“So James has a kid?”
I smiled. “Two actually.”
“I can’t picture him being a dad. When did we all get so old?”
“You look anything but old.”
She looked down at her shoes.
“That’s what the date is, by the way. Mason, Rob, and James are all inside for guys’ night. I was kinda thinking I could surprise them with…you. And the fact that we’re dating.”
“So they don’t even know I’m coming?”
I shook my head.
“And they don’t know that we’re dating?”
“Not yet.” I smiled down at her. “That’s kind of what tonight was for.”
She took a deep breath. “I think maybe we should keep it that way.”
“You want to do something else tonight?”
“I mean the dating thing. We’re not dating, Matt. Not anymore. I’ve been in a toxic relationship before. And I’m not putting myself in a situation to get stepped all over again. I can’t.”
“Kennedy…”
“We’ll be friends. Until you get this sorted out with Poppy. Okay?”
“Just friends?”
She nodded. “Just friends.”
I was so close. So close to getting to be happy. So close to getting the girl for once. I didn’t know how long this shit with Poppy was going to take. Days? Months? Longer? I tried to ignore thesinking feeling in my stomach. But I had to respect Kennedy’s decision. I’d never force her to be with me in secret. Despite what she’d said, I’d learned my lesson on that. “Okay.”
“Okay.” She exhaled slowly. “So I’m just going to go then.”
“You can still come up, Kennedy. All the guys are going to be thrilled to see you.”
“I don’t really feel like hanging out with everyone when I feel like I’m about to start crying.”
“I’m sure Rob will make you smile.”
She laughed. “That’s true. I have to admit, I kind of miss his jokes. But won’t it be weird?”
“Why would it be weird? You and I have always been friends. Nothing will change that.” But it was a lie. Everything changed as soon as I kissed her. I didn’t want to go back. I didn’t know how to go back.
“Right.” She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
I could already feel her slipping away. “Come on. It’ll be fun.” I put my hand out for her.
She ignored my offered hand. But she leaned in to tell the taxi driver he didn’t have to wait any longer. “I’m sorry about the flowers,” she said as the taxi sped off.
“It’s okay. At the last minute I realized you’d probably prefer French fries anyway.”
She laughed. “Very true. But for the record, when you’ve done something wrong and want to bring flowers, my favorites are tulips. I can’t even remember where my mom and I were going. But we were on a trip and we passed by this huge field of tulips. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”
I didn’t say a word as we walked side by side into James’ building. But if she thought she wasn’t getting a tulip every day until she took me back, she was sorely mistaken. We got on the elevator and I could feel the distance between us. She leaned against the wall on the opposite side of me. And all I could think about was closing the distance between us.
