Page 170 of Play Along

“Happy.” There’s no hesitation in my answer. “I’m stoked she’s staying.”

“And long term? Because you thought this was a temporary fix. Are you wondering what this means for you guys?”

My head whips in his direction. “Well, fuck. Now I am.”

Kai chuckles, throwing his arm around me and pulling me to join the rest of the team. “Word of advice, little brother. You should probably think about asking your fake wife how she feels about being your real girlfriend now that she’s staying.”

Thankfully, that conversation ends just before arms wrap around my waist from behind.

“They have airbrush T-shirts here,” Kennedy says, her cheek resting on my back.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“That we should get Max one with his name on it?”

“Oh.” My lip curls. “No, I was thinking we should get couples shirts. You wear my name. I wear yours.”

“Why do I feel like you probably already had those made?”

“We’re up,” Travis says from the front of the line. “We can take Max in our gondola. There’s room.”

“Are you sure?” Miller asks. “You don’t mind?”

“Do you want to go with the boys, Bug?” Kai directs his question to his son.

Max nods excitedly, clapping his hands as Cody carries him into their gondola.

The rest of the team disperses into multiple others, and Kai and Miller take their own, as do we.

As soon as the door closes, Kennedy takes the initiative to slide onto my lap as we face the window. “I’ve never been on a Ferris wheel before.”

“What?” I laugh. “Yes you have.”

She shakes her head no, watching as we slowly inch above the Chicago skyline. It takes me only a moment to register who I’m talking to. Sometimes, I forget that Kennedy didn’t have a normal upbringing. That there’s no way her pretentious mother would take her to the local fair or an amusement park.

“I got close once though.”

“Oh yeah? How so?”

“My parents had a house in the Hamptons and one summer while I was home, we were going out there for this big party my mother had planned. I think I was eleven or twelve, and I didn’t want to sit around while a bunch of older people faked that they liked each other. So, while the car was being packed up for the weekend, I ran away, got on the subway determined to spend my weekend at Coney Island. There was an old Ferris wheel there. It looked fun and I had never been on one.”

“You did not.”

She huffs a laugh. “I did.”

“Okay, rebel. And did you make it?”

“Nope. I did, however, make it to Brooklyn before one of the family drivers scooped me up and drove me straight out to the Hamptons. My mother didn’t even reprimand me when I got there. Even me trying to run away couldn’t get her attention.” She settles back into my chest. “A lot of people were impressed by my last name, but it wasn’t much fun growing up as a Kay.”

I slip my arm around her hip, finding her hand folded in her lap to run the pad of my thumb over her ring. “I don’t care what your last name was, Kenny. I only care what it is now.”

She chuckles. “You do know my last name isn’t actually Rhodes, right? Just because we’re married doesn’t mean I automatically took your last name.”

“Well, we should probably do something about that.”

She doesn’t respond. Just like she didn’t respond when I told her I loved her.

And that’s okay.

---