Burning Love (Hearts on Fire #2)

by Heather Lyn

  Sitting on the edge of my bed, I pat my leg and Kennedy comes over, climbing onto my lap. She wraps her arms around my shoulders and kisses me, holding onto me tightly. When she pulls back, I see tearstains on her cheeks and I reach up to brush them away.

  “Why the tears, Kennedy?” I ask gently.

  “I missed you. And I don’t mean the day that I was gone. I mean the last two weeks.” Kennedy buries her face in my neck and I can feel her tears slipping down my bare skin.

  “I missed you too. Please don’t cry, baby. I hate seeing your tears,” I murmur into her hair. She clings to me even tighter, and I hold her to me.

  “I love you, Grayson. Thank you.”

  “For what, Kennedy?”

  Though her face is still hidden, I hear her words loud and clear. “For not throwing me away. For wanting to keep me.”

  “Hey.” Pulling her up, I frame her face in my hands and force her to look at me. “I will never, and I mean ever, let you go. You are mine, baby. Forever.”

  Smiling, Kennedy leans forward and kisses me, and I hold her close.

  Forever. Yeah, that’s not gonna be nearly long enough, baby.

  ***

  Later that day, I’m sitting in the living room watching TV with Kennedy. She’s lying on the couch with her head in my lap, my hand playing with her soft hair. Today has been a quiet day, and we spent a good portion of it just being together. We made lunch and ate out on my front porch. I don’t think either of us realized just how messed up we were over the baby. I certainly didn’t know that Kennedy was harboring such guilt. But I’m glad we didn’t let it tear us apart. I wasn’t lying when I told her that her leaving would kill me. I wouldn’t be even half the man I am. She is everything to me.

  As our show cuts to a commercial, she sits up to look at me, biting her bottom lip.

  “Grayson, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  “Sure, what’s going on, darlin’?”

  “I was wondering what you’d think about me moving in?” she asks softly.

  I don’t bother to hide the huge grin that breaks out over my face. Grabbing her by the waist, I yank her onto my lap.

  “I think that’s the best fucking idea you’ve ever had, baby.”

  Laughing, Kennedy leans down to kiss me, her hands resting at the base of my neck. “Can we do it today?” she asks, hugging me tight.

  “Well, I’m not sure we can do everything today,” I tell her.

  “I don’t need any of that stuff. It’s all just what I bought to replace everything. For the last eight years I’ve never really had a home. I’d like this to be my home. Start new.”

  “This already is your home, baby. No matter where we live, if you’re with me, then we’re both home. But if you want, we can go get all your personal items and move them in.”

  With a smile on her face, Kennedy leaps off my lap and runs into the bedroom. Shaking my head, I get up and follow her. She’s already getting dressed, pulling her shirt on and hopping around while she buttons her pants. “Come on, Gray!”

  “Let me get dressed, baby. One second, okay?”

  Grabbing a pair of shorts, I pull them on and shove my feet into a pair of sandals. Kennedy comes bounding out a second later ready to go. I hold the door open for her and she steps out ahead of me. I’ve just gone down the front steps when she jumps onto my back, laughing out loud. Reaching back, I grip under her legs and spin in circles, enjoying the sound of her shrieks and laughter. Unable to contain my own, I carry her over to my truck piggyback style and drop her down next to it.

  Bending down and cupping her, I kiss her lovingly. When we break away, she smiles up at me, and the sight is so incredibly beautiful.

  “I love you so damn much, Kennedy.”

  “Love you too, handsome.”

  Climbing into the truck, we head over to her apartment. Kennedy starts pulling clothes out of the closet, still on the hangers. “Can you grab the box of trash bags in the kitchen?” she asks.

  “Sure, where are they?”

  “Under the sink.”

  Nodding, I go into the kitchen to grab them. When I come back in, she’s almost completely emptied her closet and is now working on filling a large suitcase with her shoes. I hand her the box of trash bags.

  “What can I help with?” I ask, looking around the bedroom.

  “Here, hold them open. I’m gonna put them in with the hangers so I don’t have to take them off. Then I can just hang them up when we get back.”

  Together, we work to get everything packed. I quickly realize that my girlfriend has more clothing than the local department store, and don’t even get me started on her shoes. You could open a damn museum for those things. Kennedy filled one suitcase with all of her other things, pictures, electronics and such. I notice she didn’t have many photos, and those were either her and Aubrey or us. I assume that if she even had any family mementos or anything that she lost them in the fire last summer.

  A couple hours later we’re carrying the last of her belongings down to my truck and tossing them into the bed. Leaning against the tailgate, I look over at her.

  “So what are you gonna do about the apartment and all your furniture?”

  “I figure I’ll have a moving company bring it all to a local used shop, and when I let my landlord know I’m breaking the lease I’ll just go over and clean. I don’t know. I guess I didn’t think that far ahead, but I really don’t care. Life is too short. You know that.”

  I can’t help but agree with her and we climb into the truck. As I pull out of the complex, Kennedy’s stomach growls loudly, causing us to both start laughing.

  “What do you say we get this stuff over to our place and go grab some dinner?”

  “Let’s hit the grocery store. I want to make you dinner tonight.”

  “Sounds good, baby. Let’s go home.”

  Those words never sounded as good as they do at this moment.

  CHAPTER 19

  Kennedy

  Life is finally starting to return to normal. Well, sort of. Living with Grayson has been amazing. It’s been a couple days since I officially moved in, and it all just feels so right. This is where I’m meant to be. A small part of me wishes I had opened up to him a long time ago, so we could have spent this past year being together, but I can’t change the past. I can only move forward and be grateful for the present.

  Grayson is on shift tonight, so I’m heading over to Aubrey’s in a little bit for girls night. I’m hoping lots of wine will be consumed and laughs will be had. I’ve only seen her a handful of times since the incident a couple weeks ago and I miss her. Noah is off shift, so I’m sure he’ll be poking his head in throughout the night. That guy, I’m telling you. I thought Grayson was a pain, but I think he learned it from Noah.

  Deciding to take a quick shower, I hurry through it and wrap my wet hair up in a towel. I want to be comfy tonight, so I slip on a pair of leggings and a tank top. Briskly towel-drying my hair, I run a brush through it and call it good. I’m not in the mood to get all dolled up, since we’re just staying in.

  Once I’m ready to go, I grab the overnight bag I packed earlier and head out to the living room for my keys and purse. Swinging my purse over my shoulder, I shove my feet into my Chucks and I’m out the door. It’s a nice warm night, but not too hot. I’m looking forward to summer more than ever. Grayson was just talking about how he’d like to get a fire pit installed in the backyard. I really like the idea, so we’re going to start looking up pricing and stuff. I actually plan to ask Noah about that tonight, since he has one.

  Noah and Aubrey only live a few streets over from us, so it takes mere minutes before I’m pulling into their driveway. Pulling my stuff from the backseat, I head up the porch steps and ring the doorbell. A couple seconds later, Noah pulls the door open, a huge smile on his face.

  “Hey, Kenni!” He leans down to give me a hug and then pulls me inside, shutting the door behind us.

  Dropping my stuff on t
he floor, I return his smile. “Hey, Noah. How are you?”

  “I’m good. You mind if I hang with you lovely ladies for a little while? I’m going out for drinks with Hunter in a little while.”

  “Hang away!” Aubrey laughs as she walks into the room. She gives me a hug, then leads me into the kitchen where she already has a bottle of wine open. That’s my girl.

  Noah follows behind us, pulling a beer from the fridge.

  “So when does Carmen come home?” I ask, pouring myself a glass of wine.

  “Tomorrow. She’s gonna stay with our parents for a couple weeks. I guess she already found an apartment in town, but they’re still getting it ready from the previous tenants.” I can see the concern on Noah’s face and I realize this is a touchy subject.

  “I’m sorry, Noah. I know y’all are worried about her, but I’m sure everything is okay.” I’ve only met Carmen a couple times, but she was a really sweet girl. Much more mature for her age than I ever was at twenty-one. Aubrey told me about the situation the last time I saw her; from what I understand she just up and left college, finishing her classes as quickly as possible. I might not know much, but you don’t spend four years working your ass off to get your degree only to skip graduation and move home before everyone else is finished.

  We let the topic of his sister fade, and Noah seems to perk right back up. We’re all a couple glasses of wine deep when the doorbell rings. Noah goes to answer it and comes back in a few minutes later with Hunter behind him.

  “Ladies. How are y’all doin' this fine evening?” Hunter spins his baseball hat backwards and gives us both a wink.

  “Oh Hunter, get a hold of yourself. You’re way too young for us. Plus, we’re taken.” Aubrey takes a sip of her wine with a giggle, looking at me over the top of her glass.

  “Oh, Aubrey. You wound me. Besides, wouldn’t you like to learn tome tricks from a younger man, not those old coots you ladies are shacked up with?”

  Tears are streaming down my face I’m laughing so hard. Hunter Daniels is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. How he hasn’t managed to get beaten up at the station yet with that mouth of his, I have no idea. I know Grayson has personally wanted to strangle him before.

  “Fuck you, Daniels. Don’t talk to my girl like that. Have some respect, man.” Noah punches Hunter in the shoulder, who just laughs.

  “Hey, you’re the one who talks about her amazing—”

  Hunter doesn’t get to finish his sentence as Noah grabs him by the back of the shirt and yanks him out of the room, yelling to Aubrey that he loves her. She and I are just laughing, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

  Men.

  “So what’s the plan for dinner, Aubs? Did you just want to order in?”

  She nods. “Yeah, I figured we could just do pizza, or maybe that Thai place? I don’t know. There are a ton of menus here from when Noah lived here alone.”

  “Yeah, sounds good to me. As long as you have wine.”

  “Oh girl, there are like three more bottles. We’re good.” Laughing, we both pour a refill and take our drinks into the living room. We settle down on the couch and go through the pay-per-view menu on the TV. When we’ve decided on a movie, we hit play and sit back. As the opening credits start, Aubrey turns to look at me.

  “How are you, Kenni?”

  “I’m fine,” I answer, drinking my wine.

  “No, I know. I just mean, are you okay? You and Gray? I feel like we haven’t really had a chance to talk since everything happened, and I just want to make sure you are. You know that you can always talk to me.”

  “I’m okay, Aubs. Really. I wasn’t, of course. I was a wreck. I mean, who wouldn’t be? But I really think that going to see my mom helped. I know that sounds crazy, but it made me realize that what I have here is all I need. It helped me open up to Grayson about the baby, and it felt really good to stop holding it in. I felt so guilty, but he helped me see that I shouldn’t have.”

  Aubrey nods and sets her wine down on the end table next to her. “No, you shouldn’t have. But I can understand where you were coming from. I’m really happy that you and Grayson came out of it okay. I was worried about you guys.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t think Grayson would’ve let me go so easily. He’s a fighter.”

  “So are you, Kenni. So are you.”

  A huge grin on her face, she reaches forward to give me a fast hug and then leans back against the couch once more. “No more sappy crap. Girls’ night is for getting drunk and watching Channing Tatum take his clothes off!”

  And that is why Aubrey is my best friend.

  ***

  Several hours later, we’ve finished dinner and made our way through two bottles of wine. Now we’re sitting in the living room giving each other pedicures and homemade facials. We haven’t stopped laughing, so more than likely we’ll both be needing nail polish remover in the morning. But who cares? I’ve just put the cap on the bottle of red polish I was using on Aubrey when the front door opens, Hunter dragging a clearly intoxicated Noah into the house.

  “Hey, guys. Too much partying for you?” I ask, stifling a giggle.

  “This guy thought it would be smart to do shots. I don’t do liquor, so he managed to get himself nice and toasty while I tried to get this beautiful redhead to go home with me. But then this jackass wandered over and told her that he didn’t know Lucille Ball was still alive. Noah’s lucky he still has his balls and front teeth.” Hunter laughs as he drops Noah onto the couch, who is grumbling about something under his breath.

  “I...divent...disnt...didn’t want to do shots. But the bartender told me they were good. And I was so firssssssty. Mmm. Baby, you look nishe.”

  Noah is slurring and falling asleep at the same time, and we’re all in tears laughing at him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen drunk Noah, and I gotta tell you it’s the funniest thing ever. Beats drunk Grayson anytime.

  Hunter says his good-byes a few minutes later and we’re left with a snoring Noah. We both know there’s no way we’re going to get his dead weight into the bedroom, so we take our drinks into the kitchen. While we get everything set up, a brilliant idea comes to me.

  Holding a finger to my lips to keep Aubrey quiet, I motion for her to follow me. Luckily, Noah passed out on his back. Going to the bowl of facial cream, I carefully cover his face in it. Aubrey’s giggling when she comes next to me, bottle of nail polish in hand.

  “I think Noah definitely needs a manicure. What do you think?”

  I can’t respond I’m laughing so hard. While I finish lathering his face up, Aubrey is quickly applying a coat to his nails. By the time we’re done, we’ve managed to get some clips in his hair, and I even threw a couple cucumber slices over his eyes.

  “Send a picture to Grayson.” Aubrey laughs, cleaning up the mess in the living room.

  “Oh, I’ll do you one better.”

  Grabbing my phone, I pull up FaceTime and dial Grayson. Luckily, we’ve been having so much fun my buzz has completely worn off, so I know I don’t look like a hot mess.

  “Hey, beautiful.” Grayson’s face fills the screen and I can’t help the smile that breaks out over my own. He’s so damn handsome.

  “Hey. So, I have a little surprise for you.”

  “Oh yeah? What’s that, baby?”

  I don’t answer him. Instead, I tap the button at the top of the screen and flip the camera around. Once I hold it up to Noah’s sleeping form, Grayson immediately bursts out laughing.

  “Holy fuck. What did you guys do?”

  “He came home drunk and crashed our party, so we decided to have some fun.”

  Grayson is unable to contain his laughter, and I can hear him yelling to somebody in the background. “Yo, come check this shit out!” He passes the phone out to his buddies at the station and they’re all gathering around. Needless to say, it’s only seconds before they’re all laughing and hooting. I think there was even a round of applause. This continues until finally Grayson shoos th
em all away and we’re alone on the call once more.

  “You and Aubs having a good time tonight?”

  “Yeah, we are. It’s been fun so far.”

  “I’m glad, baby. Good to see that smile back on your face.”

  “Well, I’m gonna get back to Aubs. We have another half-naked Channing movie to watch.” I laugh when I see his eyebrows narrow.

  “Why would you want to watch that crap when you have your very own Magic Mike right here? I can show you all my moves, darlin’.”

  “Sorry, Gray. You ain’t got nothin’ on Channing.”

  “Baby, don’t make me leave this firehouse and come spank that sexy ass of yours.”

  “Bring it on, Michaels.”

  Laughing, Grayson opens his mouth to retort when I hear the siren go off in the background.

  “Shit, sorry, babe. Gotta go. Have fun with Aubs. I love you.”

  Before I can say anything the screen goes dark. Shrugging, I toss the phone onto the coffee table and head out into the kitchen to find Aubrey pouring herself some more wine. She looks up when I enter the room and starts giggling.

  “What did Gray think?”

  “He laughed, then got all the guys to check it out. Noah’s going to kill us, you know that, right?”

  Laughing, Aubrey hands me another glass of wine. “Worth it. So damn worth it.”

  “It really was. Thank you for tonight. I really needed this.”

  “I got your back, girl. Now let’s go to my bedroom and watch another movie. Noah isn’t gonna be moving anytime soon.” Giggling, she grabs an unopened bottle of wine and we go into the bedroom. Settling down, we make ourselves comfy and turn the movie on. I’m not sure if it’s the wine or the fun we’ve been having, but somewhere between Channing Tatum and Matt Bomer I fall asleep, completely dead to the world.

  ***

  I’m woken the next morning by the sounds of loud laughter and angry shouting. Sitting up, I notice that Aubrey isn’t next to me. Climbing out of her bed, I pad out into the living room, yawning as I go. When I make it out to the living room, Aubs is bent over at the waist, laughing harder than I’ve ever seen. Noah is awake and standing with his hands on his hips, shouting at her. He spins around when he hears me enter the room and I can’t help the snort that comes out. Noah has pulled the clips out of his hair, but after a night of sleeping with them, his hair is standing up on all ends, going every which way. Most of the face mask has come off and is smeared on his T-shirt, but his fingernails are still bright red.