want. Believe me. I was very good at it for a long time.”
“You think she was lying?”
Tension crept into Kennedy’s shoulders. She’d expected me to celebrate with her and there I was, telling her to slow down again.
The world she lived in was mostly good.
Successful parents.
Plenty of money.
Loving grandparents.
She didn’t understand how nuanced a bad situation could be. Just because this kid’s mom was walking the right walk when she had an audience, didn’t mean she was doing it at home.
People were shitty that way.
I slid my hands into my back pockets. “Just keep your eyes open, okay? The world isn’t black and white. His mother might be everything she seemed when you talked to her today, or she could be everything she seemed when the kid first came in.”
“The world might not be black and white, but it’s not all bad, either. I’ll keep my eyes open because this really smart guy I know said I should, but I have faith in this woman.” She gave me a wide grin. “Also, today was all about the good news. Right after Shane and his mom left, my building manager called. My apartment is ready!”
That hit me like a right hook to the face. It shouldn’t have. I knew this day was coming. I just didn’t want it to come so fast.
“Wow. You got what you want from me and now you’re leaving. Go figure.”
I meant it as a joke, but an embarrassing amount of anxiety followed those words. I swallowed it down and leaned against the wall.
Kennedy smirked. “That’s exactly what’s happening here. Thanks for the orgasms, but toodle-oo!” She waved her fingers and stuck her nose in the air.
She was messing with me. I knew it. But her words cut deeper than they should have.
I decided to change topics and surprise her with more good news.
“I hope you don’t have any plans tomorrow, because, well, you have plans tomorrow. You’re set up with a relaxing massage first thing in the morning with our friend Cat at The Hutton Hotel.”
Her face fell. “Actually, I do have plans. A work thing. Though, that’s in the evening, so I could probably fit both in.”
The needle on my bullshit meter twitched. “A work thing? On a Saturday?”
Kennedy nodded, looking oddly embarrassed. “No matter what I do, I can’t give my patients the in-depth care they deserve and get them out fast enough to please my office manager. One of the other doctors, he’s been trying to get me to meet him for drinks forever to give me some pointers on the topic.”
The needle twitched again.
Two things stood out to me in her last statement. The other doctor was a man. And he’d been trying to take my girl out for drinks for a while. “There’s no way that’s a business meeting.”
“I’m meeting a colleague to talk about work.” Kennedy frowned. “Sounds like the textbook definition of a business meeting to me.”
“Sounds like a coward who asked you on a date under the pretense of meeting for work.”
“At least he didn’t do it under the pretense of meeting his brother.” Her grin was wide, her eyes sparkling with humor. The light bled from her face when I didn’t react to the joke. “I can’t believe you’re jealous about this.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I can’t believe you’re falling for it.”
“Are you saying you don’t trust me?” She stepped forward and I kept an eye on that right fist.
“I’m just sayin’…”
Kennedy drew to a stop in front of me. “You’re saying you think this guy from work is going to take me out for drinks at The Drunken Goat and I’ll be whisked away by his wonderfulness and forget about you.”
I met her eyes. The weak part of me felt that way and I hated it. Kennedy hadn’t earned my suspicions. In fact, up until this moment, I would have sworn I trusted her.
Maybe it was me I didn’t trust.
Maybe I knew I wouldn’t be enough to hold her attention.
Why stick with the man whose biological mother didn’t love him enough to keep him? Who wasn’t good enough for Perfect Mom to keep him? Why stick with the man who only found a home with people who wanted the check he came with?
Instead of saying any of that, I stared at my feet and sucked in my lips.
Why did dealing with other humans have to be so complicated? It fucking drove me nuts, worrying about what they were thinking, how they were feeling,