Should’ve Known It’s You (Not You Again #7)

Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

KENNEDY

A ustin and I broke apart, confusion etched into his features. He frowned and craned his neck, trying to figure out what was going on. The crowd was closing in on us, rushing the perimeter of the parade.

There were people everywhere, blocking our view of the street and the parade, and as tall as he was, he kept cursing under his breath, letting me know he couldn’t see anything yet. “We need to get past them.”

“How?” I cried, holding on to him. I spun around myself, but at a foot shorter than him, there was no way I was going to see anything he couldn’t. “What’s happening? Can you see yet?”

“Not a fucking thing,” he grumbled.

I ducked, still in his arms so we wouldn’t get separated by the suddenly surging crowd, but I wanted to see if I could make out anything between the crushing bodies. Wherever there was a gap, there was someone ahead stepping into my line of sight, and frustration bubbled within me when I realized this wasn’t going to work.

Whatever was happening, it was causing a huge commotion nearby and people were surging forward, all trying to get a good look at what was causing it. Many “booed” and screamed, but there were also weird, victorious-sounding cries ringing out and someone even let out something that sounded like a war cry.

I was so confused and so frustrated. It felt like there was a beast inside me trying to claw its way out, but it was stuck—and it was infuriating.

Eventually, Austin must’ve given up on getting a look at what was going on from here. Tightening his grip on my hips, he held on to me protectively and we made our way to the edge, pushing past all the bodies that were suddenly separating us from the barrier we’d been against not a moment ago.

Caged in his arms, I felt safe and protected but unsettled. A nagging feeling in my gut told me something was very wrong. I just didn’t know what it was yet.

What is happening?

When he finally managed to get us to the front, I leaned forward to look past all the other people bent over the railing, and that was when I finally got a good look at the parade just down the street.

For a second, my brain couldn’t comprehend what my eyes were seeing. It was so completely unimaginable that all I could do was stare. Even so, my heart dropped and felt like it was breaking. My entire body suddenly shook with grief and rage as I watched our float being ruined.

Masked people had rushed the parade, somehow breaking past the barriers, the police, and the security, and they were throwing black paint all over my float. Carrying tins of the stuff with them, some used gloved hands to splash it all over while others seemed to have transferred it into balloons they were tossing at my beautiful table.

As I watched them circling around it, targeting only our float and no others, I honestly wondered if I was having a nightmare. Perhaps Austin and I were still asleep in his bed, and none of this was really happening, but then I remembered the intense pleasure I’d felt in his shower just about an hour ago and I knew I wasn’t dreaming.

I remembered the slippery hardness of his tiles under my knees and the hints of pain as he’d tugged at my hair. There was no way that had been a dream, and if that hadn’t been one, then this was real too.

At the realization, for just a moment, blood rushed in my ears and the rest of the world went deathly quiet as I watched all our hard work get covered in thick globs of dripping paint. The vandals seemed hellbent on destroying it, throwing their heads back and hooting and hollering triumphantly when one of them hit something particularly important to the display.

Our Thanksgiving turkey was now a lump of what appeared to be coal, so covered in paint that not even I would’ve been able to see what it had been just seconds ago. The name emblazoned on the side of the float was also completely gone, smeared in black with only the letters “tel” of the word hotel still visible on one side.

I gasped when I finally broke out of the complete shock of what we were seeing. Hot tears brimmed in my eyes as I watched the havoc, dumbfounded at the scene unfolding in the street. “What are they doing?”

Austin, clearly seeing red, let go of me. Twisting around, he placed one hand on top of the barrier and leaped right over it. His gaze met mine, outrage shining from those dark orbs, and he pointed a finger at me. “Stay right there, Kennedy. Stay safe. I’ll be back.”

Without hesitation, he spun around again and ran flat out toward the float. Then he jumped into the fray, lunging and managing to grab hold of one of the vandals. Wrapping those strong fingers around the man’s wrist, he jerked the guy to him, sliding one arm around his chest and shoulders to render him immobile as he twisted his wrist behind his back, yanking the guy into him.

The guy tried to fight against his grip, but he couldn’t shake off Austin’s steel grip. Shorter than Austin and with a much slighter build, there was no chance he was getting away unless Austin decided to let it happen. Reaching for the mask, Austin tugged it off and peered at the guy’s face, but if he recognized him, he didn’t let on.

I didn’t recognize him either. In fact, I was quite sure I’d never seen him before, yet he certainly seemed to know me. It was my float he’d been destroying a minute ago, after all. It felt personal.

The guy scowled once the mask was gone, but he stopped fighting, obviously realizing it was a pointless endeavor and his face was already exposed. There were cameras all around, with hundreds of phones pointed their way.

Even if he managed to get away now, he would be identified. Eventually, we would all know who he was, but right then, I only wanted to know the why of it all. I didn’t give a hoot about the who.

Austin got in his face, streaks of fury appearing at the tops of his cheeks as he glared at the guy. “What the fuck is this about?”

Despite the roar of the crowd, I could make out his words, the rage behind them making his voice carry as he repeated the question. “What is this about? Why this float, man?”

Finally managing to convince my limbs to move, I decided there was no way I was staying put. I knew Austin had wanted me to be safe, but I needed to hear this for myself. Ducking under the barrier between one heartbeat and the next, I raced over to join them, my heart throbbing as my feet smacked against the blacktop.

I got to them just in time to see the guy spit in Austin’s face. “Fuck you. I don’t owe you any answers.”

Austin looked like he might blow a fuse, a vein in his neck suddenly protruding. Intervening before he did something that could get him arrested, I shoved the guy backward and Austin let go of him.

“Get away,” I yelled at the vandal, who was struggling to get his feet back under him. “Just go! Get away from here.”

The guy took my words to heart, nearly stumbling in his haste to run once he’d finally caught his balance, but security was closing in finally. I couldn’t believe how fast this had all gone down. It really had happened in mere moments, but the float was in shambles, our beautiful, hard work now unrecognizable.

A sob rose in my throat and Austin reached for me, bringing me in close and wrapping me up in his arms. “It’s going to be okay, Kenny. Everything is going to be okay.”

“Why?” I clung to his chest, my fingers curling into the front of his sweater as the tears finally started falling. “What have I ever done to them? It’s not like I’m some big corporation experimenting on animals.”

“I know, baby,” he said soothingly into my ear, holding me tight and stroking his palm along my back. “They must’ve made a mistake. That’s the only reasonable explanation. There’s no way someone deliberately sabotaged your float. I mean, out of all the ones here, why yours?”

“Ours,” I said softly, sliding my arms around his waist and doing my best to control the sobs.

How was I supposed to go to my family dinner tonight with Winrey and Benji after this? I felt horrible.

The police and security swarmed around us, hurriedly removing barricades. As we watched, the officials quickly removed our float from the parade. Pain streaked through me as they drove it into a side street and out of sight.

Austin and I raced over to it, and it broke my heart to see it sitting there, dripping in sad black paint while the projectors continued to play smiling and laughing images. The music was still on, but visually, it was completely ruined.

After all our effort and all the money that had gone into it and the excitement to unveil it to the world, I couldn’t believe that it was coming to an end like this. It killed me, so I turned back to Austin and buried my face in his chest, unable to keep looking at the disaster that had become of something that, just a few minutes ago, had been the embodiment of all of my dreams coming true.