Page 96 of Play Your Part

Maybe that had been the issue all along. I hadn’t met the right person. The person who would make it worth risking everything.

Until I did.

39

KENNEDY

Isatinmycar for far longer than I would ever admit.

Although Alexei’s car remained parked in his driveway and lights were on in his house, he could still be inside Matt and Gemma’s place. I needed to get used to seeing him around because of his friendships with them. At least through the end of the season. Who knew if Alexei would stay longer than that? With the way he was playing, he would likely have his pick of teams.

When I pushed open the door, Gemma called out, “You’re home!” No hint of nervousness in her voice, which I took as a good sign.

Walking deeper into the house, I saw no Alexei, only Gemma, Matt, and Zach in front of the TV.

“Your cookies are in the tin by the oven.”

“Aw, you saved me some?” I said, dropping my bag onto one of the countertop stools.

“Of course,” she said. “I expected there to be more, but you created a monster. I had to take them away from Volk before he inhaled them all.”

Less than a minute. That was all it took for someone to mention Alexei.

I focused on eating my cookie, moving as slowly as possible to avoid acknowledging Gemma’s comment.

“It was a nice Christmas, then?” I asked, taking a seat in the corner chair, facing the sofa where the three of them sat.

“Zach got along famously with my nieces and nephews,” Matt said.

“Where are they?” I asked.

“Ice-skating downtown.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t go,” I said to Zach.

Gemma ruffled Zach’s hair. “Our boy is tiiiired.”

Zach swatted at Gemma’s hand. “You’d be tired too, if you were held hostage by a bunch of kids for hours. And I also didn’t want to leave…” He trailed off.

“You can say his name.”

Zach let out a breath. “Sorry, this feels like my parent’s divorce all over again. I’m the only layer of defense between Volk and his favorite coping mechanism. I’m worried about the stationary bike. The poor thing can’t take much more.”

“Dude.” Matt smacked him on the back of the head. “What did we say about oversharing?”

“What? Oversharing with family is fine.”

Gemma side-eyed Zach before turning her attention to me. “I heard you found yourself an apartment.”

“How?” I asked, staring straight at Zach. We hadn’t told anyone we planned to be roommates yet. I’d wanted to tell Gemma and Matt myself once it was a done deal, mostly because I worried they would try to talk me out of it.

“Your newroommatehas a big mouth. Kennedy, this is like your version of cutting your hair super short.”

I brushed crumbs from my chest into my palm. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re pulling a Felicity. After a bad breakup, women cut their hair super short. It’s a thing. But your decision, instead, is to move in with a man baby.”

“Hey!”

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