Page 24 of Make Me Whole (Oil Barrons 1)

“They’re old, Kenny.”I crossed the driveway to my pickup.

“Okay, I’m downstairs.Now what?”

“In the furnace room, you’ll find a valve sticking out of the wall.Lefty loosey, righty tighty.”I slid behind the wheel of my vehicle.

“Okay.Hold on.”

I heard rustling, a small grunt that made me smile, then more shifting until she spoke again.“I think it worked.”

More heavy breathing as she jogged up the stairs.As much as I loved hearing her sigh into the phone, I said, “I’m on my way.”

“The door’s unlocked.”

The drive seemed like it took three times longer to get there, but I was antsy.I hadn’t seen Kenny since I’d been back.Eli told me all about his speech and Owen told me stories of Kenny’s sleepovers every day since I’d been back.The way I rolled my eyes each time Owen launched into a Kenny story, I’d think I was jealous they got sleepovers and I didn’t.

I had wanted to see Kenny as soon as I’d gotten into town.But she’d watched the boys for days and had taken them to Eli’s appointments.All while landing a new job and fixing up her place.And she’d offered to babysit so I could go on a date.Or at least meet a friend, but she probably would’ve offered if I’d had a bona fide date.Kenny was fully in the land of the living, and maybe I had felt a little left behind.

I pulled up to her place and hopped out.I didn’t bother knocking.Since she wasn’t in the kitchen, I headed for the bathroom.The light filtered into the hall.

I rounded the corner and stopped.Kenny was half buried under the sink, her butt in the air.It was the finest ass I’d seen.Round, firm, and swaying from side to side as she mopped up water with a towel.

My gaze was glued to her backside when she sat on her heels and popped her head out.I blinked and shook my head as if it could reorient blood back to my brain and away from my dick.“So, tell me again what happened.”

She jumped and twisted around.My lips quirked.She was a mess.Half her shirt was soaked, part of it plastered against her breasts.I tried, hard, not to look at the way her nipples fought the constraints of the material.

Her appearance didn’t change how my body was reacting.Her hair spilled out of a bun and stuck to her face from either the water or sweat.She was flushed and breathing heavily, as if it wasn’t hard enough to keep my eyes above her neckline.

“I’m so glad you’re here.”She pushed off the floor and dumped the wet towels into the bathtub.Sticking her hands on her hips she gestured to the sink.“I fixed that damn thing.Remember I told you I did it?And then it started leaking again.So I thought I’d put in a new faucet, cuz now I’m a superwoman or some shit.Only I fixed the toilet first.See?”

She flushed, then winced.“I forgot the water was off, so you can’t witness the tank refill, but it will.And it won’t leak.”

I didn’t fight my smile.This was rare Kenny.Rambling, flustered, and a little pissed off.“So high on home repairs, you turned the water off again under the sink, only it started leaking?”

She brushed the back of her wrist across her forehead.“That’s about right.I noticed a small drip after I turned it back on last weekend, but I watched a video and it said to just tighten it.That worked, or so I thought.”

“Sounds like you need to repair the stem.”

“I haven’t watched those videos yet.”She crossed her arms.“I suppose that’s another trip to the hardware store.”

A tiny tendril of guilt snaked through my mind.I’d been sulking because she was beingsuperwoman or some shit.Yet I was still the first one she ran to—because we were friends.I was wasting what time I had left in Coal Haven avoiding her.“I can run and get them.Then I’ll walk you through rebuilding the shut-off valve.”

“Where are the boys?”

“Grandma Gin took them to the park.I think she feels bad for being sick so long, like she has to earn her money.”

“That sounds like her.”

“Hey, uh…” My throat worked over my question.Why was it hard to ask her?A part of my brain suggested this was the reason I hadn’t come to see Kenny.“I’ve been messaging Laney since I’ve been back.Any chance you can babysit tomorrow night?”

She blinked at me, her normally expressive dark brown eyes unreadable.

“I’ll pay,” I rushed to add.Was the awkwardness my imagination?Was it that I was meeting Laney and neither Kenny nor I knew what to think of that?Or was it that I didn’t want to date anyone and I didn’t want to uncover the reason why?I was a single twenty-seven-year-old man.I should be wanting to get laid as much as possible, by as many women as possible.Yet, there was only one woman on my mind.

“No.Oh, no.Yeah, I can do it.I can even stay overnight, you know, so you don’t have to worry about curfew like when you were a teen.”She leaned in, her smile not like her normal ones that brightened the whole room.“And you don’t need to pay me.”

“Yeah.Okay.I don’t think I’ll be overnighting anywhere, but it’d be nice not to watch the clock.”She nodded like it made sense.I nodded like it made sense.Nothing about her watching my kids while I was out with another woman made sense.“Well, I’ll go grab the stem kits.We might as well replace both.”

Her smile was stuck in place.“Sure.I’ll keep sopping up water.”She rolled her eyes.“It actually wasn’t that bad.I panicked, sorry.”

“Don’t be.Happy to help.”Happy to be here.With her.

“I’m happy you’re helping too.”

I was happy to forget the stilted babysitting talk.I fled the bathroom.I waited until I was parked in front of the hardware store to let Laney know we were on for tomorrow night.My fingers stalled over the buttons, and I swallowed hard.

I messaged Grandma Gin first to let her know that I wasn’t home and why.Then I tapped outTomorrow night, Rattler’s?to Laney and hit send.

I stared at our message history for a moment before I tucked the phone away as if the last few minutes had never happened and climbed out of the truck.I didn’t know what would come from going out with Laney.What was she looking for?Was I only looking to gauge her interest in my grandparents’ place?

Right now, I wanted to prove that the erection I’d fought away in Kenny’s bathroom was only because I hadn’t gotten laid in a while and not because I found my best friend’s widow incredibly sexy.

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