Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 104869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
She rolled her eyes and tapped out a quick message.
Hi guys.
Shockingly, considering his track record, Nox was the first to respond a couple of minutes later.
Nox
Jesus, Kenny, ghosting us like that was a dick move.
Gideon
Round these parts, we call it a Nox move.
That hilarious, and well-deserved, retort coaxed a laugh from Kenny. Truly, Nox had been very bad about staying in contact over the last couple of years. Not participating in their conversations for weeks, sometimes months, was what they’d come to expect.
Nox
Fuck off, Gid
The lack of creativity and vitriol in Nox’s response told Kenny that Gideon’s barb must’ve hit home.
I’m just checking in, letting you all know that I’m okay.
Nox
You still in that nowhere town?
Still here.
Nox
Why were you kissing that bastard last week?
You forgot your promise.
Nox
What?
Gideon
Coming home for Dad’s birthday next week?
Have to. I’m hosting.
Cade finally came online, and responded a second later.
Cade
You don’t have to. If you need to stay there a little longer, Fern and I can host.
Nox
Cade, what the fuck? She needs to come home.
Cade
Kenny needs to do whatever’s best for her.
Thanks for the offer, Cade, but that’s a lot to ask with your house hunt and Fern’s pregnancy. I’m happy do it.
Gideon
Shout if you need help.
Nox
Wait, aren’t we going to address the elephant in the room?
Gideon
You mean whether you’re going to show up to this event or not?
Kenny grinned. Gideon was on fire today.
Nox
How did this suddenly become about me?
Cade
I’ve got a meeting. Kenny, take care of yourself. And maybe don’t pull a Nox move next time and actually reply when we message?
Gideon
Kenny chuckled in delight at that.
Nox
Jesus Christ, man. You guys are being dicks, I’m out of here.
See you next week?
Nox
Yeah. Maybe.
Thank you all for caring . I’m okay. Just trying to figure things out. Love you all
She closed the chat and considered calling her father, who must have called at least ten times over the last few days. She felt a twinge of remorse when she thought about that number. They loved her, they were concerned, and she shouldn’t have ignored them.
She still couldn’t face having a conversation with her father right now and instead popped off a quick text to let him know she was okay.
Hey Dad, sorry I missed your calls. Love you. Will call tomorrow. But everything is okay over here.
Dad
We’re going to have a very long conversation about this behavior, McKenna.
Wonderful.
Kenny sent him a quick thumbs-up emoji—mostly because she knew it would infuriate him—and then sat staring at the wall, wondering if she should call Smith.
In the end, she decided against it. If he needed time to sort through some things, then she would give it to him. This wasn’t a relationship—they specifically chose not to call it that—and the usual rules of a relationship didn’t apply. He didn’t owe her any explanations or excuses. And he certainly didn’t have to spend every waking moment with her.
Smith was conflicted. On the one hand, he was so fucking proud of Kenna for verbalizing her discomfort and telling him how she felt about their little camping trip. On the other, he hated that it had taken her three days to summon up the guts to do so.
Just when it felt like they were making progress, they took two steps back.
Sure, she’d refrained from telling him out of a reluctance to disappoint him, but he hated that her first choice was always to withhold herself.
And yes, he recognized that in not discussing his feelings on the matter with her, he was repeating the same pattern of behavior, but he needed a goddamned minute to process and figure out how much he should simply let slide.
Because progress was progress and expecting more from Kenna at this point would be tantamount to rushing her. After the mistakes he’d made during their marriage, he’d promised himself that he would no longer burden her with the weight of his expectations. For whatever the fuck this thing was to work between them, she needed to figure shit out in her own time.
He scrubbed a hand over his face.
They’d been with each other every day since Saturday. After four days of constant companionship, they both needed a break. And since this non-relationship, unspecified thing came with zero rules, they didn’t have to check in with each other daily.
Just last week they’d been separated, in the process of divorcing. They needed to figure out if what was simmering between them now was just lingering sexual chemistry or something deeper.
It was very easy to mistake sex for emotional connection. Perhaps that had been their fatal error since the very beginning. Assuming that the intense sexual chemistry between them had emotional heft.
He picked up his phone, ready to message her. Tell her he wouldn’t be coming around later, or even tomorrow…and then hesitated.
Couples checked in with each other.
Smith and Kenny weren’t a couple.