Page 137 of The Sweetest Devotion

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In the morning,I woke up alone. The other side of my bed was empty and cold. Kennedy was long gone.

Or so I thought.

After stepping out of my bedroom upon freshening up, I heard the sound of the TV in my living room. Dominique had brought over some game system, and when he wasn’t hittin’ the books, he was on it raging at other online players. I’d tried to sit and play with him, but it didn’t hold my interest.

Instead, I found myself browsing Bedford Heights’s local florist’s website.

As I passed by my kitchen I was hit with the smell of breakfast and soap. Food had been made and dishes had been set in the sink to be cleaned. There weretwoplaces at the table I noticed as I kept on walking, and when I made it to the living room I discovered why.

Sitting side by side, Kennedy and Dominique were caught up playing a video game. One that was very bright and colorful and required them to race cute animated characters. One of Dom’s lesser violent games.

Kennedy was moving her joystick as she attempted to beat Dom, who was coolly cruising around the lap they were racing on.

“Ooh, I’ma ’bout to make bank!” he hollered as he crossed the finish line and won.

Kennedy’s shoulders sagged and I recognized the con all too well.

Folding my arms, I leaned against the post of the doorway. “Please tell me you’re not in here hustlin’ money from my girl.”

My surprise arrival had them both whirling around and shooting up from the couch. Dominique was dressed in his Finnegan’s T-shirt and a pair of khakis, while Kennedy had her satin wrap on along with a pair of cream-colored pajamas.

Kennedy bowed her head, but not without leaning toward Dominique. “Do you take checks?”

“Zelle would be quicker,” he whispered back.

I narrowed my eyes. “How much did she lose?”

“Just five hundred, but I was starting to get the hang of it,” Kennedy rushed to say.

I shook my head and entered the room some more. “She’s not paying you, Dom.”

He rolled his eyes. “Here you go.” Dominique spun around and went about shutting off his system and collecting the controllers.

Kennedy padded over to me and wrapped her arms around my middle, hugging me close and resting her cheek on my chest.

I held her close and focused on Dominique. “You goin’ in?”

He finished with his game and came around the couch, but kept his distance. “Yeah. And, uh, sorry about the dishes. I started to wash them but then we kinda got caught up in the game.”

“Youwas about to wash dishes?” Ever since he’d been staying with me he was good about cleaning up after himself, but he never offered to clean the dishes after I’d cooked or ordered takeout.

Dominique gave a lazy shrug and gestured toward Kennedy. “That’s a woman, Keith. The least I could do after she cooked me breakfast was clean the dishes.”

He was lucky he was too far to pop because I’d be damned if he started acting brand new for Kennedy’s benefit.

But at least he was respectful.

“We were hungry,” Kennedy explained as she lifted her head and peered up at me. The gleam in her eyes and the faint smile on her face? She couldn’t be this content with being with me, could she?

I’d made plans to take a step back and be more loose and casual with her, but all it took was one phone call last night to shatter that plan. She’d been playing around when she mentioned other men at the bar taking her home, but the idea drove me to get dressed and shut down any possibility of that even happening. One look at her in that tight top and those jeans and I knew I was taking her home with me.

I didn’t need the sex, but just the feel of her next to me was enough. I wanted to wake up beside her. Smell her expensive perfume, feel her softness, pretend to hate how she’d tangle herself in my legs—she wasn’t the only one breaking rules.

Now here I was, wanting more, even though I knew I couldn’t have it.

“You need a ride?” I asked Dominique.

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