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I personally think she should walk up to Dr. Fredrick and knee him in the balls, but I also really like the idea of her working here. I like the idea of that freckled face showing up at every one of my games.
Those two little words stop me in my tracks. My name. She sounds good saying my name.
“So, who is she?” On this day, where everything feels like a sign, I don’t hesitate when I say, “My future wife.”
There’s been only one woman who has held my interest and now that she’s no longer wearing another man’s engagement ring, spending my time with anyone else holds zero appeal.
“It hasn’t been three years.” “You’ve been into that girl since the day she walked into the clubhouse for the first time.” “Yeah, but I only realized she was single eight months ago, so technically I’m only eight months in on this whole thing.”
“You should come hang out with us.” “It looks like it’s guys’ night.” I scoff. “It most definitely isn’t guys’ night.”
“Could you stay here with me for a minute or two? I just need a break before I go back.” This is what others don’t see. This is why I haven’t given up on my little crush. Kennedy is comfortable around me. Sure, she might act like she fucking hates me. I might purposefully drive her mad, but there are moments like this one where I’m the person she goes to. Ever since that run-in in the bathroom, there’s been a quiet understanding between us. Maybe it’s because I know a secret of hers and I’ve kept it to myself, I’m not sure. But deep down, Kennedy trusts me.
I lean down close to her ear, shooting my shot for what feels like the thousandth time I’ve done so in the past eight months. “Do you want to get out of here?” Her big brown eyes flit to mine. “Please.”
Cody Holy shit. Travis I cannot believe our Kennedy is here. Me MY Kennedy is here. And we’re leaving. Travis How long will you be? Me I’m not coming back. Cody Shut the fuck up. Me See you boys at the airport tomorrow. Cody I feel like I’m living in an alternate reality. This can’t be real. Travis Isaiah motherfucking Rhodes. What happened to the guys’ night you were so adamant about? Me Fate happened.
text messages
“Did you forget about that whole part about my feet hurting? I’m wearing four-inch heels, Rhodes.” “I know. You’re almost eye to eye with my chest now.”
“We need to move.” “I’m not moving.” I exhale, a strand of hair billowing around my face. “I don’t know how to go with the flow.” “I know. Give me one night and let me see if I can teach you. Trust me, my way is a lot of fun.”
“I can pay for my own shoes.” “And I said I was buying you a drink.” “This isn’t a drink.” “This is part of the drink. This is my one shot, and if you’re uncomfortable the whole time you’re never going to want to have a drink with me again and I can’t blow my one shot because it’s cold and your feet hurt.”
“Have I told you lately how much I dislike you?” “Mmm,” he hums. “I should warn you, Ken, I like it when you’re mean. It does something to me.” “So that’s why you haven’t left me alone all these years? I should’ve been nice to you all this time, I guess.” “I probably would’ve proposed a handful of times by now if you were. Nice. Mean. I’ll take you any way I can get you.”
“He needs to keep his eyes to himself,” Isaiah mutters as he reaches down between us, using the leg of the chair to pull me as close to him as possible.
“I’d be the first female lead doctor in the MLB.” Isaiah’s lips curve at that. “As you should be. That’s amazing, Kenny. You deserve all the good things.”
“I’ll walk you back to your hotel whenever you’re ready to go.” Huh? “That’s it? You buy me comfortable shoes and a warm jacket just for one drink that took more time to be prepared than it did for you to consume it?” “You said one drink.” “Maybe I changed my mind.”
“I said, tonight is the best night of my life.” She rolls those pretty eyes, but it’s more dramatic than usual because Kennedy is just as drunk as I am. “You’re just saying that.” “I’m not.” Leaning my forearms down on the gate in front of me, I make myself eye level with her. “Kennedy, I have feelings for you.” “They’ll pass.” Her glazed eyes stay fixated on the water ahead of her. “I’m serious, Ken. I’ve got a major crush.”
Lu liked this
She’s not wrong. At least, from what she knows about me. What she doesn’t know is that I haven’t even looked at another woman since the day I realized she stopped wearing her engagement ring. So no, I don’t like everyone. I like her.
🫠
I’m completely out of my mind because with the way she’s looking at me, little smirk on those lips, brown eyes shining with mischief the way mine usually do, I know in this moment, I’d do just about anything she asked me to.
I like when he calls me Kenny. I’ll never tell him that. “What song do you want to walk to?” It’s a different voice. Not Isaiah’s. Walk to? Walk out to? Isaiah walks out to a song when he’s up to bat. He looks really good in his uniform. I’ll never tell him that.
I slowly turn in that direction to find a woman lying on her stomach. What the fuck? No, no, no. Regret churns in my gut. Eight months of waiting for— Kennedy. Holy fuck. I recognize that hair curtaining the woman next to me. Kennedy Kay Auburn. Kennedy is in my bed.
“Kennedy,” Isaiah says, pulling my attention to him. “I’m going to need you to loosen up and look at the bright side here. We just kept your job. Nothing has to change except wearing a ring on that finger.” He points to my left hand. “You still got yours?” I chew my lip. “Maybe.” “Sorry, I couldn’t hear you.” I glare at him. “Yes. I still have the ring.”
“A business arrangement,” he parrots. “Whoever said romance was dead?” “I need some time to think this over.” “Well, while you’re making your decision, I’ll work on getting you a ring.” “Isaiah—” “Don’t worry. You’ll like what I get you.” I raise a brow. “How very cocky of you.” “That’s not me being cocky. That’s me telling you how it’s going to be. I’ll let you be a brat about a lot of things, but you’re not allowed to be a brat about this.”
Max and Taylor entertain each other. “Kennedy?” he asks. “The girl you’ve talked about at every family dinner you’ve ever come to?” “The one and only,” Kai says for me. “Good for you, man.” “Don’t encourage him, Zee.” “Why not? Stevie met her last summer and she thought she was great.” “She is great,”
Kennedy was as I watched her walk down the aisle with full confidence to Mariah Carey’s “Obsessed.” “Stop smiling to yourself.” Miller swats me in the arm with her son on her hip. “You’re walking around on cloud nine, meanwhile
In theory, I understand his concern. Kennedy might have an expiration date on this marriage, but all I’ve heard is that I got six long months to get my wife to fall for me.
“What’s normal to you, Kenny?” “You’re going to think I’m weird.” “At this point, it might be best if I find one or two negative qualities. My obsession hasn’t been able to come up with any yet.” She laughs again and it’s then I realize I don’t hear that sound often. I’ll have to work on that.
“Well,” I exhale. “I was just as wasted as you, so there’s that. Plus, I think my mama would come back from the grave and take me with her if I ever touched a woman while they were drunk. But at the end of the day, even though I’ve spent all this time trying to get your attention, I won’t try anything with you unless I know you want my attention too.”
mama raised him right
“This is your mom’s ring, Isaiah. This should be saved for someone else. Someone you care about.” “I care about you.”
“When my mom died, this is the only thing I asked for,” he says, looking at it between his fingers. “I’m not sure why. I probably wasn’t thinking straight at the time. I should’ve asked for some of her clothes or her favorite books, but I just wanted this ring because I remember how pretty the color looked on her skin. I’ve always planned on giving it to the girl I marry, and whether this marriage is simply for convenience, you are the girl I married, Kennedy.”
His smile grows. “Did you get me both a metal and a rubber ring so I could wear something during my games?” Okay, my cheeks are definitely pink. Why the hell did I do that?
because you want the world to know he’s TAKEN
He slips the silicone band onto his left ring finger. “I was just going to get your name tattooed there since I couldn’t wear a ring while I was playing, but this will do.”
How very inconvenient that my temporary husband has to be so attractive.
“Of course you’re a perfectionist.” Isaiah rests his chin on my shoulder. “Because you’re freaking perfect!”
“Ready?” Isaiah slips the room key into his back pocket. “Ready for what?” “To go to the store.” Confusion is written all over my face. “You’re going out with Travis and Cody.” “I was only going with them because I didn’t have any other plans. But now I have plans, so let’s go.” “A run to the drugstore doesn’t qualify as plans.” “It does to me.” He holds the door open for me. “C’mon, Kenny, let’s go be domestic.”
“That color kind of looks like your hair and Trav once told me your hair was red. I know it’s not just red. It’s auburn. Kennedy Kay Auburn, in fact.”
“So do you have a favorite color?” I ask. The backs of his fingers graze mine. The movement earns my attention, but I don’t flinch or pull away. The touch is gentle, tentative, but very much purposeful. “Besides my favorite shade of auburn, no, I don’t have a favorite color.”
We get in line at the cash register just as his fingertips fall in the spaces between mine. He asked me if I wanted him to touch me, and he’s doing just that at a pace I feel comfortable with. It makes me want to cry. “Will you pick a favorite color for me?” I huff a laugh under my breath. I vaguely remember thinking about this answer before. “Yellow.” “Yellow.” He appraises my answer. “Why yellow?” “It’s like you. Bright. Happy.” Reminds me of the sun. “Yellow,” he repeats. “Good color. My favorite color, in fact.”
She’s so pretty and sometimes a little mean. It’s a lethal combination for me.
“Kenny,” I whisper. Her gaze drops to my mouth, and she doesn’t move or shy away. That little victory feels like I won the lottery. “Yeah?” It’s soft, kept only between us. “It’s kind of fucked up that you’d pick your brother over your husband.” “What can I say? We’ve got history.” “Yeah, well we’ve got history too, Kennedy. You just haven’t been paying attention.”
“Thanks for that, by the way,” she says. “That’s it? You’re not going to tell me what a good boy I am for not getting in a fist fight with your brother?” “You want me to call you a good boy?” “Mmm, yes, please. Preferably while we’re naked and you’re on top of me, but now would do too.” That smile I’m quickly becoming addicted to blooms. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Look, I need to warn you. My family, they’re not nice people. Money is the most important thing to them. Comparatively, you’ll think I’m an angel after meeting them.” “I already think you’re an angel.”
Kennedy bends over to take a bite of her food, and I watch Connor glance down her dress from across the table. Mallory doesn’t notice her fiancé checking out his ex, but I sure as fuck do. My blood instantly heats. He doesn’t get to sit here and put on some public show with his new fiancée while still checking out his old. Especially when his old fiancée is my new wife. “Kenny,” I whisper. She sits up, looking in my direction. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch the tick of Connor’s jaw before I use a single finger to push the auburn hair away from her ear. I lean down and whisper, so only
...more
“Why?” she whispers. “Because he’s watching and I want him to know that you’re mine.”
Eyes are on us right now, I can feel them, and I’ll let Kennedy believe this is all for show, but in truth, I’ve been dying for her to let me touch her for years. Been dying to have her attention. Been dying to simply sit and eat dinner next to the girl.
“You don’t have to apologize. You can kiss me anytime you want, Kenny. Please kiss me anytime you want.”
“What he said though,” she begins, her tone frantic. “He wasn’t wrong. I…I don’t know how to be affectionate. The way they were with each other tonight, I want to be like that, but I don’t know how to. I don’t know how to be the kind of woman that a man would want.” I rear back. “You’re out of your mind if you think you’re not exactly the kind of woman a man would want. Just because you’re not comfortable with showing physical affection doesn’t make you any less of a woman, Ken.”
