Kennedi glanced at her girls. Every single one of them had suddenly found something fascinating on their plates. Shadow was cutting a waffle she’d already cut. Carmen was reading the back of a hot sauce bottle. Isha was chewing air. Paige shook her head slowly, a look that said, “Girl, go.”
She took his hand. His fingers closed around hers, and he pulled her out of the booth without waiting for her to finish deciding. She barely had time to tug her blazer closed with her free hand before he was walking her toward the hallway near the restrooms.
He stopped at the end of the hallway and turned to face her. Leaned against the wall, arms crossed. His eyes dropped, then came back up.
“You know what's crazy?” His voice was low, almost conversational. “Every time I turn around, there you are.” He let out a short breath that wasn’t quite a laugh. “God got jokes, Ken. He really do.”
“Rolani—”
“Nah, hold on.” He pushed off the wall, one step closer. “This cat and mouse shit is getting old. You know that, right? I let you go do what you needed to do. I’m not doing that again.”
She didn’t answer. Her back found the wall. Her mouth opened, but nothing useful came out. Three months of rehearsed explanations, and not a single one showed up when she needed it.
He stepped closer. His fingers found her chin and tilted her face up until her eyes had nowhere to go but his. The spearmint on his breath was close enough to feel. She thought he was going to kiss her. Her eyes started to close, her body leaning in. He clocked it, and he let go of her chin before he moved back.
“See, that’s the problem.” His voice was quiet. “You can’t be honest with yourself. That don’t work for me, Ken.”
“Is that why you got me back here? To prove a point? Make me show my hand?”
“Nah, I got you back here because I had to hear it through the grapevine you were headed back.”
“I was going to talk to you on Monday at work.”
“At work? Word?”
“Yes, until I get adjusted,I need to keep things professional.”
“Stop playing with me, Kennedi. When I call, answer. When I text, respond. Because if you don’t, I’m showing up. Welcome home, baby.”
“Thank you.”
Thank you.She stood there in a hallway at Luther’s, five months pregnant with this man’s baby, and thank you was the best she had. She was absolutely pitiful.
He studied her for a long moment, eyes dropping to the way her blazer pulled across her middle. His jaw tightened, just barely, before his expression reset.
“You look different,” he said quietly.
Her blood went cold. “Different how?”
His thumb found his bottom lip. Slow drag. The gesture meant he was processing something. “I don’t know yet.” His eyes came back to hers. “But I’ll figure it out.”
He reached past her to push open the hallway door, his body close enough that she felt the heat of him one last time. She closed her eyes and breathed him in, hating how much she wished this interaction didn’t have to end.
“Go eat your food before it gets cold,” he said, stepping back. “And tell Shadow I see her nosy ass peeking around that corner.”
A strangled laugh escaped her before she could stop it.
He held the door for her, and she walked past him back toward the dining room. Her legs felt hollow. Her hand was onher stomach before she could stop it, and this time she didn’t care.
When she slid back into the booth, no one spoke for a full ten seconds.
“So,” Shadow said, setting her fork down. “You’re telling him this week.”
“I know.”
“No, Ken. This week.”
“I said I know, damn.”
