Page 38 of Starting Over with You
“Man,” she groans. “I felt so bad.”
I wave her off. “It was all me. I could have let you puke on the floor, but I figured this way, no one would know.”
Her cheeks fill with color as she hides behind her glass. “Still, I’m glad I was able to get it clean.”
“Me too,” I say honestly as I take a sip of my whiskey. Licking my lips free of the bitter liquid, I ask, “So, you’re moving in to Hazel’s old place once the termites are taken care of?”
“Yeah,” she answers, crossing her legs. Her legs are so plump, thick, and I bet it’d be too much fun to suffocate between them. “August is the estimated completion date. Can’t come quick enough.”
I arch a brow. “It can’t be that bad.”
“I don’t think Nyle likes me,” she admits in a shy way that has me wanting to kiss her.
“Why do you say that?” I ask, trying to stuff down my instinct to get pissed and want to kick his ass if he makes Kenni feel unwelcome.
“I don’t know. I get the vibe. He’s super obsessed with Missy and wants her all to himself. We were on the couch, and he sat between us. It’s odd.”
“It is. You haven’t seen him be?—”
“I’ve watched,” she reassures me. “He’s good to Skyye, I promise.”
My stomach settles, but I still feel keyed up. “You could move in with your dad.”
She makes a face. “No way. He’s too damn judgy.” Kenni’s lips curve as she shrugs. “I’ll just wait it out in the house of slob and sex.”
Once more, I choke on the swig I just took, and her laughter is loud as she grins that megawatt smile at me. “You’re trying to kill me!”
“Never,” she says, patting my thigh. She acts like the simple touch doesn’t have me fighting for my next breath. I grip the bar asshe flutters those thick lashes at me. “I might need to puke in your hat again one day.”
Hell, she could puke in my hands and I’d be thankful.
She’s goddamn beautiful. There is a rosy color to the tip of her nose and her cheeks. The little dip in her chin seems deeper when she smiles with no-holds-barred like she is now. Just damn gorgeous. My eyes bore into hers, and I love how she looks right on back, no shame in her gaze. She giggles, shaking her head as she turns on the stool to look out at the crowd. “Tell me all the tea. Who’s with who now?”
I turn with her, one of my elbows back on the bar while my other hand holds my glass. With how I’m leaning, my shoulder touches Kenni’s, as do our thighs. I try to ignore the heat that touching her causes me before I shake my head. “They are all tourists,” I tell her, but then I see some old classmates, Randy Hill and Maura Mackey, toward the back hall. I point to them. “Randy and Maura have gotten married, divorced, remarried to other people, only to cheat on them with each other.”
Kenni’s eyes widen. “No way!”
“Yup. And then there is the rumor that Maggie Cook is dating someone on the police force.”
“Oh God,” she whimpers. “Please don’t say my daddy.”
“Your daddy,” I confirm with a laugh. She lets her head fall back, groaning loudly, and all I can do is grin. We spend the next hour with me filling her in on all the town gossip, and she eats it up.
“So, you mean to tell me that grumpy jackass Jett Cook did a whole-ass skating program?”
“It was Olympic-worthy, if Olympic athletes were close to forty and did the bare minimum skills from Skyye’s tiny tots class.”
That has Kenni cackling. She leans into me, her laughter vibrating through her body as she shakes her head. “But he got the girl.”
“Oh yeah,” I agree, meeting her gaze. “He married her like a month later.”
A dreamy look comes over her face. “I love that for them. I met up with them on Tuesday. I’m going to start working for them.”
“Working?”
She gives me a look. “Missy didn’t tell you I’m a market analyst for small businesses?”
I’m impressed. “No, I thought you were raising the boys.”
