by Caitlyn Dare
"What about you?"
"Conner," she sighs. "This isn't about me. I don't have prospects like you. You decide what you want, what will make you happy, and I'll just tag along, I guess."
"You make it sound like a chore."
She turns to me, placing her warm hand on my thigh. "It's not a chore, Conner. I want to be wherever you are. It's just a big step, I guess. Having to uproot my life once again is daunting."
"Everything is going to be okay, K." I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her into my side, kissing the top of her head. "As long as we're together. Everything is going to be okay."
Silence falls over us. It's not awkward, but it's not entirely comfortable either. It's a far cry from the fun-loving Kennedy I was enjoying so much yesterday.
It's just the reality of the future, I tell myself, although there's something deep down that knows that’s bullshit. I know Kenny. I know her better than I know myself at times, and something is going on.
She shivers in my arms. "Shall we go and get a coffee?"
"Yeah, that sounds good. How long until we meet Cole and Hadley for dinner?"
I pull my cell from my pocket and check the time. "Two hours."
"Okay." Hand in hand, we walk back along the track until we find a coffee house and slip inside.
"Do you think everyone will think I'm a pussy if I follow Cole here?"
"You're really considering it, huh?"
"Yeah, I think so. I mean, I haven’t visited any other colleges yet, I just went off their websites and reputation for my applications. Where I go isn't really an issue. When I was in the Heights, I wanted to get as far away as possible, but now, I feel like I've got a family, a proper home for the first time, and a big part of me doesn't want to lose that."
"That's understandable. It's a great college. I'm sure no one would think you followed. It offers you great opportunities as well."
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see what they say. We need to get you an application." All the blood drains from her face at my comment.
"I... I don't think it's for me. I might look at community college or something. This..." she gestures outside the window. "I don't think it's my thing."
"You're just scared, K. Apply, there's no harm in trying. You'll only regret it if the deadline passes and you didn't at least give it a shot.
"Yeah, okay. Maybe."
She reaches for her mug and lifts it to her lips, effectively cutting off our conversation.
Silence falls over our table, and the dread I've been feeling all day returns. It's like Kenny built up a wall overnight, and I'm starting from square one again.
We sit and watch the students and locals who come in and out of the coffee shop until it's time to go and meet the others for dinner.
I'd wanted to take Kenny out, just the two of us, but Hadley had other ideas and insisted we double date, or whatever the hell it is.
I was reluctant to agree until she mentioned she'd booked a table at a steakhouse and that the plates were bigger than I could even imagine. That convinced me that maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
I know things are a little strained still between Kenny and Hadley. I see the way Kenny looks between Hads and me when we joke and laugh together. Despite the fact that she now knows exactly what went down that night, she still seems threatened by our closeness. I just hope that as time goes on, she realizes that there really isn't anything between us because my heart has only ever known one girl, and that’s her. Hadley is as good as my sister, there's no other way to describe how I feel about her. There's no risk of us ever taking things too far. Been there, done that, almost got a black eye from Cole to show for it.
Thankfully, Cole and Hadley have had a much better day than we have. It's clear by the wide smiles on their faces as we meet them out the front of the restaurant, but as we sit down and they start excitedly talking about the apartments they visited and show us pictures they've taken, it's more obvious than ever that things are off between Kenny and me.
We should be that excited about our futures. Kenny should be excited to really embark on a life that she gets to choose, but she seems totally dejected. Even as Hadley shows her image after image on her cell, her smile and excitement are fake.
Her dejected attitude totally kills my appetite, and I even struggle to finish my steak, much to everyone's surprise. I'm just not feeling it. All I want to do is get Kenny back to her room and hope that things improve, that she'll return to her normal self once it's just the two of us behind closed doors.
By the time we leave the excited love birds in the elevator to find our room a floor below theirs, I'm damn near desperate for Kenny to tell me that everything is okay.
As the day has gone on, I’ve felt her slipping further and further away from me.
Pushing open our hotel room door, I let her go through. But the second we're both inside, I snag her wrist and push her up against the wall. My hips pin her in place as my arms cage her in.
"K, I'm worried about you. Talk to me please."
"You don't need to be worried, Con." Her eyes soften as they look into mine and I begin to relax. "I just... I know it's stupid, but I feel like I'm being left behind. You three have these insane lives ahead of you and I just... well... don't."
"K, babe, you can have anything you want. Your past, where you come from, what you've been through… it doesn't have to define your future, the rest of your life. It's okay to break free from it and want something better."
"I know that, I do. I don't know, I'm just being silly. I'm just a bit hormonal or something, I don't know."
"A lot has happened, K. There's nothing wrong with feeling anxious about the future. But I'm here, whatever you decide, whatever you want, all you've got to do is tell me and we'll face it together. We're a team, you and me. We face the future together."
She swallows almost nervously before nodding. Her lips curl into a smile which is the most genuine I've seen all day. I can't help but return it.
"We're good, yeah?"
"Yeah, Con," she says, lifting her hand to my cheek. "We're good. I love you."
My chest constricts. It's the first time she's said the words since we were in the storage closet at school on Thursday. I was starting to think she only said it because I demanded it of her. I don't realize how much it was bothering me until I hear the words.
"I love you too, babe. Want me to show you how much?"
I brush my lips against hers, pressing her harder into the wall so she has no choice but to feel what her closeness does to me.
"That would be nice."
"Nice?" I chuckle. "Is that your word of the day or something?"
"Less talking, Con. More action, eh?"
Lifting her, I wrap her legs around my waist and pull her from the wall.
"Better?" I ask, squeezing her ass in my hands and plunging my tongue into her parted lips.
"Uh-huh."
I lower her down on the bed and crawl over her body, not breaking our kiss for a second.
"I'm going to fucking devour you," I warn against the soft skin of her neck.
"Ah, so that's why you left some dinner. Saving room?"
"No, I was worried about you. But now I know you're okay, I'm suddenly ravenous." I pull the neck of her shirt down and nibble on her collarbone. "Clothes are in the way."
Lifting her, I push her jacket from her shoulders before pulling her t-shirt up and throwing it across the room.
"Better," I whisper, staring down at her lace-covered breasts.
I push her shoulders a little harsher than probably necessary and watch as she falls back down, her chest heaving temptingly.
"Fuck, you're so beautiful, K."
"Con, please don't just sit there staring."
I nod and jump from the bed.
"Wait... what?” She frowns. “That wasn't what I meant."
"Babe, you're half-naked on the bed, I'm going nowhere." I strip out of my own clothes in record time before wrapping my han
ds around the waistband of her leggings and pulling them, her panties and her boots off her legs.
Launching myself on the bed, I lie down beside her.
"Up you go." I tilt my chin in the hope that she gets my intention.
"Up..."
"I wanna eat you out, K. Get up here and ride my fucking face."
"Oh, okay, yeah." Her cheeks flush, and it's so fucking cute I can't stand it.
Reaching out, I grip her hips and lift her over me. The second her pussy is above my mouth, I push my tongue inside her.
"Oh fuck."
"Hold on, babe. Things are about to get wild."
Her fingers wrap around the headboard as I lick up to her clit. Her thighs tremble on either side of my head and my grip on her tightens as I lower her even more, sucking her into my mouth, nipping at her sensitive skin with my teeth until she screams.
"Fuck, that was intense," Kenny whispers as she comes down from her high.
"Fucking right."
She crawls down my body until the heat of her pussy burns my length. "Now it's my turn." With a sexy wink, Kenny takes my length in her fist and guides me to her entrance.
We both groan as she sinks down as far as she can go, impaling herself on my cock.
"So good. So fucking good. This feeling will never get old."
"Conner," she cries, circling her hips, making sure I hit that magical place deep inside her.
"Ride me, babe. Let me see you take what you need." And she does, she lifts almost all the way off me before dropping back down, making her eyes roll back in pleasure.
"Lose the bra. I need to see all of you."
Kenny does as she's told, and in seconds she's totally naked before me, her tits bouncing as she rides me.
"I must have died and gone to fucking heaven," I mutter, my eyes locked on her.
How was I so lucky to get this after all the ways I've fucked up?
We both come simultaneously before she falls down onto the bed, a boneless mess. But I don't let up, I roll straight on top of her and kiss her until she's writhing beneath me, desperate for another release.
Pushing her legs wide, I slide back inside her heat. I keep it slow this time, neither of us needing to race toward our climax. It's about more than pleasure. It's about us and our connection.
"I love you, Con. I need you to know that I really love you."
"I know, babe." I rub my thumb over her cheek as a tear falls from her eye.
"Babe, please don't cry."
"I'm sorry, it's just... all this. You, us, it's... everything. I love you so much, Conner."
"It's how it always should have been, babe." We kiss until our releases roll through us. It isn't as violent as the first, but it's no less intense.
We finally fall asleep in a tangle of limbs sometime before two a.m. and after countless orgasms each. I drift off feeling happier and more hopeful than I have all day.
We're okay. Kenny is okay. We're going to be okay. Whatever the future holds, we'll face it together as one.
I squeeze her tighter right before I drift off, whispering how much I love her before darkness and exhaustion claims me.
I awake with a start the next morning. I don't know why, but something doesn't feel right.
Pushing up on my elbow, I look at the other side of the bed. It's late enough that the sun is already high in the sky and lighting up the room, allowing me to see that it's empty.
My eyes lift to the bathroom, assuming it's where she must be, but the door is open and there's no noise coming from inside.
"K?" I ask, but only silence greets me.
My heart starts to race as dread once again settles in my stomach.
We're in a hotel. She can't just leave.
Pushing from the bed, I don't get any further than swinging my legs over the edge, because there's a note on my nightstand.
Plucking it from the side, I unfold it and stare down at her handwriting.
My heart drops into my feet and my world turns upside down.
I love you Conner.
I always will.
But I can’t do this.
I’m sorry.
K x
Kennedy and Conner’s story continues in Temper Him coming 12/31!
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Two angsty romance lovers writing dark heroes and the feisty girls who bring them to their knees.
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