Chapter 16 Kennedy
SIXTEEN
KENNEDY
MY FAKE BOYFRIEND WAS UNFORTUNATELY SO VERY HOT.
After the longest week of my life, I stood in front of a restaurant on my only day off to attend a lunch I wasn’t even sure I was welcome to.
My fingers fidgeted with the corners of my pink floral pull-sleeve dress as if the movement would somehow ease my sudden nerves.
I chewed my bottom lip as my eyes flicked to the restaurant doors.
The steady pulse of my heart became more erratic in my ears with every painful second.
Dread settled at the pit of my stomach, and my throat felt like I had swallowed a pound of sand.
I shook my head and gave myself an inner pep talk.
You can do this. You’ve hung out with them before. They’re your friends. Stop overthinking so much.
The dread was there to stay, but still, with a deep breath, I strode inside the restaurant.
I hated this. I hated knowing I’d grown scared of everything and everyone around me, and I especially hated having to act every second of every day.
I wished things were different. I didn’t want to get back with Joe—that was the last thing I would do—but maybe I shouldn’t have secluded myself so much. I should have reached out to Evelyn and the rest of my friends and not disappeared off the face of the Earth. Maybe I had brought this to myself.
“Hey, girl!” Evelyn’s high-pitched voice greeted me. She enveloped me in a hug, her nauseating floral scent flooding my senses.
“Evelyn, hey—” The words got lodged in my throat when my eyes landed on the table.
Everyone was there. As in, every single one of my friends and their husbands. As in, Joe with Meghan, too.
What the hell were they doing here?
I plastered on a fake smile. “I thought you said it was going to be just us girls.”
She shrugged like it was no big deal. “Yeah, we changed plans last minute. The guys wanted to have lunch with us before we went to the boutique. I thought I texted you.”
“No, you didn’t,” I said through gritted teeth.
“It’s not like it matters, right? You’re not dating anyone,” she replied innocently, though I didn’t miss the lilt of her fake tone.
This was a trap, and I’d walked right into the lion’s den. It should have angered me, but I was just so fucking tired.
“Actually,” I cleared my throat, “I am.”
Joe snorted a laugh.
I looked over Evelyn’s shoulder. “Is there something funny, Joe?”
His eyes met mine, baffled. “Wait, you’re serious? You’re dating that jock?”
My body flared with annoyance with the way he said the word jock with so much disdain and disbelief.
The need to defend Henry was almost overwhelming, because fuck if I was going to let anyone talk bad about him.
It wasn’t fair. He didn’t even know him, and just because Henry was a public figure, it didn’t give anyone the right to sputter shit out of their mouth about him.
“That jock has a name,” I snapped.
Evelyn’s eyebrows raised in genuine surprise. “So, the rumors are true?”
“Yup.” A sigh of relief wanted to escape me at the casual tone of my voice. I managed to say it without cringing, so I guess I was making some progress.
“If he’s not doing anything, he’s welcome to join us,” David commented.
Joe shot him a disbelieving glare. “What?”
“It’s Henry fucking Anderson. I’ve always been a fan of the guy,” David said.
Joe leaned back in his chair, and a malicious glint took over his face. “You know what? Yeah. Invite him. If you are dating him, he’ll show up, right?”
A rush of nerves took hold of my chest, making it hard to breathe. I didn’t understand what his end game was. We were both supposed to be moving on. But Joe loved to have the upper hand. And this was no exception.
“Right,” I replied with a visible gulp. “But this is his only day off, and I don’t want to bother him.”
What a pathetic and weak excuse, Kennedy.
“He’s such a shitty boyfriend he can’t even drop whatever he’s doing to come here?” Joe snorted a bitter laugh. “What a catch.”
A fresh dose of annoyance surged through my body, and with my jaw tight and squared shoulders, I put on my imaginary big girl panties and texted him.
Me
S.O.S.
Pretty Boy
What’s up?
Me
I would never ask this, but I kind of need you to come to Lorenzo’s…like right now. You know, the Italian restaurant? It’s right next to your house.
Pretty Boy
Yeah. I’m familiar with Lorenzo’s. But why exactly do you need me there?
Me
Long story short, I was supposed to have lunch with my girlfriends, but turns out all their significant others tagged along and she forgot to tell me.
Pretty Boy
I’m assuming Ken Doll is there?
Me
Yes.
Pretty Boy
Say less. On my way, Kenny.
I almost let out a sigh of relief at his response, but I kept myself in check as I took a seat in front of Joe and Meghan. It was just my luck that the only seat available was across from them. “He’s on his way.”
David rose from his seat. “I’ll go tell the hostess to add a chair.”
“Perfect!” Evelyn clasped her hands with a smile, but her eyes lacked any sparks. “The more the merrier.” She and Joe shared a fleeting glance that made the alarms inside my head blare, making me all shades of uncomfortable.
Was Evelyn part of whatever sick game Joe was playing? Is that why she invited me?
I tried to move past it, because realizing I was more alone than I thought felt like a thousand little needles prickling my body.
“When are you going to pick up your stuff, K?” Joe asked, making a show of draping an arm around Meghan’s shoulders.
My eyes followed the movement, and I expected to feel a pang of…something. Annoyance, maybe. Or the same useless feeling I had the first time I saw them together. But when nothing came, I smiled to myself in quiet triumph. “I’ll try to drop by later this week.”
“With your jock boyfriend?” he mocked.
“Babe,” Meghan whispered, pressing a hand on his chest. “Stop.”
I shot Meghan a grateful glance, and she pursed her lips awkwardly.
I didn’t hold anything against her. She was nice.
Was it pathetic to feel sorry for the girl? Probably. But I couldn’t help it. I doubted Joe had a sudden change of heart and started being different.
“I mean, I’m just saying. You sure moved on quickly, didn’t you?” he taunted.
I grabbed the menu and pretended to study it intently. Anything was better than sparring with him. He wanted me to engage in a battle I had no business in, nor wanted to be part of.
“And with a jock, no less,” he continued.
Or maybe it was worth it, after all.
My eye twitched as I gracefully dropped the menu on the table. My face remained enigmatic, though there was no denying the way my blood ran hot beneath my skin as I tried to keep my anger in check. “Do you think jock is supposed to be an insult?” I asked coolly. “Because it isn’t.”
He scoffed out a laugh. “Kennedy, come on. You’re a smart girl. Why are you with a hot-headed guy who up until the other day had the reputation of being a manwhore?”
The rest of our friends remained quiet, their eyes flicking like ping-pong balls between us.
Their silence spoke volumes. It was clear to me then that no one was on my side.
Joe was a charismatic guy, and people had issues standing up to him.
It was like they were all blind to his shitty behavior, just like I was.
I had never been so grateful that my foggy glasses had been lifted. Though it didn’t make me any less mad knowing how long it took me to get to that point.
“This is not the time or place to have this conversation, Joe. Please, drop it.”
“Admit you’re not dating him, and I’ll gladly drop it. I know you, Kennedy. You wouldn’t date a man like him,” he remarked casually.
As I opened my mouth to answer, a deep, rich voice beat me to it. “See, Joe, but that would be a lie.”
At the sound of Henry’s voice, my lungs expanded, and I took a breath of relief.
Never, in the three years I’d known him, did I think I’d be grateful for him and his impeccable timing.
Fake boyfriend or not, he was the only person who was in my corner.
The one who kept saving me over and over again.
Part of me warmed at the thought of why he was doing it.
Did he care about me? Is this why he was helping me?
I shut down the ridiculous thought quickly. His reputation took a hit, and he needed me. This was a mutual arrangement. He was only holding up his end of the bargain.
I hadn’t even laid my eyes on him, and my skin was buzzing with excitement knowing he was near. The closer he got, the more every cell in my body came alive.
His towering presence was strong, and when I looked up, I found his blue irises shining with silent understanding and concern.
His eyes did the same thing they had done the last time he came to my rescue—they managed to ground me.
But I chalked it up to coincidence. There couldn’t be another reason.
Because there was no way I was finding peace with the one guy I still believed I couldn’t stand.
That was a mindfuck in itself, and I was tired of feeling confused.
He took a seat, and his movements were all smooth and confident, like he’d done this hundreds of times.
And maybe he had, you know? But I expected him to at least show some nerves.
We hadn’t exactly planned this. We hadn’t even gotten a chance to get our story straight—how long we’d been dating, when everything started to shift to a romantic relationship. Nothing.
Anxiety clawed at me. This was going to be a disaster.
“Hey,” I said awkwardly, fighting the cringe that wanted to break across my face.
He was right. I was such a shitty actress. I couldn’t help it.
One of his hands found the nape of my neck. The warmth of skin meeting skin was electric and spread through my body like wildfire. I absentmindedly leaned into his touch—into him—like it was instinct.
He leaned forward, and through a barely audible whisper, he said, “Act cool.”