Page 46 of Companion Required

Chapter Twenty

Kieran

While Laurie stood behind him with her scissors clipping away, a wildfire of thoughts and feelings swept through Kieran. After brushing his teeth twice, he could still taste tobacco, something he hated. Steph, who had improved remarkably—colour having returned to her cheeks—plied him with breath mints, which helped. But the anger and confusion unsettled him most of all. All of his friends or family knew that he didn’t get annoyed easily. Calm and even-tempered, his mother and teachers had called him. Cold and unemotional had been Jennifer’s spin. So why had Kennedy’s dismissal lit such an angry fire in his belly?

Jennifer had ejected him from her home and her life and he had accepted without question, had almost welcomed the chance to escape. Kennedy’s rejection had ripped a hole in him.

“Are you okay, Kieran?” asked Laurie, once again. Standing in front of him.

“I’m fine, I just…” began Kieran, but he decided not to elaborate. He’d told them both what had happened in the Underdeck Club—an abridged version—and Kennedy’s later attempt at an apology.

“Patrick’s a prick,” said Laurie, snipping decisively at a lock. “Always has been, always will be. Don’t take anything he said to heart. He’s not worth the effort.”

She was right, of course. If he ought to be angry at anyone, that person should be Patrick, not Kennedy. Joey had even turned up at their cabin earlier and explained what had happened after he’d left, how Kennedy had defended him to Patrick. And just like that, his anger had turned to bewilderment.

And the one thing that should have been confusing the hell out of him—the kiss—seemed to be the only thing that made sense. Nothing about the embrace had felt wrong. He’d kissed a man and he’d liked it, he thought, almost humming the words of the song. He’d kissed a number of girls, some passionately, but as far as he could remember, nothing—nothing—had compared to that mind-blowing lip lock with Kennedy Grey.Fuck.The mere visualization of Kennedy’s lips and mouth had his heart speeding up and blood pumping below deck. He’d almost been tempted to text Cole and ask what the hell the fiery embrace might have meant. Then again, did he really want to know?

“What’s with you tonight?” said Laurie, stopping and placing her hands on her hips. “One minute you’re grimacing like a grizzly, the next you’re leering like a leopard.”

“Very poetic.” Kieran grinned.

“Leave him be, Laurie,” said Steph, watching from the ironing board where she was carefully pressing his suit trousers. His white shirt and jacket hung on the wardrobe door, waiting to be worn. “He’s had enough drama for one day.”

Right then, there came a knock at the cabin door. Laurie turned to look at Steph, who merely shrugged. Being the nearest to the door, Steph went to answer. After a few moments, her tone began to sound irritated, and when she came into the room the anger showed clearly on her face.

“It’s Richmond.”

“What does that bastard want?” asked Laurie, before Kieran could voice the same thing.

“He wants to talk to Kieran. Privately. I said I’m not letting him in. Do you want me to tell him to piss off, Kieran? I will, if you say so.”

Interesting, thought Kieran.Why does he want to speak to me? And why alone?

“No, it’s fine. Give me a second,” he said, getting up, the towel still around his shoulders. “Let me get this out of the way.”

Richmond stood in the corridor, looking ill at ease, but brought his attention to Kieran as soon as he appeared.

“Look, I’m not here to make trouble,” he said, holding his palms up in front. “I just have one thing to say, and then I’m gone. A lot of us think Kennedy and Patrick belong together, believe they always have done. But ultimately, if that’s going to happen, it’s between the two of them. I don’t know what kind of hold you think you have over Kennedy, but whatever it is, you should know that as soon as this holiday is done, you’ll be history. That is not meant to be unkind, nor a reflection on who you are as a person, it’s simply a fact. I’m telling you this now in case you think of him as anything more than a holiday fling.”

“Do you even like him?” asked Kieran. “Kennedy?”

Whatever response Richmond had been expecting, the one Kieran provided clearly caught him by surprise.

“I used to. When he made my best friend happy.”

“Which was rarely, as far as I can tell.”

Richmond’s gaze hardened. He took a step back and folded his arms, openly assessing Kieran.

“You may not be like the others, but don’t be deceived. You’re still disposable.”

“We’ll see,” said Kieran, deciding not to rise to the bait. “Thanks for the helpful advice. Hope to see you at dinner.”

Richmond frowned and shook his head. Kieran had no idea what the man had expected—maybe a fit of tears or an argument. But after a final glare, he turned and headed back along the corridor.

When Kieran backed into the apartment and closed the door, Steph and Laurie waited frozen where he had left them. Steph broke the silence, by telling him they had overheard snippets of the conversation. After Kieran had provided a summary, punctuated by the girls using words such as ‘prick’ and ‘arsehole’ and other suitable expletives, they got back to the business at hand.

“You know, I ought to be paying you two for doing this,” he said, sitting back down again. Steph had clambered from her sickbed to iron his clothes, while Laurie had tamed his wild hair and got him looking fresh-faced. Both of them helped him dress in the kind of attire he’d never worn before. Not only that, but being away from Kennedy in their company had been good for him, giving him time to assess himself. “Maybe I can buy you a meal when we reach Okinawa tomorrow afternoon.”

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