Forever (Empire High Book 8)

Chapter 34

Thursday

Matt

I put my hand on Brooklyn’s thigh. I wasn’t sure what was going on with Rob tonight, but I hoped he wasn’t seriously hitting on Brooklyn.

Not that I didn’t deserve it. I did. Karma or whatever. I’d constantly hit on Penny over the last several years. And Daphne and Bee a bit too. But that was different. I’d been a mess. Rob had his shit together. He had a very patient and understanding wife who somehow put up with his shit on a daily basis. He didn’t need to be flirting with my fiancée.

Tanner cleared his throat. “I’m so happy to welcome you all into my home for such a special occasion. My best friend is getting married…”

“Oh please,” Rob muttered under his breath but loud enough for at least me to hear.

“And I couldn’t be happier for you, Matt,” Tanner continued. He opened his mouth to continue his speech, but music started playing. Tanner looked around the room in confusion.

The music was playing pretty quietly. It sounded like it was coming from the floor for some reason. Were there speakers beneath the table? Probably a ‘billionaire thing’ as Tanner would say. I was pretty sure the music was Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker.

Rob started giggling.

“Nigel, where is that music coming from?” Tanner asked and turned around to look at Nigel at the kids’ table.

Nigel shrugged. “From the second story?” He looked up.

I was pretty sure it was coming from beneath us. Or maybe it was above? The music was very disorienting. Wait, there was no second story here…

Rob giggled even louder.

I turned to look at him.

“I got him so good,” he whispered to Brooklyn.

Brooklyn just looked confused.

But Rob was barely controlling himself. It looked like he was seconds away from exploding with laughter. I breathed a sigh of relief. Rob loved pranks. But sometimes he went way too small. And this seemed like one of those instances. I’d hardly even classify this as a prank. The music was too quiet to interfere with Tanner’s speech. And the music combined with the fairy lights crisscrossing above the table was actually quite magical.

Tanner shrugged. “Anyway, where was I? I am so glad the two of you found your way back to each other. I can’t believe I almost made a terrible match for Matt which would have ruined both your lives in the process. Or I guess three lives?” He shrugged like he didn’t care.

I was pretty sure that was a weird stab at Kennedy.

“No, four lives,” Tanner said. He nodded to himself, like that was definitely the right number.

I guess that included Felix. I was glad that Tanner had been a little rude to Kennedy when we’d dated. She belonged with Felix. And I’d always belonged with Brooklyn.

“All four of you certainly made me work for it. Love was staring you all right in the face and you were all trying to run in the opposite direction or latching on to the wrong person.” He shook his head and this time he did look at Kennedy.

Brooklyn and Kennedy both laughed.

Tanner turned his attention back to us. “I really can’t remember meeting two people more perfect for each other with so many excuses on why they couldn’t be together. But true love always prevails. That’s why I started my club in the first place.”

Where was he going with this? I wasn’t sure this was the right time to talk about his sex club. My parents were here. I cleared my throat and stared at him.

“Right,” Tanner said. “I give so many speeches in boardrooms, but not many like this. I’ve had a ton of best friends over the years, but none as great as Matt.”

What other best friends? And why did he have so many?

Tanner smiled, but it looked sad. “I’ve experienced more love and loss in my life than anyone else here.”

I wasn’t sure he knew that for a fact…

“And I know moving forward isn’t easy. But I am just so proud of you, Brooklyn. For embracing today. For being fearless. For believing that the love Matt has for you isn’t replaceable. Because you’re not replaceable. You’re perfectly…you. And the two of you are a perfect match.”

I looked over at Brooklyn. There were tears in her eyes again.

“Even if I can’t verify it,” Tanner said. “I know it. I’ve made enough matches over the years to know. This right here is true love in its most pure form. And it’s worth waiting a hundred years for. Luckily the two of you didn’t need to wait quite that long.” He smiled. “And I just wanted to take a minute to congratulate my favorite couple. And to thank you for both being so wonderful to me. You are both so kind and…”

Suddenly the music changed. Tanner looked around again.

I definitely knew this song. It was Russian Dance from The Nutcracker this time. It started getting louder.

“Where is this coming from?” Tanner asked and looked around again. “I’m so confused.”

Rob giggled even louder.

And then the volume increased again and the white pumpkin closest to Tanner exploded, sending brown goo in every direction. Some of it hit him right in the face, speckling his cheeks in brown.

Fuck, was that chocolate pudding?

Everyone near the pumpkin pushed their seats back, trying to get away from the mess.

Tanner wiped his hand across his face, smearing the chocolate pudding.

Rob burst out laughing.

Brooklyn threw her hand over her mouth in horror.

James groaned and shook his head.

Rob started pointing at the pumpkins as one by one they exploded down the length of the table. Each hard note of the violins caused another explosion. Rob kept pointing, acting like he was the conductor of this nightmare.

And I realized he definitely was. What. The. Fuck. Rob!

One of the cornucopias exploded, sending chocolate pudding and an assortment of zucchinis flying through the air. A zucchini hit the string lights, causing them to blink and sag down toward the table.

I pushed my seat back and pulled Brooklyn back too as mayhem broke loose.

The pumpkins down the center of the table exploded one after another as Rob kept pointing in rhythm to the music. And then the next cornucopia exploded. Everything in it was decimated this time, chunks of different colored gourds flying everywhere.

One slimy piece hit my cheek as more pudding flew through the air. I tried to block it from Brooklyn, but we both took it in the face.

I tried to wipe it out of my eyes.

“Rob, stop this!” Brooklyn screamed at the top of her lungs.

Rob just laughed. “But you said…”

Someone else screaming drowned out his words.

More lights fell and people started to get tangled up in them as they slipped in the chocolate pudding.

The lights connected to the Christmas tree. And it was only a matter of seconds before the huge tree started to fall. It smashed against the floor-to-ceiling windows in Tanner’s living room. For a moment I thought I was going to break through, but it bounced off and slammed onto the couch instead. It knocked over a few candles on an end table in the process, and then the whole tree caught fire.

I instinctively put my hand over my junk, remembering my pants lighting up like a Christmas tree on that blind date from hell.

The blaze quickly spread to the couch. It was nowhere near me, but I still kept my hand in the front of my pants.

“Fire!” someone shouted.

The kids were far away from the mayhem, but they started screaming and running around. Tanner picked up Jacob to make sure he didn’t get anywhere near the fire. Everyone else started running toward their kids, slipping in the pudding. I heard someone gagging, but I could barely see. I wiped more pudding out of my eyes.

“Robert Hunter!” Brooklyn yelled.

Nigel sprinted toward the fire with a fire extinguisher, blasting the spreading flames in white.

A crunching noise made me turn my head. Half the table started to fall through the floor. It tilted, sliding all the food, pudding, and any remaining decorations down into the apartment below Tanner’s. The candles that teetered over immediately went out though, being snuffed by heaps of pudding. The table looked like the fucking Titanic, sinking into the ocean.

And then the rest of the floor started creaking.

I pulled Brooklyn farther away as the floor beneath the table collapsed, sending everything through with a deafening crash.

Bee almost slipped into the hole, but Mason grabbed her waist, pulling her to his chest as they both toppled backward into more lights. He reached behind him for purchase, and grabbed the corner of a cloth. He pulled downward and the cloth fell from the portrait, revealing Tanner in some kind of old-fashioned military uniform riding a horse.

The music stopped and everything was eerily quiet.

“My relics!” Nigel screamed, breaking the silence. He tossed the fire extinguisher to the side and ran to the edge of the broken floor. He stared down into the hole. I’d never seen Nigel so upset before.

I didn’t know what to do. I blinked and looked around at the carnage. All the beautiful lights were flickering off and on. The fire was out, but the tree was still smoking. People were helping each other up off the slippery floor. Everyone was covered in pudding. And there was a fucking hole in the middle of Tanner’s dining room floor.

“Good one, Sanders,” Rob said.

Brooklyn shook her head.

There was no way Brooklyn had been a part of this…

“Rob, you didn’t,” Daphne said. She looked so disappointed in him.

“Yeah I did,” Rob said. “Best prank ever. A classic Hunter Sanders mess around.” He lifted his hand for Brooklyn to high five.

She pushed his hand out of the way. “I did not help with this! You could have killed someone!”

“James?” Rob held up his hand even though James was on the other side of the hole in the floor and couldn’t possible high five him.

“You know perfectly well that I had nothing to do with this,” he said. “We both tried to stop you.”

Brooklyn turned around. “I’m so sorry.” She looked back and forth between me and Tanner. “I did try to stop him. But he kept saying I owed him a favor from 16 years ago and he wouldn’t listen to reason. And then he gave me puppy dog eyes.”

What favor?

“And he said if I told you that he’d do the prank on our wedding day instead,” Brooklyn said.

So Rob blackmailed Brooklyn the day before our wedding? Seriously? And did all…this? What the hell was wrong with him? I turned to look at Tanner. I was expecting him to freak out. But a smile slowly stretched across his face. And then he started laughing. Jacob looked up at him and started laughing too.

“What are you doing?” Rob asked. “You’re not supposed to be laughing.”

“It was a prank, was it not?” Tanner said.

“Yeah but…it was on you.”

Tanner laughed louder. “Hilarious.”

Rob just stared at him. He didn’t seem to know what to do with Tanner’s reaction. “But…” Rob’s voice trailed off. “I set your Christmas tree on fire.”

Tanner waved his hand through the air and laughed harder.

“And broke your couch. And blew up all your pumpkin decorations. And ruined your speech. And got chocolate pudding on everything and everyone.”

Nigel started laughing too. “Close call. Someone moved all my valuables out of the way. Lucky day for me. Good one, Robert.” He patted Rob’s chest and then peered into the hole again.

Rob shook his head. “I mean, yeah. It was a good prank. But…” his voice trailed off again.

“Good one, Young Robert,” Tanner agreed.

“I sent your dining room table through your floor, man,” Rob said. “Into your weird storage room down there. It’s complete chaos.”

“But you moved all my things out of the way first,” Nigel said. “Very respectful prank.”

“Indeed.” Tanner nodded. “And you didn’t even ruin my favorite portrait.” He pointed to the one of him on the horse. “Everything else is replaceable.”

Rob stared at it and then turned back to Tanner. “I caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage, man.”

Tanner laughed. “Who cares? It was funny.”

Rob just gaped at him.

“That’s like pennies to me, son.”

And I couldn’t help but laugh too. Tanner not caring about the carnage was more hilarious than the prank itself. And my laughing made Brooklyn laugh. And soon everyone was laughing as they wiped chocolate pudding off themselves. The news of it being pudding must have traveled quickly, since so many of us were there during that original chocolate pudding prank.

“You’re seriously not mad?” Rob asked.

Tanner kept laughing.

“Au contraire,” Nigel said and peered down the hole. “Master Tanner has been wanting to replace this table for years. And my schedule was very busy and I had no time to figure out how to get it out of here. You saved me some time. I’ll leave it in the storage room. Thanks for the assistance.”

Rob shook his head. “I don’t believe this,” he said. “You’re not supposed to be thanking me. Look at your Christmas tree.” He pointed into the living room.

“The foam actually looks a bit like snow,” Tanner said.

Brooklyn laughed. “It really does.” She turned to Rob. “Feel better now?” she asked.

Rob smiled and shrugged.

I wasn’t sure what that was about, but Rob exhaled slowly and it looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

“Speaking of foam, we all need to clean off,” Nigel said. “Let’s go to the pool. I’ll put bubbles in it. It’ll be like a huge tub!” He looked so excited before he turned around and ran down the hall to their indoor pool.

This was the most ridiculous rehearsal dinner ever.

Brooklyn slid her hand into mine. “Race everyone to the big tub!” she yelled and started running, pulling me with her.

I couldn’t help but laugh

“What favor was Rob referring to?” I asked as we ran down the hall. We’d gotten a good head start on everyone else.

“Remember that party at your house sophomore year? Rob bet me I would scream his name. I had no intention of ever doing that. But then he pushed me into your bedroom. Which was dark. And I didn’t know you were there. I was scared and banged on the door, calling his name to let me out.”

I shook my head. That was such a cheap bet by Rob. And to hang it over her head 16 years later? Actually…that sounded just like him. “And the asking him if he felt better thing?”

We ran in silence for a moment. “He wanted to undo his wrong 16 years ago. With another prank. To erase the prank 16 years ago from our memories.” She smiled to herself. “It looked like it helped. I hope it did. Because we’re not doing that again.”

I laughed. Yeah, we were all trying to undo a lot of wrongs. But I did feel bad about all the damage to Tanner’s place. It was a good thing he’d just thought it was funny. “It definitely looked like it helped him.”

I pulled Brooklyn to a stop and opened the door to the pool. It was already overflowing with bubbles.

“This is so cool,” Brooklyn said. She looked up at me. “I don’t have a ton of great memories of you and pools. It seems fitting that we make that right tonight too.”

“How can I right that wrong?” I asked. Tonight had suddenly turned into a time for healing old wounds. And it seemed fitting before the wedding to make amends. I wanted her to forget about whatever the hell she’d seen with Jen. It meant nothing. And I hated how something that meant so little had changed everything for us.

“Well, there was one thing I wish I’d done,” Brooklyn said.

“Yeah?” I raised my eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah.” She put her hands on my chest and then pushed me backward into the pool.

I laughed as I fell backward, splashing into the water. When I rose to the surface Brooklyn was jumping in. I pulled her into my arms as everyone else finally made it to the pool.

“Cannon ball!” Rob yelled and splashed into the water next to us. The water turned brown around him which made me laugh.

He came to the surface. “I’m free!” he yelled at the top of my lungs.

I thought I’d be mad at Rob. But I understood what he was trying to do. I understood that we all needed closure from 16 years ago in our own way. I should have known his way would be destructive. I hadn’t realized it, but he’d been holding on to that pain for a long time. Especially since I’d forbid my friends from even talking about Brooklyn.

It was also easy not to be upset with him when Tanner was so cool with everything. And Brooklyn seemed happy too. Besides, ending tonight this way actually felt kind of perfect. I couldn’t think of a more memorable rehearsal dinner.

Everyone started jumping in. Screaming and splashing water.

“Bath time!” Nigel yelled and belly flopped into the pool.

I shook my head. That man and his baths.

Brooklyn wrapped her legs around my waist. “We’re getting married tomorrow!” she shouted over the noise.

I dropped my lips to her ear. “Just so you know…Tanner was right. I would have waited a hundred years to have you in my arms again.”

Brooklyn’s cheeks flushed.

The bubbles grew around us, blocking us from seeing anyone else. We were in our own little world. Just the two of us.

“Next time I do something wrong, push me in the pool right away,” I said. “No reason to wait 16 years.”

She laughed. “Now that I can promise. As long as you re-promise me something.”

“Anything,” I said.

“Don’t break my heart, Matthew Caldwell.”