CHAPTER 29
Kennedy
“Well, fuck,” she said, staring down at her phone.
Jessie had sent her and Cameron both a link to the first social post, giving them ten minutes to veto anything in the ad for the YouTube video, but neither of them had replied to her text.
Kennedy didn’t know why Cameron hadn’t said anything, but Kennedy had been eating her room-service lunch in the living room portion of her suite, and she had purposefully left her phone in the bedroom because she’d wanted to avoid it and everything else in the world.
Now, the video was posted, and she’d been tagged in the post along with Cameron.
They hadn’t talked about what to do about this, and she’d even forgotten all about the social media aspect of it, thinking they had at least another week before Jessie would reach out about posting the video anywhere, which would’ve given them time to tell her that they wanted to call the whole thing off, because airing what was essentially a whole fake ad for their relationship that was now over would not only be in bad taste but would backfire against them most assuredly.
Kennedy was curious, though, so she clicked into the quick thirty-second ad for the much longer video that was supposed to air later.
It showed them arriving, one car after the other.
Jessie had either hired a great editor or had edited this herself because she’d managed to hide the awkwardness that they’d all been experiencing, and she had done it with quick cuts.
One two-second clip was of Cameron and Kennedy sitting next to each other.
Another one was of River and Lacey doing the same thing.
Then, there was a series of short clips of them at their meals, showing the four of them together, followed by some shots of Kennedy and River on the beach at night.
The cameras must have gotten a few shots of them sitting outside, but because it was so dark and they were far away, too, it would be hard for anyone to know that that wasn’t Cameron at all, but River instead.
Then, there was a quick clip of Cameron swimming with Lacey and another of Kennedy in the kitchen with River.
That was when she pressed pause. River was laughing.
It was right after they had put the fudge they’d made in the pan.
Kennedy was looking at River, and no one would likely press pause in this same moment to see this, but Kennedy had, and she knew.
She’d been staring at River because River made her feel like anything was possible.
That was ridiculous, of course, and she knew that, but that was how she had felt all the same.
She let the video finish playing and sighed at the final few seconds of them all getting in their cars.
Jessie had done the best she could, but it was obvious to Kennedy that she and Cameron were both sad to go.
So were River and Lacey. Kennedy knew why, and she needed to act quickly, so she typed a message.
Kennedy Gannon: Well, ten minutes wasn’t exactly a lot of notice, so now that ad is out there. The video is going to air soon, too. We need to tell Jessie and Zane about us, Cam. Maybe we can stop the YouTube thing or have her re-cut it or something. I don’t know what to do here. Any ideas?
She hit send on the first text she’d sent Cameron since telling her that she’d arrived at the hotel, which was odd for her because they used to text all the time when they were together.
She waited for Cameron to reply, but when, several minutes later, she’d received nothing, Kennedy walked out to the balcony and took in the view.
She didn’t know how long she would stay here but knew it couldn’t be for much longer.
She was used to staying in hotels for movie shoots, so it wasn’t that.
She’d just chosen Anaheim and not a nice hotel in LA for a reason.
River’s candy shop was only a few miles away from the hotel, which meant that River was only a few miles away from her.
Kennedy had wanted to talk to her right away.
That had been her intention. Arriving at the hotel Friday night, she’d taken her phone out at least a dozen times to text her, to tell River that she and Cameron had broken up, and to see if she wanted to go out, but she couldn’t.
Something had stopped her every single time, and she still wasn’t sure exactly what it had been.
After all, she’d given herself permission to move on.
She knew she liked River. Even Cameron, of all people, was supportive, but Kennedy still hadn’t reached out to River.
She also hadn’t checked out of this hotel and returned to the house or gone to another hotel in LA, much closer to where everything in her life was currently going on without her.
When she heard her phone go off with a notification, she sighed and walked back inside, curious to see if Cameron had any ideas on how to break the news to their publicist and agent, both of whom might actually try to kill them for putting them through all of this, only to then break up.
It wasn’t Cameron, though. It also wasn’t a text.
“Hello?” she asked when she answered the call.
“Hey. Is this okay?” River asked.
Kennedy smiled at the sound of her voice and replied, “You calling me? Yeah, it’s okay.”
“I thought about texting, but I don’t know… I figured maybe a phone call was better.”
Kennedy sat down on the relatively comfortable sofa and asked, “Why?”
“Um… Well, Lacey told me about you and Cameron.”
“I see. So, you’re calling to do what, exactly? Check on me?”
“Sort of,” River said. “Did Cameron tell you about me and Lacey?”
“I haven’t talked to Cam since I got here.” She leaned forward, suddenly very interested in where this conversation was going. “What about you and Lacey?”
“We broke up. I guess it happened the same night you and Cameron did. She texted Lacey to tell her, and I showed up for our date that obviously got canceled because we’re not together anymore.”
“I’m sorry, River.”
“I’m sorry about you and Cameron.”
“You know, I’m not. It was the right thing to do for both of us, and we’re going to be friends. I need a little time away from her right now, but I think we’ll be okay. What about you and Lacey?”
“Friends. We both think that’s what we were supposed to be. She’s letting me keep her favorite shirt, and I’m letting her have my favorite hoodie. It’s the lesbian way.”
Kennedy laughed and said, “I should see what Cam will let me keep. She’ll probably want something of mine, too, right?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Are you doing okay?” Kennedy asked.
“Yeah, I’m good. Cal, my best friend and business partner, took me out for a drink last night, and I got a lot of what I needed to process out, which helped.
I don’t blame Lacey or me for anything, really.
We’re just not meant to be, and the longer we would’ve tried to pretend that we were, the worse we would’ve gotten hurt. ”
“I think it’s the same with Cam and me,” she confessed and leaned back on the couch.
“I’m in this hotel, and I know I need to go back to the house.
I’m going to run out of stuff here eventually, and I love that house, you know?
Like, it’s my dream home. I know it’s not really in Cam’s taste, but I also don’t want to kick her out of it, either. ”
“Aren’t you both loaded? Can’t she buy her own?”
“She has one. She rents it out. It’s an investment thing, and it’s not in California, so she’d have to find something in LA, or I guess somewhere else, if she wants.”
“She might move? That would suck for Lace.”
“Oh. Are they…”
“I don’t know,” River said. “I haven’t asked Lacey for an update. Seems like a weird thing for an ex to request. But we both know they like each other, so it’s possible they’ll start dating soon, and if Cameron’s going to move–”
“I doubt Cam is thinking about leaving LA, River. I was thinking out loud.”
“Right,” River said. “What about you? Are you planning to leave LA?”
“Me? No, I love it here. I basically grew up here. I’ve got a place in New York that I bought before Cam and I met, but I’m pretty much never there. If I wanted to run away, I guess I could go there and disappear for a while.”
“Don’t,” River said softly.
“Don’t go to New York?”
“Don’t disappear for a while,” River said. “I don’t want you to disappear.”
Kennedy smiled and said, “Okay. Well, things are about to get very interesting for me. Cam and I have to tell Jessie that we broke up, and the stupid YouTube thing is a problem now. Once the news breaks, people won’t stop following us or assuming one of us cheated or bringing up the after-party fight again and assuming that we actually broke up then or something.
I really have no idea what they’ll make up.
I just know that I might need to disappear for a while to avoid some of it. ”
“Can you disappear with someone, or do you have to go alone?”
“River…”
“I’m not saying that I can actually disappear with you, because I can’t. I own a business here, and it might get busy with this whole video thing, but, um… Well, you probably know what I meant, Kennedy.”
“River, we can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because Cam and I just broke up, you and Lacey did, too, and everything else I just said to you.”
“I don’t care about that other stuff. I can deal with it. I’m asking for a date, Kennedy. Lacey and I are going to be fine. We broke up a long time ago. We just made it official on Friday. And you and Cam–”
“It’s the same for us. But, River, I really like you, and if we did this, I’d want it to be right. I don’t know that it could be right now.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know how this whole breakup is going to play out in the press and if I’m getting a job this year or not.
I might really want to hide out on a beach somewhere or in my New York place.
There’s so much up in the air, and I’m really, really bad when things are gray. I’m much better with black and white.”
“Me too.” River laughed softly. “So, I get it. If you don’t want to, that’s fine.
Maybe I should’ve left you alone or asked in a few weeks or months, but I…
I miss you, Kennedy. Is that weird to say?
I didn’t want to leave that day, and I was pretty sad about it the whole ride home, which is interesting because I didn’t want to go in the first place.
Even if nothing happens with you and me, I’m still really glad I went.
Maybe, I don’t know, you can come to the shop sometime.
You mentioned it before. It could be fun therapy for you.
I can teach you how to make something while we hang out in the back if you’re worried about being recognized or something, and I won’t ask you out again, I promise.
It would be great to just see you, maybe hang out, and exchange a few playlists. ”
Kennedy smiled. Then, she swallowed. She really, really wanted to say yes to River.
She wanted to go on a date with her. She wanted River to kiss her at the end of the night or even come inside and take things further because River was gorgeous, and Kennedy had wanted her since she’d first seen River in that picture if she was finally going to be honest with herself.
“I can stop by the shop,” she said.
“When?”