Forever (Empire High Book 8)

Chapter 38

Friday

Matt

I was standing in front of the bridge in Central Park where I’d asked Brooklyn to be my girlfriend. Our bridge. She’d thought I was about to pull out a ring, but instead I’d given her a hotdog. God, it felt like a lifetime ago. But just thinking about it made me smile. I’d already known I wanted to spend my whole life with her. I just didn’t realize that I’d have to wait 16 years to truly start living.

The bridge was sectioned off behind us so that no one could disrupt the ceremony. Christmas garland and twinkle lights with gold leaves were wrapped around the railings of the bridge and around the arch I was standing in front of. And the aisle leading up to me had a row of white pumpkins. It was all decorated similarly to Tanner’s apartment last night. And I knew he and Nigel had helped more with the arrangements than I even realized.

There were only several rows of seats in front of me. We’d agreed to keep the ceremony small. My parents and Mrs. Alcaraz were in the front row. There were a couple of old friends from Empire High, including Felix and some of my teammates. A dozen friends from Harvard were here as well. And some of the people I worked with. My receptionist, Mary, smiled at me. Hailey and Tyler were there too with Axel perched on Tyler’s knee. But there was one noticeably empty seat in the front row. Mr. Pruitt’s.

Mason leaned forward. “Do you want me to go check on them?”

I shook my head.

“What if she’s getting cold feet?” Rob whispered.

“She’s not,” I said. But she would be thinking about the people who weren’t here. Her mom. Her uncle. Her father. I pressed my lips together.

“I’m getting cold feet,” James said. “And hands.” He rubbed his hands together to warm them.

It was cooler today than the original forecast had predicted. And we’d been standing up here for a good 15 minutes.

“Maybe I should go talk to her,” Tanner said. “I know she was upset about her dad. I feel like this is my fault.”

I leaned forward to see him. “You did everything you could.”

Tanner nodded, but he didn’t look appeased by my words. He was staring at the restaurant doors where Brooklyn was supposed to walk out.

I stared at the door too. I knew it wasn’t just Brooklyn’s mom, uncle, and father that might be upsetting her today. If Brooklyn wasn’t coming out it wasn’t because of them. It was because of Miller. I swallowed hard.

The photographer snapped a picture of us standing there. That definitely wouldn’t be a good one. We all just looked cold and worried.

I knew Brooklyn wanted to marry me. But I also knew how hard it was for her to break a promise. She probably felt like she was breaking a promise to Miller today. And I understood that better than anyone. I cleared my throat. “I’ll be right back.” I walked toward the restaurant before any of my friends could stop me. The blast of warm air when I opened the door didn’t feel like a relief. I needed to know that Brooklyn was okay.

I made my way through the empty restaurant to the back room where I knew she’d be. “Brooklyn?” I knocked on the door.

Kennedy opened it. “Thank God you’re here. We don’t know what to do. She won’t come out of the restroom and she won’t tell us why.” Kennedy grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the closed door.

“Can you give us a moment?” I asked.

She nodded and got all the bridesmaids and the kids to leave the room.

“Brooklyn?” I tried to open the door but it was locked. “Baby.” I pressed my palm against the door. “Let me in.”

“You can’t see me in my dress. It’s bad luck.”

“Don’t make me knock the door down again.”

She laughed.

That seemed like a good sign. “I swear I’ll do it.”

“It’s bad luck,” she said again.

Is that what this was about? Luck? “Remember what I told you when I proposed? I’m not scared of bad luck. The only thing that scares me is living one more second without you.”

“I know.” She didn’t sound upset. She sounded sure of herself.

I was so confused about what was wrong. Because from her voice, it didn’t seem like anything was. “Baby, tell me what’s going through that head of yours.” Even if it hurts me. Because this had to be about Miller. I rested my forehead against the door. I just wanted her in my arms. But this was as close as I could get.

“I just want to wait a few more minutes. And everyone is rushing me.”

“I’m not trying to rush you. But it’s kind of cold outside.”

She laughed again.

The sound made me smile. “Tell me why you want to wait. Because I’ve been waiting for 16 years. I don’t mind waiting a little longer. But I want to understand why.”

“It’s not about that.”

“Then what is it about?”

She sighed and I could tell she was right next to the door. Maybe she’d pressed her hand against the wood to get closer to me too. “I am one thousand percent in,” she said. “I love you with all my heart, Matt.”

“And I love you.” If she wasn’t thinking about Miller then…

“I just need to wait a few more minutes.”

“Okay,” I said. I didn’t understand, but maybe I didn’t need to. Maybe she just needed me here beside her. “Then I’ll wait with you.”

Silence stretched between us.

I so badly wanted to break down the door. But I didn’t want her to ever think she was bad luck.

“I just thought…” her voice trailed off.

I didn’t respond. I just waited for her to keep going.

“That maybe if I waited just a few more minutes my father would show up. I wanted today to be a fresh start. A clean slate. I know I don’t need him. I can walk down the aisle to you all by myself. But I wanted him here.” Her voice cracked.

Oh, baby.

“I wanted answers. I wanted to move forward. I just…wanted him to show up for me. Just for me for once. Not showing up in some twisted reason for his own gain. But showing up because he loves me.” She sniffed. “Because he wants a relationship not full of secrets and lies. I just want him to be…my dad.”

“He does love you, Brooklyn. He just didn’t get the messages.”

She sniffed again. “Maybe just a few more minutes?”

“We can wait as long as you want, baby.”

“I know it’s silly,” she said. “I have all the letters. I know he wanted me. I know he loves me. I just wanted to talk to him before I walked down the aisle today. I don’t want to hold on to all this hurt anymore. I just want to be free.”

“It’s not silly.” I wanted today to be everything she’d dreamed of. She wanted a fresh start with her father though, and it was the one thing I couldn’t give her. And I understood wanting to be free from the pain of our pasts. “But even though you can’t talk to him today, it doesn’t mean you won’t be able to soon. He loves you, Brooklyn. I know he does.”

Someone cleared their throat behind me.

I lifted my forehead from the door and turned around.

Mr. Pruitt was standing there. With a smile on his face. He put his hand on my shoulder. “I think I can take it from here, Matthew.”

Fuck, he actually came.I did the first thing that popped into my head and hugged him.

For a second he went completely stiff. But then his arms wrapped around me and he hugged me back.

“Thank you for your message,” he said. “And your friend Tanner is relentless. But I’m glad he was. Or I would have missed today.”

I pulled back from our hug. “I’m going to give you two a moment. I’ll be outside waiting when you’re both ready.”

Mr. Pruitt nodded.

I started to walk out the door.

“And Matthew?” Mr. Pruitt said.

I turned to look at him.

“I know I already apologized for everything.”

I just shrugged. He had. Kind of. He said he wasn’t sorry for faking Brooklyn’s death though. Which was fucked if you asked me. But I knew he was trying to protect her. And he’d apologized for all the shit leading up to it. This wasn’t really about him and me though. This was about Brooklyn.

“But I do appreciate you saying you forgive me. Your message meant a lot to me.”

I didn’t think Mr. Pruitt was capable of empathy. But he looked sincere when he was talking. I nodded. “Thanks for coming.” With that I walked out of the room.

Donnelley was standing outside the door, guarding it.

“I can trust you to not kidnap her, right?”

Donnelley smiled. “I’m not one to advise Mr. Pruitt, but I can tell you that he has no intention of doing that. He just wants her to be happy. And so do I.”

“Thanks, Donnelley.”

“How is Jacob doing with everything?”

“Good. Let me go get him so you can say hi.” It didn’t take long to find Jacob even though he was playing hide-and-seek with Scarlett and Sophie. Jacob was not great at hiding. His shoes were poking out from underneath a table.

I lifted the tablecloth and ducked down. “Hey, kiddo. Remember your mom’s friend Donnelley?”

“My daddy’s friend?”

I nodded. “You want to come say hi?”

“Yessie.” He slid out from underneath the table and followed me down the hall. “Hi, Mr. Donnelley!”

Donnelley leaned down and hugged him. “Hey, little man.”

“Do you want to play hide-and-seek with us?”

“Oh, um…” Donnelley looked up at me.

I nodded. “It’s okay. I can keep a look out.” It honestly put me at ease to keep an eye on Mr. Pruitt. I wanted to trust him. I just wasn’t totally convinced yet.

Donnelley followed Jacob into the main room and I could hear him counting.

“Go on outside with your groomsmen,” Kennedy said as she walked up to me. “I won’t let anything happen to Brooklyn. Besides, James’ bodyguards are patrolling the place. No one is coming in or leaving without them knowing. Plus Penny is on high alert because of what happened at her wedding. Trust me, we’ve all got this.” She leaned against the wall beside me and folded her arms across her chest, looking very much the part of a bodyguard.

I laughed. “You look very intimidating.”

“My pepper spray is even more intimidating.” She smiled up at me. “It’s strange isn’t it? For everything in the world to suddenly feel right again?”

I smiled down at her. “It really does.”

“Now go.” She waved her arms through the air. “Brooklyn will kill me if I let you see her dress before she walks down the aisle.”

“Thanks, Kennedy.” I went back out into the cold. My friends had abandoned their line and were standing in a circle talking. I jogged down the aisle and joined them.

“He came,” I said.

Rob scrunched up his nose. “Who came? And where? And why were you watching?”

“That’s not what I meant. I’m talking about Mr. Pruitt.”

“You watched Mr. Pruitt cum? Gross man.”

I hit Rob in the back of the head.

“Fuck yes,” Tanner said. “I knew I’d finally get through to him. I saved the day!”

I smiled. “You really did. Thanks, man.”

“I mean…I kind of saved the day too,” Rob said. “Well, Daphne did. She got these little hand warmers.” He tossed me one. It was already warm. “Thanks, Rob,” I said.

“Totally saved the day too,” he said.

“Not.” Tanner faked coughed. “As.” Cough. “Much.” Cough. “As.” Cough. “Me.”

I laughed. Tanner was actually correct. But I wasn’t going to take sides. And this hand warmer really was nice. I’d have to thank Daphne.

“So are they coming out soon?” Nigel asked. “Or should I go serve them refreshments? If you want I can be Francois again and…”

“That’s okay, they’ll be out soon.” We did not need handsy Francois in attendance today.

Nigel started jumping up and down to stay warm. “I’m so excited about our wedding.”

“Our?” I stared at him.

“Yes. Since we basically live in the same house, it’s our wedding.” He winked at me.

“You don’t live in my house.”

“But I’m the only one with a key.”

I frowned. That was true.

“It’s okay, I’m a grower.”

Rob laughed. “What the fuck? Where did that come from?”

“The more you get to know me, the more I grow on you,” Nigel said.

“Wow.” Rob shook his head. “Not what being a grower means, man.”

James laughed.

“I’m a grower in that way too,” Nigel said. “It’s a menace.”

He wasn’t kidding. Boy had trunk. And he kind of was a menace to society wielding that thing. I shook my head. Why the hell were we talking about Nigel’s penis right now? “Any last minute advice for me, guys?”

“About marriage?” James asked.

I nodded.

“Role playing,” Mason said.

James tilted his head to the side as he thought it over. “Yeah, that’s not bad advice. Or like…reenacting stuff from your past.”

I laughed. “You mean professor student stuff?” He did have a point. I liked reenacting things with Brooklyn. And her wearing my jersey this morning? Sexy as hell.

“Oh, Professor Hunter, harder,” Rob said in a high-pitched voice, mimicking Penny.

James elbowed him in the side.

“What? I’ve definitely overheard the two of you. It’s solid advice though. Also, if she secretly reads romance novels you’re a lucky man. Daphne is kinky as hell. I love bookworms. I’ll get Brooklyn a spicy romance book for Christmas.”

Okay then.These guys had the best marriages I knew of. Maybe role playing and spicy novels were the key to everything. Hell, Penny even wrote steamy books. Not that I was asking about how to keep the spark alive in the bedroom. We didn’t have any problems with that. I was asking for advice on how to have a great marriage. But I guess sex was a part of that. Figures my friends would just offer advice on that.

“It’s true love,” Tanner said. “You have nothing to worry about.”

Rob rolled his eyes. Probably just because Tanner said it. Hopefully not about the true love thing, because I happened to agree with Tanner on that.

“Thanks, Tanner.”

“We’re 99 percent sure of it,” Nigel clarified.

Well, I was 100 percent sure.