Page 67 of I Love to Hate You
“I’m fine,” I reply. “I had a bit of an issue when I went outside, and Kendrick and I ended up leaving.”
Samantha’s eyes widen. “Together?”
“Yeah, we left together,” I answer, trying to find my footing on this new foundation of honesty about Kendrick when I’m used to balancing on lies.
She gawks at me with her head turned. “And that was okay with you? Like … everything’s okay? Did he hurt you in any way? Do I need to call the police?”
“What? Why would you need to call the police?” I ask, giggling.
“Because you and Kendrick don’t even get along,” she says. “I’m not sure how to feel about you guys leaving together. He didn’t try to touch you, did he?”
I let out a guffaw. “You’re funny, Sam. I appreciate you trying to look out for me. He actually did touch me, but I liked it. Anyway, let’s go inside before we’re late.”
I shut my car door and walk away, but Samantha doesn’t follow at first. Her feet stay planted in the concrete as she stares at me.
“What?” she blares from behind me before running to catch up. “You can’t just say that and walk away. He touched you but you liked it? Is that a joke? I need you to elaborate before my head explodes, please.”
We open the door to the building and step into the elevator to go up to the BLM offices.
“What’s the big deal? We left together, and now we’re … together,” I say bluntly. As nervous as it makes me feel, it also feels good to just come out and say it. It’s like ripping off the bandage.
Samantha stares at me again, blinking through her confusion while her mind processes my words.
“You and Kendrick aretogether?” she asks. When I nod, she says, “But you hate each other.”
I shrug just as the elevator stops on our floor. “Maybe we used to, but we’re good now.”
“You guys were just arguing in the break room on Friday,” she says as we walk to the conference room and find the rest of the interns and Denver already there, including Kendrick, who’s looking scrumptious in dark gray slacks and a navy blue button-up with shoes to match. We make eye contact and I’m not sure what to do, so I stay by the door and continue addressing Samantha, who’s close on my heels.
“Were we, though?” I ask her, smirking.
She freezes. “Weren’t you?”
I smile at her, but before I can elaborate further, Denver stands up and begins addressing the group.
“Good morning, everyone,” he says, while Sam and I rush to take our seats.
She sits on the far side of the table while I take the open seat next to Kendrick. He smiles at me as I sit, and I smile back, feeling warmth brought to life in my stomach from just the sight of him.
“I hope you all had a great weekend,” Denver continues. “I’ve had some interesting conversations with a few of the marketing managers as I updated them on how your first few days went. They’re always interested in the strengths of each intern, so we spoke briefly about your pitches last week, and there was some genuine interest in one of them. My supervisor informed me that he’d like to run a certain pitch by the director and see what happens. While I don’t want to get my hopes up, there’s a possibility that—”
Before Denver can finish his statement, the conference room door swings open, and a bald man wearing a white polo shirt sticks his head in.
“Denver, can I see you for a sec?” he asks without addressing any of the interns.
Denver spins around. “Yeah, of course,” he replies, before turning back to us. “Sit tight, guys. I’ll be right back.”
Denver follows the bald man out, and the second the door closes behind him, Samantha turns to the middle of the table. “Maya and Kendrick are hooking up.” My eyes bulge, and Kendrick swings his chair around to stare daggers into her, making her shrink into her seat. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t help it.”
“Wow, Sam,” I say.
The rest of the interns turn and face us, making the cold room suddenly feel like hell’s sauna. Chad sits across from Derek, who both look at us in shock, like we’re bugs that have grown to human size, while Erica and Samantha freeze in place, their eyes stuck on us.
“Seriously?” Chad asks with one eyebrow raised higher than the other.
I don’t like the look on his face and it makes me scoff. “Yes, Chad, seriously. Why does everyone look so surprised?” I say, eyeing each person in the room.
“Because you hate each other,” Derek says. “At least, that’s what we all thought. Was all that just bullshit?”
