Distracted

by Warren, Alexandra

  “I understand. I still can’t believe he was fucking around with those girls at the club though. She wasn’t even cute. And her butt was fake.” I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

  “I know, right? It like… wasn’t even shakin’.” We laughed together as my phone began to ring. I picked it up from the table, getting a closer look at who the call was coming from.

  Nicole.

  I had honestly kind of forgotten about her, but now that Bryson had been a friend to me, it was only fair that I did the same.

  “Hello?”

  She sang into the phone, “Heyyyy Kennedy. So I’m at the mall looking at some pieces and I was thinking you should probably join me. I mean, since you’re my stylist and all.”

  Chloe gave me the, ‘who is that’ look and I tried to answer with my emphasis, “Actually, Nicole. I don’t think I’ll be able to work for you after all. It’s just… conflict of interest.” I still didn’t know if she was really carrying Bryson’s baby, but either way it was too close for comfort.

  She smacked her teeth as she asked, “Conflict of interest? What does that even mean?”

  I broke it down as simply as I could, “It means… I can’t work for you.”

  I pulled the phone away from my ear as she yelled, “But you signed a contract!”

  There was really no reason for me to get out of character, so I remained calm as I told her, “And I’m breaking it.”

  “Bitch, I’ll sue your ass into the ground.” Her use of expletives tickled me. She was surely a fan of old tricks if she thought dropping the B-word was gonna get me emotionally-invested in the conversation.

  “Let’s be real, Nicole. How much sense would that make? I mean, for one… you can’t really afford it. For two, would you rather me show up and make you look like crap? I think not.”

  She grunted before she spewed, “Whatever, Kennedy. If you don’t wanna work for me, fine! You weren’t that good anyway.”

  But you hired me so...

  “O… kay, Nicole. Be well. Good luck with the pregnancy.” She growled into the phone before hanging up and Chloe immediately jumped into action.

  “Do we need to ride out on that bitch? She was rude as hell.” Though I always brushed off the idea of having friends, Chloe was definitely as ride-or-die as they came.

  “Nah, it’s all good. Let’s just focus on the positive. Like your next step with Mr. Wes.”

  Bryson

  “So I think I deserve a token of appreciation for delivering Kennedy to your front door like a Hot ‘N Ready pizza.”

  I laughed Wes off as I wiped my face with my towel before tossing it over my shoulder after practice. I still hadn’t gotten a chance to get the full story out of Kennedy, so I was counting on Wes to give me the details.

  I waited until we settled in at our respective lockers to ask, “How’d that shit happen anyway?”

  He took a swig from his water bottle before he answered, “According to Chloe, she and her dude got into it over some shit at the club.”

  Of course this dude was pillow talkin’...

  “Oh word?”

  I changed out of my practice jersey into a regular t-shirt while I listened to him answer. “Yeah. And Chloe was already chillin’ with me when all that shit settled, so Kennedy came and joined us. Took a few shots too many and next thing you know she was begging me to take her to your crib.”

  “Begging you?” I hardly saw Kennedy as the begging type.

  Though she did beg you to watch her...

  “Begging, bruh. I’m assuming her ol’ man was probably gonna be at the crib tryna get her back and since Chloe was without a doubt coming home with me, you were her first option.” The explanation made total sense, no matter how surprising it was that she thought of me as a safe place to go.

  “Hmmm… that’s interesting.”

  “Nah, what’s interesting is how many positions you had her fine ass in before the sun came up.”

  I brushed him off. “Chill, bro. We didn’t even do anything.”

  He didn’t even pretend to be convinced as he said, “Bryson, I’ve known you a few years now and I have a hard time believing that shit. Unless, you…. awww shit.”

  “What?”

  He eyed me for a minute before he asked, “You really care about her, don’t you?”

  “Most definitely.”

  He looked borderline disappointed. “Damn, so ya’ll really didn’t do anything?” I shook my head no though clips of her in the middle of my bed had been on repeat ever since.

  “You better be careful, man. One second you care about her, the next second you’ll be in love.”

  My heart damn near skipped a beat. I had never been a fan of the L word; at least not in a serious manner.

  “In love? Nah, man. It’s not even like that.” Though I cared for Kennedy quite a bit, I hardly saw love being the case.

  “Sounds all fine and dandy now, but don’t be surprised when cupid comes and bites you in the ass when you least expect it.”

  &

  “Big bro, you gotta let me have these kicks. I mean, ever since you’ve been on your grown and sexy thanks to that stylist of yours, you probably don’t even have the time to give these babies the attention they deserve.”

  I gave my little brother Miles a smack to the side of his head to knock some sense into him as I dragged him out of my closet. He was visiting for the first week of his summer break before he planned on flying down to Atlanta to see his girlfriend.

  “Off limits, bro. You know that. And besides, my stylist doesn’t control all my moves. Not anymore at least.” I still became annoyed with the idea that Kennedy had quit her job with me to take one with Nicole. But the fact that she was at least talking to me somewhat made up for it.

  “Yeah right. After I saw you in those tight ass pants in that interview you did, I knew whoever she was must have you wrapped around her finger.”

  Damn, was it that obvious?

  I brushed him off. “Nah, she just had a vision. And you know how Leslie is about my image, so I had to follow the rules.” He eyed me suspiciously before he followed me out of the room and down the stairs.

  “Mmhmm. How bad is she? Be real.” I dug in my pocket and pulled out my phone, scrolling through my Instagram app to find her profile. When I found one of my favorites, a picture I had actually screenshotted to save in my phone, I handed it to him.

  “Damnnnnnn. She is bad.”

  I could tell he was scrolling to other pictures so I snatched the phone back from him as I told him, “I’m tellin’ Ava on you.”

  “Aye man. Even my girl can appreciate a beautiful woman when she sees one.” I knew that was a stretch, but I let it slide.

  I was just getting ready to ask him about his final grades for the semester when the doorbell rang. I wasn’t expecting anyone so I gave the nod to Miles to answer it for me and run clearance. Then I stood by the stairs to listen in.

  His voice took a different tone as he said, “Can I help you with something, ma?”

  Should’ve known it was a girl…

  “Hi. I was… looking for Bryson. Is he here?”

  Kennedy?

  Miles leaned away from the door to make sure it was cool and I waved for him to let her in.

  “Yeah, he’s here. Come on in, ma.” He opened the door further to let her past, shamelessly checking her out as she went around him. Behind her back, he gave me two thumbs up then jokingly wiped his mouth.

  “Kenn. What’s up, girl?” I strolled over to her, pulling her into a hug just so I could get a whiff of her always pleasant scent.

  “Well I called myself doing one of those in-the-area visits friends do, but I didn’t account for company. My apologies.”

  I quickly assured her, “This knucklehead is hardly company. Kennedy, this is my little brother Miles. Miles, Kennedy.” I couldn’t believe the little smirk he put on to pull her into a hug of his own. He peeked over her shoulder to taunt me and I mouthed, “I’m telling A
va.”

  “It’s good to meet you, Miles. I hope you’re nothing like your brother,” she teased.

  “Not in the slightest, ma. He’s more of a Beyoncé. I’m just Solange.”

  Kennedy busted out laughing as she stood on her tippy toes to wrap her arm around his shoulder and say, “Well I just so happen to like Solange, particularly for her fashion sense. So you’re good in my book.”

  Miles flashed me the biggest smile as he teased, “You hear that, Bryson? I’m good in her book.”

  Instead of giving Miles’s antics any attention, I directed it all to Kennedy. “You want something to drink? Miles has already eaten the fridge bare, so if you’re hungry we’ll have to go out somewhere.”

  “I’m actually good. But do you think we could talk… alone?” Miles looked at me for an answer until he realized what she said.

  “Oh. Oh! My bad. I’m going. But if ya’ll go get something to eat, I’m coming with. A brotha is mad hungry.” Kennedy laughed again as I shoved him towards the stairs.

  Then I lead her to the living room as she gushed, “He’s adorable.”

  “Don’t let him hear that shit. He likes ‘em older.” Even though I knew he had Ava, I still wasn’t gonna let him get too comfortable with Kennedy.

  She fell onto the couch, pulling her shoes off as she replied, “Well with that natural charm, I’m sure he pulls ‘em by the boatload.”

  I made myself comfortable next to her, not hesitating to pull her feet into my lap and give ‘em a rub down. “He’s actually going to see his little girlfriend when he leaves here in a few days. She’s a pro basketball player down in Atlanta.”

  Her eyes closed as she adjusted to the pressure. “Awwwww. Like Love & Basketball?”

  Why does everyone always reference that shit?

  I laughed as I replied, “Yeah, something like that. But enough about them. What’s up with you?”

  “Nothin’ much. What’s up with you?” She joked.

  “Kenn, you are so cheesy. But really though, what’s going on?”

  Her whole demeanor seemed to change as she pulled her feet from my hands. “I umm… I cancelled my contract with Nicole.”

  Now that caught me off-guard. Kennedy had made such a big deal before about how she had bills to pay and even though I knew Nicole wouldn’t have been able to pay her for long, she certainly had enough money for at least a couple paychecks.

  “Word? Why’d you do that?”

  She shrugged, her eyes on her hands as she twiddled her thumbs and answered, “I don’t know. I guess after seeing your true colors the other night, it just felt like the right thing to do.”

  “My true colors? Kennedy, I’ve been real with you from the jump.” Though things had gotten a little cloudy from time-to-time, there had never been an instance of me deliberately selling her lies.

  “Tell me then. Straight up. Is she really pregnant with your baby?”

  I released a heavy sigh before I honestly answered, “As bluntly as possible, unless she masterminded some crazy shit like poking a hole in my condom collection or somethin’ like that, then the chances are slim to none. But we still have to wait for the DNA tests to be 1000% sure.” The whole process was exhausting, but I was grateful that Leslie handled the in-person dealings with Nicole so I wouldn’t have to anymore.

  “And when are you gonna do that?”

  I was literally counting down the days of the last, “Two weeks.”

  “So I have to wait a whole two weeks until I can find out how outstanding you are?”

  Wait a minute… what?

  She blushed as she casted her eyes back down to her hands. “I mean, I’m not getting any on the regular these days and a girl can only do so much with her hands before she gets early onset arthritis.” I snatched her feet back into a hold, applying pressure in just the right spot to make her head fly back.

  “Kennedy, I’m a strong, youthful man with a strong sex game. Why are you wasting orgasms on your hands?”

  “Because your strong ass has a possible. So until then… Little Miss Kenn has to keep herself occupied.” Her teasing was way too cute.

  I watched her eyes roll to the back of her head as I did some teasing of my own on her feet.

  “You gonna wait for me?”

  Her answer came out as more of a moan than anything. “Yeah… I’ll wait for you.”

  I felt giddy as hell as I sat there thinking of the possibilities. And just when I was getting ready to go into the details of how good I was gonna make it for her, I heard Miles yell from the stairs, “Ya’ll so nasty!”

  Kennedy

  I should’ve stayed away a little longer.

  That’s all I kept thinking as I quietly shut the front door with the resounding sound of clothes being pulled from the rack in the closet serving as background noise.

  Landon and I - more me than Landon - came to the conclusion that it was best that he’d move out of the apartment we shared. For whatever reason he was convinced that our actions were equal meaning they practically neutralized one another.

  Hardly the case.

  After talking to Brandy - though a confrontation was more than tempting -, I found out the whole truth and let’s just say, Landon was lucky to still have clothes to pack. But I was no longer bitter, or angry, or… any of that. In fact, I felt refreshed because I was actually starting a new chapter of my life.

  I leaned against the doorframe of the closet as he stuffed his clothes in a box, similar to the way Bryson had insisted on stuffing his clothes in his suitcase long ago.

  Men.

  “Hey. Can I… help you?” He peeked up from his box with tired eyes to nod his head yes. I looked in the box and decided it was best to dump it and start over.

  “Damn, babe. I’ve been working hard to fill that box.”

  I was already busy sorting the clothes by style as I replied, “Well you can get triple the stuff in it if you take your time to fold everything. But don’t worry, that’s what I’m here for,” I replied with a smile. He returned a smile of his own, the creases of his face almost looking new as if he hadn’t smiled in days.

  I continued sorting, but could feel Landon’s eyes on me as he watched me work.

  “Aren’t you gonna help?”

  He snapped out of his daze to respond, “Oh! Yeah… yeah. I was just… damn, what happened to us, Kennedy? I mean, we were good together, weren’t we? You… you really loved me, didn’t you?”

  Not now...

  I began to fold a few shirts, explaining things to him as honestly as I could, “Of course I did, Landon. And I still do. It just… we just… didn’t work. Obviously considering we both stepped out on our relationship.” Saying it out loud gave me chills. I mean, I had already acknowledged my wrong-doings, but there was no removing the guilt I still felt for letting things go so far.

  Landon’s voice took a softer, pleading tone as he stated, “I felt like I was losing you, babe. You were so busy with your new job, spending all that time with Bryson and I just… my insecurities about it led me to test out my skills on other women. But it was a mistake, Kennedy. I swear it was a... mistake.” His voice cracked as he finished his spill.

  I know this fool isn’t about to cry…

  I peeked up to confirm my suspicions and immediately had to cast my eyes back down to the clothes.

  “Landon, I believe you. And to be quite honest, I forgive you. It’s no longer something for me to dwell on. Everything happens for a reason.”

  I could feel him staring at me as he finally confessed, “I’m not ready to let you go, Kennedy.”

  And there it was.

  The single tear that crushed my core.

  “I’m…” Shit, don’t look at him. “I’m sorry, Landon. But you made that decision when you decided to mess around with those damn strippers.” He silently wiped his tears and I tried to calm my own emotions so that I could finish helping him with his clothes.

  I folded a few things, gently laying them in the
box just as my phone began to ring. I picked it up and saw it was a FaceTime call from Bryson. I looked over to Landon who had all eyes on me, waiting to see both who it was and if I was actually gonna take it. Without an explanation, I left him in the closet and headed first to the living room, but then outside of the front door knowing how unpredictable Bryson could be.

  Once the call connected, Bryson’s smile grew and I couldn’t ignore the warmth my skin felt from that single motion.

  “Kennedy Wilson, what’s good?”

  “Are you gonna keep rubbing my singleness in my face?”

  “Yeah, until I can make you Kennedy Harris.” The guilty little smile he wore made me laugh.

  “You play too much.”

  He let out a few laughs of his own. “But nah, I was calling to see if you wanted to go bowling with Miles and I tonight. He insisted on inviting you. I think Chloe and Wes are coming too.”

  Going out with Bryson and company didn’t sound like the worst idea in the book, especially after the still-pending drama with Landon.

  I couldn’t help but tease, “Miles insisted on inviting me or you did?”

  His guilty little smile returned as he answered, “Miles… and I. We both did. So you comin’ or what?”

  “Yeah, I’ll come.” His excitement radiated through the phone.

  “Cool. I’ll pick you up around 10.”

  “Umm… actually, can I just meet you at your house? Landon’s still here.” The last thing I needed was a showdown between the two.

  He appeared a little withdrawn as he responded, “Oh… yeah. That’s cool.”

  “What’s the matter?”

  He was quiet for a moment, looking past the screen before he finally asked, “He… he didn’t try anything, did he? I know he still wants you, Kenn.” Though I could also pretty much tell that was the case, the last thing I needed was Bryson getting involved.

  So I answered, “Nah, he’s been cool. I’m helping him pack.”

  Now he looked flat-out annoyed.

  “Kenn, you’re helping your ex-fiancé who cheated on you pack his shit?”

  It sounded a little far-fetched when spoken aloud, but I quickly reminded him, “Technically I cheated on him first… remember?”