Page 15 of Kennedy

“I’ll do my best,” Kennedy promised. That was all he could promise, but he’d do everything he could to make it happen. He wanted Lewis to be happy. He wanted him to never have to worry about anything ever again and know that he could rely on him, whatever he needed. He wanted to make Lewis feel cherished and like he was the most important person in the world because, to Kennedy, he was.

Kennedy had a lot of work to do, but at least now, he had a direction. He’d go to the shop, talk to Danny, and see what came out of it. Hopefully, he’d get ideas about what he could do for his mate. He’d have plenty of time to work on them since the program was over and the only thing that remained was to talk to various trainees about their decisions.

Kennedy wasn’t looking forward to that. He already knew a few trainees would give him and the other trainers trouble, and it would be hard to resist the urge to knock their heads together. Luckily, most of them would be reasonable, and they’d already had chats with a few, like Seymour, who’d confessed that he didn’t want to be an assassin. He wanted to stay in town, close to Jimmy, who worked at the facility. Hawthorne had plans for Seymour, and Kennedy was curious to find out what those plans were.

He was even more curious to meet Danny, though, so he headed out, ready to start part two of his plan. He knew what he had to do. Now, he had to do it.

* * * *

WHEN LEWIS RETURNEDfrom the coffee shop with sandwiches and coffee for him and Danny, he didn’t expect Danny to be working on the biggest bouquet of flowers he’d ever seen.

He dropped the bag onto the counter, placed their coffee next to it, and took off his jacket. He cocked his head as he did so, looking at the bouquet this way and that, wondering if the guy who’d cheated on his wife the other day was back. He hadn’t expected the massive bouquet the guy had bought that day to work, and he didn’t think that doubling down would change anything, but he wasn’t about to complain.

“Cheating guy?” he asked as he gestured at the bouquet Danny was working on.

Danny grinned. “It’s not for him.”

“Good. I hope his wife dumped his ass. You need help?”

“Nope. Just sit down and start eating. I’m almost done.”

Lewis did sit down, but he didn’t start eating just yet. It would be rude, especially when Danny was right there. Danny noticed and rolled his eyes, but he kept his attention on the bouquet, carefully selecting flowers and settling them amongst the others.

“Well, whoever is going to receive this is a lucky person,” he said as he sipped on his coffee.

His thoughts turned to Kennedy because hewaslucky to have met his mate. He was the luckiest guy because of the kind of man Kennedy was. They were mates, which meant that Kennedy would be his for the rest of his life, but he had to be careful not to assume it meant they wouldn’t have problems. He wanted Kennedy to feel loved, which shouldn’t be a problem because he had a lot of love to give.

He just wasn’t sure where to start. He’d had boyfriends in the past and a few girlfriends, but usually, they were the ones who came to him. He made an effort when he was in a relationship, but he always felt awkward and afraid of what their reaction would be. Knowing he needed to make the people he dated feel important but at the same time being terrified that whatever he did to make that happen would be weird didn’t sit well with him. He was afraid that Kennedy would eventually realize just how awkward he was and would dump him and go look for a better mate.

But Kennedy would never have a better mate because Lewis was the only mate he’d ever have.

“Here,” Danny said as he held out the bouquet.

Lewis assumed that he wanted him to check that everything was as it should be, even though it had been years since he’d needed the help. He took the bouquet and turned it this way and that, enjoying the riot of colors. It didn’t have the classic flowers. There were no roses in this arrangement. Instead, there were sunflowers, tulips, and even wildflowers.

“It’s lovely,” he said as he tried to hand back the bouquet.

Danny shook his head and took a step back. “You should check the note.”

Lewis couldn’t imagine why Danny would want him to do that, but his heart raced as he reached for the little white card. Messages between customers were private, and he never read them. The fact that Danny had told him to meant something.

He sucked in a breath, plucked out the note, and gently put the bouquet down on the counter. He opened the tiny white envelope and slid out the card, his lips stretching into a smile when he saw Kennedy’s name at the bottom of the few sentences.

“They’re from Kennedy?” he asked.

Danny shrugged. “He wanted to do something nice,” he explained.

“Did you tell him that he just had to breathe to do that?”

Danny laughed. “Not in those words, but yes. I think he really cares about you, Lewis.”

Lewis looked at the bouquet. He didn’t want to assume, but he was elated. How was he supposed to refute the fact that Kennedy was interested in him? He wouldn’t have bought him these flowers if he wasn’t. Lewis might not understandwhyKennedy was interested because he thought he was pretty boring, but did he need to understand? He didn’t think Kennedy would lie to him, especially not about this.

He stared at the card for a moment, then sucked in a breath.

To the most perfect mate Fate could have ever given me. I have no idea what I’m doing, but that’s not going to stop me from trying to make you happy. I hope these flowers do the trick.

They definitely did. Lewis leaned forward to smell them, his lips stretching into an almost painfully wide smile. Danny rolled his eyes as he opened the bag and pulled out the sandwiches, but Lewis knew his best friend was happy for him. Hell, knowing him, he was a bit jealous because he didn’t have anyone sending him flowers.

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