Page 49 of I Love to Hate You
Kendrick’s smirk widens to the point of being noticeable, so he turns around and starts fiddling with the coffee maker so no one can see. Just watching him turn around to do nothing tickles me so much that I let out a giggle.
Chad immediately pounces. “What’s so funny?”
“Damn, I can’t laugh if I want, Chad?” I say, forcing the smile away. “I can’t be ecstatic about the pitch?”
Samantha frowns and joins in. “Why are you always all up in somebody’s business, Chad?”
“Yeah, Chad,” Erica says. “Let the woman laugh if she wants to.”
“Yeah, Chad!” Derek snaps, feigning anger with a pointed finger.
Kendrick suddenly spins around. “Goddamn it, Chad!” he snaps, sending a cold chill through the entire room as everyone stops to look at him. All smiles vanish and breathing comes to a halt. Even I have a look of shock on my face before Kendrick finally smiles.
“Y’all can relax, I’m just joking,” he says, chuckling to himself.
The group lets out a collective sigh as everyone starts to laugh. While they’re all distracted, I look at Kendrick and meet his gaze again. He smiles from ear to ear before licking his lips, making my heart flutter before I return my focus to the group.
“So, how about you, Kendrick?” Derek asks as the raucousness dies down. “You’re the second part of this dysfunctional duo. Got any tips for the rest of us losers who couldn’t get it right?”
“I thought Denver gave you guys advice,” Kendrick says.
“He did, but I want to hear it from Jordan and Pippen themselves,” Derek says.
I scoff. “And which one of us is Jordan?”
Derek’s face shrinks with fear as his eyes slowly look up at Kendrick and he nods in his direction.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” I blurt out as the rest of the group laughs.
Kendrick snickers too, waving his hands as he moves to the table and sits down between Erica and Samantha. “Hold on, hold on. If anybody was Pippen in this situation, it was me. As much as it pains me to admit it, Maya was the one who gave us our blueprint for the pitch. She has even read some of Nasir Booker’s novels. It was her idea to aim the pitch toward men. All I did was try to use wording that targeted things that men liked.”
“Oh, like when you said I would be a god?” Derek asks, sending laughter across the room again.
“Let’s not forget all the mentions of war,” Chad adds.
“And the part about being a spy,” Samantha chimes in.
I laugh as I raise my hand. “Hey, that one was me. Admittedly, I was just following Kendrick’s lead by that point.”
“It was brilliant, girl,” Samantha says. “Y’all can fight like cats and dogs. As long as you put on when the spotlight is bright, nothing else matters. But seriously, do we need to have a chaperone with you at all times? The animosity was so thick when we walked in here, I’m surprised y’all could breathe.”
Kendrick and I glance at each other but don’t let it linger.
“We’ll be fine,” he says.
“Yeah, we’re capable of controlling ourselves,” I add. “As long as he stays far away from me when we’re not working. We may pitch well, but that’s all we’lleverdo together.”
I take a quick peek at Kendrick and find his eyes boring into me, his face twisted into a half-smile-half-scowl. I smirk at him before looking at Samantha again.
“Well, regardless of how crazy you guys are,” she says. “This is cause for celebration. We just completed our first pitches as interns. Some of us did better than others, but I’d say it was a pretty big success for our first time. So, what’s everybody doing tonight? We should all go out.”
“Ooh, that sounds like a great idea,” Erica says, jumping in. “That way we could all hang out, have some drinks, and get to know each other better outside of work.”
All of the boys nod their agreement, and Samantha takes the lead. “Awesome. So, tonight it is.”
Excitement buzzes from person to person as Samantha lays out the details of her plans to hit a nightclub in Center City. While everyone listens intently to her, no one notices the lingering eye contact between Kendrick and me. Though I’m elated to have a night out with friends, what energizes me the most is the thought of being out with Kendrick, and I can tell from the look on his face that he’s feeling the exact same thing I am.
We’ve shared our first kiss, and the whole thing was enough to send me falling over the edge for Kendrick again. I know how bad things started between us, and I can’t forget the way it ended when we tried this the first time—but, my god, his mouth tasted like everything sweet and seductive. My mind won’t forget the image and my tongue yearns for a second helping of him as soon as possible. One kiss has me hooked, and I’m beyond ready for more.
