Oh fuck.He’d expected me back at his house. He was probably worried sick with everything going on with the hitwoman and Mr. Pruitt.
“Everything okay?” Kennedy asked.
I looked up at her. I hadn’t noticed it last night. But sometime after dinner and before my text, she must have changed into a pair of flannel pajamas with little polar bears all over them. She was even wearing a pair of polar bear slippers. “Everything’s fine.” I slid my phone into my pocket. “I like the PJs.”
“What?” She looked down.
I started laughing.
“Hey, I came over because you texted. I didn’t have time to change.”
I couldn’t help it. I just started laughing harder. The polar bear slippers even looked like they were laughing.
“Don’t laugh at me.” She tore one of her slippers off and chucked it at me.
I caught it and narrowly prevented the polar bear from colliding with my face.
“Nice to see you still know how to catch. Because you’ve certainly lost your prep-school manners. I think, ‘Thank you, Kennedy, for being wonderfully supportive,’ would be a more appropriate reaction this morning. You’re welcome.”
“You’re right.” I stood up. “Thank you, Kennedy. For being wonderfully supportive.”
“Was that so hard?” She snatched her slipper out of my hand. “As fun as you laughing at me is, I really do have to go.”
“I’ll walk you out.” I have no idea why I said it. This wasn’t my place to walk anyone out of. I just knew that I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye yet.
We didn’t say anything as we made our way out of Brooklyn’s old place.
But before Kennedy reached her mom’s apartment door, I said, “I’ll text you.”
She turned around. She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Good.”
“Good.” I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face. She wanted me to text her. It felt like I was a kid again. This giddy feeling in my stomach. I felt stupid and excited all at once.
She rolled her eyes, just adding to the feeling that we were kids again. “Have a good day, Matt.” She left me alone in the hallway, with my stomach feeling weird and about a million things I needed to do.
I would have called Tanner back right away. But Tanner would insist on an apology in person anyway. He was old-fashioned like that. So as I drove to his apartment, I called Rob.
“Hey,” Rob said. “It’s early. Is everything alright?”
“Yeah…”
“Oh, never mind,” he said, cutting me off. “Everything’s not okay. Because you’re trying to get my niece killed, you ass face.”
I cringed. “Good morning to you too.”
“Good morning,” Rob mumbled.
“And just for the record, Scarlett is my niece too, Rob.”
“Lies. Only in the friendship way. Everyone’s always trying to steal my niece and nephew away from me. I’m their one and only uncle.”
Every now and then Rob got defensive about the wholefrienduncle thing. Usually when he was mad at me about something.And if he was bringing that up, then I wasn’t off to a good start for getting the camera. Angry Rob was hard to negotiate with.
“Blood isn’t everything,” I said.
“Did you call to tell me your other non-related niece is going to get murdered too? How long have you known that my daughter is in trouble with freaking mobsters? A week? A month? Longer?”
I would have hung up on him, but my hands were on the wheel. “I made a mistake…”
