Page 7 of Waiting Forever
Thanks to traffic, I’m late. Kensington’s flight landed fifteen minutes ago but that doesn’t mean I missed her.
This is MCO, after all. The airport is known for delays, congestion, and being slow.
I stand near the exit, where people from her terminal funnel out, and watch for her ash-brown hair.
In my mind, she’s still the girl I grew up with, not the femme fatale I left in the ballroom at her birthday—a party I never should have attended.
Every time I see her, she changes a little more: grows older, sexier, and sweeter. It’s why I stopped coming around—why I left her twice without an explanation.
I miss the little girl who followed me around, made me laugh, and spoke with a slight English accent. All those traits are gone now, even the accent kids had teased her about but I adored.
I push away the thoughts and focus on the crowd. A flash of long burgundy hair catches my gaze. The silky strands cascade around a thin-framed young woman, shielding her from my view. Her head is turned away from me as she digs in a big bag slung across her body.
I step into the mix of people, trying to get a better look. She almost runs into me but at the last second angles herself away. I don’t know how, considering she’s not looking where she’s going.
Her shoulder brushes my chest and a rush of a familiar scent invades my senses and mind.
Like that, I’m back in the ballroom, watching Kensington from a distance.
Her ashy-brown hair was styled up with wavy tendrils falling around her face, bare shoulders, and neck.
Her tan skin was on full display, her body wrapped up in a tight blue dress the same color as her eyes. The short hem showed off her long legs and the strappy heels tied at her ankles.
Fuck. I wiped my mouth and tried to calm my growing erection with thoughts of football and grandmas playing bingo.
My dad patted me on the back, scaring the shit out of me. I jumped, but he seemed too distracted by the crowd to notice. “This party was a bad idea. Bryce is on edge, ready to rip the arms off every guy who touches Kensington. I told Claire to keep him at home and that I’d watch over his pride and joy. Did either of them listen? Nope.” He shook his head and finally met my gaze. “Thanks for coming. I appreciate you taking time away from school to fly here and help me out.”
“No problem, Dad. What do you need me to do?”
“Keep Kensington on that side of the room, while I keep her dad distracted on this side by the bar. The plan is to get him drunk and up to his suite before Kensington flirts with any more guys.”
“Yeah. Keeping him home would have been the smart choice.” As much as I didn’t want to get close to Kensington, I would for the sake of every seventeen-year-old boy here, hoping to cop a feel. “Consider it done.”
“Thanks. I knew I could count on you.” Dad gave me another pat on the back before heading over to Bryce at the bar.
For an hour, luck had been on my side—that and I instructed the DJ to keep away from slow songs. Techno was a sure way to keep people from grinding. Kensi danced, chatted with her friends, giggled, harmlessly petted a few guys, and spent most of her time searching the crowd for someone.
I stuck to the shadows, only coming out to threaten certain guys I overheard talking about violating my cousin’s hot little body.
Jesus. This was a nightmare.
An hour and a half later, my dad gave me the signal before escorting Bryce out of the ballroom. Not a complete disaster. I was about to leave myself when someone touched my arm.
“I thought that was you.” Kensington’s sweet voice filled my head.
I closed my eyes for a moment, steeling myself to face her, and turned around. The glow of the lights dancing across the room showered her eyes, skin, and dress with tiny sparkles. She was breathtaking.
“Damn.” I took her in from head to toe and back up again. “You look…”
“Grown up?” She did a slow spin, showing herself off to me.
“I was going to say ‘stunning’ but ‘grown up’ works.”
“You look good, too.” She stepped closer and ran her hand down the lapel of my suit jacket.
Shivers raced through me.
“Did your mom make you dress up?” She smirked at me with those hypnotic eyes and pressed her body flush with mine. Her breasts swelled from the top of her dress as she hooked her arms around my neck. “You owe me a birthday dance.”
