Page 14 of The Last Key (Baker Girls #2)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

DEVON

“So, are you going to tell me what happened between you and Kennedy?” Justin asks in a hushed voice as we walk away from Kennedy—who grabbed a free table—to get drinks at the bar.

“What do you mean?” I ask like I haven’t been acting weird as fuck from the moment we left the house.

He grabs my arm, stopping me in my tracks, and simply raises his eyebrows at me.

“Yeah. Okay.” I nod toward the bar. We order drinks for ourselves and Kennedy, then I look at Justin, who is giddy with excitement. “We almost kissed.”

His eyes widen and a grin breaks out. “No shit?”

I rub the back of my neck. “No shit.”

“What stopped you? And why do you look like you got hit by a train?”

My eyes drift over his shoulder to where Kennedy is bouncing in her seat to the upbeat Taylor Swift song playing.

“Because I’m acting like a fucking moron.

Earlier I told her I wanted to fuck her on the kitchen counter.

We’ve been flirting and teasing each other and alluding to sexual things, but then I barreled over the line and she looked terrified.

Maybe a little turned on, but mostly horrified.

Then I implied I was going to jack off to her in the shower.

” I huff and run a hand through my hair.

“You’re a fuckin’ mess. Where does the kissing come in? Oh, did she join you in the shower?”

“What? No. Fuck, you’ve been narrating too many romance novels.

When I finished my shower, I went downstairs, and I was replaying what I said to her and panicking.

What if I scared her away? That’s the last thing I’d want.

I realized how badly I want her to stay.

Not just for a few weeks or the summer, but forever.

I want her here with me. Then she walked into the room and asked me what I was thinking about—alluding to what I said about fucking her on the counter.

I didn’t want her to think that’s all I wanted, so I told her the truth.

It was a perfect moment. We were this close”—I hold my thumb and pointer up, pinched close together—“to kissing. Then you yelled from the other room. So, thanks for ruining that.”

He laughs as the bartender sets our drinks down.

“Well, you know what you have to do now, right?”

I stare blankly at him. Tell her how I feel? Kiss the hell out of her? Beg her to stay? Fuck her on the kitchen counter?

Then he nods toward the stage and grins.

Ah, fuck.

Normally karaoke is fun and ridiculous. If I have enough to drink, I might get up and do a goofy rendition of an ’80s song. Otherwise, I sit and enjoy the desecration of some of my favorite songs. Never have I come to karaoke and purposely performed well. Until tonight.

Why did I let Justin talk me into this? It’s his fucking accent. It makes everything sound like a good idea.

Now I’m walking onto a crappy stage where all eyes are on me, but I look for the only eyes that matter.

Kennedy’s are wide, but there’s a smile on her face. Of course, she doesn’t know what I’m about to do. My stomach churns as the opening bars of One of Them Girls by Lee Brice play. This is a ridiculous plan, but it’s too late to take it back, so I look at Kennedy, open my mouth, and commit to this.

I picked this damn song because it’s always made me think of Kennedy. For the most part, she doesn’t give a fuck about what other people think. Guys look at her like she’s candy, and somehow, she doesn’t notice. She’s the girl I’d give everything to have, and she doesn’t realize it.

As the chorus begins, I lose myself in the words. Words that tell her exactly what I want. Her. That I’d do anything to have her.

Her gaze on me is intense and hard to read, but she can’t take her eyes off me, and that fuels me.

Pulling the mic from the stand, I move around the small stage, the song flowing out of me.

Most people don’t know I can sing well. Kennedy is one of the few.

When we’d camp in the backyard, she’d always force me to sing to her while we roasted marshmallows.

Of course, there wasn’t much forcing needed.

I’d do anything for her. If it makes her smile, I’ll do it without a second thought.

People are clapping and singing along with the song, but my eyes are still on Kennedy as she watches me raptly, her face impossible to read.

I want to believe I see some excitement in those eyes, but it’s hard to know from here.

And singing right in front of her might be a touch dramatic.

Instead, I place the mic back in the stand, holding onto it as I sing the final words, still watching her.

Emotion clouds her face, and I’m not sure that’s a good sign or a bad one .

The second the song is over, I hop off the stage, but a couple of people step into my path and compliment me.

I politely thank them while trying to get away quickly. When I finally get to where Justin and Kennedy were sitting, they’re standing and seem to be arguing.

“No, it wasn’t!” Kennedy yells, then bolts out of the bar.

“What the hell was that?” I ask Justin.

He scrunches his face and says, “It’s possible this wasn’t as good of an idea as I thought.”

“Where did she go?” I yell. He opens his mouth but doesn’t say anything. “Justin!”

He glances over his shoulder, then turns back to me. “I think the song might’ve… scared her a bit. She left. I saw Chris outside. I think she got a ride with him.”

Chris is our local cabbie. He’s dedicated to his job and somehow always seems to appear when you need him. Apparently, that worked for Kennedy tonight. Fuck. Scaring her is the last thing I wanted. After that almost-kiss in the kitchen, I didn’t think I would.

It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters besides getting to Kennedy.

“I’ve gotta go,” I say.

“Yeah, probably a good plan.”

“Are you coming?”

“Nah. I’ll catch a ride back. Maybe call Chris,” he says with a dry laugh. Then he looks at me seriously. “Go get her.”

Without another thought, I dash for the door, running down the block and jumping into the driver’s seat of my 4Runner.

Thankfully, my house is only twelve minutes from the bar.

Unfortunately, that feels like an eternity.

Especially as I replay every moment with Kennedy from the past few days, leading to this.

Over and over I go through it all, each time ending up at the same place.

I don’t understand why she’d be scared. Unless everything finally caught up to her.

Shit.

When I get to my house, I let out a sigh of relief seeing the lights on inside. Rushing out of my car, I run across the front yard and up the porch steps. My heart thrums as I swing the door open. “Kend? Kennedy? Are you here?”

“Kitchen,” she calls, like nothing at all is wrong.

Now I’m just fucking confused.

I slip off my shoes and force myself to slow down. Taking a few deep breaths, I make my way down the hall like everything is normal, and I didn’t just drive home like my pants were on fire.

When I get to the kitchen, the fridge is open, obscuring Kennedy from view for a moment. Until she closes the door and spins to face me, smiling brightly.

Oh, and she’s naked.

Stark fucking naked in my kitchen.

My brain is working overtime to comprehend everything.

She looked uncertain while I was singing.

She’s naked. Then I got off the stage. She’s naked.

She and Justin were arguing. She’s still naked.

He said she ran out. Holy fuck, she’s naked.

I raced home and then saw her standing here naked.

And now she’s strolling toward me. Her hand is on my chest and she. Is. Naked.

“Kend, what’s going on?” my voice is so high and raspy I barely recognize it. She smiles as she runs her hand down my chest. “I thought you left.”

“I did,” she says with a laugh.

“No. I thought you left because you were scared or upset.”

“Oh,” she says dramatically, her smile growing. “No. I just needed a head start. And then for you to hurry back here. Justin was playing along.”

“Oh.” Oh. I slowly run my fingers through the hair at the side of her face. “And that’s why you’re naked?”

She bites her lip. “It’s the fantasy, right? You made your move. This is mine.”

I search her eyes. “ You are the fantasy. This isn’t all I want. You know that, right? ”

“I know,” she says quickly. “It’s not all I want, either. But it’s the fun part.” She shivers. “Or it was. I’m getting cold now.”

“Well, we can’t have that.” I quickly pull my shirt off, then put it over her head. She stares at me for a second, so I smile, finally feeling like myself again. “Put your arms in like a good girl.”

Her eyes widen slightly, but she does it, then immediately hits me with a pout.

“Why’d you do that?”

Chuckling, I say, “Two reasons. One, you just said you were cold.”

“And two?” she asks breathily.

Stepping closer, I trace my finger down her jawline.

“Two, I don’t want to kiss you for the first time with you standing there naked.

If I do that, I’ll rush. All I’ll be able to think about is doing more, and I want to savor this.

” Letting my lips follow the path my finger took, I kiss the line of her jaw, to her chin.

Then lift my lips and look into her eyes before wrapping my hand around her neck and slowly pressing my lips to hers.

The second our lips meet, everything becomes clear. Everything I want. Everything I need. Everything I’ve been missing. Fire fills my heart as sparks of electricity crack around us. “Kend,” I groan against her lips.