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.
“Do we have a deal?” Rob asked.
“Fine. Come to my practice today. The hitwoman has been to a few of my games and practices. We’re hoping she shows up again.”
“Done. See you later,” he hung up the phone just as I pulled up to Tanners’ apartment building.
Tanner was going to be pissed about worrying him last night, sure. But he was going to be more upset about Rob joining our secret mission tonight. And completely devastated when I said Rob was my best friend in front of him. Fuck.
I slowly made my way inside and onto the elevator. Why wasn’t I allowed to have two best friends? Honestly, I had four. Because Mason and James were up there too. Crap, I had to apologize to James too. I’d promised Penny.
The doors dinged open and I crossed the footbridge, avoiding looking down at the moving tarp. Really, what the hell was in that water? The door was unlocked so I let myself in. Despite the fact that the sun had risen, the apartment was pitch black. And I had no idea where the light switches were.
I kept my hand on the wall and tried to make my way into the great room. Seriously, how was it so dark? Did he have blackout curtains in his main living area? And if so…why? I found the corner of the wall and knew I was turning into the great room. But I didn’t have to guess where I was for long, because a light turned on in the middle of the room.
Tanner was sitting in an antique wingback chair that I’m pretty sure hadn’t been in the great room last night. The small lamp lit up him and only him. He calmly folded his newspaper and set it on the end table that also hadn’t been there before. It was like he’d set up this whole little scene just to make a point. “Do you have any idea what time it is, Matthew?”
Oh no. Whenever he used my full name I knew he was mad. Kind of like how he always called Rob Robert. This wasn’t good. “Like, 7:30.”
“7:30. In the morning! I expected you home by midnight, young man. Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been? I’ve been up all night waiting for you.”
“I’m sorry…”
“You’re sorry? I thought you were dead in a ditch!”
“Tanner, I really am sorry. But I didn’t know I had a curfew.”
“Of course you have a curfew! How else am I supposed to know if you’re alive?” His voice cracked.
Tanner didn’t look that angry. He looked more…sad. And I wondered if this had anything to do with him losing his girlfriend when he was young. He’d never told me much about her. But had she not come home one night? Is that what this was about? “I’m okay, Tanner,” I said. “I just lost track of time. I really am sorry.”
“Just don’t do it again, man.”
“I won’t.” I didn’t want to see him look this upset again. I had a feeling that if Tanner suddenly started crying, I’d start crying too. And no one wanted that.
He nodded. “Where were you?”
“I spent the night with an old friend.” Wow, that sounded way more sexual than I meant for it to. “A friend from high school. Kennedy. Actually, she was Brooklyn’s best friend. But we were friends too. I’m pretty sure I’ve told you about her before.”
“Did you sleep with her?” Tanner asked.
“No.” I guess he thought it was as inappropriate as I was worried it was.
“Are you going to?”
Oh. He wasn’t concerned about the fact that it was immoral to sleep with Kennedy. He was just concerned because he loved to meet all the women I slept with ahead of time. Because he was Tanner. “Um.” I didn’t know how to answer his question. Because I didn’t know the answer.
“Are you going to sleep with her?” Tanner asked again.
I sat down on the sofa across from his makeshift worried-dad scene. “I mean, we’re friends.” It would be wrong, right? To sleep with Kennedy? To even want to? I ran my hand down my face. Fuck. Did I want to? I smiled, picturing her in her adorable pajamas.
“Penny’s your friend and you want to sleep with her.”
“Yeah, but I think Penny and I are better off as just friends.”
“I guess your dinner to seduce her went poorly?” Tanner asked.
I nodded. “She brotherized me.”
Tanner laughed. “Brotherized? What is that?”
“When someone friend zone’s you in a brother way. It’s even worse than a friend zone.”
“Ouch. So you haven’t secured the camera then?”
“No, I got it.”
Tanner just stared at me. “So where is it? Wait, don’t tell me.” He stood up and started examining my shirt.
“I meant I will have it. Rob’s bringing it by practice.”
Tanner let go of the collar of my shirt. “But he can’t come. It’s a best friend’s secret mission.”
“He’s my best friend too.”
Tanner lowered his eyebrows. “Best friend isn’t plural.”
Seriously, Tanner and Rob might as well be twins. How could they not see that they had the same sense of humor? And the same obsession with singular and plural nouns? Why did they hate each other so much? It was ridiculous. “He didn’t give me a choice,” I said.
“Stubborn little ass. Well, that’s fine. We’ll get his camera and tell him to get lost.”
“Why can’t the two of you just get along?”
“Because there’s only room for one of us in this town. And I’m not leaving. I love it here.” He sat back down.