“I’m really asking here, Kennedy. How bad is it? You’ve spent the whole weekend with me so far. She’s spent the whole weekend with Lacey. It’s almost like we all had this plan to have a romantic weekend with the person we came with, and we’re spending the whole time avoiding them instead.”
“Here I thought youwantedto spend time with me, but you just wanted to avoid Lacey,” Kennedy teased.
River smiled over at her and said, “So bad, then?”
“Things are… tense with us,” Kennedy said, wrapping her arms around her legs, and then asked, “What do you do when you’re not making candy?”
“Are you asking about my hobbies?”
“It’s either that, or we keep talking about the people we are avoiding,” Kennedy replied.
“Okay. Well, I like to plan new flavors and mixes.”
“Outside ofmaking candy, River.” Kennedy laughed.
River smiled at her and said, “Fine. I play video games sometimes.”
“Video games?”
“I’m not serious about it. They just help me unwind.”
“Can’t say I’ve played a video game since I was a kid. Do you shoot at things?”
“Sometimes.” River chuckled. “But I like some of the old classics more. I still play Sonic.”
“What’s Sonic?”
“The Hedgehog?”
“The movie?” Kennedy asked.
River nearly cackled and said, “The video game. I guess they did make a movie based on it, but it was a game first. I play that sometimes.”
“And how exactly do you play a game with a hedgehog?”
“You collect coins, move up levels, beat the bad guy; same as most games.”
“And that helps you take your mind off things?”
“Sometimes, yes. Other times, I listen to music, which was what I was doing when you came out here. I have some playlists that I like. Some are more relaxing. Others are more rock.”
“You have a relaxing playlist?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you share it with me?”
“To do that, I’d need your number or an–”
“Here.” Kennedy pulled her phone out of her sweater pocket. “But you can’t give it to anyone, River. I mean it. I’d have to change it immediately, and–”
“I wouldn’t do that,” River interjected.
“Can you put it into your phone under another name to be safe?”
“Sure,” she replied before she got out her own phone and unlocked it. “What name do you want? Want to use your porn name? The street you grew up on and your first pet’s name?”
Kennedy laughed and said, “You really want to put me in your phone as Grandview Max?”
