“What is it?” My anger turned to worry.I fucking knew it.“How can I help?”
She snorted, sounding more like herself than she had in three days. “You can’t. It’s my deal. I’m trying to work through it. I’ll fill you in.”
“Okay, I don’t like waiting, but I felt like you were avoiding me for a bit. I hated it,” I admitted, sounding like a damn idiot. A pathetic idiot who wanted his fake girlfriend’s attention every second.
“I’ll try not to do that again. I saw your text, though. What’s the news?”
“My dad!” I shouted. “The experimental drugs he tried helped. It hasn’t spread and there are tiny measurements of it shrinking.”
“Fuck. I’m so damn happy for you guys.” Real emotion poured out of her voice. “How’s he feeling?”
“Pretty good. They keep asking about you.”And wanting to know when I’ll bring you home.
“Ah, tell them I’m so happy for them!”
“I will. Hey, when are you heading back? I want to see you.”
“I play Saturday and Sunday night for Clyde, since I’m taking off next weekend for the charity event.”
The charity event! Yes!“Are you excited?”
“Yeah, I think so. I need to get a dress for it. You wearing a tux or a suit?”
“Just a black suit. You look good in anything. Wear the red one you have.” An image of it popped into my mind and my dick jumped to life. It had been too long without being with her. “Speaking of how good you look, can I stop by tomorrow night after your show?”
“For a booty call?” She laughed. “I’m on my period. That’s a firm no.”
“I don’t care about that shit.”
“Still a firm no. Listen, I gotta head out.”
“I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Bye, Aaron.”
She called me Aaron twice. Not Ronnie or Hilly. My gut churned, but I chose to trust her. I preferred to talk to her in person about something bothering me, so I understood. We would talk about it next week. I would make sure we did. I joined my family back in the living room just as my parents excused themselves to bed. “Want a beer?”
“Wait, really?” Kenzie’s eyes widened. “They’ll kill you.”
“Nah, you’ll be fine. Here. I’m sure this is yourfirstone.”
“Asshole.” She laughed but took the brown bottle. “You know, you’ve impressed me this year.”
“Yeah?” I grabbed a baseball off the shelf and tossed it in the air. It was an old homerun ball with the date from high school. I couldn’t believe my parents still had it.
“Look, I feel I should tell you. I saw those pictures, Aaron.”
From her tone, I knew what pictures she meant. A wave of paranoia, guilt, anxiety had me stopping in my tracks. If she knew about them…
“Do Mom and Dad know?” I tossed the ball up into the air, catching it right before it hit my face. I repeated it over and over, the motion calming my anxiety.
“No. I made sure they didn’t find out.”
“I owe you.” My voice came out clipped.
“No, you don’t.” She got up and put her hand on my shoulder. “It’s about time we stick as a team. You would do the same for me. And I’ll do it again in the future.”
“Wow, Kenzie.” I blinked back emotion at her fierce tone. “Of course we’re a team.”
