Page 40 of FWB

Tiegan

I ’m not going to lie—the hockey game rattled me, both on and off the ice.

The game itself was intense. I’ve never seen anything like it, and the fans were just as wild.

At least three fights broke out within an eight-row radius.

It was a blast! But seeing Kenny totally threw me off my guard.

And then coming over to apologize . What was that about?

If Torin suspected any weird tension between Kenny and me, he didn’t show it. He kept my attention on him and the game, for the most part. I still couldn’t help but look over my shoulder to try and spot Kenny in the crowd behind me a time or two.

When I get back to the office on Monday, a bouquet of blood-red roses are waiting at my desk. “Who left these?” I ask Rob.

“No idea. They were already here when I arrived this morning. Did you check for a card?”

I discover one tucked away between the petals. I open it and immediately look for a name, but it doesn’t include one. Instead, it’s just a single line. I barely have to read it before I recognize the line as a lyric from “Holding Pattern .” Kenny left these roses.

“Do you know who they’re from?” Rob asks.

“There’s, uh, no name on the card,” I stammer, not wanting to reveal I know exactly who these flowers are from.

“Looks like someone has a secret admirer.”

I huff a laugh.

Taking out my phone, I send a quick text to Kenny for the first time in weeks.

Tiegan: Thank you for the flowers. They’re lovely.

Kenny’s reply is almost immediate, for once, like he was waiting by his phone for my communication.

Kenny: They’re not half as lovely as their recipient.

I put my phone away without replying. I have nothing to say to that. What kind of mixed signals is he sending? First, he pushes me away by keeping secrets from me, and now he’s sending me a dozen roses and calling me lovely. What am I supposed to do with this information?

I try to avoid Kenny as much as possible around the office over the next few weeks, which isn’t hard considering he’s mainly working from home these days.

He only comes in one or two days a week now.

I’m also incredibly busy with the latest project that I’m solely responsible for, organizing the retirement packets for recent retirees.

I’m incredibly stressed to take this on, but Rob has full confidence in me.

Plus, it’s not like I can’t ask him for advice if need be.

I try to pry Rex for information without flat-out asking him, but he seems as in the dark about Kenny as I am. Max would probably know what’s going on, but I’m not as close to him. It would be awkward if I came up to him and randomly started asking questions about Kenny’s whereabouts.

Sam’s social media presence is lackluster whenever I check it, trying to catch a glimpse of Kenny in the background of one of his posts. However, ninety-nine percent of what he posts is music-related, so it gives me no clues as to what’s going on inside that house.

I continue to hang out with Torin, but it seems like he’s giving me mixed signals. Apart from the hockey game, Torin has started to lose interest in hanging out outside of the bedroom. I’ve tried instigating dates, but he always makes up some excuse. I don’t know what to think.