“Do you?”
He exhaled slowly and then took another sip of his drink. “Yeah. Every fucking day.” He didn’t offer any more.
I sat back down. “Then why aren’t you trying to find your true love?” I sounded ridiculous saying it out loud. But actually, unlike most people, I did believe in it. Because I’d had it and lost it. And I’d never have it again.
He took another sip of his drink. “I am. I just…haven’t found her yet.”
Tanner dated a lot of women. Every time we went to any high society function, he had a beautiful woman on his arm. Always a different beautiful woman. Same as me. So I wasn’t sure why he was judging me here.
“Well, same with me,” I said.
He narrowed his eyes at me.
Sometimes I hated that he was part friend part therapist. “Fine,” I said. “Every woman I go on a date with is someone I 100% don’t see myself with. Happy?”
“No, that doesn’t make me happy. What would make me happy is if you let me find you someone instead of Penny. Well, not instead of. If you want Penny, I’m all for that. I just mean, if you are actually looking for someone, you should let me handle it instead of her. She has zero experience. She’s an amateur.”
“I thought you liked Penny?”
“I do. But she’s not a matchmaker.”
“She kind of helped push Mason to Bee. And Rob to Daphne. In a weird roundabout way. She didn’t actually introduce any of them.”
“Great. Two sort-of success stories. And even that’s stretching it. I’ve introduced hundreds of happily married couples.”
I lowered my voice so no one nearby could hear us. “Tanner, you own a sex club. Not a matchmaking service.”
“It’s not a sex club. How many times do I have to tell you this? It’s a club to find true love. If you would just come see…”
I laughed. I was just messing with him. It was hilarious that he truly thought he didn’t own a sex club. I was in charge of all his finances. And there was no other way to describe those expenses. “I have to politely decline the offer. Again.” Yes, I was pretty sure it was a sex club. But the way Tanner talked about true love did freak me out a little. I didn’t want that. And if there was any possibility of stumbling upon it in his club, I wanted nothing to do with it. I liked being alone. I ran my fingers down the condensation on my glass. No, I liked being with Penny.
He shook his head. “Excited for your game tomorrow?”
I didn’t mind the change of subject. I’d heard enough about true love for one night. And it was actually really nice that he always came to my games. Mason, Rob, and James never stepped foot in our old stadium. “Yeah, it’s going to be fun. Penny’s coming. And Bee and Daphne I think.”
“Great. I’ll sit with them.”
“You can’t harass Penny about the dating app thing. It’s our little secret. I wasn’t even supposed to tell you about it. And I don’t want anyone else knowing about it either.”
“I wasn’t going to harass her. I might ask her some questions about how she feels about you though.” He downed his drink and stood up.
“Please don’t do that.”
He laughed and picked up his binder full of women. “Just you wait and see. I’m going to matchmake her to you before she can matchmake you to some rando.”
“Tanner…”
“I have to get going. I’m going to be late for a date at my sex club.” He put the last two words in air quotes. “Let me know if you change your mind about the car fire,” he said a little too loudly as he started walking away from me. “I’ll see you and the lovely Penny tomorrow.” He waved his hand through the air and disappeared out the door as quickly as he’d come.
I would have gone after him, but he’d left me with the check. I knew how much money he had because my firm was responsible for investing it. Yes, I was rich. But he was a hell of a lot wealthier than me. Cheap asshole.
Chapter 5
Friday
I should have been watching the team warm up, but my eyes kept wandering toward the stands. The last time I’d been this nervous for a game was way back when I was playing. Specifically homecoming game sophomore year. I remembered that day perfectly. When I was more focused on winning Brooklyn back than winning the game. I’d won both. Although, Coach Carter had almost made me sit out the second half after my stunt in the homecoming parade. It was all worth it though. To see Brooklyn smile.
Just thinking about her made my chest hurt. But for the first time in ages, my eyes weren’t scanning the crowd for a ghost. I was searching for Penny. So far though, Tanner was the only person I recognized in the crowd. He waved at me and walked over, stopping on the track that circled the field.
“Ready to impress Penny?” he asked, but then frowned. “Whatever are you wearing, dear boy?”
I looked down at my gray sweatpants and Empire High t-shirt. My whistle dangled around my neck and I had a clipboard tucked under my arm. “I wear this to every game.” It was pretty much my coach uniform.
“Exactly. Every game. But this one is important.” He shook his head like I was ridiculous. “The coach over there is wearing a fitted suit.” He pointed at the douchey coach for Calver Academy.
“It doesn’t matter what I’m wearing.”
“I thought you were trying to woo Penny? Speaking of which, is she here yet? I want to sit with her and her friends.”
“You are definitely not sitting with them.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll talk too much.” I’d sworn Penny to secrecy about the whole dating app thing. And I’d gone and blabbed to Tanner about it. I was seriously regretting both things right now. Because if she found out that I’d broken our code of secrecy, who knew who she would tell? Actually, I knew exactly who she would tell. She’d tell James. And his brother, Rob.
Tanner laughed. “Exactly. I’ll find out everything you need to know about her.”
“I know everything about her.” Except what her lips tasted like. And how her body felt beneath mine.
“There’s plenty you don’t know about her,” Tanner said. “Like all of the important things.”
“What important things don’t you know about who?” Penny asked.
Tanner and I both froze. We hadn’t seen her walk up. Bee and Daphne weren’t with her. But she was balancing Scarlett on her hip.
“The blonde over there,” Tanner said, hitching his thumb over his shoulder. “Matt has the hots for her.”
What the fuck? I was pretty sure he was pointing at a high school student.
Penny just laughed. “Hi, Tanner, it’s good to see you again.”
Tanner smiled at her in a way that had me frowning.
“Hi, Mr. Tanner,” Scarlett said very politely. But then she turned to me with a huge smile on her face. “Uncle Matt!”
“Hey, kiddo.” I ruffled her hair. “Have you ever been to a football game before?”
“No.” She shook her head. “But Mommy said I could have a hotdog if I came with her.”
I laughed. “She’s correct.” I pointed over to the concession stand. “There’s hotdogs and even soft pretzels.” I knew how much she loved soft pretzels.