Page 34 of False Play
After we arrived home from the store last night, she went straight to her room and didn’t even come out for dinner.
Should I have held my tongue? Probably—okay,yes—but the way she acted around him was a completely different Kennedy from what I was used to. I was aware I had only seen her in a professional setting, but I had been observing her from afar forthreeyears. I knew how she acted. I knew the fire that resided inside her. Seeing the way her light dimmed around him pissed me the fuck off. If I had gotten my way, I would have punched his smug face. It would have been a fucking honor to do so.
“Morning,” I said as I strode into thekitchen.
Kennedy leaned against the kitchen counter, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. She was wearing one of her usual power suits, this one was light blue and complemented her brown skin beautifully, with some white shiny heels that added those few extra inches of height I liked so much.
I’d never been the kind of guy who liked short women. I was a sucker for long legs, andfuck, were Kennedy’s legs long. Dare I say, it was my second favorite trait about her.
She had her hair styled in an updo, her curls adding a natural bounce to her look. Her face was fully glammed, and though that meant her freckles were nowhere in sight, she still looked insanely irresistible.
Fucking hell. This woman was stunning. And very pissed at me, too.
Kennedy nodded in acknowledgment without a word.
“Hey,” I whispered and closed the distance between us. Her tropical, sweet scent hit me right in the face, and I took a hard gulp, becausefuck, it was annoying how good she smelled all the time. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I realized I may have come off?—”
“Like a presumptuous asshole?” she prompted.
I nodded sheepishly. “Yeah. I didn’t mean to. It just sort of…happened.”
She grabbed one of the mugs from the cabinet and served herself a hefty cup of coffee with a scoff. “Yeah, that’s sort of your problem, Anderson. You do things without thinking of the consequences.”
“It’s part of my charm.” I shrugged lazily as I grabbed a mug for myself.
“Right,” she retorted dryly. “The same charm that got you benched until further notice?” she asked condescendingly. “Let’s see how yourcharmcan get you out of this situation.”
“It’ll be fine,” I muttered. Even though she had a point, the truth still stung like a paper cut.
“Of course, it’ll be fine.” She shook her head with a mocking laugh. “The fans adore you. Big bad boy Anderson, the man who gets away with everything.”
“What is that?—”
A knock on the door interrupted us, followed by Hayes’s voice, “Can someone please open the door?”
I stared at the ceiling with a tired sigh as Kennedy went to open it.
“Hello to you, too, Hayes.” Her tone was lighter, almost playful, and it pissed me off knowing my best friend got that treatment while I was getting a completely different side of her.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked her mean. But I didn’t like her mad at me.
“Have you guys checked your phones?” Hayes asked as he perched himself on the kitchen island. Captain Sushi, who was resting on the couch, strode into the kitchen and jumped on the island—the damn cat could jump so fucking high, it was actually sort of terrifying—and sat next to Hayes.
Without a word, I grabbed the phone from my pocket. I had hundreds of social media notifications and texts, but one message in particular caught my attention.
Coach Sloane
We need to talk.
Coach Sloane
*sent link attachment*
I pressed on the link, and an article fromVogue Elite—one of the biggest web medias in the country—popped up. I could practically feel the way my face paled as I read the headline.
HAS THE NOTORIOUS BAD BOY FORWARDHENRY ANDERSON RESORTED TO DESPERATE MEASURES?
There was a picture right in the center of the article that showed me and Kennedy at the store. Our bodies were pressed close as I tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. I kept scrolling and found another photo—one of me standing in front of Joe when he was talking shit. My body looked visibly tense in the picture.
