Play Along(76)

Monty flips me the bird from the kitchen.

“Kennedy,” one of our infielders begins. “I heard you’re interviewing with San Francisco next week. Married life with Rhodes has been that shitty you’re going to take the same job but all the way across the country to get away from him, huh?”

She hesitates at my side. To everyone else’s knowledge, this interview is simply a lateral move to a new city. No one else knows her qualifications or that this new position is for a lead doctor role.

No one besides me.

I catch Monty’s eye from across the room as he waits for Kennedy’s answer.

“It’s complicated,” is what she settles on, trying not to lie.

Cody and Travis’s attention darts to me because even though they know our marriage is bullshit and this will be an easy way to uncomplicate things, they also know how I truly feel about her.

“I was wondering what the hell you two were going to do,” another teammate chimes in. “Either you were going to have to go, or Rhodes would have to take a trade.”

“We’ve had a plan from the beginning,” Kennedy explains.

“Wow. This makes so much more sense than you two staying fucking married forever to keep your job safe.”

“With how Dr. Fredrick treats you, I don’t blame you,” someone else says. “You could have a fresh start under a lead doctor who isn’t a complete asshole.”

A fresh start.

I equally hate that and want to cheer her on. Is that what it means to unequivocally care for another person? To want what’s best for them even if it’s going to hurt like a bitch to sit by and watch?

I want Kennedy to thrive in the position she trained for. I want her to get away from Dr. Fredrick. I want her to be comfortable in her own skin, to understand what it means to feel loved and cared for.

I just wish she could do all those things with me.

“They’re hiring mid-season for an athletic trainer?” Monty asks from across the room, suspicion laced in his tone.

Kennedy hesitates. My little planner didn’t have a plan for that question.

“They want to make sure she’ll fit in with the rest of the staff,” I answer for her.

His brows pinch together. “Sounds like something they’d do for a lead role and not for a member of the support staff.”

I shoot him a look, silently telling him to let it go, but he continues to study us from across the room.

Thankfully, the crack of a bat on the television steals everyone’s attention, our interrogation now in the past.

Kennedy exhales a sigh before resting her head against the wall to look at me. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come.”

“Trust me, Kenny. I always want you to come. As your husband, it’s my responsibility to make sure you come.”

With the back of her hand, she smacks me in the stomach.

I chuckle. “I would’ve invited you myself, but I got so used to you turning me down all these years. Figured you would’ve said no.”

“You make it seem like you consistently asked me for three solid years. It wasn’t that often.”

“There hasn’t been a single night out on the road that I haven’t invited you or forced one of the boys to ask for me, but you, Kennedy Kay, are excellent at keeping my ego in check.”

She pauses, watching me, the skin between her brows creasing. “I’m sorry. You were just being nice, and I—”

“Oh, don’t go soft on me now, Kenny. I wasn’t just being nice. I was hitting on you. Blatantly, might I add.”

She doesn’t laugh. She doesn’t answer, her face telling me everything I need to know.

After the other night in Minneapolis when she witnessed a vulnerable side to me, she’s viewing me differently. She’s treating me differently.

I just don’t know if that difference is a good or bad thing.

I nudge her knee with mine. “Well, I’ll give you the chance to make up for it. If I invited you to something right now, would you say yes?”

“Depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“On the details.”

I lean into her space, and she doesn’t retract.

“You’ve got to give me an answer before I give you the details. Be spontaneous, Kenny. Yes or no. Do you want to go?”

“Isaiah, I’m a planner.”

“Oh, trust me, I’m aware, but right now, the only thing you need to plan on is that I’ll be there.”

Her face softens, the hesitation falling away.

“So, tell me. Are you in?”

She leans into me, our heads resting against the wall and our lips only inches from each other. “I’m in.”

“That’s my girl.”

Without backing away, Kennedy bends her legs, letting her left one fall into my lap. It’s only there for a split second before she overthinks it all, breaking eye contact and lifting it back to her chest.

I don’t allow the moment to get uncomfortable or awkward for her, so I slip my hand between her knees, pulling her leg back down to rest over my lap.

“I know you said you haven’t been on a date that wasn’t a black-tie affair,” I continue, as if nothing happened.

“A date, huh?”

“Call it whatever you need to, Ken, but Kai’s award ceremony is on Saturday night, and it might be weird for me to show up without my wife. The Remingtons will be there.”