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

Chapter 55

CHAPTER 55

AUSTIN

K ennedy’s door swung open and I smiled, my heart in my throat. I knew I was facing an uphill battle with her tonight, but I was determined to convince her that we could make everything work as long as we were together.

It was just when we were apart that nothing made sense.

We could do it all, have it all, as long as she gave us a chance. Tate had given me another pep talk in the car on the way over, had fed me two cold espressos from a corner store, and had made me practice with him what I wanted to say.

My pitch wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t bad either. The long and the short of it was that no matter what, I had to be honest with her about my feelings. All of them. It was time to lay my cards on the table, to tell her exactly what I wanted, and to listen carefully to what she said in response.

Amped and ready to do whatever it took, my smile kept growing until the person who had opened the door came into view. Kennedy looked like she had aged thirty years. How long was I in that bar?

It took me a second to realize that it was Lori , standing there staring at me like I’d fallen into this corridor from another planet. The grin fell from my features as confusion smacked me right in the face. What the hell is she doing here?

She seemed to echo my sentiments as she looked me up and down, her platinum hair swept back into an elegant updo that didn’t quite match an evening in with her daughter. A daughter who definitely wouldn’t have called her mom for support after what had happened between us earlier. Nothing would make Kennedy that desperate.

“What are you doing here?” Lori asked, her voice soft but snide. “You’re the farmer, aren’t you? From Firefly Grove. Austin something or other.”

“And you’re the mother, aren’t you? Also from Firefly Grove?” I said, earning a glare from the older woman. “I’m here to see Kennedy.”

Lori’s ring-adorned hand began to shut the door in my face as she shook her head at me. “I’m afraid she’s busy right now. Next time, call before you just show up and interrupt someone’s night. Show some consideration for other people’s boundaries.”

Dumbfounded, I wondered just what the fuck was going on here. Last I checked, Kennedy wasn’t a teenager who needed her mother to answer for her. Moreover, she might be pissed at me right then, but she definitely wouldn’t have turned to her mother for support. The woman sounded as cuddly as a cactus.

It’s weird that Lori is here at all. Very weird, in fact.

Feeling protective over Kennedy, I went to move past the bitter gatekeeper but she blocked my path. A manicured eyebrow arched as she moved right in front of me, putting herself and her designer-wear-clad body between me and the inside of Kenny’s apartment.

“Excuse me, young man. I said she was busy.”

“Yes, and I’m choosing to ignore you.” The last remnants of my buzz immediately wore off, a bad feeling creeping into my gut. Something was wrong here, and there was no way I was leaving until I figured out what it was. “Kenny!”

Lori opened her mouth to respond, but then Kennedy appeared beside her, ashen-faced and looking agitated beyond measure. When she saw me, we locked eyes, and without needing to hear a word, I knew I had to get her out of there.

Whatever was going on, we didn’t want to stick around until it boiled over. “Time to go, Kenny.”

I reached for her and she extended her hand toward mine, turning sideways to slide past her mother, who was still trying to block the door, but Lori literally stepped between us. “You’re not going anywhere with him, Kennedy Sweet. Get back inside right now. You’re staying where you are. You have to see this through.”

See what through? I wondered, but I didn’t ask because Kenny had already turned on her mother. “This is the last straw, Mom. What you did to Benji and Winrey at dinner was sick and wrong, and this? This is next-level psycho. I’ve given up on you being my hero. Please don’t actively become a villain in my life.”

She finally managed to squeeze past her mother, getting a hold of my hand and allowing me to pull her to me. I held her protectively as she spun in the circle of my arms to face them, her dad now appearing behind her mom in the door.

“You’ve crossed a line,” Kenny said in no uncertain terms. “For my own wellbeing, I’m going to ask you to stay away from me. I don’t want to see you anymore. Shut the door behind you when you leave, and make sure you take him out of the complex with you.”

Damn. What the hell did I miss, and who is this him she’s talking about?

Movement down the corridor signaled the arrival of somebody else. Twisting with Kenny still held close to my chest, I nearly fell over when I saw Danny, her ex. The same pushy prick Tate had thrown out on his ass at the mansion.

The guy had flowers in one hand and a card in the other, dressed in khakis, a button-up, loafers, and a sweater tied over his shoulders like a dickhead in a catalogue. I had never laid eyes on someone who looked so damn punchable , but I also felt Kennedy stiffen in my arms, drawing my attention back to her.

“What is he doing here?” I breathed against her ear. “Did you ask him to come?”

I felt her shake her head. Lori suddenly spotted him and raced forward. A relieved smile appeared on her face.

“Danny!” The looney old woman hurried past us to meet him halfway down the hall. “You’re just in time. Come on inside. We all need to talk. Then everyone can just calm down.”

She took his arm, sticking to his side and giving me a surprisingly hostile, smug smirk as she attempted to lead him into Kennedy’s apartment. Danny’s jaw tightened when he recognized me, a glint of aggression in his eyes as he let her mother pull him forward.

“Austin,” he said, head cocking slightly when they reached us. “I didn’t realize you’d be here. Were you invited?”

Kennedy was a tight ball of nerves against me, trembling as her gaze bounced between her mother and her ex. Her father was a silent observer inside. For now, anyway. I had no doubt he would speak up as soon as I started taking her away from whatever this was.

Danny didn’t wait for me to respond to his question, going to move past us, but I took a page out of Lori’s playbook and stepped to the side to block his path. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that I was letting him into her apartment if she didn’t want him in there, and judging by everything I’d seen and heard so far, him being here at all hadn’t been her idea.

There’s no way she invited the guy into her space when he’d held her almost captive the last time she’d seen him.

She might’ve said he’d never hurt her, but he’d scared the shit out of her that day, intentionally intimidating her physically and keeping her in that room against her will while forcing her to hear him out.

Maybe the incident hadn’t left a black or blue mark on her skin, but it had shaken her to the core and that was just as bad. I would’ve preferred to have a minute to talk to her so I could find out what was happening here before I stepped in, but I was just going to have to improvise and fill in the gaps by myself.

As I moved in front of him, we locked eyes and he shrank back a bit under my furious stare, but then he glanced at Lori and squared his shoulders, obviously trying to impress her by standing up to me. “I asked if you were invited, Austin. Because I was. The Sweets asked me to come, so get out of my way before you make a fool of yourself. I’m sure you heard Lori say that we all need to talk, and that doesn’t include you, cow poke.”

I didn’t give an inch, holding Kennedy close but discreetly moving her a little behind me as I got in his face. Slowly but surely, I was starting to piece together what I thought might’ve happened in between Kennedy getting home from my place and now. I had been having a drink while the Sweets were scheming behind their daughter’s back.

If I was right, her parents had ambushed her with a surprise visit from them and her ex, with them probably having made a case for her taking him back before he arrived. For a moment, I couldn’t believe that they would’ve gone that far, regardless of how much they liked him, but then I remembered that these were the same parents who had given their other daughter such a horrible ultimatum.

Clearly, they were desperate to gain control of their girls’ lives, and they were willing to do it by any means necessary. Lori gave me a disapproving stare, releasing Danny’s arm to plant her hands on her hips.

“You heard him,” she said, her voice several octaves higher now than it had been before. “Step aside, Austin.”

I waved her comment away dismissively and turned my eyes to Danny’s, allowing a cold smile to spread on my lips. “Turn around and don’t come back, Danny boy. You’re not welcome here no matter what this old harpy says.”

He smirked and clapped me on the shoulder, but I saw the shimmer of fear that flashed in his eyes. “It’s nothing personal, but I don’t think I’ll do what you say.”

Realizing that he was simply putting on a show for her parents, I took a menacing step forward, gaze boring into his. “That’s your choice, but if you don’t, I’m going to make things between us very personal, and very uncomfortable for you. Leave, and if I ever see you anywhere near Kennedy again, remember that I gave you a chance to walk away.”

He scoffed, but what he didn’t know yet was that I wasn’t just some playground bully who would beat him up. Sure, at some point, I might clock this guy, but it would simply be for the pleasure of it.

What I would do to him on Kenny’s behalf was far, far more destructive, and thanks to a bit of homework, I already had all the ammunition I needed.

“Before you go,” I said, leaning in so that only he would hear me. “I just want to be clear that I know about the Ohio deal. When I say I’ll make things very uncomfortable for you, I don’t just mean that I’ll break your nose. I mean I will destroy you, loudly and publicly.”

It was my turn to smack his shoulder now as I pulled Kenny past him. “Do you understand me?”