She smiled and glanced at her father, who had been joined by her mother. “He’s worried I’m with you only because of my ambition.”
“Oh? Any truth to that?”
“Nah. I’m with you because you have the best dick I’ve ever ridden.”
Recognizing Kendra’s need to shift to humor, I let that slide. “Well, I’m with you because I see you as my partner, my equal.”
“Cheers to that.” Kendra passed me a glass of sparkling wine and clinked my glass. “Oh, fair warning, I have a tiny bit of a crush on the new rookie.”
“I swear we should have negotiated some foster parents for the kid when we called him up.”
“Well, he seems to follow Monroe around like a little lost puppy. How about him?”
“Um, I’d be afraid Ashley would try to fuck him.” As if on cue, Ashley slunk right up next to Nate and began stroking his arm. The poor kid’s eyes bugged out of his head, and he looked to Austin to save him. All the WAGs smiled and laughed with him, but while their interaction was more motherly, Ashley’s was predatory. “Speaking of problems, where is Milligan?”
“Oh, Sam kicked him out right before you got here.”
“For real? What happened?”
She evaded my eyes as she answered. “Not sure. He probably acted like a dick. Oh, it’s not for public consumption yet, but Kelsey’s pregnant.”
“Really? How are you feeling about that?” Recognizing Kendra’s complicated history with her sister, I hoped the reveal went better this time than last.
“Oh, God, I’m so happy for her. She wanted this so badly.” Kendra’s eyes welled up as she caught sight of her nephew. “Come—” she dragged me across the house. “—you need to meet Crew.”
An hour later, Crew and I demolished our fifthtower of blocks with our dinosaur figures as he squealed, “Adain! Hawk!”
Kendra had tried to help him pronounce Jonathan, and after several attempts, we realized Hawk was easier. But the menace could call me anything he wanted, and I’d answer to it.
FORTY-SEVEN
kendra
Jonathan droppedme off to check in for the shuttle that would take me to the starting line on Main St. in Hopkinton.
“You’ve got this. I love you.”
My hands shook, and my stomach flipped, excitement and nerves mixing to where I couldn’t tell one from the other. I checked my gear once more before exiting his SUV.
“I’ll see you on the other side.” I had joked with him multiple times that this race might just kill me. I had barely slept last night, tossing and turning only to fall asleep and dream I overslept and missed the entire race.
“I’ll be there.” Our families had already secured a place to wait for me on Boylston Street by the finish line, and they’d all downloaded the app to track my progress. Now it was up to me to get in there and do the thing.
“Oh—I love you, too.” I answered, my response wasn’t automatic.
“I know.” Thank God for that. The words didn’t come aseasily for me as they did for him, but I didn’t mean them any less.
At the gun start, I crossed the line and settled into my pace. I had worked through my race plan in my head, mapped out the course, and had memorized my target pace. The only thing I needed to do was keep moving.
As with every long run, the events of the last few weeks came to the forefront. It was like my brain recognized this as a time for me to work shit out. And fuck me if there wasn’t plenty to contemplate.
Shortly after opening day, my father received a video of me from my college days.
Dad: Hey, an unknown number sent me this video of you playing drinking games in college. Do you recognize the number?
Me: Dad! Why are you opening attachments from an unknown number? Block the number and never do that again.
I recognized the text to my dad for what it was—a threat; Tucker’s warning was loud and clear. If I had thought that my father blocking the number would be the end, it wasn’t. Two days later, he received another text with another video.
