Chapter 18
18
She didn’t listen.
I only agreed to go to bed with Kennedy if we stuck to our sides. I even lingered in the living room after her shower, going and taking my time to do her laundry. By the time I’d run the dryer, smoked a cigarette out back, and took my own shower after cleaning the kitchen, she was still up. As tired as she was, Kennedy waited for me to come to bed.
She greeted me with a tired smile from behind my copy of Night Changes . The little thief was in one of my white T-shirts—a fair compromise because I wasn’t strong enough to go to bed beside her naked body.
I got in on my side and laid back, exhausted. Before long, I was asleep.
At some point, in the middle of the night, I woke up to her body against mine, and one of her legs was tangled around one of mine.
She didn’t listen.
But I wasn’t complaining.
When I woke up again in the morning, I got up to brush my teeth and wash my face. I wasn’t due at the garage until noon, so sleeping in a little longer was my initial plan. Until Kennedy.
She was up when I came back to bed. She’d used the half bath out in the hall, and as I went to get back under my comforter, she slipped by to no doubt brush her teeth.
Closing my eyes, I prepared to get a little moment of sleep.
“Hey.”
She was back in the room now, her soft voice intruding in on my sleep.
“Hmm?” I didn’t bother opening my eyes, sometimes looking at her was too much. Those pure eyes of hers. The shyness that took over, revealing how inexperienced she was. The way she seemed to trust me completely.
“What time do you gotta go in to work?” she asked.
“Noon.”
“Ah.” Soon, I felt her on the bed, standing. “So we got a little time.”
My eyes opened and found her standing between my legs, grinning down at me. My shirt hung like a dress on her. She was the tallest woman I’d ever messed around with, and I loved the sight of her bare legs.
Reaching out, I ran my hands up her calves and pulled her down to me. She caught herself before she could fall. Her hands shot out and landed on either side of my head. She was in my face, giggling, and my eyes soaked in her mouth, her plump lips. She came down and straddled me and I got lost in her eyes. In her attention.
“Can we…have a little fun before you go in?” she asked in a shy voice.
I liked her shy side.
“Fun you say?” I played dumb.
Kennedy nodded, licking her lips and slowly sliding down my body. Before I could question what she was up to, I got the idea loud and clear when her fingers curled around the waistband of my sweats and tugged. I wasn’t wearing anything underneath, giving her complete access to me. One touch and she lit the flame.
She took me into her hand, staring at me with wonder and want. Her hungry eyes caused me to become even harder. Hard, because of what she was about to do. Hard, because she’d said she didn’t like giving head, but it was clear, she liked giving me head. Hard, because in this moment, she was mine and I was all hers.
She took me into her mouth and my head hit the pillow as I released a groan. Fuck.
This act wasn’t her thing, but she sure as hell knew what she was doing. She had my head spinning when she licked it slow. I felt my toes curling as she took me in deeper.
“Teach me how to make breakfast like you like?” she suddenly asked me.
Honestly, she could ask for the world and while my dick was in her hand, I’d give it to her.
“Yes,” I let out.
She was back at it, and I felt my heart racing at what was building up inside me.
“Stop,” I managed to get out.
She didn’t listen, instead, she kissed a path along my shaft before popping me back in her mouth.
“Kenne— Fuck!”
She’d bitten me.
I sat up and found her perking a brow, daring me to say something.
“ I’m in control, Keith,” she let it be known.
This side of her, all assertive and dominating, was enough to finish me off.
“It’s like that?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s like that,” she shot back as she soon sat up on her haunches and pulled my shirt off.
Entranced by her attitude and body, I laid back, letting her win.
“Bet you’re happy you’re not kissing me after that, huh?” Kennedy taunted as she wiped at her mouth.
Some guys I knew weren’t into it after the act. “I can be nasty.”
“Yeah?”
Hell yeah, but not with her.
I fumbled as I reached out beside me, going and pulling open my nightstand drawer for a condom. Lost in a lust-filled haze or not, I wasn’t a dummy.
Kennedy wasn’t experienced enough to put it on for me, so I tore it open and managed to loosen up and smile a little as she watched the process of me putting it on. Her eager eyes and curiosity were adorable.
But then it was back to business. She knew what I wanted, and even if she kept with her bossy persona, she was a little hesitant as she climbed on top of me. When I met her, I considered her a snobby little uptight brat, but the more I got to know her, the more I saw her willing to try new things and learn, the more I was elated to see I was wrong about her. A woman’s experience in life, or in the bedroom, didn’t too much matter to me, as long as she was willing to try.
“Oh.” She whined and shook as she sank down on me and I began to fill her.
I inhaled sharply, trying to maintain my sanity because fuck this felt good.
Kennedy let out a small cry when she was completely on me. Her nails dug into my shoulders as she bit into her lip. She took her time finding her groove as she began to roll her hips in small circles. She wasn’t confident on top. I could tell as she let down her walls and gazed down at me for confirmation. With my eyes on hers, I nodded, letting her know this felt right, good, amazing.
“I want it slow,” she breathed out.
Slow .
I loved it slow and sensual, but with her it would be torture. I put up no fight, though, as I held on to her waist and accepted her pace.
“Oh Keith.” She moaned as she bounced on me, eliciting a groan from me.
Kennedy threw her head back, her diamond earrings glistening in the morning light, her breasts jiggling with the movement, and her svelte middle swaying as she rocked some more. I couldn’t think of a better view.
Before long, I sat up, holding her closer, needing her.
Kennedy leaned down, trailing her tongue over the Patience tattoo on my left shoulder blade before planting a kiss on it. She went and did the same to my Progress tattoo on my right side. She kissed my chest, nipping my skin with her teeth, all the while she riding me slow.
My hands danced up and down her spine, mesmerized by her soft, smooth skin. I took her right breast into my mouth, tugging on her nipple, teasing her.
She cradled my head in her hands as she began to speed up her strides.
That’s what I need .
Kennedy’s moans and cries filled my bedroom walls, challenging the morning birds outside. Skin against skin, her eyes peering down into mine, a slow and steady rhythm overtaking us, nothing else mattered.
“Was I any good?” Kennedy’s voice greeted my ear as we winded down. She was resting on top of me. Her tone was partly teasing, but mostly genuine.
I ran my hand down her back. “You were perfect.”
“Can we have a cigarette?” she asked me next.
I was trying to quit. I wouldn’t be responsible for her picking up the bad habit, no matter how much I craved a fix right then. “No.”
Kennedy huffed and rolled off me, leaving me cold. “I know you have a stash hidden somewhere.”
I heard her pull open my nightstand drawer on the other side of my bed. Soon, she gasped, jumping back.
Her head whipped around, facing me. “You have a gun?”
Going and leaning over her, I shut the drawer. “Curiosity killed the cat, Kenny.” I went and laid back down. “A couple of summers ago, shit was getting tense around here. There were a lot of break-ins happening. You can never be too careful.”
Kennedy calmed down a little as she came and laid against me. “I remember Jadyn mentioning that. Have…have you ever used it?”
I shook my head. “A few times at the gun range, but never on a person. Hoping I never have to.”
“Me neither,” Kennedy said.
She lived in Hampton Hills, where everyone had gated estates and security on the premises. Life for her was different, simple.
“Guess you won’t be movin’ to the Heights any time soon,” I said, joking as I stroked her cheek.
Kennedy rested her chin on my chest, staring over at me. “If I didn’t love my penthouse so much, I wouldn’t mind being roommates with Jay.”
Kennedy living in Bedford Heights, that I would’ve liked to see.
We lay there, naked, her against me, talking about nothing for a little while before we got up to shower and get dressed for the day. There was just enough time for a quick tutorial on breakfast before I had to go in.
“What do you usually get for breakfast at the hotel?” I asked as I raided my fridge for ideas.
“Avocado toast, eggs, and sometimes oatmeal, other times meatless sausage,” Kennedy answered as she stood beside the fridge back in that T-shirt of mine. One rule I was considering adding to our arrangement? If she spent the night, she had to wear my T-shirts. She looked better in them than I did.
“I gotta get into avocados more,” I said as I grabbed a carton of eggs and a stick of butter.
“And fruit,” she noted as she looked around and came up empty on fruit in my home.
I scratched along my neck as I went over to the counter. “Maybe I’ll grab some from the store tomorrow or something.”
A ping went off in my pocket, alerting me to a text message. A look at the clock on my microwave found that I wasn’t running late for work, so I doubted it was Uncle Rod.
I pulled my phone from my pocket to see that Savon had texted me.
Savon: This weekend we linkin up with Kai n Gav, NO staying in
I didn’t miss the lack of asking, but I didn’t put up a fight as I texted him back that I was down. Makai and Gavin were old friends of ours from around the way. Makai was now married, and I’d hardly seen him before I went ghost.
“Your boss want you in early or something?” Kennedy wondered as she watched me text Savon back.
“Nah, that was my boy Savon. I’ve been summoned out this weekend.” I looked up from my phone. “You got any plans?”
At once she shrank and my back stiffened. “I have a hot date with my fiancé.”
I shouldn’t have asked. I didn’t even know this guy and I wanted to beat his ass. “What’s this guy like?”
Kennedy pursed her lips. “Cain is…cold. Clinical. Emotionless. He just gives me the heebie-jeebies.”
“Grotesque?” That would also explain his needing to force a marriage on a woman.
Kennedy was quick to shake her head. “He’s attractive, but… He’s just so dark.” She shivered, doing her best to let it all go, I could tell. “So, anyway, what are you guys doing this weekend since you’ve been summoned?”
She had this way of changing the subject that I didn’t like, but I didn’t push. “A bar. Or more than likely, a strip club, it’s where we do all our male bonding.”
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Strip club, huh?”
The green was hard to miss on her skin. Possessive . She wasn’t the type of woman cool with her man going to a strip club. Interesting. “Just something to do.” I gave a lazy shrug as I grabbed a pan from under my stove. “Maybe you could hire someone to seduce your boy at his bachelor party.”
She frowned. “He won’t cheat on me. I don’t know him that well, but I can tell he’s a man of his word.”
A faithful semi-abusive asshole? Huh.
I went about gathering items to make for our breakfast. Eggs, grits, toast, and some bacon for me.
“What’s grits like?” Kennedy wanted to know.
“It’s a Southern thing. My grandmother spent some time in the South. They’re really good, I promise. Some people eat them with shrimp even,” I said. “I like mine with butter, a little sugar, and shredded cheese.”
“Okay,” Kennedy said. “And your eggs?”
“I only really need salt and pepper for that,” I admitted.
“Ah, you’re one of those,” Kennedy teased, earning a slap to her ass. She loved it, I could tell as she grinned and poked her ass out a little for more.
My mother seasoned her eggs more than I did, but some things for me were just fine with salt and pepper. Grits being another one.
I heated the stove and showed Kennedy how I liked my eggs, mostly over easy. How I liked to make bacon, sometimes in the oven, but the air fryer was quicker. And how to make a serving of grits.
Kennedy was like a sponge, soaking up my every word, even stepping in when it was time to flip the eggs. Whenever I was at the stove, she was close by. Even more, she had to touch me.
Her arms were around me, her cheek on my back, and it all felt so homey and right.
I stepped away to put space between us, only she followed.
Kennedy would be the death of me.
She was extra clingy, lingering on me like a second skin. And I didn’t mind it as I covered where her arms locked with my hand.
“I should make you lunch,” Kennedy said after we’d eaten breakfast.
I was at the sink, washing dishes. “No.”
“Oh come on, it’s the least I can do,” Kennedy insisted. She was wiping down the table and focusing on the task.
A brewing headache ticked in my temple. I paused what I was doing, going and looking at her head-on. “We should talk.”
Kennedy stopped cleaning and faced me. “Okay.”
I shook my head. This had to be said. I had to put me first. I was the only one being burned in the end. “You said you wouldn’t love me, but I never said I wouldn’t love you. Don’t leave your mark on me, it’s not fair,” I told her. Being vulnerable and honest was the only way to get my point across. “Staying the night, cuddling, making me lunch for work—it’s too much.”
“Should I go?” Her voice was small, and it crushed something in my chest.
“Fuck. No, just…try not to be too cute, okay?” I loosened up, tossing her a smile.
Kennedy padded over to me, her worried eyes looking up into mine. “I can’t help but hug you. You feel good, Keith. I wish…I wish I could’ve met you sooner, to give you a fair shot. To not burden you by stringing you along.”
But she hadn’t met me sooner. She’d met me on the night she was running away from her fiancé and her engagement party. Oddly, Eden came to mind. She and her love of fairy tales. If this thing with Kennedy was written down, she’d be the princess and I’d be some guy in the background. Star-crossed was what they were teaching us before I’d dropped out.
Pessimism was hard to shake, but as I looked on at Kennedy, knowing and seeing that she meant her words, I allowed that dreamer’s spirit to manifest some more. Who knew what the future could bring if fate existed.
I finished cleaning my kitchen and grabbed Kennedy’s clothes from the dryer. She got dressed and upon seeing that it was chilly out that morning as we stepped out on the front step, I immediately came back inside and found a baby blue hoodie of mine in my closet and gave it to her. She removed that silly hat and pulled it on, smiling as she smelled my scent on the material.
And then, because she was still a brat, she came close, lulling her head back to gape up at me with a corny smile. “Goodbye, Keith.”
Despite myself, I felt a corner of my mouth curl up. She thought she was slick. To get her back, quickly, I leaned down and caught her off guard as I gave her a fast peck on the lips. It hadn’t been a second, but it was enough to send a jolt of electricity through my veins.
Kennedy’s eyes widen. She’d felt it too.
“?’Bye, Kenny,” I said as I stepped back, needing her to leave first.
Her fingers brushed her lips. “?’Bye, Keith.”
She put her hat back on and went over to her Lexus. There was no missing the daze in her eyes as she got in behind the wheel. She shook it off, waving to me before she started up her car and backed out.
As her car disappeared down the street, I went over to my truck and got in. I could still feel her, smell her, and hear her as I drove for the garage. Images of her in my sheets, smiling over at me, reaching out for me, crossed my mind as I clocked in.
I had it bad and I already missed her.