Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
KENNEDY
I LIKED KISSING MY FAKE BOYFRIEND…A LOT.
I was tempted to tell Brad about the shit Matt pulled with one of the most important employee events of the year.
But I didn’t.
Because I knew this was exactly what Matt wanted.
He was taking every opportunity to make me look bad.
I had no idea what I’d done to get on his bad side, but I was so fucking over it.
It was obvious he wanted the job as badly as I did, and he was playing dirty tricks to get it.
But I was a firm believer in karma. In due time, his was going to arrive.
“Kenny.” Henry’s voice brought me out of my racing thoughts. He crouched in front of me with a concerned look on his face. “You okay?”
“I need this day to be over. I’m exhausted.” The words slipped out of me easily. I almost wanted to laugh at how easy it had become to talk to him.
He reached for one of my curls, wrapping it around one of his fingers and twirling it. It always messed up my hair when he did it, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him. I kind of liked it.
“I think you’re going to be very happy with what the guys and I managed to put together.” He stood to his full height, interlacing my hand with his. The touch made my body warm and instantly relax.
The plexiglass walls were taken down, and we had gathered all of the couches from our offices to make a comfortable sitting area for the kids with board games and a TV in case they got tired of skating.
This event was one of my favorites to plan.
It was always this huge, wild day, and the good kind of crazy.
The tables Val and I had found to put the snacks on were covered with tablecloths of the team’s colors.
An assortment of candies was organized by kind—chocolates, sours, gummies.
There were a lot of thermoses with hot chocolate inside, with candy canes and marshmallows of all sorts of colors next to them, as well as a few portable coolers with the Strikers logo filled with all kinds of sodas, juices, and water.
“You did this all in under an hour?” I asked, baffled.
He laughed. “Some of the guys went with me. It kind of works, doesn’t it?
” His phone pinged with a text, and he quickly glanced at it.
“Oh, and I ordered pizza, too. I know we usually have one of the concessions open in case people want to order food, but I assumed that was out of the question with the manager being off and all.” He typed a quick text back then looked at me with a smile. “What do you think?”
Breathing was becoming difficult as I took everything in. My stomach fluttered with an army of butterflies, and my chest was tight, but in a good way. Like I had so much happiness inside me, it was hard to contain.
I stood on the tips of my toes and wrapped my arms around his neck in a tight hug.
He buried his nose in my hair and inhaled deeply as he placed his arms around my waist, hugging me just as tightly.
My heart wanted to take flight at the realization that, once again, Henry Anderson took care of me without an ounce of hesitancy.
I pulled back to meet his eyes. “Thank you.”
He offered me a kind smile. “No need to thank me.”
My watery eyes made my vision blurry, and I took a step back with a sniff. “This is so stupid, I don’t know why I’m crying.”
He brushed his thumb across my cheek to wipe off one of my tears. “It’s not stupid. You work really hard. I don’t know why the hell Matt decided to do what he did, but I got you. Always. You say the word, and I’ll be there.”
“I mean, not always—”
“Always, Kenny. I mean it.”
I gnawed my bottom lip with a simple nod. Too many emotions were swimming through my head and my heart. I didn’t know what to make of them anymore.
So…I didn’t. Once again, I let go of the uncertainty of it all to live in the moment. I took his act of kindness and locked it in a box I could always go back to and remember.
A few hours later, loud music played on the speakers of the rink, and laughter echoed throughout. Everyone was having a good time, and the energy around the arena was good and lively.
Matt showed up at some point with his wife and two kids, and it was hard for him to conceal his shocked face when he found the event was moving smoothly.
That was enough for me to let the situation go. His face alone was worth a million bucks.
The pizzas were a big hit, and some of the older kids were playing board games and playing video games on the TV—I didn’t know who had the genius idea to bring their PS5, but I was grateful—while the younger kids were skating their lives away with their endless amount of energy.
I was re-stocking the cups and popcorn bowls when Henry popped up out of nowhere. “Enough work. I have a surprise for you.”
“I don’t have time for a break,” I whined as he gently gripped my shoulders and forced me to sit on one of the benches.
“Sure you do,” he countered, waving his hand around. “Everyone is fine. The kids have had way too many snacks, they could use a break from them.” He kneeled in front of me and grabbed a box I hadn’t noticed was on the floor. “I got you something.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and grabbed the square box. When I opened it, my eyes landed on a pair of white, shiny, brand-new figure skates. My heart tugged at my chest with a sense of joy when I noticed the inside of them were pink, and the laces were the same color.
They were fucking perfect, and no one had ever given me such a thoughtful gift.
“What—Why?” A laugh bubbled out of me.
“I told you I wanted to skate with you today. And this is so much better than the rentals, I promise.” He quickly took my shoes off and put the skates on.
His fingers easily laced them, and in less than five minutes, he was done.
“I hope I got the size right. I had to take a peek into one of the shoes you left in the shoe bin at home to figure it out.” He chuckled.
“Can you stand and try to move your ankles for me?”
I stood and wobbled, but Henry was quick to stand and grip my waist to keep me in place. I tried moving my ankles, but it was hard. “I can’t.”
He nodded. “That’s good. They should feel tight, but not too tight.”
I stared at them, loving the way the pink laces gave them the cutest pop of color. “Why are the laces a different color? Don’t they usually come in white?”
“I changed them.”
“Why?”
His smile was knowing. “Because I know pink is your favorite color.”
My bottom lip wobbled as I lifted my gaze to his. The blues of his orbs were a lighter shade, and I couldn’t lie—I was mesmerized. “I never told you that,” I whispered.
He took a deliberate gulp. “You didn’t need to. I notice you, Kenny. I always do.”
It wasn’t often I was at a loss for words. But there was something about Henry when he gave me these glimpses of sincerity that always got the best of me.
I realized then he was right. There were these little things he did that were easy to miss.
I didn’t know why he did them. The sadistic part of me was telling me he was only acting.
Playing the perfect fake boyfriend role.
But my heart was all but pounding in my chest painfully like a string pulled too tight.
It was telling me to open my eyes and stop being so naive.
“You got this, Kenny!” Hayes shouted.
“Yo, Anderson, let her go, man. She’s never going to learn if you don’t give her space,” Parker said.
“Parker’s right, Anderson,” Morgan mumbled.
“Let him be! I think it’s romantic. It’s one of my favorite microtropes,” Val commented.
“Microtropes?” Hayes asked.
“Like the one from romance books,” Val said.
“You think everything is romantic,” Owens retorted dryly.
“Sue me for believing in love,” Val retorted.
“It’s very book boyfriend material,” Donovan added.
“When the hell did this become a show? You all need to go mind your business,” I shouted over my shoulder.
We had been skating for over an hour. My legs burned, but I was determined to figure it out even if it frustrated me.
Henry chuckled. “You think you’re ready to do a lap by yourself?”
“I’ve been ready, but you refuse to let me go,” I complained.
“Stop acting like you hate it.”
My face heated, because he wasn’t wrong. I liked having him near me. He was patient, kind, and sweet.
“Whatever,” I muttered.
He kept skating backward, his hands never leaving mine. “I think you’re starting to like me, and you’re mad at yourself because of it,” he stated very matter-of-factly.
I hated how easily Henry would call me out on my bullshit. It didn’t matter how right he was, I was determined to pretend I didn’t like him because it was a safe way to guard my heart.
I shot him the most unimpressed glare I could muster. “And I think you need to stop inflating your ego.”
“Accept you like me.”
“That’s never happening.”
“Do I need to get another orgasm out of you to accept it?” He wiggled his eyebrows. “All you have to do is ask nicely.”
My knees buckled at his words, and I fell forward, but he easily wrapped his arms around my waist without faltering.
“Henry Anderson,” I whisper-shouted as I looked around to make sure no one was near us. My pink puffer jacket was suddenly one too many layers, and my face felt hot. “This is a family event. Behave.”
His hand reached for a few curls and placed them behind my ear as he laughed ever so casually, like he hadn’t just sent my mind reeling. “Fuck, you look pretty when you’re flustered.”
I straightened and pushed back slightly and quickly placed my hands against the boards, because I didn’t trust myself. The last thing I wanted was to fall on my ass. “I am not flustered.”
“Tell that to your chest. You’re breathing pretty hard there.” He snickered.
I frantically waved my hand around. “It’s all this exercise you got me doing.”
He grinned. “Okay, whatever you say, baby.”
I crossed my arms. “Glad we’re on the same page.”
“Uh-huh.” His grin was still plastered all over his face as he skated closer to me and rested his hands on the nape of my neck, tilting my head up.
The simple touch made my heart jump a beat. “What are you doing?”
He leaned slightly forward. “Can I kiss you, Kenny?”
My pulse spiked. “Why?”
He swiped his tongue across his bottom lip. “Honestly?”
I licked my own in anticipation and nodded, not able to find the words. His bergamot scent was strong, and it wrapped around all my senses.
His lips brushed against mine as he rasped, “Because I really fucking want to.”
I let out a shaky, “Okay.”
His lips collided with mine with ease, and I relaxed into him. My tongue met his in a lazy, unhurried kiss, but still, every nerve in my body felt like a live wire under his touch. I buzzed with so much energy, it was hard to control.
I didn’t know or care if anyone was watching.
I had no excuses in the books, except the truth—I liked kissing my fake boyfriend…a lot.