Kenny (Shifter Football League Book 2)

by Becca Fanning

  “Okay, no driving. Guess we go inside then.” He sighed. “Kaylee’s going to find this hilarious.”

  Kaylee looked up and put a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. “Oh, my. I guess it’s raining.”

  “What gave it away?”

  “You look pathetic.” A little laugh escaped her. She got up and rushed past him. When she came back she had two mugs of coffee and a dish towel from the staff room. She tossed him the towel. “Here. You’re starting to leave a puddle on the floor. It must really be coming down out there.”

  “By the bucket. Thanks, Kaylee.”

  “I didn’t think you’d be this late,” she said. “Is everything okay?”

  “Just forgot to set my alarm last night. I was a little distracted.”

  Inwardly, Kaylee preened. “Well, you owe me a coffee run.”

  “I could have grabbed it. That’s the deal.”

  “You look like you need to warm up and dry out. Don’t worry. So, the client got back to us about the website. The homepage passed inspection and no new additions. But the contact page just got more interesting.”

  “Interesting is never good.”

  He stood over her shoulder, toweling off his hair while she walked him through the list of requested changes and additions. He left his soggy shoes and socks by the door to dry and they settled into their comfortable work routine for the morning.

  By lunch Jules had a crick in his neck, and he rose up to his full height, stretching with a loud groan. Kaylee giggled. He looked down at her.

  “You sound like a bear waking up from a long winter nap. A very grumpy bear.”

  “Just a very stiff bear,” he said, trying to sound relaxed. She doesn’t know. No one has seen the video. I paid the money. He didn’t release the video. She’s just making a joke. Smile and joke along with her.

  “I think I could do with a walk or something too. I finished my coffee an hour ago and didn’t bother to get up and refill it. I was just on a roll.”

  “Did you want to grab lunch?”

  “Is it still raining? If it’s still raining, we could just order something from the sandwich place up the block. They deliver. Better the kid from the shop have to walk in the rain than me.”

  “What happened to needing a walk?”

  “I don’t need to come back from lunch looking like a drowned cat, thank you very much.”

  He arched one eyebrow. “Is that what I looked like this morning?”

  “Your face said ‘wet cat’ all right, but you’re too big to look like a cat.”

  “More a bear?” he said wryly.

  “Exactly. We can at least walk to the front and see if it’s raining before we decide what to do about lunch.”

  “And risk an encounter with Freddie?”

  “Or risk losing feeling in my legs.” She smiled. “Besides, it’s five past, he’s probably gone for lunch.”

  “Probably?” Jules said with an exaggerated huff. “You want to risk the viability of our entire escape plan on a probably?”

  “Yup.” She was grinning at him.

  Freddie was gone for lunch and it had stopped raining. “Do we risk it?” Jules asked, staring at the clouds that sat low and heavy over the city. “It could start raining again at any moment.”

  “It’s a short walk.”

  “It was a short walk in from the parking lot,” he reminded her.

  She glanced over at him. His shirt was dry and so was his hair, but his shoes, which he’d had to put back on to make the walk to the front, still looked wet and uncomfortable. “Okay, why don’t you just tell me what you want and I’ll run down there. I’ll even sneak back in the loading door.”

  He looked down at his shoes. They still made squelchy noises every time he shifted his weight or took a step. “Sure, that sounds like a plan.”

  “Of course, now you owe me a sandwich run and a coffee run,” she said with that familiar, playful smile.

  “How about I just take you out to dinner,” he said. “Friday after work? Or does the pub only serve wings on Wednesdays?”

  “No, Friday sounds good. What do you want?”

  “Brown bread, cold cut, double the meat half the lettuce, mayo and mustard.”

  “Wow, that’s simple. Okay, let me just grab my purse and I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

  When she had gone, he sat back in his chair and kicked his shoes off. He pulled out his phone. There had been no reply from Remy or Jane over the morning, so he called Remy again and got the voice mail recording again.

  Odd. I hope everything is okay. Remy always answers his phone.

  “Remy, Jules again. Call me when you get this.”

  He dropped the phone onto the desk and rubbed his hands over his face. He took a deep breath and let it out with a soft whoosh. He picked up the phone again and opened his email inbox. There was a new message sitting there from the same address as the video the night before.

  The message was short.

  “Payment received. I will be in contact again soon.”

  “Yeah, right,” Jules muttered. “You’ll be in contact again just as soon as you’ve spent all my money. Bastard.”

  You shouldn’t have paid him, said a voice in his head. You know he’ll go public sooner or later. It will never be enough money. As soon as you’re late with a payment or you can’t deliver on a favor, he’ll go public. Think about Kaylee. Think about how she’d react. She was making out with you! She’s going to be so pissed you didn’t tell her.

  I can’t tell her. She’ll run. I need her to get used to me first. I need to tell her the right way. I will tell her, but I don’t want to mess it up.

  So… you love her?

  He couldn’t answer that question. It had been two weeks. Sure, they worked well together, sure she was a nice girl, but they’d known each other two weeks. He would have to remember to ask Gia how long she and Brock had known each other before they had moved from friends to being in love. Of course, he had to be ready for the long-winded version if he asked Gia. She was pregnant and emotional and seemed to love sappy romantic things more than usual.

  Finally, he dialed Jane’s number. This time Jane picked up.

  “Yeah?”

  “Jane, I need to shift tonight. I—he… He’s getting restless. I can feel it.”

  “Again? Jules, you need help.”

  “I’m working on it, all right? It’s been two weeks this time, hasn’t it?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. But the rest of us have to keep dropping our plans to cover for you.”

  “I’m sorry, Jane.”

  “Did you call Remy?”

  “Of course I did, but he’s not answering his phone.”

  “Ah, shit.”

  “Jane, I really need you tonight.”

  “I know. Okay. I’ll be there, usual time.”

  “Usual time. Thanks Jane, you’re the best.”

  “Don’t you ever forget it.” She hung up.

  Kaylee’s walk to the sandwich shop had been brisk but enjoyable. She liked walking. It helped her clear her head and reenergized her. The sounds of the city, the cars, the people talking, planes overhead—it was all normal, all somehow invigorating. She was smiling as she entered the shop and ordered two sandwiches. Tuna salad on whole wheat with lettuce and cucumbers for her, roast beef on rye with horseradish sauce for him. She was in such a good mood that she added a cinnamon bun to the order.

  I’ll slice it in half and toast it at work for afternoon break. Jules will like it.

  She was a block away from the print shop, paperback in hand, when it started raining again. She muttered a curse at the sky and picked up her pace. She made it back to work just as the drizzle became a downpour.

  Mark looked up as she scrambled inside, panting. “Should’ve taken an umbrella,” he said with a smile.

  Kaylee grinned back. “I didn’t bring one this morning.”

  “You could have borrowed mine,” he replied.

  “Or mine.”
<
br />   Kaylee looked up. Shit. I was going to come in the back. I was so anxious to get in from the rain that I forgot Freddie would be back. Her heart was still racing from the jog, but she stood up straight and smiled. “Hey Freddie.”

  “Come into my office, Kaylee.”

  Mark gave her a sympathetic smile as she walked past him. “I’m on my lunch break,” she said. “And Jules is waiting for his sandwich.”

  “Is Jules taking advantage of you?”

  “What?”

  “No, nothing like that!” Freddie said, waving a hand. “Sorry. I just meant, is he treating you like a personal assistant? Is he making you fetch his coffee and his lunch?”

  “No.”

  He eyed the bag.

  “It’s my lunch too. His shoes got soaked this morning and he didn’t want to go out, so I volunteered. It’s no big deal.”

  “Are you sure?” He sidled up closer to her. “I feel responsible for you, Kaylee. I want to make sure you’re happy here.”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “Can I go eat my lunch?”

  “Of course. I’m sorry, of course. Go on.”

  She was shaking her head as she came up to the office door. She had her hand on the door handle when she heard Jules say, “Jane, I really need you tonight.”

  She froze.

  “Usual time. Thanks Jane, you’re the best.”

  Her heart, which had only just slowed to a normal rate, started hammering again. Tears stung her eyes. She retreated to the lunch room and busied herself with plates and coffee. She wrote her name on the paper bag and stuck the cinnamon bun in the fridge for later.

  Could mean anything—you only heard him for a second. Could be anything. Could be anyone. Besides, last night was just a bit of fun. He never made you any promises.

  She took a deep breath and went back to the office with the two plates. She set them on the desk and gathered up the empty coffee mugs.

  “Thanks, Kaylee,” he said.

  “Be right back.”

  He watched her hurry out. Something in her voice had pricked his attention. The way she was moving, hurried, hunched in, it all said ‘insecure’ to him. I’ve never seen Kaylee like that, not even that first day when we insulted each other and made fools of ourselves.

  “Oh, Jules,” she said as she came in with the coffee. “I got a phone call while I was at the diner. Something came up all of a sudden, so I won’t be able to do dinner on Friday. Sorry.”

  She didn’t sound sorry. She sounded cold. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah. No emergencies, just family stuff. It’s all good. I’ll just be busy all weekend.” She flashed him a quick smile.

  “Did I miss anything?”

  “No.” But I feel like I did.

  “Okay, then I’m going to work on that brochure while I eat.”

  “Sure, okay.” She turned to her computer and everything in her posture screamed ‘I’m not listening.’

  He sighed and picked at his sandwich, no longer feeling very hungry.

  It was around two when her cellphone rang. She patted her pocket and then reached into one of the drawers and fished it out. “Hey, Alice,” she said. She got up from the desk and walked out to the lunch room. Jules stared after her and then looked at the desk and the open drawer.

  Her cellphone was in the drawer. Did she put it in there when she got back? No. She handed out food and coffee. I never saw her phone. I never heard the drawer open and that drawer squeaks. She didn’t have her phone with her at the diner. She lied. Why? Why did she want to cancel Friday? Why didn’t she just tell me she’d changed her mind?

  Alice was a friend from college. She was looking for help on a project. Kaylee offered what advice she could over the phone and then said, “Why don’t you email me a low-res copy, and I’ll give it a look.” They weren’t allowed to work on each other’s assignments but their professor let them offer opinions without penalty.

  “Thanks Kaylee, that would be a big help. Something isn’t quite right, but I just can’t put my finger on it. I think it’s the font, but I’m out of ideas.”

  Kaylee buttered her cinnamon bun and popped it in the microwave as she talked. “I know the feeling. How’s the work placement going?”

  “Good, I guess. I was excited when I got placed in a pretty big firm.”

  “But?”

  “But mostly I run copies. They’ve given me a few token projects, stuff I can’t really mess up for clients that don’t bring in a lot of business. And the guys here are totally creeping on me.”

  “Oh, Alice, I’m sorry. And to think I was jealous when I heard your placement.”

  “What about you? Didn’t you get a little print shop?”

  “Yeah, it’s small, only three designers on staff, but I’m doing real work. My mentor actually respects my professional opinion.”

  “And no creepers?”

  “Well …”

  Alice laughed. “Sometimes being a woman sucks.”

  “Yeah. But it’s not all bad. My mentor isn’t a creeper at least.”

  “Oh? Gay? Married?”

  “No and no. Just a nice guy. We’ve actually started hanging out.”

  “Kaylee!”

  “No, nothing like that, I swear! Look, I have to get back to work. Send me that email. We’ll have to get together soon.”

  “Yeah. Thanks again.”

  Jules looked up when she came back in. “Cinnamon bun?”

  “Yeah, they had some at the sandwich counter. I couldn’t resist.”

  “I should have ordered one. That smells delicious.”

  Kaylee thought about her plan to split it with him, but then she thought about the phone call, and the way he had played her the night before. She slid the plate closer to her keyboard and smiled. “And it’s going to taste delicious.” She tossed her cellphone back in the drawer and slid it shut with a familiar squeak that sealed his suspicions.

  “More emergencies?” he said.

  “No, just a classmate. We sometimes look over each other’s work when we’re stuck.”

  He almost asked if this classmate was a guy, but it wasn’t his place. There’s nothing going on between us. It was one makeout session. And she said Alice when she answered the phone. “Good thing you have friends to help you out.”

  “Yeah. It’s nice when you have someone in your life you can trust,” she said with a little too much bite in her voice. “I need to get back to this.”

  Shit. She’s mad about something. Something to do with me. What did I do? I thought things were going so well! What scared her? Did she…? No. She didn’t have her phone with her, so she didn’t have the internet—and there’s no TV in the sandwich place. Besides, he has no reason to release the video. I paid! Shit when did this all get so messed up?