Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 35195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Kennedy’s eyebrows were furrowed, sensing something wasn’t making sense and she was going to dig in, figure it out, but I jerked forward. And yep. I spilled the drinks on purpose.
Both girls jumped up, and I stood, clasping my hands to my cheeks. “Oh! Look at that.” I reached for the glasses before they rolled off. “So clumsy of me. Bello.” I saw some had spilled on her lap. “You might want to clean that up?”
She was doing her whole blinking thing again, surprised at the turn of events, but hurried to the patio door. Just as she stepped through to shut it, she paused on the other end and mouthed to me, “Thank you.”
I nodded at her before trying to actually clean up the mess with my hands, because I wasn’t sure how Gage would react if his patio got stained.
“You did that on purpose.”
“Duh.” My hands weren’t working. I’d need something else.
“I wasn’t being that bad.”
I stopped, fixing Kennedy with a look. “I don’t think she and her ex had a happy ending. That’s not for you to force out.”
She opened her mouth.
I held up a hand, saying gently, “And I know you weren’t reading the signs because otherwise you never would’ve pushed. Whatever her story is, I think it’s a sad one.”
The corner of Kennedy’s mouth turned down. “Gage really likes her. I can tell. I don’t want him to get hurt.”
“I know, which is why you’re a great sister and you have great brothers.” I didn’t need to say anything more. Kennedy was a protector. She was protecting her brother, but if circumstances switched, she’d be Bello’s protector. She was amazing in that way, and she’d go the extra mile to fight for people she loved by protecting them. I moved to her, forgetting the spill so I could hug her. “It’s really great to see you guys again.”
She hugged me back. “You too.” Her voice came out muffled against my shirt. “But we need to clean this up or Gage will freak over his patio.”
I’d been so right in that worry. We both took another second to hug and then got to work wiping all evidence. There was a garbage can around the corner, and Kennedy found paper towels in the garage. When the guys came out, both Caden and Shay paused, taking us in.
Shay cursed first. “Where are your drinks?”
Caden added, “You didn’t come back inside, and Gage’s girl didn’t bring them in either.”
Did they know us or did they know us?
Gage was behind them, carrying a tray of pizza slices. He moved around our husbands, putting the tray on the table. “My bad on burning the first round, but these are done to perfection. Slightly burned on the edges…” He trailed off, looking at us, at our guys, and again at us. “What’s going on? Bello said she had to go to the bathroom. Is she okay?”
Kennedy smiled brightly, grabbing a slice and taking a bite. “Just hungry, brother. And yum. This is delicious but I need a refill.” She hurried inside before he noticed she wasn’t carrying a glass.
I held up a finger. “Me too.”
Bello came back downstairs as Kennedy was mixing my drink. A pact was made not to tell Gage about the spillage. We were bonded for life now.
5
The first hints of sunrise began when Gage made the suggestion. He stood, yawning, and pointed in the distance. “I live a few blocks from the ocean. Can’t tell because the view is blocked by trees, but we could walk there. I know a super secluded beach. Your place is a mile down from there.”
We’d stayed up all night. Laughing. Teasing. Reminiscing about our first times hanging out. When Gage met Marcus, Caden’s brother. When Kennedy was with me and we ran into Colton at a park, how kind she’d been to him, knowing instinctively to do that because I never told her about him. It was an expressed wish from him, not to tell our friends about him. That was Caden’s other brother. There were other stories, but we skipped all the ones about Gage because those usually included a girl of the week, and we were being respectful to Bello, who had curled up in Gage’s lap, drowsing off until he just now stood.
She stood with him, rubbing at her eyes, and giving in to a full yawn. She reached out for his hand and waved with her other one to everyone. “Think I’m going to pass. I have a shift later, need to sleep. It was really nice meeting everyone.”
Hugs were given. Kennedy said she was happy to have met her, and she sounded genuine.
She told me later, as we were heading down a path in the woods, linking elbows, “I think she’s the only girl I’ve really felt okay about with Gage. He liked a friend of mine in college, but it didn’t work out. I like Bello.” A small crease formed between her eyebrows, and knowing Kennedy, she was wondering what her sad story about the ex was.