But she decided to do the exact opposite. She pulled back, knocking my coffee cup off my desk.
Shit.
And just like that, we parted. I grabbed Nigel’s fax to save it from destruction. And Kennedy grabbed some tissues to blot the mess up.
“I have to go,” she said without looking at me.
“Kennedy.”
Something was tearing her up inside. And I just wanted her to let me in. “Are you coming to practice this afternoon?” The guys were counting on her. And the homecoming game was this weekend. Jefferson needed her help and encouragement to kick.
“I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t even be here…”
I was losing her. I knew that Rob said Kennedy and I had already broken up. But that wasn’t true. Kennedy was struggling with something. And I wanted to be there for her. Because as far as I was concerned, we were a team now. “It was you.”
“What?” She finally turned to look at me.
“The rumors about me proposing to someone.” I knew this ruined the surprised, but I needed her to know just how much she meant to me. I walked over to her. “I was ring shopping. Some paparazzi found out about it. I thought I hushed the story, because I wanted this to be a surprise.” And I was seriously going to kill the person who told Poppy I was proposing to her. The escalation of that article about us already being engaged was levels of insane I hadn’t seen since Isabella. “Kennedy…” I was about to kneel.
“I swear if you get down on one knee right now, I will lose it.”
I laughed. But I also stopped in my tracks.
And she finally smiled.
“I meant what I said. I adore you. I love you.”
Her bottom lip started to tremble.
“And yeah, right now is not the right moment. I don’t want you to lose it.”
She wiped her own tears away this time.
“But I was ring shopping for you. I’m going to propose to you. I’ll ask you at a better time. And you can tell me no a million times and I won’t stop asking.”
She exhaled slowly and looked up at the ceiling. “I have to go.”
I laughed, but this time it was forced. “That’s all you have to say?”
She shook her head, her teary eyes meeting mine again. “I think that some things were always meant to be. And I’m not the kind of person that stuff like that happens to.”
I tried to process her words. That wasn’t exactly a no…but it certainly wasn’t a yes. “Maybe you’re not the kind of person that stuff like that happens to. Because you were supposed to wait until this moment to get it. It’s fate, Kennedy.”
“Then fate is cruel and twisted. I’m sorry, Matt. I have to go.” She walked out of my office as quickly as she’d come.
“Please just come to practice!” I called after her. “I promise I won’t propose!”
She didn’t respond.
I picked up the tabloid and stared at the picture of Poppy kissing me. Seriously, what the fuck? I thought she seemed a little better than Isabella. But this was just crazy. I shook my head. Why did I think someone who loved car bombs could possibly be sane? She needed to be locked up.
But then I started to think about her daughter again. Would she be worse or better off without her mom?
I was done debating this. I slid the evidence into my pocket and walked out of my office.
***
I had the whole drive over to the Cannavaro estate to come up with a better idea. Like going to the cops. But for some reason I’d decided on this. Everything I did seemed to backfire recently. Hopefully this would go a little better.
