But Kennedy yawned and slowly opened her eyes. For a second she seemed just as disoriented as I was. But when she realized I was her pillow, she sat up super fast. “I’m so sorry, we must have fallen asleep.” She wiped the side of her face like she was worried there’d be drool or something.
There wasn’t. She looked beautiful. Honestly, I’d never seen her look more beautiful. Her eyes rimmed with red were real. And I always loved real beauty over a made up face any day.
“Sorry,” she said again, running her fingers through her hair, just like I’d wanted to do a second ago.
I wasn’t sure why she was apologizing. It was more my fault than hers. “How is your ankle feeling?”
She rotated her ankle slowly and smiled. “It actually feels quite a bit better. I guess a night on a hard floor was just what it needed?” She laughed.
There was another buzzing sound. Kennedy leaned over me and grabbed my phone off the ground.
I was tempted to pull her down on top of me. To hold her like she’d held me last night.
“Is this the time?” she asked. “Shit, I have to go.” She ran her fingers through her hair again and pushed herself up.
I slowly sat up. “What time is it?”
“Nearly 7. And you have like 20 missed calls.” She handed me my phone.
I clicked on the screen. I also had about 50 unread texts. All from Tanner. I clicked on the top one: “Where the hell are you?! I’ve been waiting up all night for you!”
Oh fuck. He’d expected me back at his house. He was probably worried sick with everything going on with the hitwoman and Mr. Pruitt.
“Everything okay?” Kennedy asked.
I looked up at her. I hadn’t noticed it last night. But sometime after dinner and before my text, she must have changed into a pair of flannel pajamas with little polar bears all over them. She was even wearing a pair of polar bear slippers. “Everything’s fine.” I slid my phone into my pocket. “I like the PJs.”
“What?” She looked down.
I started laughing.
“Hey, I came over because you texted. I didn’t have time to change.”
I couldn’t help it. I just started laughing harder. The polar bear slippers even looked like they were laughing.
“Don’t laugh at me.” She tore one of her slippers off and chucked it at me.
I caught it and narrowly prevented the polar bear from colliding with my face.
“Nice to see you still know how to catch. Because you’ve certainly lost your prep-school manners. I think, ‘Thank you, Kennedy, for being wonderfully supportive,’ would be a more appropriate reaction this morning. You’re welcome.”
“You’re right.” I stood up. “Thank you, Kennedy. For being wonderfully supportive.”
“Was that so hard?” She snatched her slipper out of my hand. “As fun as you laughing at me is, I really do have to go.”
“I’ll walk you out.” I have no idea why I said it. This wasn’t my place to walk anyone out of. I just knew that I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye yet.
We didn’t say anything as we made our way out of Brooklyn’s old place.
But before Kennedy reached her mom’s apartment door, I said, “I’ll text you.”
She turned around. She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Good.”
“Good.” I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face. She wanted me to text her. It felt like I was a kid again. This giddy feeling in my stomach. I felt stupid and excited all at once.
She rolled her eyes, just adding to the feeling that we were kids again. “Have a good day, Matt.” She left me alone in the hallway, with my stomach feeling weird and about a million things I needed to do.
I would have called Tanner back right away. But Tanner would insist on an apology in person anyway. He was old-fashioned like that. So as I drove to his apartment, I called Rob.
“Hey,” Rob said. “It’s early. Is everything alright?”
“Yeah…”
“Oh, never mind,” he said, cutting me off. “Everything’s not okay. Because you’re trying to get my niece killed, you ass face.”
I cringed. “Good morning to you too.”
“Good morning,” Rob mumbled.
“And just for the record, Scarlett is my niece too, Rob.”
“Lies. Only in the friendship way. Everyone’s always trying to steal my niece and nephew away from me. I’m their one and only uncle.”
Every now and then Rob got defensive about the whole friend uncle thing. Usually when he was mad at me about something. And if he was bringing that up, then I wasn’t off to a good start for getting the camera. Angry Rob was hard to negotiate with.
“Blood isn’t everything,” I said.
“Did you call to tell me your other non-related niece is going to get murdered too? How long have you known that my daughter is in trouble with freaking mobsters? A week? A month? Longer?”
I would have hung up on him, but my hands were on the wheel. “I made a mistake…”
“A mistake is bringing me a burger without bacon when I specifically asked for bacon.”
“That happened one time,” I said.
“Best friends know best friends’ burger orders.”
“True. Which is why it only happened one time. I know you like your burgers without the lettuce and tomato because veggies have no right to be on top of meat. And mayo doesn’t belong on hot things, which is why you always ask for extra ketchup on the side. And crispy bacon of course.”
“Exactly.” The laughter was back in Rob’s voice.
It was now or never. “I need a favor, Rob.”
Rob groaned.
“I know Hunter Tech has a prototype for an undetectable camera. Can I borrow it?”
“There’s only one prototype, man. And how do you even know about that?”
“You told me.”
“I never told you about it,” Rob said. “It’s highly classified.”
I laughed. “Isn’t that only for government stuff? Rob, you told me a few guys’ nights ago. We were talking about sexting, remember?”
“No, I don’t remember.”
“Well, you did get pretty drunk,” I said. “Pretty sure you even sexted me.”
“I did not sext you. I only sext my wife.”
“Rob you sext me all the time. I have at least a dozen texts of your left ass cheek on my phone.”
“Fine, I occasionally send you pictures of myself in what some might deem compromising positions. But only because you’re the only one that’s seen my mole since it first showed up, so who else is supposed to tell me if it’s grown?”
“A dermatologist.”
“Psh. I’m not showing a stranger my left ass cheek. And by the way, you should delete those photos after I send them to you. They’re also highly classified.”
I laughed. “So in exchange for staring at your ass a few times a year, can I maybe borrow that camera? I’ll give it back, I swear. I just need it for one night.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.” There was an awkward silence.
“I’m going to need more details than that, Matt,” he said. “What do you need it for?”