That was a weird thing to say about his wife and daughters. But for some reason I laughed. Mr. Nigel always said the weirdest stuff.

“And I also heard it was story time. And I love story time. Especially love stories.” He turned to me. “I was a matchmaker of sorts in another lifetime.”

What the heck did he mean by that?

“I told you to stop watching the security feed all the time,” Uncle Matt said.

“But it’s my job.”

“It is not your job.”

Mr. Nigel shrugged. “Not my only job. I have many jobs. Dozens, really. Master Tanner keeps me busy. But not busy enough to let my bodyguard duties falter. And I also heard there were cupcakes. I want to try the new flavor too.”

Alora looked up at Mr. Nigel. “Can we go to your castle again? I want to ride the horses.”

“You want to pretend to ride horses. In your imagination.”

“No.” She frowned. “I want to ride the real horses. At your castle.”

“Kids and their wild imaginations,” Mr. Nigel said with a laugh.

“But...”

“Weren’t we hearing a story?” Mr. Nigel asked. “Let’s do that.”

“But, Mr. Nigel,” Alora protested.

“I can’t talk,” Mr. Nigel said as he started shoveling food in his mouth. “I’m eating.”

Alora giggled.

I turned to Aunt Brooklyn. “Yes. Please tell us the story.”

“Well...” Aunt Brooklyn stared at Uncle Matt. “If I’m being completely honest, Matt was way out of my league.”

“Not in a million years,” Uncle Matt said.

She laughed. “Yes you were. I was from the wrong side of the tracks and Matt was from one of the most elite families in the city. I was only a student at Empire High because my uncle was a janitor there. I had a crush on Matt, but I knew it could never happen. So I started seeing someone else.”

I stared at them. It was like how my mom said she liked two men at the same time. And everything had worked out for Aunt Brooklyn too. I needed all the details immediately. “Then what?”

“Matt got very jealous.”

He laughed. “It was ridiculous. You didn’t even like that other guy.”

“I did like that other guy. And I was planning on giving him my first kiss. But then Matt pulled me into a dark auditorium and stole it.”

I lowered my eyebrows. He stole it? Had she really just said that?

“Ew,” Chloe said.

“Wait,” I said. “Stole it? What do you mean?”

“Matt was a dirty kiss thief,” Aunt Brooklyn said.

What?!

“And I promised to steal all her firsts.” Uncle Matt smiled down at her. “I’ve made good on quite a few of those.”

WHAT?! But...really. WHAT?! I stared at the two of them smiling at each other.