Page 31 of The Rebound
Sighing, I drop my phone on my lap and lean my head back to stare at the treetops. This is probably pointless. She hasn’t responded to any of my other texts recently, so why would she reply to this one?
I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out what I did, where I went wrong. But for once in my life, I don’t think I’m the problem. I’m willing to bet my left nut on the probability that it has something to do with Reeves.
Son of a bitch.Why did I have to fuck around with the sister of the dude who hates me the most?
But it isn’t just “fucking around” to me. It’s been a lot more than that. Hell, we haven’t even had sex yet. Sure, we’ve made out on more than one occasion. I guess we swapped oral that one time. And I did finger-fuck Kinley to nirvana and back while she jerked me off the face of the earth.
Even though my heart rate responds by escalating to those very pleasant memories, my time with her wasn’t about getting in her pants.
What I’m trying to say is that this hasn’t just been about hooking up. We’ve been taking it slow in our own way, like we’re building up to something important. And that’s the thing. Kinley is important to me. I’m not sure what that means yet, but it’s definitely not what the captain—
“Saint?”
Speak of the devil, and his angel of a little sister will appear.
I nearly give myself whiplash looking over my shoulder to see Kinley approaching, wearing a casual T-shirt that stretches tightly across her belly, and a ripped pair of jeans. I try not to stare as she sits down on the bench next to me.
“Hey,” I say on a long exhale, so stupidly happy to see her again. What was I so worried about?
“Hey,” she says, her voice guarded. Her hair is loose around her face, and she’s wearing makeup. I don’t recall if I’ve seen her wear makeup before. Her lips look even more kissable than normal, painted a soft pink color.
Stop staring at her mouth, I remind myself.
“Thanks for meeting me. How are you? How’s the little man?” I tip my chin toward her belly, which appears to have gotten bigger in the few days since I’ve seen her, if that’s even possible.
“I’m okay.” She sighs on an exhale. “The little man is doing great. How are you?”
“I’m better now.”
Rather than her usual easy grin, she’s wearing a tight smile. She waits patiently for me to say something else, and it’s in that precise moment that I realize I have nothing prepared.
Fuck. Time to wing it.
I rub one hand over my hair. “I’ll just cut to the chase. I know your life is complicated right now. I mean, I can’t fully understand it because I haven’t walked in your shoes, but I get it. You’ve got a kid on the way and a brother to think about. I’m not trying to get in the way of your family or cause any drama. I just ... I like hanging out with you. I want you in my life, Kin.”
That seems to do something to her. What exactly, I’m not sure.
Her eyes close briefly before settling on mine again, and she lets out an uneasy sigh. “I’d like that. It’s just that we can’t—”
“See each other anymore,” I say, repeating her words from before.
“Right. There just isn’t room for it all.”
I swallow my objections. So what if she doesn’t want to fuck me? The woman has a lot on her plate right now with the baby landing in T-minus one month. Not to mention her very complicated family dynamics, meaning her brother is an asshole.
Man enough to handle a little rejection, I almost believe the words coming out of my mouth next. Almost. “We could be friends, you know—justfriends. You gotta have room for one more friend in your life, right?”
“Are you ... sure?”
“For once, yeah. But I don’t want to pressure you into hanging out with me if you don’t want to. It’s your call. Take it or leave it.”
She frowns. “What would that even look like?”
“What do normal, nonsexual friendships look like?”
Her eyes light up even as she scoffs, a little bit of that familiar humor sparking behind them. “Nothing like what we’ve been doing.”
We share a look that has me thinking aboutwhat we’ve been doingin megawatt high definition. Fuck, these shorts are too damn thin to hide a chub.
