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Kennedy chuckled. “No, it’s okay. Yes, I’ve tried dating apps. I’ve tried speed dating. Sensory speed dating. Blind dates. Being set up by friends. Being set up by the Needlepoint Mafia. I’ve tried professional matchmakers. I’ve triedeverything. Well, everything except reality TV, which is why I let Laura convince me to apply.”
“Did you meet nice guys on the apps or just guys that were looking for hanky panky?”
“Mom!” This was really going too far.
“What? I’m not trying to pry. It’s just…I’m on an app and I met someone and I just want to know what…
“You’re on an app?” Seb asked, sure he must have heard her wrong. She hadn’t dated…ever.
“Yes. Several actually. And I just wanted some tips on what to expect.” His mom explained. “But you don’t have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“No, not at all,” Kennedy assured her. “I have met nice guys on dating apps. And I’ve also met not-so-nice guys on them.”
Seb’s hands tightened around the wheel thinking about a guy mistreating Kennedy.
“The best advice I can give you is, always meet in public. Make sure that someone knows who you are meeting, when you’re meeting them, and where you’re going. Laura and I always shared our locations with each other, just so if anything did happen, we’d be able to track each other’s phones.”
Kennedy continued giving his mom tips and telling her about bad dates she’d been on as they toured all three houses. Seb wanted so badly to pull her into a room, shut the door, and tell her that she wasnevergoing on a sketchy date again. That she was never going to have to share her location with someone again because he wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her. He wanted to kiss her until she forgot any other man even existed.
He wanted to claim her, make her his. All he could think, every time he looked at her, wasmine.
But he kept having to remind himself, she wasn’t.
She wasn’t his.
20
Kennedy rinsedout her glass of wine as she swayed to the music playing through the speaker and looked out the kitchen window over the lake. Today had not gone how she’d planned. She was trying not to read too much into how Seb had acted, but she couldn’t help it.
She was sure his mood had to have been because his mom was on dating apps. That had to be the reason he was upset. It couldn’t have anything to do with her. She hadn’t done anything. If anyone had a reason to be upset, it was her. He’d been avoiding her again. She hadn’t confronted him about it, that would have been a little awkward in front of his mom, but she knew he had been. Call it women’s intuition, or just a gut feeling. Whatever it was, she knew it.
So, his grumpy attitude had to be about his mom dating again.
Her phone buzzed and she grabbed it off the counter. Her heart sank when she saw it was a message from Aiden asking if she was free Saturday night. She bit the inside of her lip. Technically, she was free. She knew that she should type yes.
Aiden was everything she wanted. On paper, he was perfect. He literally checked every single box. And shewasattracted to him. So why did she feel so indifferent about seeing him?
She knew the answer to that.
Sebastian Savage.
The man had wormed his way into her heart, her brain and other parts of her body. Literally. No matter how many times she told herself that nothing could happen, that he clearly didn’t want anything to happen, she just couldn’t stop thinking about him. She couldn’t stop wondering if she was going to see him. And if she did see him, what he would say.
It wasn’t healthy. She knew that. But she couldn’t deny that there was something between them. And that something put blinders on her heart, head, and hormones so all she could see was him.
As much as she knew the right thing to do would be to say yes to Aiden, it would be wrong to lead him on.
Taking a deep breath, she texted him back letting him know that she had some unfinished business to deal with in her personal life and it wouldn’t be fair to see him until she resolved it. Even though current dating etiquette dictated ghosting was appropriate, she could never bring herself to just ignore someone. She had to give them the respect of telling them the truth.
It probably stemmed from all the abandonment issues she’d had thanks to her dad. She’d spent so many days wishing, wondering, hoping he’d walk through the door, only to be disappointed. She could never treat another person like that.
A loud knock sounded on the door which startled her and caused her to jump in the air. Chunk beat her to the door, barking his head off. She was telling him to shush when she opened it and her heart did the jumping this time, and ended up in her throat.
Seb was standing on her porch in a gray t-shirt that was damp with sweat causing it to mold to his body and black sweatpants. His breaths were coming in short pants and she could see the tortured look in his eyes. She sensed the tension rolling off of him in waves. His agitation was palpable.
His current state shouldn’t be a turn-on. But it was. There was something about his tortured soul that just made her want to soothe him. It made her want to take all of his pain away and give him some relief.
“Can we talk?” His gritty voice vibrated through her.
