Page 4 of The Refiner

We go way back to when I needed somewhere to drown my sorrows after my sister moved three hours away to South Texas. Kenny may not have wanted to become my friend, but like everything in my life, I plowed right through his wants and took what I needed.

A friend.

And a bomb-ass bartender.

“You’re damn right. I’m going to tell you, boo.” I’m pretty sure it sounded like I just called him poo. “Men think their penis is powerful because society tells them it is.”

I lean over the wooden-topped bar and motion for Kenny to come closer. Instead, he pours me another drink.

It’s fine. What I have to say isn’t a secret. “But you know what, Ken Kardashi-wan?” I raise my fist in the air victoriously. “Today, I stopped that pretentious entitlement of the dong.”

Clearly, it’s Kenny’s fault I’m this drunk, but as a good friend, he knows days like today are rare and should be cherished with no less than four drinks.

Kenny grins, and it’s invitingly hot. I would totally ask him out if he weren’t my wingman on Thursday nights (and liked vaginas). But instead, I keep slandering his fellow men and their appendages. He’s okay with it, though. He thinks men suck six days out of the week too.

“Dong be gone! Keagan McKellan is no longer under your reign!” I chant, raising my glass against Kenny’s, clinking them together.

“May she continue to bruise egos and break hearts forever,” he adds with a grin.

“Damn straight.” We chug our drinks and set them back down, and my tone turns serious. “This is my Susan Lucci moment, Ken Doll.” I hold up five fingers, and Kenny holds up one of his, already knowing what I’m about to say. “Six times, I applied.”

“And six times, you were rejected,” he adds, dropping his hand and brushing a lock of hair from my face. “But not anymore. You—Keys, darling—have always known you were the best game writer out there. You didn’t need a promotion to solidify that fact.”

“True, but my bank account did. I was doing twice the job of Ass Face McGee, yet he was paid an obscene salary to go along with his arrogant attitude.”

The gaming industry is a man’s world.

And I busted the balls that held it together.

Ass Face McGee and his cubical of terror will never be a threat to me again. The CEO of Pretentiousville will never have to look me dead in the eyes and lie straight to my face that my male colleagues beat my storytelling pitch ever again.

A twenty-million-dollar project. And it’s all mine.

Kenny tops off our drinks and flashes a grin that insists I will regret this night in a few hours. “Where’s Piper?” He looks at his watch. “I thought she was coming up this weekend?”

I make this weird scoff-like noise that sounds a little like I’m being a petty turd. “She got called into work.”

“Another penis emergency?”

Didn’t I say Kenny was my man? We both know that urologists do more than look at penises all day, but we still like to poke fun at Piper for choosing such an exciting career for us to laugh at. “Apparently, there’ve been peen emergencies for the past six months.” My words carry heavy sarcasm as I repeat Piper’s most common excuse.

Kenny settles against the counter. “You think she’s lying to you?” He arches a brow. “Maybe she’s seeing someone?”

“Piper Prudence?” I wave away his craziness. “She wouldn’t know what to do with a man outside the exam room. I can’t even remember the last time she had a date.”

“Who knows, your big sister might be naughtier than you think.”

My lip curls in disgust. “Just for being nasty, you get to buy me another drink.” How dare Kenny insinuate that my sister, who studied during summers and went to science camps for fun, is being naughty. Uh, no. Piper wouldn’t know naughty if it bit her in the ass.

Kenny tops off my drink, not even bothering to give me a new glass. “Whatever happened to that hot doctor she was friends with? What was his name, As—”

“Asshole. That’s the one you’re talking about? From the baby shower?”

“Yeah.” Kenny slides me a bowl of cherries. “Yeah, the guy you got mad at for drinking your booze.”

“Don’t be a hopeless romantic, Kenny.” He’s always had a thing for happily ever afters. “Piper and Dr. Dick are stilljust friends.”

Kenny raises his brow. “I don’t know about you, but a man like that wouldn’tjustbe my friend.”

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