“Um… Hi,” Lacey said.
“Hey, Lacey,” Kennedy greeted. “This isn’t weird at all.”
Lacey laughed and replied, “No, it’s not.”
“She wants insider tips on dating River,” Cameron said. “I put you on speaker.”
“Oh, wow,” Lacey said.
“I was just kidding. Well, I washalf-kidding.”
“I’m not really the person to ask, Kennedy. River and I didn’t work out, remember?”
“But you did in the beginning.”
“I’m not sure the beginning is what matters the most if you’re hoping for it to last. Look, River is a good person. Shewears her heart on her sleeve most of the time, even when she doesn’t realize it. She didn’t with me toward the end, which was how I knew that something was wrong with us. She loves that damn candy shop more than most things in the world, and she liked you enough to light up whenever you walked into the room that weekend. I watched it happen. Just be yourself, like Cam said, and it’ll be fine.”
“Thank you,” Kennedy replied. “She’s supposed to pick me up in a few minutes. I’m ready, but I don’t know where we’re going, so I’m second-guessing every choice I’ve made so far.”
“Have you two had the talk about being out in public?” Cameron asked.
“I told her we should go someplace as private as possible just for now. I don’t want people to think you and I were cheating on each other,” she replied.
“Yeah, me neither. We’ve been keeping a low profile,” Cameron said. “Just go out and enjoy yourself, Ken.”
“Oh, and River likes to be the one to, like, open doors and stuff. She’s chivalrous. You can tell her if you don’t like it, but if youdolike it, she’ll do it forever.”
“Doyoulike that stuff?” Cameron asked, which was obviously addressed to Lacey.
“Okay, I’m hanging up now,” Kennedy said just as the doorbell rang. “She’s here. I have to go. Bye. Thanks.”
She hung up, lowered her phone to her side, and took a deep breath before she tucked her phone inside her purse, carried that with her, and opened the door.
“Hi,” she said when she saw River standing there, wearing a suit. “You’re…”
“What?” River asked. “I’m what?”
“You’re wearing a freaking suit.”
“It’s just a blazer with a tie, and these are the best pants I own. Shit. Did I get this wrong? I dressed up. Should I not have?”
“You look… hot,” Kennedy stated. “Like, really hot.”
“Oh,” River said and offered a shy smirk. “Thanks. You look hot, too. Though I feel like I should tell you that you look beautiful, which you do. I like you in dresses.”
“I remember,” she said, recalling River’s hands moving all over her dress when they’d made out in her kitchen while they were supposed to focus on making things for her to sell. “And you look amazing. That’s what I should’ve said. I just didn’t expect you to dress up.”
“Why not? It’s a first date.”
“I don’t know. I like you in white T-shirts.”
“Well, that’s good because I wear T-shirts, like, ninety percent of the time. But Icanclean up.”
“I can see that,” Kennedy said.
“Ken?”
“Yeah?”
