Page 45 of Play Your Part

“If we cook together, this becomes a date. Your final date of the month. Aside from the Halloween party, since that’s a team event.”

I shrugged, trying to snuff out my disappointment at the reminder that we were only here together because of our deal. This counted toward an allotment of time I could spend with her. I hadn’t forgotten, but for a second, while we joked and laughed together, it didn’t feel like pretending. “It’s cute you think that’ll affect me more than you.”

She glared at me, but I continued as if I hadn’t seen it.

“You can use it as an anecdote at the party tomorrow to show how I’m the greatest boyfriend to ever exist.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I know nothing about cooking, so this is going to test your patience.”

“I had to show Briggsy how to make pasta,” I said, pushing the bowl toward her. “You can’t be worse than him.”

Together, we walked through the recipe, which was perfect for a beginner. It involved throwing a bunch of ingredients into a bowl and mixing or whisking at each step until the batter was ready to be cooked on the stovetop. I let her watch me add the first round of batter to the skillet.

“Have you ever heard ofThe Nightstand?” she asked as I flipped the first round of blinis. I shook my head. “Gregory Berk ring any bells?”

I smiled. “I don’t watch true crime.”

“Okay. Well, ten years ago, a woman died a couple of towns from here. Her husband was the only one there with her and he called 9-1-1.”

“He killed her?” I surmised.

“That’s the thing, it’s unclear.” Kennedy gestured animatedly with her hands. Her eyes tracked my movements, though, as I carefully moved the blinis to a plate. “He was charged with murder, but there were chain-of-custody issues with the evidence, so his conviction was thrown out. He was having an affair and she was the breadwinner, so a lot of people think he killed her for life insurance. Other people think she tripped and fell in the middle of the night because her sleeping pills disoriented her. Or someone broke in, maybe a person she knew or the husband’s mistress, since there were no signs of forced entry.”

“Wasn’t he sleeping beside her?”

“They slept in separate bedrooms, and he wore a sleep apnea mask at night. It’spossiblehe wouldn’t have heard an intruder.”

“What do you think?”

“I can’t tell you that. Half the fun is hearing what other people think happened. Comparing notes.” Kennedy stared at me expectantly. “Do you want to watch it?”

I wasn’t a fan of the genre, but I did like the way it lit Kennedy’s eyes. “You don’t mind watching again?”

“Absolutely not.”

I laughed at the immediacy of her answer. “All right. I’ll give it a shot, but only if you can successfully make this last round of blinis.”

She didn’t hesitate and rose to the challenge. I leaned against the counter and slipped my hands into the pockets of my sweatpants. Even if she burned the shit out of these blinis, I would eat them without complaint.

19

ALEXEI

Openingmyeyesthenext morning to Kennedy settled snugly against me did funny things to my chest.

Her eyes remained closed, her breath steady and slow. I allowed myself to watch her in this rare, unguarded moment. Kennedy’s black-blue hair spread over my arm and onto the white pillow behind us, now covered in residual blue. She still wore the clothes from last night, a loose T-shirt over denim shorts that revealed toned legs. She fell asleep before she could remove her makeup, leaving a dark line beneath each eyelid. I smiled at the mismatched socks on her feet, one with blue and red stripes, the other gray with black stars. Not even close.

Last night, we let episode one continue into episode two, and before we knew it, we finished three episodes of the show. Kennedy hadn’t oversold the mystery unraveling in front of us. I didn’t know if I would have enjoyed it as much without her commentary or reactions, but now I needed to know how it ended. Especially after the twist that caused me to grab the remote to pause the show. “You’re shitting me, right? He knew someone else who died in his bedroom?”

Kennedy grinned wide like a Cheshire cat. “Quite the twist, huh?”

I took a long drink of my soda, letting the bubbles soothe my parched mouth. “There’s no way this guy didn’t kill his wife.”

She shrugged as she mimed that her lips were sealed.

“You think he’s innocent then? Death by nightstand?”

Kennedy laughed, loud and unrestrained. No covering her mouth to hide the emotion this time. It complicated things, loving that sound as much as I did. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

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