Page 31 of Ice Cold Rival

Kenzie’s gaze finally landed on me, and the surprised, slightly hungry, flare in her eyes hit me like a sack of bricks to the chest. With all the interfering conversations and duck craziness, I hadn’t had a chance to change from my workout clothes—shorts and a t-shirt ripped at the sides.

I had a lot of skin on display, and Kenzie’s gaze slowly slid down my body in a way that felt entirely too physical for public consumption. She licked her lips, and I had to clench my fists to keep from throwing her over my shoulder in front of everyone and carting her upstairs.

The gesture would work to convince everyone we were together, but it would also plant me squarely in the danger zone of destroying our deal. Once I’d had enough of her, what then? We wouldn’t be able to keep up the charade, and I needed her to convince everyone I could make decisions with parts other than my dick.

Eva cleared her throat, thankfully breaking the moment, and ushered Kenzie farther into the room. “She said you invited her.”

I understood why Eva was both suspicious and delighted enough to wait outside for Kenzie to show up. She’d helped me get rid of many clingy overnight guests while she lived with us. Not every woman meant it when she said she was okay with one night only. The prospect of me having a girlfriend who I wanted to see more than once probably short-circuited something in her brain.

It certainly did mine.

Cole clapped my back, snapping me out of my daze. “About time. Reece never brings women home to meet the family.”

I shrugged him off and pulled Kenzie away from Eva, looping an arm around her shoulders. “Everyone, this is Kenzie, my girlfriend.” I ignored the gasps and Eva’s happy dance. “Kenzie, that’s Eva, Cole, Marco, Stephen, Henry, and…”

With a frown, I realized Sunny was missing. Again. She’d definitely inherited her escape tendencies from her mom.

“Where’s Sunny?”

Eva stopped shimmying to check the floors. “Is she downstairs with Mase?”

We all looked toward the basement stairs, but the door was still mostly closed. She could wiggle past the opening, but the crack wasn’t currently big enough for a duck to fit through.

Kenzie pressed her lips together, holding in a smile, and nodded toward the kitchen counter clearly visible in our open concept house. “Is that her?”

Hidden in the shadows between a box of cereal and another of protein bars, Sunny was quietly pushing the treat jar toward the edge of the counter where Henry waited.

Eva groaned. “Dammit, Sunny! What are you doing?”

Her little head whipped toward us as if she’d thought we were too busy to notice. Marco and Stephen burst out laughing, and Cole only shook his head. Eva stomped over to the ducks, Kenzie forgotten for the moment.

I took advantage of the ducks’ distraction to whisper in her ear. “Tell me now if you want to escape.”

Her smile softened with a quiet chuckle. “No, it’s fine.”

“Okay, but if this all gets to be too much, the safe word is kumquat.”

Eva snatched Sunny off the counter and glared down at Henry. “You, little miss, know better. And you…” She turned her ire on us. “Why do you have another glass treat jar? You know what happened the last time.”

I struggled to keep a straight face, but Eva wasn’t playing. “Sunny figured out the latch. We had to improvise, and since it wasHenrythe last time, we thought we’d be safe for a while.”

Cole held up his hands. “You know how hard it is to control duck shenanigans.”

She glared at him for a second, then let out a rush of air. “You need to duck proof this place again.”

Stephen left Marco by the door to retrieve the treat jar from Eva and put it on the top shelf in the cabinet. “There. All settled.” Then he wrapped an arm around Eva and not so gently shoved her toward Marco. “We’re leaving for brunch. Kenzie, it was nice to meet you. Reece, you should wear outfits like that more often. Cole, I need to borrow your cowboy hat later.”

He didn’t offer an explanation or respond to Cole’s soft, “Hell no.”

Eva tried to turn, but Stephen’s grip didn’t offer her much leeway. “Cole, watch Henry. She’s feeling feisty lately.”

“I’m on it.” He scooped Henry up with one hand and Sunny with the other, only getting a minor complaint in the process, and started for the stairs as the others filed out the door.

“Wait. Where are you going?” I wasn’t proud of the panic in my voice, but if he left, I’d be alone with Kenzie.

Cole slowed and sent a confused look over his shoulder. “To my room. They can’t get into anything in there, and I thought you might want some privacy?”

The last bit turned into a question Ireallydidn’t want to answer. Kenzie stiffened under my arm, and I quickly convinced myself we’d be fine together in the living room—conveniently forgetting all the times I’d taken advantage of my roommates’ hermit tendencies.

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