“That is one-hundo percentnotwhat I asked you. Come on, Tay. Who else knows?”
“I cannot rev…refal…revealmy sources.”
I step closer, once again using the few inches I have to my advantage as he stumbles back a step.
“Fine. Maybe…maybe Johnny knows.”
Motherfucker.Johnny, the bartender at Walt’s, is the most caring and nosy son of a bitch around. He’s everyone’s fairy godfather, meddling in their lives in order to get them together with their fated mate like he’s some magical spirit from the fictional world of Elfayne or something.I should have known he would be in on this.But, if he knows about me, I bet he also knows about Tay.
“Tell me, does Johnny know aboutyoursecret crush?”
Tay’s shoulders slump forward, his eyes dropping to the paracord bracelet he fiddles with. “I didn’t think you knew about that.”
“Seems like we’ve both been keeping some secrets,” I say, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Listen, you know you can talk to me, right? I’m here if you need me. And let’s just keep all this between us for now. Well…us and that nosy-as-fuck bartender.” I snort as we clink glasses.
“Agreed. And Jordan? You know you can talk to me, too, right?”
“You’re a good guy, Tay. I hope we both get our happy endings at some point. Now, go celebrate your birthday with the rest of the group. Tonight is all about you!”
He smiles as he stumbles back to the rest of the group.
A loud sigh of relief escapes me.Maybe he’s right.I just need to go for it. Paparazzi are all over me, women are always hitting on me, why should I be scared to go for it with the woman of my dreams? I down the rest of my drink, dropping my glass on the bar with aclack.
What could possibly go wrong?
6
kennedy
“Icannotbelieve I let you talk me into this,” I sigh, sitting next to my friend Maggie James, waiting for the game to start.
“Kenni, it’s the Riders! How can younotwant to be here? Besides, it’s Bougie Bobblehead night! Look at this cute little guy,” she gushes, tapping the top of the figurine to make it wobble. “Vladi has one of himself at home, but of course, it’s his typical grumpy expression chiseled on a mini statue. I swear that man knows how to be happy, not that anyone ever knows. At least Bougie is smiling!” The head rattles as she shakes the trinket. “I’ve never met anyone with a more positive outlook on life than him.”
I roll my eyes as I pick up my box from under my seat, examining it to see if there’s some magical feature I’m unaware of because I’m still not sure what the hype is.
“If I had everything in life handed to me on a silver platter I’d be chipper as a squirrel running loose in a nut factory too. Here,” —I hand her the box— “you want mine?”
“Kennedy Judith Kramer! Don’t you dare criticize my sweet, little Bougie. I know you’re not his biggest fan, but he helped me get to where I am with my business. He gave me a chancewhen I wasn’t sure I could do it on my own.” My lips thin, the box dropping in my hand. “You should come hang out with us sometime. He loves all our Millennial pop culture references and, over time, he kinda grows on ya.”
I shake my head, my nose curling. “So does a fungus.”
She snaps her head toward me, a stern look on her face. “I swear, some days you and Vladi must’ve been separated at birth with your damn stubbornness.” She pushes the box back into my lap. “Keep it. If nothing else, you can sell it and get some extra cash. The game was sold out, so who the fuck knows how much these things will be selling for.”
I shrug, tossing it down beneath me. “Fine.At least I can make some money off his cocky ass.”
“Great attitude, Kenni,” she snarks, giving me a good side-eye. “Cheer up. At least you get to see our dear friend Olivia sing the national anthem, hopefully see some good fights,andwe’re in the seats with free booze!” Maggie shrieks as she cheers her drink with mine.
“In case you’ve forgotten…again…I’m not allowed to drink twelve hours before a flight. And since I have to transport the team,including your fiancé,directly after the game, I’ll stick with my Diet Coke.”
“Dammit! I always forget you’re a pilot. Why don’t you just come work for me? I’ll find something cool for you to do at Little Fox Branding. Oh my God, you could model for my campaigns! We could do a whole shoot on female pilots using the new skincare line for Luca Bellezza! Holy shit, why did I not think of this before?!” She whips out her phone and starts furiously typing in her notes app. “This could be amazing. Think you can get all your friends on board with this?” Her entire body freezes. “Oh damn…‘on board’? I just made an airline pun! Holy tits, this could go viral.”
I shake my head with a laugh. “I’m not sure I’m model material, Maggie.”
“Kenni,” she waves her hand at me. “You don’t even know your own hotness. That means you are for sure model material. You are gorgeous. I would kill to have your skin, your hair, your profession…”
“Well, this just took a weird stalker turn.”
She laughs, her head falling back. “True. Too bad I simply don’t have the time to stalk you. But seriously, I’d love to use you on the campaign, and you know Shelly would be all about it too.”
