She shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe I should find out,” she threatens.
I gulp down the giant knot in my throat. I forgot about those videos. I haven’t done one in a while, but they never seem to leave TikTok. People respond to them, comment on them, share them, and duet them all the time. I swear I created the account to help Coach after his divorce. How was I supposed to know the whole #SilverFoxTok thing would go viral? There are an awful lot of Daddy videos of Coach Jeffries out there. He would be pissed if he found out.
I don’t respond as we slide into the booth and order drinks, hoping they quickly move on to a new topic of conversation.
They do, and for two solid hours, everyone has a good time. Everyone except me. Kennedy doesn’t even glance my way. It’s as if the day before she left didn’t happen. It’s as if we’re not married. It’s as if we’re not getting closer.
At some point, my hurt morphs into anger. How dare she treat me like this.
Presley and Layla are doing their usual bantering thing. At some point, he announces, “Let me explain marriage in a nutshell. Your wife can spend four hours getting ready whileyou sit there waiting, but if your shoes aren’t on when she’s ready to go, you’re the problem.”
I shrug while my eyes meet Kennedy. “Maybe marriage isn’t for everyone. Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?”
The girls all moan in annoyance, but Kennedy fires right back, “Why buy the whole pig when you can get the itty-bitty sausage for free?”
She holds her thumb and index finger less than an inch apart to emphasize her point, and the ladies all laugh with her.
Itty-bitty sausage? She knows that’s not true.
I’ve had enough of this ice queen treatment. I pull out my phone and text her.
Me: Can we talk?
I see her react when her phone pings. She reads it and then just shakes her head and places the phone back in her purse.
She’s ignoring me. Why?
I’ve spent most of the evening managing Vance and his raging hard-on for Sulley. God, he’s obvious. He needs to tone it down. She’s barely paying attention to him, but he’s practically burning a hole through her.
After a while, I stop listening to him, unable to take my eyes off Kennedy. Why is she acting like this? What did I do wrong?
Vance and Sulley eventually disappear at the exact same time. Like that’s not suspicious. They’re probably off fucking in the stairwell. Lucky him.
I look at Kennedy and loudly announce, “I got you a new agent, like you asked me to do.”
Her eyes widen.
Palmer appears confused. “Why would you ask Daylen for help with a new agent?”
Kennedy’s face turns murderous at me. “Oh…umm…I was talking about it with my father, and Daylen overheard us. He offered to do some legwork while I was gone because he has a few connections.” Her mouth tightens. “Why don’t we go somewhere and chat about this privately, Daylen? Somewhere quieter.”
Finally.
I nod. “Yes, let’s go have a private chat.”
We both stand and excuse ourselves. She’s walking briskly like she’s on a mission. I almost have trouble keeping up. I may have poked the bear a little too hard, but I need to be alone with her. I itch to touch her.
We keep going until we find ourselves in a private bathroom stall. When we walk inside, she locks the door behind me in a manner that suggests I’m in big fucking trouble.
“Why would you say that in front of them?” she immediately spits in anger.
“What?” I ask innocently, even though it was anything but. “You asked me to find you an agent.”
Her hands ball into fists at her side. “There’s no good reason for me to have asked you. It was private. You did it to get a rise out of me. Grow up.”
My shoulders fall. “I’m sorry. You’re right. You were ignoring me, and I wanted to get your attention.” I run my fingers through my nicely styled hair. “I…I missed you. And you haven’t called since you got back. I wanted to pick you up from the airport. I wanted to know how your two weeks went. I don’t understand why you’re ghosting me. What did I do wrong?”
Her face softens a bit. “I’m sorry, Daylen. You’ve done nothing wrong. The past two weeks gave me some time to consider things. I think us sleeping together again was a mistake.”
