Chapter 9
When the wheels touched down back in Ellwood, it was late. Normally, Damien would be asleep, especially after a long ass game day plus travel, but he found himself wide awake and dreading his time coming to an end with Kenna.
He peered down at her, asleep in his arms, and he wished he could keep her like this forever. He knew she had a long day too. He hadn’t been able to see her until after The Infernos won the game, and he could tell the day had been a lot for her.
After the game, he took a quick shower, against his own policy of not showering at other arenas, because he knew they had to get right on the jet to head back home. As soon as Kenna saw him, she floated right into his arms and hadn’t left since. He didn’t want her to either.
“Better wake her crabby ass up,” Cam mumbled as he gathered his things while they taxied the runway.
“She ain’t crabby. She just had a long day,” Damien playfully defended before he pressed his lips to her forehead.
Cam squealed, causing Kenna’s eyes to pop open. “What’s wrong?” Her eyes darted around in alarm. Damien rubbed her arm soothingly.
“Nothing, friend. I just never seen you boo’d up before. I’m soaking it in,” Cam gushed as he batted his eyes at the couple.
Kenna sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes, sinking back into Damien. “Get a life,” she grumbled.
Cam looked at Damien. “See? Crabby.”
“She wouldn’t be if you hadn’t woke her up like that,” Damien pointed out before placing a kiss on her temple.
He couldn’t help himself. Since they kissed the night before, he found it extremely hard to keep his hands and lips to himself.
He wanted Kenna badly, and he hoped she would accept his invitation to stay the night at his place that night.
They were creeping into the wee hours of the morning anyway.
The only thing he wanted to do was get home and crawl into his big ass bed with Kenna.
Whatever happened after that would be up to her.
It only took a few more minutes for the plane to stop and for them to get off.
Damien carried everyone’s bags and led them toward the cars that waited for them.
He stopped at one and placed the bags on the ground before turning toward Cam and Kenna.
Instinctively, he pulled her close and leaned down so he could nuzzle close to her ear. “You tryna come home with me?”
He heard a small giggle escape her before she nodded her head. “Yeah, I can do that.”
That sounded like music to his ears. He kissed her neck before straightening up and looking at Cam. “You can take this one, my guy. We’re going to take my car.”
Cam’s eyes ballooned as he looked between the two. Finally, a sly grin appeared on his face, and he cupped his hands in front of him before throwing his head back dramatically and shouting, “Thank you, Baby Jesus! My girl is finally getting some di?—”
“Goodbye, Camden.” Kenna interrupted his impromptu prayer.
Cam immediately straightened up and cut his eyes at her. “Now you know how I feel about my government name.”
“Cam, get in the car. I’m sleepy.”
The sly grin covered his face once again. “I highly doubt you’ll be sleeping tonight.”
By now, Damien saw that Kenna’s face was beet red, even in the darkness. He held back a laugh as he pulled her closer, trying to warm her up from the cool night air.
“Bye, Cam,” Kenna finally said.
Cam waved his fingers at them before getting into the car, while Damien directed the driver on which bag to place in the trunk.
Meanwhile, the driver that stood outside of Damien’s personal car that he left at the airstrip had come to collect his and Kenna’s bags.
Damien tossed him his keys so he could put the bags in his car.
He was glad he had enough sense to have a driver meet him there because he felt too tired to drive and honestly wanted Kenna in his arms for as long as possible.
When they finally made it to the car, Damien wasted no time pulling her over to the middle seat so she could lean into him again.
“You want me up under you at all times, huh?” she asked before she yawned.
“You say it like it’s a bad thing.”
She shook her head and nestled into him. “It’s not. It’ll just take some getting used to on my end.”
“Mine too, honestly.”
“When was your last relationship?”
“Jendaya.”
Kenna sat up and looked at him. “Wait, really?”
“Yeah. After I got drafted, dating really wasn’t for me. I didn’t trust women. Jendaya was the exception because we were already best friends, which is why Skylar is here now.”
Damien’s face lit up when he thought about his daughter, and Kenna must have noticed it.
“What’s she like? Skylar?”
“Stubborn like her mama.” He chuckled. “She really got the best versions of me and Jendaya. She’s smart, spoiled, and has a big heart.
She has a hard time being away from me so much.
The older she gets, the harder it’s gotten.
I’m looking forward to spending as much time with her as possible as soon as I retire. ”
“That’s sweet. I was a daddy’s girl growing up too. It was hard for me when he moved away after…”
Damien watched her closely. The pain on her face broke his heart, but he didn’t want to shy away from it. He had a feeling people did that too often with her.
“After what, baby?” he asked, reaching his hand out and cupping her cheek.
She looked at him with so much pain in her eyes. “I had a little brother. We went to the same high school.”
Dread immediately filled him, but he didn’t want to jump to conclusions. He grabbed her hand and caressed it. “You said had ?”
She nodded once. “He was a freshman. I…” She paused for several long seconds and stared off into space as if she was reliving a moment in time.
Just when he was going to tell her she didn’t have to talk about it, she continued.
“I saw him just after he died. There was so much blood.” She wiped a tear and continued to stare off into space before she blinked and looked at Damien.
“I laid next to him.” A humorless laugh fell from her lips.
“If it wasn’t for Cam, I would have died right next to him.
Cam literally picked me up and carried me out of that school. ”
Damien had a sudden burst of love for Camden Lewis. Without him, he never would have gotten the chance to meet Kenna, and his heart ached at that thought.
Pulling her back into him, he rubbed her back and held her for several long moments. When she pulled away, she offered him a soft smile as he spoke. “I’m sorry about your brother. What was his name?”
“Rashad,” she whispered. “God, I haven’t actually said his name in a long time. Thank you for listening to me.”
“Anytime.” He was glad he went with his first mind and didn’t see the pain in her eyes and stop her from talking. How painful that must have been for all those years to not talk about it, because it made others uncomfortable. He would never create that kind of space for her.
She wiped her eyes again and then brightened slightly. “After Shad died, my parents divorced. It was hard on them, having a dead son and a daughter who was afraid of her own shadow. I was really fucked up those first few years after it happened. As you’ve witnessed a few times now, I still am.”
“Nah.” He grabbed her chin, so she looked into his eyes. “You’re not fucked up. That trauma doesn’t have to shape you, you know?”
Her face scrunched up like she was processing his words. Instead of responding to him, though, she continued with her story.
“When my parents divorced, I stayed with my mom. She remarried and is happy with her life now. My dad… he left and stays on the go. He travels constantly and hasn’t settled back down. I think the idea of a family scares him. I get it, but I miss him.”
“Are you two still close?” Damien asked, brushing her hair from her face before grabbing her hand again. He soaked all this up. He wanted to know these deep, wounded parts of her so he could understand how to love her properly.
Love . It was a word he had been scared to use with a woman in the past. It felt natural when thinking of Kenna.
She nodded. “We talk often. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen him. Ellwood is hard for him. He hates coming back home, and I don’t really leave Ellwood, so it’s been hard over the years, but he never lets me forget how much he loves me. I know he does. We all processed the trauma differently.
“It was easier for my mom to move on with her life, but she could never leave the home where my brother grew up. She’ll hold on to that piece of her past until the day she dies.
Other than that, she doesn’t harp on the past. For my dad, it was easier to forget, even though he carries a lot of guilt for leaving me and my mom.
I know it felt impossible for him to stay, though, which is why I could never be mad. ”
“And you?”
She smiled sadly. “I can’t seem to forget.
I can’t really say what’s been easier for me because all I can see is that day.
I’ve pretty much allowed it to shape my life.
I relive it in my dreams and when I’m awake.
I’ve never really grown from it. The only thing that blocks out the pain from that day is developing video games. ”
Damien’s eyebrows rose. He suddenly remembered how little he knew about Kenna’s day to day life. “No shit. Is that what you do?”
Her eyes lit up. “Best job in the world. I get to develop and play video games all day long. I’m always the employee of the month because I don’t have a life outside of my job, so I dedicate the most time out of my co-workers.”
Damien looked at her thoughtfully. “You know what my new goal is?”
“What’s that?”
“To make sure you don’t get employee of the month ever again.”
She giggled and slapped his arm. “Now, why would you wish that on me? I have a year’s long hot streak, thank you very much.”
“I’m hoping you’ll be too busy getting to know me to put in overtime at your job.”