Page 3 of The Weight Of Falling
“Really?” I take another gulp of my champagne. Why won’t she let it go? And how is my glass suddenly empty?
“Tess is right,” Sofia interjects. “What happened?”
This conversation is quicksand territory. Trying for a casual shrug, I decide to give them a pared-down version of the truth. “I don’t know. I think Kate gave him my number, but he never messaged or called.”
“Oh.” Surprise laces Tess’s tone.
“I don’t think I’m his type,” I explain.
Both women eye me.
Sofia is the first to speak. “Kenzie, you’re everyone’s type,” she declares. “You’re kind and sweet and funny.”
“You’re also gorgeous,” Tess chimes in. “I’d kill for your blonde hair and blue eyes.”
“Please, both of you, stop,” I beg, embarrassment ripping through me.
Sofia looks over at Tess. They have a silent exchange I can’t decipher.
I’ve never told anyone about the time I dropped by the restaurant where Kate was working with Joel on a food styling gig. I wanted to surprise her. Instead, I was the one surprised when I overheard Kate singing my praises to Joel and urging him to ask me out. A shiver of humiliation rolls through me when I remember Joel telling Kate that he wasn’t interested because I wasn’t his type. The sting of rejection was painful. Especially when I recall the emphatic way Joel said those words, with no hesitation whatsoever.
“Anyway, it’s probably a good thing he didn’t get in touch,” Sofia says, handing me a full glass of champagne, which I accept gratefully. “Rumor has it he’s a heartbreaker.”
“Kate told me about one woman so desperate for his attention she showed up on set wearing a trench coat and nothing else,” Tess says.
I choke back a horrified laugh. “What!”
“It’s true,” Tess insists. “What’s also true is that his relationships, if you can call them that, never seem to last very long.”
While they go back and forth on the women Joel has dated, I take the opportunity to steal another look his way. He’s still standing in the same spot, a stillness in his posture, like he’s taking everything in. All around him are pockets of people talking and laughing, but he seems removed from it all.
Something about the lonely, solitary picture he presents causes my throat to tighten.
And then a glamorous, brown-haired woman in a tight red dress loops her arm in his and tilts her head to smile radiantly up at him. It takes me a few seconds, but I finally recognize her. Farah. She works at one of the hair salons on Main Street.
It hits me then that I’ve seen him date brunettes and redheads, but I’ve never seen a blonde woman on his arm. Ever. Is that what he meant when he told Kate I wasn’t his type?
Joel liked Kate enough to ask her out and I’m the complete opposite of Kate—in looks and personality. No wonder he didn’t find me attractive. The knowledge leaves a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.
I look away from Joel and Farah, and take another gulp of my champagne, trying to wash away the sting.
I don’t want to think about Joel anymore. It’s too beautiful and magical an evening to allow him to spoil it for me.
Aaron joins our circle, looping an arm around Tess’s waist and pulling her to him. “Are you giving Kenzie a hard time, love?” he asks in his gruff way.
A blush steals over my cheeks. I’m still a little tongue-tied around Aaron. It’s not simply his good looks and confidence that intimidate me. The memory of all those phishing tests he subjected us to when we all worked together at Amell Greetings remains fresh in my mind. Although Tess laughs it off, I often feel as though I’m about to fail another test with him.
“I would never give Kenzie a hard time,” Tess maintains, looking up at Aaron in wide-eyed innocence. “I leave that to Sofia.”
Sofia’s eyes narrow. “Real nice, throwing a friend under the bus.”
Tess playfully bumps her shoulder. “You know the bus will fare worse than you.”
“It’s all fine,” I assure Aaron, swallowing when he turns those cool blue eyes on me, like he knows I’m covering for them. Another test I didn’t pass, I realize.
Except he doesn’t call me on it. Instead, the tiniest hint of a smile grazes his lips, and the tension leaves my shoulders. He’s definitely more easygoing since falling in love with Tess. Married life suits him.
“Relax,” Sofia tells Aaron airily. “We’re just watching out for Kenzie.”
