Page 126 of Anti-Hero

Kit’s angry words from our paternity-test argument echo in my head. At the time, it didn’t occur to me to ask what he’d need to protect mefrom.

Kit fit in my world seamlessly. I don’t think the same can be said about me in his. Starting Saturday, I might no longer be Kit’s subordinate in the office, but I still will be when it comes to everything else. Money, influence, resources.

“Text me about getting together, okay?” Margot says. “Or if you need to talk.”

I set my mug down on the window ledge and give her a quick hug. “Thank you,” I whisper.

“I’ll miss you,” she whispers back.

I smile sadly over her shoulder, at the snow.

33

Kit:New Year’s Eve party is in the Hamptons this year.

Flynn:What?

Flynn:I thought we were going to Aspen for New Year’s. Like we do EVERY year.

Kit:Not this year.

Flynn:It’s gonna be cold in the Hamptons.

Kit:And Aspen’s a sauna?

Flynn:I can’t snowboard or hot tub in the Hamptons.

Kit:You cango to my party.

“This party is awesome!” Flynn shouts, adjusting the golden top hat he’s wearing.

Flynn has rapidly rallied from his disappointment over this year’s change in venue. Everyone else seems to be having fun too. The music is blaring, the alcohol is flowing, and countless balloons filled with gold glitter decorate the living room of my parents’ Hamptons house. Hundreds of people pack the space. Some friends, some former classmates, some total strangers.

No sign of the reason I moved my annual party two thousand miles.

I wanted to spend New Year’s Eve with Collins. And I didn’t think she’d be willing to travel all the way to Colorado. She’s been in New Haven for the past week, spending Christmas with her family. It’s possible she decided to stay in Connecticut longer. Or simply decided not to come tonight.

I check my phone for the tenth time in as many minutes.

We haven’t texted since I sent herMangoon Sunday.

I thought Collins leaving Kensington Consolidated was going to bring us closer together. Remove a boundary. Instead, it feels like we’ve drifted further apart. Like there’s a new vagueness to our interactions now that we’re no longer required to spend forty-plus hours a week in the same space. She’s supposed to move into my penthouse in a matter of days, and we’ve only discussed the most basic of details about becoming roommates. Even during the anatomy scan last week, she felt distant. She didn’t lean on me the way she did during the first ultrasound.

I should have felt relieved she was more confident. Instead, I was disappointed.

“Here. You look like you could use this.” Flynn shoves a shot myway, and I don’t even check what type of liquor it is before sucking it down.

Vodka, it turns out.

“You having trouble deciding?” Flynn shouts, gesturing toward the crowd of scantily dressed women dancing in my living room. “Because that’s my dilemma right now. They’re all so hot.”

“Too many hot women,” a female voice says dryly. “What acomplicatedlife you lead, Parks.”

Flynn rolls his eyes as he grabs another shot. “I hope you invited yourfuncousin too, Kit.”

I elbow him in the ribs before hugging Rory. I’m surprised she came with Wren, but I don’t mention that in front of Flynn. I’m too distracted by Collins’s absence to play referee.

“How were the Bahamas?” I ask, remembering she just got back from a trip there with college friends.

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