Page 82 of False Play
Kennedy frowned. “What?”
“Did I hear someone say line dancing?” Val asked excitedly, joining the conversation. “We should totally go to that new bar when it opens! A college friend of mine is their social media manager, and the place looks so fun.”
Owens groaned, “Pecas?*, no. That’s not fucking happening. We get enough of that when we visit back home.”
Val pouted. “Oh, come on, Nico. It would be fun. Like the good old days.” She made a show of grabbing her imaginary cowboy hat and placing it on top of Owens’s head.
“So fun,” Hayes quipped. “Anderson was just talking about it.”
My fucking God, I was going to throttle my best friend. That was it. He deserved it. He had a good run. Slept with lots of women and had a good career. I’d be ending his life on a high note.
Kennedy scrunched her freckled nose, and cute lines formed at the top of it. My fingers twitched, itching to trace the lines. “You line dance?”
“Of course, he does. We went all the time when we were freshmen in college,” Hayes said.
Kennedy’s eyes sparkled with humor. “Is that true, pretty boy?”
I fought the grimace that wanted to take over my face this time. “Yeah, it’s true,” I said, my shoulders deflating.
Listen, I was an eager, brand-new college student looking to score with some hot college chicks. Unfortunately for me, they happened to always be hanging out at country bars. My college town wasn’t big on the college scene. We had to make do with what we had.Sue me.
She cocked an eyebrow. “Guess we found the perfect date night for next week.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Someone needed to kill me, because I couldn’t believe I had agreed to yet another ridiculous plan, all because I was dying to spend more time with Kennedy Jones.
* Freckles.
TWENTY
KENNEDY
PREPARE TO BECOME OBSESSED WITH ME.
Bars,believe it or not, had never been my scene.
The thought alone should have been wrong, considering I lived in such a lively city.
When I told Henry we should go to acountrycity bar—God, it even sounded ridiculous to say it out loud—it had been a joke.
Until it wasn’t, and somehow, it became more of a group thing than a date night. That made me feel…safer, for some reason. Being in a group setting was the perfect buffer to ignore the strange feelings I was developing for Henry.
It was a busy Friday night, and I had come straight from work with Val since we agreed to meet the guys here. They had a rough game in Seattle the night before, so they needed something to let off some steam.
I was…nervous. My body buzzed with a strange energy I couldn’t shake off. I wasexcitedto see Henry, and though that newfound information should have scared me, I didn’t let it.
It was the bar’s official grand opening, so it was lively and loud. The place had a modern feel to it, with a shiny dark woodfront bar and light whiskey barrels that hung over it, acting as lamps. Whiskey paraphernalia filled the sleek space, doused in muted colors of gray and black, save for the neon signs with words likeHowdyandWelcome Y’all, as well as the beer brand signs.
Val interlaced our arms together. “My friends back at Sunset Creek would be appalled by this fancy place.” She laughed. “But, hey, I have to make do with what I have. Right?”
“It is very fancy,” I conceded.
She took one good look at me and wiggled her eyebrows. “Henry is going to lose his shit when he sees you.”
“This is ridiculous. I don’t know why we had to dress up.”
Everyone around the bar was wearing hats and boots, so maybe it hadn’t been a stupid idea after all. Most men were wearing those ridiculous flannel shirts and the typical cheap-looking cowboy hats, and almost every girl was wearing glittery crop tops with either tight jeans or miniskirts and cowboy hats with rhinestones on them.
