing to do with her head lying on it. It was something deeper. And it hurt more as I stared at her. Despite the ache in my chest, it had been a long time since I’d woken up feeling so…okay. Like my breaths were coming easier. And I was very aware it was because of her.

  I reached out to run my fingers through her hair, but I pulled back before I made contact. She was sleeping so peacefully. Her breath slowly rising and falling.

  I felt sick to my stomach. This was where Brooklyn and I had fallen asleep. I never should have come in here. I never should have asked Kennedy to come. But still, I didn’t move.

  Had Kennedy shown up because I needed a friend?

  Or had she shown back up in my life because I just needed her?

  And I did need her. I think maybe I’d needed her this whole time. She was the only one that understood. She was the only one that felt my pain so acutely. I’d always loved Kennedy as a friend. She’d been there when I’d needed her the most. I wasn’t sure how I’d even pretended to be okay while she wasn’t in New York.

  I heard my phone vibrating on the floorboards where I’d left it last night. I wished it would stop. I wished I could freeze time.

  But Kennedy yawned and slowly opened her eyes. For a second she seemed just as disoriented as I was. But when she realized I was her pillow, she sat up super fast. “I’m so sorry, we must have fallen asleep.” She wiped the side of her face like she was worried there’d be drool or something.

  There wasn’t. She looked beautiful. Honestly, I’d never seen her look more beautiful. Her eyes rimmed with red were real. And I always loved real beauty over a made up face any day.

  “Sorry,” she said again, running her fingers through her hair, just like I’d wanted to do a second ago.

  I wasn’t sure why she was apologizing. It was more my fault than hers. “How is your ankle feeling?”

  She rotated her ankle slowly and smiled. “It actually feels quite a bit better. I guess a night on a hard floor was just what it needed?” She laughed.

  There was another buzzing sound. Kennedy leaned over me and grabbed my phone off the ground.

  I was tempted to pull her down on top of me. To hold her like she’d held me last night.

  “Is this the time?” she asked. “Shit, I have to go.” She ran her fingers through her hair again and pushed herself up.

  I slowly sat up. “What time is it?”

  “Nearly 7. And you have like 20 missed calls.” She handed me my phone.

  I clicked on the screen. I also had about 50 unread texts. All from Tanner. I clicked on the top one: “Where the hell are you?! I’ve been waiting up all night for you!”

  Oh fuck. He’d expected me back at his house. He was probably worried sick with everything going on with the hitwoman and Mr. Pruitt.

  “Everything okay?” Kennedy asked.

  I looked up at her. I hadn’t noticed it last night. But sometime after dinner and before my text, she must have changed into a pair of flannel pajamas with little polar bears all over them. She was even wearing a pair of polar bear slippers. “Everything’s fine.” I slid my phone into my pocket. “I like the PJs.”

  “What?” She looked down.

  I started laughing.

  “Hey, I came over because you texted. I didn’t have time to change.”

  I couldn’t help it. I just started laughing harder. The polar bear slippers even looked like they were laughing.

  “Don’t laugh at me.” She tore one of her slippers off and chucked it at me.

  I caught it and narrowly prevented the polar bear from colliding with my face.

  “Nice to see you still know how to catch. Because you’ve certainly lost your prep-school manners. I think, ‘Thank you, Kennedy, for being wonderfully supportive,’ would be a more appropriate reaction this morning. You’re welcome.”

  “You’re right.” I stood up. “Thank you, Kennedy. For being wonderfully supportive.”

  “Was that so hard?” She snatched her slipper out of my hand. “As fun as you laughing at me is, I really do have to go.”

  “I’ll walk you out.” I have no idea why I said it. This wasn’t my place to walk anyone out of. I just knew that I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye yet.

  We didn’t say anything as we made our way out of Brooklyn’s old place.

  But before Kennedy reached her mom’s apartment door, I said, “I’ll text you.”

  She turned around. She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Good.”

  “Good.” I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face. She wanted me to text her. It felt like I was a kid again. This giddy feeling in my stomach. I felt stupid and excited all at once.

  She rolled her eyes, just adding to the feeling that we were kids again. “Have a good day, Matt.” She left me alone in the hallway, with my stomach feeling weird and about a million things I needed to do.

  I would have called Tanner back right away. But Tanner would insist on an apology in person anyway. He was old-fashioned like that. So as I drove to his apartment, I called Rob.

  “Hey,” Rob said. “It’s early. Is everything alright?”

  “Yeah…”

  “Oh, never mind,” he said, cutting me off. “Everything’s not okay. Because you’re trying to get my niece killed, you ass face.”

  I cringed. “Good morning to you too.”

  “Good morning,” Rob mumbled.

  “And just for the record, Scarlett is my niece too, Rob.”

  “Lies. Only in the friendship way. Everyone’s always trying to steal my niece and nephew away from me. I’m their one and only uncle.”

  Every now and then Rob got defensive about the whole friend uncle thing. Usually when he was mad at me about something. And if he was bringing that up, then I wasn’t off to a good start for getting the camera. Angry Rob was hard to negotiate with.

  “Blood isn’t everything,” I said.

  “Did you call to tell me your other non-related niece is going to get murdered too? How long have you known that my daughter is in trouble with freaking mobsters? A week? A month? Longer?”

  I would have hung up on him, but my hands were on the wheel. “I made a mistake…”

  “A mistake is bringing me a burger without bacon when I specifically asked for bacon.”

  “That happened one time,” I said.

  “Best friends know best friends’ burger orders.”

  “True. Which is why it only happened one time. I know you like your burgers without the lettuce and tomato because veggies have no right to be on top of meat. And mayo doesn’t belong on hot things, which is why you always ask for extra ketchup on the side. And crispy bacon of course.”

  “Exactly.” The laughter was back in Rob’s voice.

  It was now or never. “I need a favor, Rob.”

  Rob groaned.

  “I know Hunter Tech has a prototype for an undetectable camera. Can I borrow it?”

  “There’s only one prototype, man. And how do you even know about that?”

  “You told me.”

  “I never told you about it,” Rob said. “It’s highly classified.”

  I laughed. “Isn’t that only for government stuff? Rob, you told me a few guys’ nights ago. We were talking about sexting, remember?”

  “No, I don’t remember.”

  “Well, you did get pretty drunk,” I said. “Pretty sure you even sexted me.”

  “I did not sext you. I only sext my wife.”

  “Rob you sext me all the time. I have at least a dozen texts of your left ass cheek on my phone.”

  “Fine, I occasionally send you pictures of myself in what some might deem compromising positions. But only because you’re the only one that’s seen my mole since it first showed up, so who else is supposed to tell me if it’s grown?”

  “A dermatologist.”

  “Psh. I’m not showing a stranger my left ass cheek. And by the way, you should delete those photos after I send the
m to you. They’re also highly classified.”

  I laughed. “So in exchange for staring at your ass a few times a year, can I maybe borrow that camera? I’ll give it back, I swear. I just need it for one night.”

  “Tonight?”

  “Yes.” There was an awkward silence.

  “I’m going to need more details than that, Matt,” he said. “What do you need it for?”

  I didn’t want to tell Rob about my mission to get the hitwoman to confess everything. He’d tell me it was too dangerous. He’d tell me not to go through with it. But I didn’t really have a choice. Telling him it would help save Scarlett would guarantee me a yes. “It’s to get Poppy and Mr. Pruitt off my back. And keep Scarlett safe. I have a plan to corner the hitwoman that’s after me and get her to confess everything. I’m hoping the footage will be enough to get Mr. Pruitt sent to prison where he belongs.”

  “You’re going to corner a hitwoman? All by yourself?”

  “Tanner’s helping me.”

  “Tanner? Ugh. He barely counts as help. I’ll help you.”

  I didn’t want Rob to help me. He had a wife and kids at home that relied on him. Not that something happening to Tanner wouldn’t be awful too. I’d sure miss him a ton. And what would Nigel do without him? Probably follow me around…

  “Rob, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Too late. You need me. I’m the one with the camera.”

  I sighed. “Fine.”

  “But there is one condition?”

  “What’s the condition?” I asked.

  “You have to say that I’m your best friend in front of Tanner. Tonight. Right before this all goes down.”

  “Rob, I’m allowed to have two best friends.”

  “You are not! It’s not a plural term. Accept my conditions or you can count me and my fancy camera out.”

  “Can’t I just tell you that you’re my best friend over the phone?”

  “No, it has to be in person.”

  Geez, he was more like Tanner than he realized. Maybe that was why they butted heads so much.