Page 36 of The Only Shot that Mattered

“I mean, we haven’t really met yet. Not for real, but yeah, I kind of think she probably hates me,” Kenna admitted as she recalled the venom in Skylar’s voice and the mug on her face the prior morning.

“Girl, fuck them kids. That’s my motto,” Cam said.

“Cam!” Kenna slapped him on his arm and then looked at Annalise. “I am so sorry. I promise his mama raised him better than this.”

Annalise waved her off. “I’ve heard a curse word or two in my day. Tell me why you don’t just talk to him about this.”

“He’s busy. I just don’t want to bother him, I guess.” Kenna looked at the ground.

“Yeah, you won’t get anywhere with that mindset, chile,” Annalise responded. “You need to communicate your feelings, and it’s perfect timing because he should be here soon.”

Kenna’s eyes widened as she stood up. “Wait, what?”

Annalise’s smile was bright enough to light a dark room. “You two think a whole lot alike. He called me this morning and asked if he could drop something off for Alanzo.”

Kenna wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She hadn’t planned to see Damien today. They’d texted a bit, but neither of them had addressed the elephant in the room. Doing that now didn’t really feel right.

“I should go.” Kenna looked down at Cam, who looked like he was ready to move slow as molasses just to piss her off. Kenna walked over to Annalise and gave her a hasty hug before marching toward the door. “Cam, come on?—”

She opened the door, and her words cut off as she came face to face with Skylar. Kenna couldn’t even look at the towering frame behind Skylar because the teenager’s face immediately screwed up into a scowl, and Kenna’s heart dropped.

Damien glanced at Skylar,who sat in the passenger’s seat with her arms crossed over her chest and a pout on her face.

“Man, what’s been up with you, Sky?” Damien asked, reaching over and nudging her.

Skylar pulled away from him and, without looking his way, mumbled, “Nothing.”

“Something,” he said, parking his car in front of a small home in a neighborhood that had seen better days. After he turned the car off, he turned toward her and gently pinched her arm. “Talk to me, baby. Your stank ass attitude is getting really old.”

Skylar let out a heavy sigh. “I already told you I was sorry for how I talked to your lady friend.”

She had. After Kenna left his house the morning prior, Skylar was quick to apologize, but he knew she only meant it so they could move on from the topic. Now, before he went into Ms. Annalise’s home and spent some time with her and Alanzo, he wanted to make sure Skylar was really okay.

“You know I really like my lady friend?” He decided to rip the Band-Aid off. He had never been the type of parent to beat around the bush, and the only reason he didn’t have the conversation yesterday was because he wanted to give Skylar space after finding him in bed with another woman. Of course, Jendaya didn’t help matters at all. She teased him relentlessly until he had to kick her out with a warning to start calling him before she popped up at his house.

Things were definitely about to start looking differently around his home, and he wanted everyone to get on the same page.

Skylar scoffed. “I guess.”

“Aye, look at me,” Damien demanded. When she did, he said, “Shoot it to me straight.”

Skylar rolled her eyes. “Do you have to likeher?”

Damien chuckled. He was used to the dramatics of females. If Jendaya didn’t give him all the practice he needed, raising Skylar definitely did. “Why not her?”

“Whyher?” she pressed.

“You don’t even know her. What’s the beef?”

“I don’t know, Daddy. Can we just go do whatever it is we’re doing here so I can go home and call Kelly back?”

Damien stared at her for a moment. “Her name is Kenna, and I really hope you give her a chance, Sky. You know if I have to choose between y’all, I’ll choose you in every lifetime, but it just might break my heart. I’m asking you not to put me in that position.”

Skylar stared out the window for several long seconds before looking at him. “Fine.”

A smile tugged at his lips. “You gon’ apologize to her next time you see her?”

Skylar clenched her jaw before releasing a breath. “Yeah.”

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