“Yeah, well. Here I am.” I kept my voice flat, hoping he’d pick up on the fact that I did not want this conversation to be happening.
Trevor, ever the golden retriever in human form, extended his hand. “I’m Trevor. You must be Kent.”
Kent shook his hand, gritting his teeth as he squeezed. “Yeah. Hi.” His gaze flicked to me, then back to Trevor. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your?—”
“Date,” I supplied coldly. “You’re interrupting our date.” I gave my iced coffee a shake, like a rattlesnake about to strike. “Bye Kent.”
Kent’s jaw tightened. He didn’t move.
“I just need to grab a coffee,” he said, his tone matching mine for coldness. “I’ll be out of your hair in a minute.”
“Great,” I said, turning my attention back to Trevor, who was watching this exchange with the cautious interest of someone witnessing a nature documentary about hostile wildlife.
But Kent didn’t leave. He just stood there, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
“Was there something else?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“Actually, yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous gesture I remembered from when we were kids. “I, uh, I forgot my key. I locked myself out by accident.”
Of course. Of course this was happening right now.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered, digging into my pocket. My fingers found my key and I slapped it onto the table. “Here. Don’t lose it. I’ll be home later.”
Kent picked it up, his fingers brushing the table where mine had just been. “Thanks,” he said quietly. Then, to Trevor, “Nice to meet you.”
Trevor gave him a friendly nod. “You too, man.”
I watched Kent walk toward the counter, my whole body tense. This was exactly why I’d wanted to keep my life separate from him. He had this way of contaminating everything, just by existing in the same space as me.
“He seems nice,” Trevor offered.
I shot him a look. “You got all that from a thirty-second interaction?”
“I mean, he was polite.” Trevor shrugged. “And he looked kinda rough. Like he’s going through something.”
“He’s got a hangover because he’s stupid,” I said, more bitterly than I intended. I took a breath, trying to reset. “Sorry. I just... I wasn’t expecting to see him here.”
Trevor’s expression softened. “It’s okay. Family stuff is complicated.”
I wanted to tell him that Kent wasn’t really family, that we’d been forced together by our parents’ bad decisions, that I didn’t owe him anything. But Trevor was looking at me with those kind eyes again, and I didn’t want to come across as more damaged than I already had.
“So,” I said, desperate to change the subject. “Tell me more about these turkey meatballs.”
His face lit up. “Well, I found three different recipes and I couldn’t decide which would be better, so I just made all three. And weirdly, they’re all?—”
“Sorry to interrupt again,” Kent said, suddenly appearing at my side with a coffee in his hand now. “But I just got a call from my boss. Looks like he wants me to come in for a meeting.” He held up my apartment key. “So I won’t be around later to let you in. Do you want to come back with me now so I can get my key before I leave?”
I stared at Kent for a long moment, fury building in my belly. He was doing this on purpose. Hehadto be. There was no way everything was lining upjust rightso that he could cut my date short with Trevor.
“I’m busy right now, Kent,” I began. “I’ll just?—”
“It’s alright,” Trevor interrupted. “Really. We can hang out a bit later if you want. I don’t want you to get locked out of your apartment.”
Goddamn it. Kent was ruining everything.
I stood up, my chair screeching against the floor loudly. “Let’s go then,” I barked at Kent.
He looked far too pleased with himself. “I’m sorry,” he said, trying to save face. But I could hear in his tone that he was faking it.
