Chapter 14
Kennedy
My phone dinged with a new text message.
We’re here.
“What the hell,” I whispered.
Who is we? I typed back. What in the hell was Karlton up to now?
I hadn’t spoken to him since I ran him out of Zen after he drove me crazy when I was on the phone with Dante.
A knock rapped on my door, and my phone dinged again.
Open the door.
I turned my head to look at the door. I really didn’t want to open it.
It was one o’clock. I had just done my sunrise yoga sessions this morning, then a hot yoga class, and now I was laying on my couch doing absolutely nothing.
I had a frozen pizza in the oven and a thick vanilla milkshake in my cup. I planned on binge watching some mindless show until Dante showed up, not answer the door, and then continue to watch TV.
I talked to Dante four days ago. I never agreed to go out with him, so as far as I was concerned, I didn’t have a date tonight.
“Kennedy Rose Kramer, you better open this door right now. I know you’re in there because I heard you slurping on that damn milkshake before I knocked on the door.”
Son of a gun. Foiled by my own milkshake. “I’m busy,” I hollered back.
“The only thing you are busy with is watching TV and eating frozen pizza. I know what you do on Saturdays. Open. The. Door.”
For Pete's sake. When did it become that I wasn’t able to do what I wanted? I rolled off the couch, tossed my phone on the coffee table, and marched to the front door. “What in the…” My words trailed off, and my jaw dropped when I saw that it wasn’t just Karlton at my door.
“I brought the girls.” Karlton sprawled out his hands, presenting everyone.
Molly, Sage, and Hadley stood behind him. They all offered meek smiles.
“Ugh, hey,” I wheezed. I gave a weak wave and opened the door wide. If it was just Karlton, I wouldn’t have hesitated to shut the door on him. “I, uh, didn’t know you guys were coming over.” I looked at my cheese-puff stained hands and wiped them on my black yoga pants. Did I forget to mention that while I was waiting for the pizza to cook, I had popped open a fresh bag of cheesy goodness?
“That’s because we knew you wouldn’t open the door.” Karlton gave me the death glare and walked past me. “The fact that you haven’t talked to me in days, sugar, did not go unnoticed.”
The girls stood in the door, unaware of what to do next.
“Erg, Karlton said you wouldn’t mind us coming over,” Molly rambled off.
I looked over my shoulder at Karlton who was sitting on my sofa sipping on my milkshake. “He was right. I wouldn’t mind you three coming over. He is another issue.” I stepped to the side and motioned for them to come in. “You guys are always welcome.”
They looked at each other and audibly sighed. “Thank goodness. The smell of whatever you’re cooking is too much for me to turn away from.” Sage patted me on the shoulder and moved past me.
“I’m Hadley.”
I grabbed her outstretched hand. “Is it weird to say I know who you are even though we’ve never really met?”
“No, because I could say the same about you,” she chuckled.
I was a little taken aback by the fact she knew who I was. I wasn’t really anyone most people knew. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, and come on in. I guess we’re having a get-together?”
I closed the door behind Hadley and Molly as they moved past me. “Are you guys hungry?” My mother had taught me to be a stellar hostess. That was one of the main things she did. Always entertaining and always pretending to have a perfect life.
“Pizza,” the three girls said in unison.
“I could use another milkshake.” Karlton slurped the last of my shake and set it on the coffee table. “That was only half a glass.”
“That was my milkshake,” I muttered under my breath. “You’re in luck that I stockpile frozen pizza and ice cream.”
“Point me in the direction of the ice cream and blender. I can help,” Molly offered.
“I can totally take a wrapper off a frozen pizza,” Hadley added.
“Karlton and I can hold down your couch for you,” Sage called from the living room. She plopped down on the couch and grabbed the bag of cheese puffs.
Molly and Hadley snickered, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Thank goodness, I was worried with that breeze coming from the air conditioner that it was going to blow away.”
“Glad to be of service,” Sage droned, her eyes glued to the TV.
“You guys don’t need to help,” I said as I grabbed two more pizzas from the freezer.
“Nonsense. You obviously weren’t expecting us to come over. At least let us help you make your food we plan on eating.” Hadley grabbed the pizzas from me, and Molly snuck in behind me and grabbed the ice cream.
“Just point me to the blender, and you can relax,” she ordered.
I pointed to the blender I had tucked into the corner of the counter and looked around trying to figure out what the hell was going on. “So, did you guys just come over because you’re hungry?” I sat down in one of the kitchen chairs and watched Hadley unwrap one of the pizzas.
“No. Karlton enlisted us to come talk to you about the karate hotties,” Hadley laughed.
I should have known that this was going to have something to do with Dante. “And what exactly did we need to talk about?”
“Dante is an ass, don’t date him!” Sage called. “He steals cookies and he mfmns hdsgh.”
“Shut your pie hole,” Karlton hissed. I glanced in the living room and saw Karlton half-laying on top of Sage with his hand over her mouth. “I knew it was a mistake to have you come with.”
She grabbed his wrist and managed to pry his hand off of her mouth. “I’m here to speak the truth and not be blinded by the other two hotties that managed to bamboozle those two schmucks in the kitchen.”
“Did she just call us schmucks?” Hadley asked Molly.
Molly shrugged and started opening all of my drawers. “I need a spoon,” she babbled.
“On your left, one more drawer down,” I instructed.
“Don’t you think we should be concerned that Sage called us schmucks and isn’t into the karate hotties?” Hadley asked.
“Sage is just pissy because she went over to Roman’s place to yell at him for sticking Kennedy with Dante instead of Roman being the decoy. She’s typically team karate hottie.” Molly found a spoon and opened the ice cream. “Can you grab the milk for me, Hadley?”
Hadley grabbed the milk and set it down next to the blender. “Hold on,” she said loudly. “You went over to Roman’s? What was it like?” she asked Sage, amazed.
“I didn’t see much,” Sage grumbled.
“What, he didn’t let you in?” Molly asked.
“He did. I just didn’t take note of what his decor was.” Sage wandered into the kitchen with the bag of cheese puffs in the crook of her arm. “Since I don’t remember, I’m going to say it was your typical bachelor pad.”
“What did you say to him?” I asked. I was surprised to learn that Sage had gone over to Roman’s.
“I just asked why he was such a dick about not going out with you. He insisted he had no idea what I was talking about. Come to find out, he wasn’t lying.”
Molly snickered. “Sage went off the handle when she heard that Dante was your decoy. She stormed out of the cafe and drove over to Roman’s right away.”
Karlton sauntered into the kitchen behind Sage and put his hands on her shoulders. “I thought maybe you did it because you secretly had the hots for Dante.”
Sage cringed and shook her head. “Hell to the no. Dante is an annoying asshole.” She looked at me. “No offense.”
I shrugged and tucked my feet under me. She could think what she wanted about Dante. I agreed with her that he could be an annoying asshole some of the time. “You’re good.”
“Thank God, you’re not under his spell yet like these two,” Sage muttered.
“Make that three. I am under all of the karate hotties’ spell. Even the irresponsible, yet dashing, Roman. King Peckerhead himself,” Karlton drawled. “He may be the youngest, but I have to say, he is the yummiest.”
Sage scrunched up her nose. “Roman is less than desirable.”
Karlton propped his chin on her shoulder. “I think Sage protests too much.”
She shrugged off Karlton and sat down at the table with me. “No, I just know that a karate hottie is not the man for me.”
Molly looked over her shoulder at Sage. “Then who is the man for you?”
Sage sighed and dug into the bag of cheese puffs. “Someone who can be a father to Sam. Roman Yeck is the furthest thing from that.”
I hadn’t had much contact with the hotties, but from what I had heard, Sage wasn’t too far off the mark. “There are more guys in the world besides the karate hotties,” I reminded them.
They all stopped talking and stared at me. “Huh?” Hadley grunted.
“There are other guys, but they aren’t the karate hotties. I’m rather partial to Kellan,” Molly put it. The spoon she had in her hand was dripping ice cream onto the counter, and her eyes were huge.
“I don’t have anything against the hotties, it’s just I was trying to agree with Sage.” Agree with her about what I wasn’t sure because now with all four of them staring me down, I had no idea why I had agreed. Also, I needed to stop saying the word hotties. I felt like I was reverting back to high school.
“You better not since one of those hotties has the hots for you,” Karlton claimed.
“Right?” Hadley asked.
Who was she asking? I had no idea since I didn’t know if Dante had the hots for me. Also, I didn’t think a man like Dante had the hots for anyone. He probably went after what he wanted and took it. “Um, I really wouldn’t know,” I muttered.
Karlton put his hands on his waist and thrust his hips to the side. “And this is the shit I was telling you three about. The man all but begs me to go out with her, and she acts like he likes her as much as a wet blanket in July.”
Sage looked at Karlton and scrunched up her nose. “Your analogies could use some work, padre.”
He brushed her off with a wave of his hand. “They’re golden, you just don’t get them.”
“Nobody does,” Hadley mumbled under her breath.
The timer on the oven went off, and I jumped up hoping to avoid whatever Karlton was about to say. “I got it.” I grabbed the oven mitts from the drawer next to the oven and pulled open the oven door.
“I made room over here for that one,” Hadley called.
I grabbed the cardboard circle that came with the pizza and slid the perfectly done pie onto it. I was a pro at making frozen pizza. Not exactly a huge accomplishment, but it was a good skill to have on my Saturday afternoon veg-out sessions. After I placed the cooked pizza on the counter, I grabbed the raw one from Hadley and stuck it in the oven.
“Don’t think you are getting out of talking about this, Kennedy.”
I slammed the oven shut and set the timer. “I didn’t really think I could avoid it, but it was worth a try.”
Hadley put her arm around my shoulder. “I promise to try and make this as painless as possible.”
Molly finished up the milkshakes, I cut the pizza, and Sage and Karlton took up their spots on the sofa again. Once we were all sitting in my living room munching on pizza and drinking milkshakes, Karlton cleared his throat. I rolled my eyes and stuffed my face with pizza. If I wouldn’t talk, then I couldn’t be part of this train wreck of a conversation.
“We are gathered here to discuss KenDan.”
Molly spit out her milkshake, and I was going to need to Heimlich maneuver to get the wad of pizza I had just swallowed out of my throat.
“Are we talking about two gay guys or Kennedy and Dante? I’m a bit confused here,” Sage muttered as she stirred her milkshake.
Karlton huffed. “Fine, Dannedy.”
Now it was Hadley’s turn to choke on her pizza. “I’m not sure where you are going with this, but I’m pretty sure neither of those are going to catch on.”
Karlton flapped his arms like a pissed off chicken. “Moving on,” he hissed. He settled back in the couch giving us each the evil eye to keep our mouths shut. “I really don’t know why I brought any of you with me,” he grumbled.
Molly sat forward on the couch and put the plate on the coffee table. “Look, we’re here because we all think you should give Dante a shot. He’s really not a bad guy.”
I didn’t think he was a bad guy. I just wasn’t interested in dating right now. “I actually think he’s nice.” I was sitting on the floor, and once again, everyone stopped to stare at me.
“Then what in the hell are we doing here?” Sage asked.
“We’re here because she thinks she doesn’t want to date him,” Karlton explained.
Hadley giggled. “Is that all? Hell, Molly and I thought the same thing about Kellan and Tate. Half the battle is figuring out they are actually decent guys.”
“She’s totally right. I mean, I thought Kellan was an asshole who liked to yell all the time just to drive me crazy.” Molly sat back on the couch and kicked her feet up on the coffee table. “There really isn’t much more we can do here. She’s either going to be with him or not.”
“We’ve only been out once. I really don’t think I can be talking about whether or not I want to be with him.” Honestly, how was one date enough to know whether or not you were going to be with someone?
“No, I will not accept this. Dante is perfect for her. He has the looks to fool her mother, and I’m pretty damn sure he has what it takes to get things done in the bedroom.” Karlton wiggled his eyebrows, and we all groaned.
“Look, you’re going out with him tonight, right?” Hadley asked.
I nodded. “It was more like a demand, but yes, he’s coming over at six after some tournament.” After I had hung up and gotten over being pissed off at Karlton, I had wondered what he had meant by tournament.
“Ryker went with them. He was competing in weapons, and I think Dante was going to do sparring,” Hadley remarked.
“Dante was fighting?” I asked. Not that I cared.
“Yeah. Roman went with them too. I know Dante and Roman are going to compete in some big tournament in a couple of weeks. Kellan said they were hitting up this small one to get some more practice in,” Molly explained.
“Isn’t he too old to be fighting?” Karlton asked.
Sage burst out laughing, and Molly shook her head.
“He isn’t that old, Karl. He’s only two years older than you are.”
Karlton put his hands to his chest and fluttered his eyes. “And I can tell you right now, the only thing that I am fit enough to compete in is a hot dog or chili eating contest.”
“So classy,” Sage muttered.
“Now that is one contest I could get down with,” I laughed.
“Classy goes out the window when food is involved, sugar,” Karlton tsked.
“You know, you really are a bit crazy,” Sage snickered.
“Dammit, we got off track again,” Karlton scolded. “We’re supposed to be convincing Kennedy into giving Dante another chance, not talking about my amazing eating skills.”
Hadley sputtered and slammed her milkshake on the coffee table. “I just had the most vivid image that I never want to have again that involved Karlton and another kind of eating.” She visibly shivered.
“Oh heavens, no need to be thinking about that. It’s been ages since Uncle Karlton has had any kind of fun like that in his life.”
“Well, if you call yourself Uncle Karlton, that might be the reason why you ain’t getting that kind of fun,” Sage muttered.
“And just what would you know about that?” Molly asked. “You ain’t dating anyone either.”
Sage fluttered her eyelashes and patted her hair. “My dry spell is no longer like the Sahara.”
“Shut. Up,” Molly hissed. “And you didn’t tell me?” she asked, offended and hurt.
“I’m not talking about it. It was one time, and that was it.” Sage motioned to zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key.
“Oh hell no, you are not going to get away with that. You are going to spill that right now,” Molly insisted.
“Stop, stop, stop. I agree we’re going to come back to you Miss Sage, but first, we need to figure out Kennedy,” Karlton pointed out.
Hadley fell onto her back on the floor and stretched out. “There isn’t anything for us to do, Karlton. Kennedy needs to do it all on her own.”
“But she said she wasn’t going to do anything,” Karlton hissed.
Hadley sat up and leveled her gaze on me. “You’re going out with him tonight, right?”
I set my plate down and wiped my hands on my pants. “Well, yes, but he really didn’t give me a choice.”
Hadley and Molly laughed. “Oh, she’s going to do something about it, even if she says she isn’t going to.”
Karlton’s gaze landed on me. “I don’t agree with this tactic, but since you two have fallen under the spell of two karate hotties yourselves, I’m going to have to trust you and hope he works his ninja magic on her.”
“Can you guys please not talk like I’m not even here?” I insisted.
Hadley laid back down, and Molly and Karlton started quizzing Sage on who the man was who managed to bring water to the desert.
The timer on the next pizza sounded, and I walked into the kitchen.
After I had slid it onto the cardboard circle and sliced it up, I stayed in the kitchen wondering what in the hell I was going to do when Dante showed up.
More importantly, what was I going to wear?
Lord help me, I was going on a date with Dante. A real date.
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