She paid no attention to me as she tidied up the medical tools and my bloody mess.
“So, is that the lucky man?”
Her eyes finally met mine, sparkling as they did when Dr. Stiff had been in the room. “Yeah. Isn’t he divine?”
I could hear the swoon in her voice.
Ugh.
My eyes flickered back at the door, where Stiff had walked out. Was she serious? I wanted to tell her straight up ‘no’; he was far from divine.
“How long have you been together?” I knew they weren’t an item, but I wanted to entertain myself with her reply.
“Well . . .” My question had caught her by surprise, and her face faltered. “We’re . . . we’re not really together, just yet.” Her cheeks flushed red, her self-confidence fading.
I lifted an eyebrow, waiting for some explanation as I barely bit back a shit-eating grin.
Before I could add to that, a short woman with dark hair walked in and handed Kendy some papers. Her eyes flew to mine before shooting back to Kendy. “He’s going to be at Bartlett’s tomorrow night. For sure. Just confirmed it.” She threw Kendy a cheesy smile before saying, “You’re welcome.” And then she disappeared as fast as she’d come.
Kendall clasped her hands together like she’d won the lotto. She bounced on her toes, and a tinge of jealousy came over me. I hadn’t had a girl excited about me in a while, and watching her made me realize how much I missed feeling wanted.
A moment later, she seemed to remember I was in the room. She narrowed her eyes and turned back to her medical supplies, disposing of the items in the red box on the counter. “Let’s just say he’ll be my boyfriend in the very near future. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s going to fall madly in love with me.” She grinned to herself.
I threw back my head, unable to control my laughter.
Her head flipped in my direction, and she stomped toward me until her pointed finger rested on my chest. “It’s not funny. I’m taking it slow, but once he’s fallen for me, it’s going to be game over for him. He’s my ‘it’ man.”
“You’re pretty confident,” I quipped.
“Yes, well I have a lot of experience in the language of love.” She tilted toward me as if telling me a little secret then ducked her head until she was mere inches from me. “And I’ve got the power of the ‘P’.” Her eyes moved downward to between her legs. A small laugh escaped her lips. “Heaven on Earth down there,” she whispered before winking.
Well, hell.
My cock hardened at her seductive tone, and my eyes traveled the length of her body. She had said it half-jokingly, but somehow I knew she meant it. I shifted to adjust myself, and it seemed as though she’d caught it, because the next second, she took a step back.
“You, my friend,” she said, pointing a finger in my direction, “are never going to feel the power. I’m not trying to marry you.” She raised her chin in indignation then turned around to grab the rest of the mess. “Good luck, Brian. There are papers on the counter with instructions. Refrain from getting the stitches wet. They should dissolve in a week or two, just like the doctor said.”
She didn’t bother to turn around, and all I could think was that she had some magical shit happening down there. Supernatural powers that could quite possibly change one man’s world. I adjusted myself from the major erection I had going on, and once I deemed it safe, I went to look for Trey.
THREE
KENDY
I rubbed my eyes open and looked at the digital clock on my mahogany dresser. The red numbers indicated three in the afternoon.
I stretched my arms, reaching toward the ceiling and released a satisfying sigh. My muscles were still tense, my body tired from my twelve-hour shift last night. More than that, my brain was mentally exhausted from all the run-ins with people from my former life.
The air conditioning in the background blasted on high. It was so comfortable I debated going back to sleep, but I remembered my meeting with a certain doctor, which jolted me from my half slumber and had an instant smile on my face.
My phone rang next to me, breaking me from my thoughts. A picture of my arm thrown around a beautiful brunette, my cousin, Beth, flashed on the screen. I picked up on the second ring.
“Kendy!” she squealed. Of course she had been up for hours already, since it was well into the afternoon.
“Hey,” I replied, my voice still hoarse.
“Sorry I missed your call yesterday. Kent and I . . . well . . .”
I groaned. “I don’t need to hear about your porno-filled escapades.”
She giggled, and I smiled as heaviness grew in my chest. I missed her. Our roles were reversed now. I had played the role of comforting her when she’d moved to Chicago, and now that she was all settled in and I had moved to New York, far away from family, I was the one who needed comforting.
I didn’t want to seem needy, so I spewed out information I knew she’d find interesting. “You’ll never guess who came strolling into my hospital with a busted eye.”
“Who?”
“Brian-freaking-Benson.”
“No way.” Her pitch increased an octave. “Wow, what’re the chances? What happened to his eye?”
“Well, he accidentally fell on someone’s fist.” I chuckled.
“Kendy, that’s not funny.” I could practically picture her frown.
“I know.” I thought back to the night before, him bleeding all over his shirt and the six-pack he’d been rocking. I sighed. “Seriously though, he was the cutest thing. All bleeding and shirtless. Remind me again. You guys never got naked, did you?”
“No! We never went that far. And quiet yourself down, Kent is right beside me.”
I laughed at her unease. “What? He’s right inside you? Kinky. I like.”
“Stop it, please,” she whispered. “How’s he doing, anyway?”
“He looked fine. I mean, whoa, that boy is fine, fine, fine. Are you sure you didn’t pick the wrong guy?”
“Kendy,” she scolded again. I heard her shift and whisper to Kent. “There’s only one for me.”
I heard a smacking of lips and rolled my eyes. I needed a barf bag at how unbelievably cute they were.
“Hold on, I’m moving into the living room.”
“Holding,” I replied, shifting off the comforter. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, headed to the kitchen, then reached into the fridge for a jug of milk. I was probably the only adult in NYC who loved cold milk in the middle of the afternoon. Growing up, it was always hot cocoa in the evening before I went to sleep, and cold ass milk in the morning with my cereal and afternoon snack. Milk had done my body good.
I tipped my glass back, enjoying the cold drink, which awakened me further. As I set my glass down on the counter, I wondered if Beth had put me on hold to have a quickie with her man. “Girlfriend, you there?”
“Yeah. Sorry. Kent gets all loco jealous. You know him.”
I would’ve spewed out some smartass remark, but I held my tongue. In their relationship, Beth wore the pants.
“I just wanted to check on you. I worry about you being there all alone.”
“You worry about me? Pfft. I’ve got my big girl panties on. I’ve met a couple people at work. I’m all good in the neighborhood.” I held the phone closer to my ear as my body slumped against the counter. I missed her voice, but I didn’t want to be that needy friend. If I complained that these people I’d met were nice, but nothing compared to our eighteen years of friendship, she’d book the next flight to New York.
“Kendy?”
“Yeah?”
“Was Brian okay?”
“Is this your guilty conscience talking?” I tilted my head.
I knew she had no feelings for the boy. She was with the guy she was meant to be with, but still. Beth was no heartbreaker, and she probably still felt some sort of guilt from how things had ended.