Kenzie’s Perfect Daddies (Little Hearts Club #3)

1. Prologue

Prologue

Kenzie

“ Y ou know, eventually you’ll have to get the fuck over it, right?”

To anyone else, the words might have seemed harsh and unnecessary, but Kenzie appreciated her best friend’s bluntness in a way most wouldn’t understand. River was brash, loud and unfiltered, which was exactly what Kenzie needed. She knew she could count on River to never tell her something they didn’t mean, just as she knew they would never hold back something she needed to hear.

From the day they’d met at Little Hearts Club, there had been a bond that was unbreakable. River was a person who drew others to them with an ease that was enviable. They didn’t mess around with games or petty things and that was something that made Kenzie feel like she was safe with River. They’d never hurt her as so many others had. River had inserted themself in Kenzie’s life, and the two of them had been inseparable ever since.

Taking a deep breath and setting aside the pink brush she’d been using to get the tangles out of her long brown hair, Kenzie thought about what River had said. “It isn’t that-”

“Bullshit.” River stopped Kenzie from offering an excuse that would have indeed been bullshit.

Kenzie was most definitely not over it. After more than a year, she was wondering if she ever would be over it. Beau had been her soulmate. Or so she’d thought. But despite their split, and the fact that Beau had moved on, Kenzie couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d lost the Daddy that was meant to be her forever.

“No—” Kenzie felt the need to defend herself but should have known better. River always seemed to know.

“Look, I get it. You broke up, you agreed it was amicable and something you both wanted, but you lied.” Okay, maybe River’s bluntness wasn’t always appreciated. “Now, you’re stuck living without a man you still love. You haven’t been back to the club in like a year and a half because you’re scared of running into him. I know exactly what’s happening, but, sweetie, you aren’t hurting anyone but yourself with that crap. He’s moved on. He has a Daddy himself now, and you’re sitting alone at home on a Friday night instead of playing with me and showing him you’ve got life figured out without him.”

“But I really don’t—” Kenzie tried to interrupt River’s rant.

“But it’s time to get over it.”

And there was that bluntness Kenzie had known was coming. It wasn’t that she wasn’t aware of the fact that River was one hundred percent right, it wasn’t that she didn’t miss her favorite place in the city, it most certainly wasn’t that she didn’t miss playing with her friends at the club; she just wasn’t ready to face Beau.

To the outside world, even to Beau, it looked like an amicable breakup, and honestly, it had been. Sort of. As her friend had pointed out, though, Kenzie had lied. Beau had started to tell her that he needed more, and Kenzie had immediately jumped in with all sorts of ridiculousness about her needing more too and how she couldn’t blame him. Honestly, she wasn’t really sure what all lies she had spouted, only that she’d needed to be the one to end things before he did.

“Look, if nothing else, come next Thursday. I heard him and Sebastian, his new Daddy, discussing being out of town then, so you could try stepping back into the scene on a day they’ll be gone.”

Hmmm… That doesn’t sound so bad.

“River, you’re a genius. Let’s plan on that.” As long as she wasn’t chancing an encounter with the one person she couldn’t face, Kenzie didn’t see any reason to deny herself a night of fun. And who knew, maybe she’d find that one person who would help her diminish the feelings she couldn’t seem to shake for a certain someone.

“Yes!”

The shout was loud enough to cause Kenzie to jump but she couldn’t blame them, she was excited too.