Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Dummieeeees!
Kenna groaned. She couldn’t keep ignoring them. And maybe talking to them would take her mind off the fact that Smith had dropped her off at her place straight after they’d returned from the camping trip nearly five hours ago and left almost immediately after stating that he needed to unpack.
The man who still had gear in his car from two camping trips ago was suddenly in an all-fired rush to get home and stow his shit.
The only logical conclusion one could reach after his indecent haste to leave was that he was hurt or upset. And after all their talk about communicating, it concerned her that they’d both defaulted right back keeping important information from each other.
She sank down on the sofa with a quiet, despairing huff, and removed her cast. She stretched her legs out in front of her and carefully wiggled her toes, pleased when it barely hurt. At least one thing was healing.
She picked up her phone and swiped to her sibling chat. She hadn’t checked any of the messages they’d sent since the whole kiss cam thing.
It was pretty much as she’d expected. A whole lot of what the fucks.
Irate questions about what was happening with the supposed separation and/or divorce.
Each and every one of them had conveniently forgotten her dictate that they not badmouth Smith.
Because they all had some pretty choice things to say about the circumstances of his birth and the quality of his character.
She rolled her eyes and tapped out a quick message.
Hi guys.
Shockingly, considering his track record, Nox was the first to respond a couple of minutes later.
Nox
Jesus, Kenny, ghosting us like that was a dick move.
Gideon
Round these parts, we call it a Nox move.
That hilarious, and well-deserved, retort coaxed a laugh from Kenny. Truly, Nox had been very bad about staying in contact over the last couple of years. Not participating in their conversations for weeks, sometimes months, was what they’d come to expect.
Nox
Fuck off, Gid
The lack of creativity and vitriol in Nox’s response told Kenny that Gideon’s barb must’ve hit home.
I’m just checking in, letting you all know that I’m okay.
Nox
You still in that nowhere town?
Still here.
Nox
Why were you kissing that bastard last week?
You forgot your promise.
Nox
What?
Gideon
Coming home for Dad’s birthday next week?
Have to. I’m hosting.
Cade finally came online, and responded a second later.
Cade
You don’t have to. If you need to stay there a little longer, Fern and I can host.
Nox
Cade, what the fuck? She needs to come home.
Cade
Kenny needs to do whatever’s best for her.
Thanks for the offer, Cade, but that’s a lot to ask with your house hunt and Fern’s pregnancy. I’m happy do it.
Gideon
Shout if you need help.
Nox
Wait, aren’t we going to address the elephant in the room?
Gideon
You mean whether you’re going to show up to this event or not?
Kenny grinned. Gideon was on fire today.
Nox
How did this suddenly become about me?
Cade
I’ve got a meeting. Kenny, take care of yourself. And maybe don’t pull a Nox move next time and actually reply when we message?
Gideon
Kenny chuckled in delight at that.
Nox
Jesus Christ, man. You guys are being dicks, I’m out of here.
See you next week?
Nox
Yeah. Maybe.
Thank you all for caring . I’m okay. Just trying to figure things out. Love you all
She closed the chat and considered calling her father, who must have called at least ten times over the last few days. She felt a twinge of remorse when she thought about that number. They loved her, they were concerned, and she shouldn’t have ignored them.
She still couldn’t face having a conversation with her father right now and instead popped off a quick text to let him know she was okay.
Hey Dad, sorry I missed your calls. Love you. Will call tomorrow. But everything is okay over here.
Dad
We’re going to have a very long conversation about this behavior, McKenna.
Wonderful.
Kenny sent him a quick thumbs-up emoji—mostly because she knew it would infuriate him—and then sat staring at the wall, wondering if she should call Smith.
In the end, she decided against it. If he needed time to sort through some things, then she would give it to him.
This wasn’t a relationship—they specifically chose not to call it that—and the usual rules of a relationship didn’t apply.
He didn’t owe her any explanations or excuses.
And he certainly didn’t have to spend every waking moment with her.
Smith was conflicted. On the one hand, he was so fucking proud of Kenna for verbalizing her discomfort and telling him how she felt about their little camping trip. On the other, he hated that it had taken her three days to summon up the guts to do so.
Just when it felt like they were making progress, they took two steps back.
Sure, she’d refrained from telling him out of a reluctance to disappoint him, but he hated that her first choice was always to withhold herself.
And yes, he recognized that in not discussing his feelings on the matter with her, he was repeating the same pattern of behavior, but he needed a goddamned minute to process and figure out how much he should simply let slide.
Because progress was progress and expecting more from Kenna at this point would be tantamount to rushing her.
After the mistakes he’d made during their marriage, he’d promised himself that he would no longer burden her with the weight of his expectations.
For whatever the fuck this thing was to work between them, she needed to figure shit out in her own time.
He scrubbed a hand over his face.
They’d been with each other every day since Saturday. After four days of constant companionship, they both needed a break. And since this non-relationship, unspecified thing came with zero rules, they didn’t have to check in with each other daily.
Just last week they’d been separated, in the process of divorcing. They needed to figure out if what was simmering between them now was just lingering sexual chemistry or something deeper.
It was very easy to mistake sex for emotional connection. Perhaps that had been their fatal error since the very beginning. Assuming that the intense sexual chemistry between them had emotional heft.
He picked up his phone, ready to message her. Tell her he wouldn’t be coming around later, or even tomorrow…and then hesitated.
Couples checked in with each other.
Smith and Kenny weren’t a couple.
But surely letting her know not to expect him was common courtesy?
He checked the time. It was after nine. She wouldn’t be expecting him this late anyway. And sending a message to confirm what she already must know seemed a little…desperate? Attention-seeking?
He swallowed thickly and deliberately put the phone on silent and set it aside, determined not to look at it and not to think of her for the rest of the evening.
When he wandered into his bedroom, he groaned. The sound was long and low.
They’d simply packed and left on Monday. His bed was still unmade, the T-shirt she’d worn still carelessly tossed over a pillow.
Her scent was everywhere. The fucking sheets still smelled of sex.
Motherfucker.
So much for not thinking of her for the rest of the night. He needed to change the bedding. But the task suddenly seemed unbearably overwhelming.
He padded back to the living room, grabbed a beer from the fridge, and sat on the sofa for another hour before eventually falling asleep where he sat.
Thursday
Hi. Scheduling update. Heading to MJ’s for brunch at 10.
Smith
Okay. Enjoy
Hey, having drinks at Ralphie’s with Daff and Spencer at 8 pm.
Unread
Friday
Update. MJ’s at ten.
Unread
Going to MJ’s with Charity and Miles. Live band tonight. Should be good. 7 pm.
Unread
Kenny stared at the last two messages she’d sent Smith and sighed. She wasn’t sure where he was hiding in this tiny town, but thanks to her updates, he knew exactly how to avoid running into her.
Smith had been a ghost these last couple of days. Not even Tina and Harris had seen him.
Confused and hurt, Kenny had attempted to maintain contact by keeping up her end of the bargain, but where before the schedule updates had served as an excuse for him to see her, he was now using it in the way it had been intended.
Kenny was leaving tomorrow. Her father’s birthday was on Monday and she needed to be at home to finalize all the prep.
She hadn’t yet informed Smith that she was leaving, hoping she’d be able to tell him in person.
But he was being so elusive, it looked like she would have to give him that news via text.
While getting ready for her night out, she kept checking her messages, but her last three messages to Smith remained unread.
Where was he?
She checked his status and he hadn’t been online since yesterday at ten a.m.
She gnawed on her thumbnail as she stared at that bit of information, debating if she should talk to Tina about it, but she didn’t want to worry the other woman unnecessarily.
She wondered if he’d perhaps tried to contact her through a different app or method and began to check all her accounts methodically.
It was when she got to her emails that everything in her froze into a solid lump of dread.
The email, entitled Divorce Agreement had been sent at three fifty-two that afternoon. About an hour ago.
She clicked on it and the brief email from her attorney apologized for the delay in proceedings, citing illness as an excuse. He then explained that he’d tried to call at three-thirty without success.
Kenny had been on a call with a catering service about the birthday dinner at that time.
Her attorney, Mr. Bloom, went on to state that he thought that the terms were fair and that all they needed to proceed was for her to initial and sign the attached document.
She stared at the attachment for long while.