by Ivy Smoak
Kennedy looked up at him. “It kind of sounds like you’re jealous of him.”
“Of Young Robert?” Tanner laughed. “Never.”
“Young Robert? How old are you?”
Tanner cleared his throat. “Age is only a number.”
“So…Rob’s actually older than you?”
“It doesn’t matter either way. What matters is that he certainly doesn’t act like it.”
“Hmm,” Kennedy said.
“What? What was the hmm for?”
“It’s just…your sense of humor is actually a lot like Rob’s. I feel like you two are more similar than you think.”
Oh, this wasn’t good. I knocked on the door louder this time. We needed more people so that Tanner wouldn’t flip out.
Tanner gaped at her. “Similar to Robert? If Matt wasn’t in love with you I’d tell you to wash your whore mouth.”
I didn’t know what was more shocking. The fact that he’d dropped the “L” word when I hadn’t or that he’d told her to wash her whore mouth. “Tanner, what the hell?” I said.
But Kennedy started laughing really hard. “I guess it’s a good thing Matt’s in love with me then.”
I glared at Tanner.
“I take it back,” Kennedy said to him. “I think you’re funnier than Rob.”
“I can tell we’re going to get along swimmingly,” Tanner said and put his arm around her shoulders.
“What else has Matt told you about me?”
“What hasn’t he told me?” Tanner said. “Where do I even begin?”
Fuck my life.
James finally opened the door, but he wasn’t paying attention to me. “It’s the button that has a pause sign on it!” he yelled over his shoulder. When he turned around, the smile faltered from his face. But not because he was upset. Just because he was probably as surprised as me when I’d first seen Kennedy again. Or maybe he was confused because Tanner’s arm was around her shoulders when it should have been my arm there. “Kennedy? What are you doing here? When did you move back to the city?” He leaned down to hug her before she had a chance to respond.
“It’s good to see you too,” Kennedy said.
“Guys!” James yelled. “Kennedy’s here!”
“Who?” Rob asked as he walked into the foyer holding the remote. “Holy shit. Is that you, Kennedy?”
Kennedy laughed. “It’s good to see you too, Rob.”
“Decided to crash our guys’ night?” Mason asked as he leaned down to hug her.
“Actually, I was invited by my friend here,” Kennedy said and lightly punched my arm.
Friend. It sounded more like a challenge than anything.
“How long have you known she’s been back in town?” Rob asked.
“A few days.”
“A few days, huh?” Mason asked. “Interesting.”
“Why is that interesting?” Kennedy said.
Mason shrugged. “No reason. Want a beer?”
“I’d rather have a tour.” She stepped into the living room. “What a view.” She wandered over to the windows overlooking Central Park. Everyone started to follow her. But I grabbed Tanner’s arm to hold him back.
“What the hell was that?” I asked.
“What was what?”
“You called her a whore and told her I loved her.”
“No, I said I would never call her a whore because you love her.”
“Same thing!”
“Actually it’s quite different.”
“Kennedy and I just had a fight outside. We agreed to be friends. The last thing I need is to scare her off by tossing out the L word.”
“I don’t know,” he said and looked over at Kennedy with the guys.
I followed his gaze.
Kennedy was staring at me instead of the amazing view. She blushed and turned back to listen to what James was saying.
“It seems like maybe that was the exact word she needed to hear,” Tanner said.
Kennedy stole another glance at me over her shoulder.
God she was sexy. I smiled and she smiled back.
“I told you I was good at helping people find true love,” Tanner said. “Just trust me.”
“You own a sex club.”
“That’s a matter of interpretation. But this is all going according to plan. Quite perfectly as a matter of fact.”
“What plan?”
“You and Kennedy falling for each other.”
“You had nothing to do with that.”
“Of course I did. I admit, I was a little perturbed that you asked Penny to be your matchmaker instead of me. So I decided to interfere. I recently acquired the real estate company your agent Bill works for. I had the owner hire Kennedy’s photography company. It was a huge contract. I knew she’d been considering moving back to the city and just needed one final push.”
“What? How did you…”
“And I hired a security team to follow you after all the hitwoman nonsense. So they knew you went straight home the other night instead of coming to my place. Which I’m still quite angry about. But it was a good opportunity, so I let it go. I arranged for Kennedy to show up to take your listing pictures that night. And bam. True love. You’re welcome.”
“But last night…you thought I was dating Poppy. You were all excited about it.”
“No, I knew you weren’t. It was all a ruse. Because you hadn’t told me about Kennedy yet and I was trying to force your hand. It worked, didn’t it? You told me everything. Before you told Rob by the way. Just saying.”
Wow. He’d orchestrated this whole thing?
“And Penny thought she was your matchmaker the whole time.” Tanner laughed. “I win.” He lifted his hand for a high-five.
I literally had nothing to say. Because I was pretty sure he had in fact won. I just had no idea he’d had anything to do with it. I high-fived him. “Wait, you’ve been having me tailed?”
“For your own safety. Don’t look at me like that. It’s like you have a penchant for getting into trouble.”
Well that explained why it still felt like someone was watching me.
“So you can tell Penny that you no longer need her services. And I’ll send you the bill for mine.”
I couldn’t even imagine how much he was going to charge me for all that. Was I going to own the real estate company after this? What the hell was I going to do with a real estate company?
He laughed. “Just kidding. I did it gratis for that.”
“For what?”
“Take a look in the mirror, Matt. I haven’t seen you this happy in years.”
He was right about that. “But your plan failed. She just wants to be friends.”
“Give me till the end of the night. I’ll have her in your bed by midnight.” He slapped me on the back and hurried over to where everyone else was still talking.
I didn’t doubt him at all. He’d brought Kennedy back to the city. He’d made the two of us run into each other.
I watched Kennedy laugh at something Tanner said. She smiled over at me again.
Damn, Tanner was a pretty great matchmaker. He was wrong about one thing though…he hadn’t gotten me to fall in love with her. Kennedy had done that all on her own. And I wasn’t about to be put back in the friend zone.
Chapter 39
Friday
I couldn’t pull my eyes away from Kennedy’s smiling face.
“So he did it butt naked,” Rob said.
Kennedy started laughing again. “No.” You could barely hear the word through her laughter. “You didn’t.” She put her hand on my knee.
All night long she’d been doing things like that. Grabbing my arm. Touching my thigh. I wasn’t even sure she realized she was doing it. It was like her body just gravitated to mine.
I smiled at her. “They dared me to. Of course I did.”
“You could have gotten arrested,” she said. “Who runs butt naked into a convenience store for a bottle of water?”
“On
e lesson you learn in college is that while breaking the law you should break said law naked,” Rob said. “It’s a lot easier to slip away from an officer when he’s trying not to touch your junk.”
Kennedy shook her head. “I didn’t learn that lesson in college.”
“Oh, well it’s different for girls,” I said. “I think police officers like when women are naked. They’ll probably grab you even faster.”
“There are girl officers too, you know,” Kennedy said.
“Which I’m sure aren’t all straight,” Rob said.
Kennedy laughed. “Well surely there were some gay officers that would have loved to grab your junk.”
“Fair point,” Rob said. “I’m sure there are plenty of men that would like to feel me up. It’s just a general principle that usually works.”
Kennedy shook her head. “You’re all ridiculous.”
“Only Rob is ridiculous,” said Tanner. “And I have a much less ridiculous topic to discuss with you. Do you believe in true love?”
“Who, me?” Kennedy asked.
“Yes, you.”
She eyed me for a second but then looked back at Tanner. “It depends on what your definition of true love is.”
“Soulmates. Two people that are perfect together.” Tanner smiled. “Destined to be together, even if it takes them a while to figure it out.”
Kennedy’s cheeks flushed. “Yeah, maybe.” She locked eyes with me for a second, but quickly looked away. “It’s certainly a nice idea.”
“It’s more than an idea. Let’s take you and Matt for example. You were friends when you were teenagers. Who’s to say you aren’t destined to be more?”
“We’re still just friends,” Kennedy said with a half-hearted laugh. “Right, buddy?” She elbowed me in the side.
It took all my restraint not to pull her onto my lap and kiss her. “Right.” For now.
All my friends stared at us.
“But time changes people,” Tanner said. “It certainly changes circumstances.”
What was Tanner doing? Trying to scare her away? I was already doing that well enough thanks to Poppy. I was about to change the subject, but Kennedy started talking again.
“Well, what about you, Tanner?” she asked. “Do you believe in true love?”
“Of course I do.”
“So have you found it?”
Tanner leaned back in his chair. “No. Not yet.”
I knew that wasn’t the whole story. He’d had it and lost it like me.
“Rumor has it that Penny’s pretty good at matchmaking,” Kennedy said. “Maybe you should ask her for help.”
Tanner lowered his eyebrows. “Maybe someday. But not right now.”
“Trust me,” James said. “Penny’s not a very good matchmaker. Her intentions are good, but her setup ideas have been a little out there recently.”
My dick that was almost set on fire could vouch for that.
Kennedy laughed. “It must be hard though, Tanner. Everyone around you falling in love while you’re still single.” She cleared her throat. “I mean, you and Matt. The both of you are single.”
Smooth one, Kennedy. At least it seemed like she believed we were only friends just as much as I believed it. Which was not at all.
“Yeah,” Tanner said. “Let’s just say I’m a little…cursed in the love department. At least for now. Besides, I’m focusing on growing my empire.”
I laughed. “Pretty sure you’ve grown that quite enough.”
Tanner shrugged. “If I ever want to retire, I’m going to need a lot more.”
Everyone just stared at him.
He cleared his throat. “I mean, with the average person living so much longer these days and everything. It’s just wise.”
I was pretty sure Tanner could shut his whole business down tomorrow and still have enough money to send his great, great, great grandchildren to an Ivy League school.
“What exactly are you planning on doing during your retirement?” Mason asked. “Randomly buying million-dollar corporations and immediately shutting them down so you never see a dollar of a return? Because that’s literally the only way you could blow through so much money.”
Rob laughed. “Or are you just worried that Matt’s so bad at his job of handling your finances that you have to be extra careful?”
“I’m great at my job,” I said and threw a pillow at him.
Rob caught it and stuck his tongue out at me.
“Actually, I have to admit it,” James said. “You are great at it, Matt. My portfolio is insane. And it’s insane that I just said that sentence out loud. When did we get so old?”
“Speak for yourself,” Kennedy said. “Matt, Rob, and I are practically still teenagers. Sorry, Tanner, I have no idea how old you are.”
“Older than I look,” he said.
“Hmm.” Kennedy scrunched her mouth to the side as she stared at him. “Let me guess…37?”
Tanner laughed.
“He’s just messing with you, Kennedy,” Rob said. “Tanner’s younger than all of us. He’s only 28. Which is why it’s extra annoying that he calls me Young Robert.”
“Maybe if you acted a little more mature, Young Robert…”
Rob pelted the pillow at Tanner’s head.
Tanner caught it in his hand before it collided with his face.
“Seriously,” Kennedy said. “Why don’t the two of you get along? You have the same sense of humor…”
“As Robert?” Tanner asked. “We’ve been over this. Never.”
“Never,” Rob said.
Kennedy laughed. “You two literally just agreed on something.”
“Never,” Rob and Tanner both said at the same time and then glared at each other.
“Well, I certainly won’t be using that word again,” Tanner said.
“Just say nunca,” I said.
Kennedy smiled up at me.
“Anyone want another drink?” Tanner asked. “Kennedy, will you come help me?” He wandered into the kitchen before she had a chance to respond.
“I feel like I’ve been summoned,” Kennedy whispered to me.
“Just ignore him.”
She smiled. “It’s important for your friends to like me.” Her face flushed again. “I mean, just so that we can all be friends. I’ll be right back.” She followed Tanner into the kitchen.
What the hell was he going to say to her?
James and Rob’s phones started buzzing at the same time.
They looked at each other and sighed.
“Probably something with the kids,” James said. “I gotta take this.”
“Me too,” Rob said.
They both answered their phones and wandered out of the room.
“So…” Mason said as he stared at me. “Does Kennedy have anything to do with your good mood last night?”
“You heard her,” I said. “We’re just friends.”
“Huh.”
I laughed. “What?”
“Nothing.” He folded his arms in front of his chest. “It’s just that the two of you were pretty close years ago. I always wondered if maybe there was something more there.”
There hadn’t been before. She was just the only person who understood what I was going through. But now? It was actually exactly like Tanner had said. People changed. Circumstances changed. I was wondering if he had been talking more to me than he was to Kennedy. “Can you keep a secret?” I asked.
“Probably not.”
I shook my head. It didn’t matter. I was pretty sure it was all over my face. And I’d already told my mom. I was surprised she hadn’t called Mason yet with the good news. “I think I’m falling for her.”
Mason didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Better than you can because Bee won’t be bugging me about it.”
He laughed. “I always thought you and Kennedy might get together. I was hoping you would, actually. She gets it.”
She did. I
think there was a part of me that always realized that. And now that she was finally here? All I wanted was to be close to her.
“And she’s a cool girl,” Mason said. “I’ve always gotten along well with her. I think Bee would like her too.”
“Yeah. I think she would.” I shook my head. “Wait, that’s your secret? That you’ve been secretly wanting me and Kennedy to get together all these years?”
“No. My secret is that you should fall a little faster. Because my kid’s going to want a best friend. And he’s going to be younger than all James and Rob’s kids, so I need you to step up.”
“Bee’s pregnant?”
He laughed. “Not yet. But we’re going to start trying.”
“That’s awesome.” A few weeks ago, this would have been the worst news ever. But it didn’t feel like bad news tonight. Because I wasn’t stuck anymore. I knew what I wanted. I smiled as I heard Kennedy’s laughter filter into the great room. I wanted her. “Wait, but you said ‘he’?”
“Yeah, I’m planning on having all boys.”
“I don’t think that’s something that you can just decide.”
“Just watch and learn. I’m much too masculine to have a girl.” He raised his beer bottle.
“That’s definitely not how it works.”
“We’ll see.”
Despite Mason’s flawed logic, I was going to be an uncle. A real one. Not that Scarlett, Liam, Sophie, and RJ didn’t count. But this was a big deal. “That’s going to be you soon then,” I said and gestured over to James and Rob who were most likely talking to their wives.
“What do you think is wrong?” he asked.
“I’m guessing someone has a tummy ache.”
“Hmm…maybe. But I’m thinking Liam pulled Sophie’s hair again.”
I laughed. “The audacity of that little baby to pull pigtails.”
Mason shook his head. “Want to bet on it? Loser drinks all those shots,” he said.
I looked over to see Kennedy and Tanner walking back into the room. They were each carrying a few shots in their hands.
I had a feeling tonight was about to get significantly more interesting. “Deal,” I said to Mason.
Chapter 40
Friday