“Does this mean you’re going to come with me?”
“If I say yes, does that mean we have to eat pancakes?”
I smiled and nodded. “Tons of them.”
Kennedy sighed dramatically, but her lips were tilting up by the time she was done. After a few silent seconds, she asked, “So now I’m your girl?”
I looked up into her gleaming eyes, and narrowed mine, trying to judge her expression. “That’s not anything new.”
Her lips spread into a smile as she pressed her forehead against mine. “For you, maybe. But I haven’t heard you call me that before.”
“Maybe because you’re always so quick to reject any title that would signify that we’re together.”
Kennedy’s smile fell, but her blue eyes stayed locked on mine when she said, “Brian called me your girlfriend yesterday.”
“Did he?” I asked in a monotone voice. I was worried about what else Brian might have said.
“I think I’m starting to be okay with it.”
Not trying to hide my surprise, I grabbed her waist and pushed her back until she was lying on the bed and I was hovering over her. “Really?”
One eyebrow rose in confirmation, and a soft smile slowly crossed her face again. Her long legs easily wrapped around my hips, pulling me closer as her fingers threaded through my hair.
“It’s about time, Kennedy Ryan. How many times did I have to tell you that you were mine before you finally started being okay with it?”
“But it never stopped you from telling me.”
I shook my head and brushed my lips across her forehead. “No, it didn’t. I’ve known you were mine, just as much as I’ve been yours.”
“I have never claimed you as my own,” she responded, but there was no bite to her words. She was looking at me in wonder, and I knew this was a turning point for us.
“Not yet, but you will.”
“Oh, will I? You sound a little sure of yourself.”
“I haven’t been wrong when it came to you yet.” I pressed my mouth to hers, and then only moved far enough away that my lips brushed hers when I asked, “So what’s your answer? Are you going to come with me tomorrow?”
Before she could say anything, there was a knock on the front door. I almost told her to let Kira answer it when I realized no one else knew where the girls lived except their family, and I currently had a naked Kennedy pressed between my body and her bed.
I pushed away from her, my body tight as I stared at her beneath me. “Are you or Kira expecting someone?”
She shrugged and started to move out from underneath me. “No, but it’s probably just a solicitor or something. They’re always in this complex.”
I pushed her back gently to where she’d been. “I’ll get it. Just wait here.”
“I can get it,” she said on a laugh.
“You’re not dressed yet,” I argued, and quickly climbed off the bed. Grabbing my jeans off the floor, I stepped into them and snatched my shirt up as I began walking out of the room. “Put some clothes on.”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” she called back as I reached the hall.
I smirked and walked over to the entryway, the entire time wondering if any member of their family other than Eli knew about my relationship with Kennedy. But my worries of Mason and Kash coming after me died as soon as I opened the door to a guy I’d never seen before.
The guy’s forehead creased in confusion, and he took a step back to look at the number near the door.
“Can I help you?”
His hard eyes shot back to me. “I’m looking for Kennedy.”
I straightened and held his stare. “And you would be?”
“Look, just tell me if she’s here. Or do I have the wrong building?”
Before I could answer, I heard Kira’s door opening and Kennedy’s voice coming from down the hall. “Who is it, Liam?”
The guy’s mouth twisted into a mocking smile, and he looked behind me, at whom I guessed was Kira.
“I need your name,” I told him, stepping closer to him and closing the door enough that I was all he could see. “You’re out of your mind if you think I’m letting you in here without knowing who the fuck you are.”
“Liam, seriously, who is it?” Kennedy touched my arm as she came up behind me, and I hated that every time he heard her voice, the man standing in front of me looked like he’d just won a prize. Kennedy ducked under my arm, and immediately scrambled back when she saw the guy, but was blocked by my body. “Holy shit!”
Releasing my hold on the door, I pushed Kennedy back and slammed the door shut before locking it. “Who is he?”