“And now, we don’t even kiss each other. I was thinking about that when we were in that doorway just now. We’re about to walk out onto that deck or balcony, whatever it’s called, whereyou’re going to hold me, and I know we need to kiss to really sell it, but that made me so sad because I knew I’d be kissing you to sell something and not because…”
“You really want to kiss me?” Cameron finished her sentence and looked down at the empty glass.
“How did we get here?” Kennedy asked. “I love you.”
“I know. I love you, too,” she replied.
“Is that enough?Canit be?”
“We have to get through this weekend, Kennedy. We have no choice. We signed a contract with the charity, and I don’t want to screw some kids over because we didn’t meet our obligations, so I think you were right earlier.”
“About what?”
“We need to do this and deal with the rest later.”
“The rest being our entire relationship?”
“Maybe. But we can’t think about it now. Let’s just try to pretend like it’s four years ago, and we’re in that stage of our relationship again. Maybe that’ll help when we get home. It’ll remind us of what we had and help us try to get it back.”
“Okay,” Kennedy replied. “But can we skip the kiss for show out there? Hold me, but no fake kisses.”
“Only real ones?” she asked.
Kennedy nodded and said, “Only real things this weekend. Will you hold me like you want to out there?”
Cameron nodded back and gave her a soft smile before she leaned in and kissed Kennedy on the forehead.
“Yes.”
CHAPTER 10
Kennedy
Having Cameron’s arms around her for the first time in a long time had Kennedy closing her eyes and remembering how right it had felt when they’d first met. Instant. That was how she’d always described her feelings for Cameron in interviews. They’d been instant. They’d talked for hours, never having a hard time coming up with a topic but not struggling with silence being awkward, either.
For about the past year, talking about anything real or serious had gotten harder and harder, though, and she wasn’t sure why. That feeling of rightness just wasn’t there anymore, and Kennedy didn’t know what to do about that. She hadn’t lied minutes ago in that kitchen. She loved Cameron and always would; she knew that much. But beinginlove was a different thing, and as Cameron kissed her neck and pointed out to a boat on the water, Kennedy wasn’t sure that that feeling still applied.
Maybe they could still get it back, what they had before. Maybe this weekend could help, or maybe they could go to counseling like they’d talked about before. The spark could still be there. After all, how could they have gotten it this wrong? Meeting, falling in love hard and fast, building a life together, which had included them both coming out to the world a year after they had gotten together. They had been through so muchas a couple, and Kennedy wasn’t sure that she was ready to give up on them and what they could be.
She was brought out of those thoughts when her phone rang in her pocket, and she reached for it.
“Oh, come on, Kennedy,” Jessie said from her position off camera.
“Sorry… It’s Zane. He told me he was going to call me about a part. I need to get this.”
“They’ll be here in, like, one minute,” Jessie said.
“Just get some shots with Cam doing something. She can tell you how amazing we are as a couple or whatever. I’ll be right back,” she added that last part to her girlfriend.
“Yeah, okay,” Cameron said.
Kennedy went back inside the house and sat on a stool at the kitchen island before she answered Zane’s call.
“Hey,” she said. “I’m at that double date thing, so I can’t talk long.”
“It’s okay. I can’t, either. I’ve got a meeting with a prospective client.”
“Prospective? I didn’t know you were taking on new clients.”
