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But that worry quickly disappears when, out of my periphery, I see Kennedy pat her face with the back of one hand while still holding mine with the other.
My even-tempered girl never cries. She almost did once, on the first day I met her, but never since. And now she’s crying for me.
“You okay?” I whisper to her.
Kennedy shoots me a look that screams she’s not upset for herself. She’s upset for me.
She pulls my hand to her mouth, placing a kiss on the back of it before resting it on her lap, covering it with her other hand as well.
I’m glad she didn’t ask if I was okay, because the only answer I have is no. I’m not okay in the slightest.
My brother is leaving the team next season and so is she.
“So, I wanted to tell you all now,” Kai continues. “Before I publicly announce it tomorrow. This will be my last season, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it I’ve got left. Thank you.”
Chapter 22
Kennedy
Cocktail in hand, I watch Isaiah and Miller on the dance floor. Kai has been so busy since his speech, talking to teammates and staff, so Isaiah took it upon himself to take Miller for a twirl.
Their friendship is easy. I suppose because they’re similar in a way. Free-spirited, relatively easygoing, know how to be the life of the party if needed. It’s evident how much they care for each other, and I think their mutual appreciation is due to knowing how much the other cares about Kai.
The man of the hour says his thank you to a season ticket holder before turning to the dance floor, finding his brother and fiancée together. He smiles at that, then turns his attention to me.
“You look great, Ken,” he says once he crosses the dance floor, clinking his glass bottle with my drink.
“Retirement, huh?”
“It’s time. I’m thirty-four next year. I don’t want to be one of those guys who tries to play long past their arm will allow them. I want to be able to pick up my kids, and honestly, whenever I’m at the field, I’m thinking about being at home these days. It feels right.”
“You don’t have to explain it to me. I think you’re lucky to have people you care about so much that you want to be with them. I think that’s every woman’s hope, to be thought of the way you think of Miller. It’s mine, at least.”
I feel him watching me out of the corner of his eye. “You don’t really have to hope for that, Kennedy.”
I let the insinuation hang in the air, but don’t agree. Verbally or internally.
“What did you mean?” I ask, turning his way. “In your speech when you were talking to Isaiah. What did you mean when you said he was right? That it felt good ending it this way.”
Kai softly chuckles to himself. “Years ago, we used to talk about what retirement would look like for us one day. I was fucking terrified of the idea because this is all I’d ever known. All I’d ever wanted and worked for. But Isaiah said he looked forward to it. ‘Imagine that when this all ends,’ he would say, ‘that you’ve met your person, they’re at home waiting for you to be done, and now you get to have this entire life with them. Think of how good that’s going to feel.’” Kai smiles to himself, watching Miller on the dance floor. “He was right. It feels really fucking good.”
My eyes narrow in confusion, pointing towards said dance floor. “You didn’t always know you wanted that life?”
“Absolutely not. That was the last thing on my mind, back in those days. After getting Isaiah into the league all I wanted to do was have fun and not worry about any kind of responsibilities. I was trying to make up for the years I felt like I had missed out on being a normal kid. I didn’t see a future beyond that, but Isaiah did. That’s all he’s ever wanted.”
My head jerks back. “What exactly did he want?”
“A family. To settle down with one person. You know, all the domesticated shit I’m about to do.”
“Isaiah Rhodes?” I laugh in disbelief. “He once wanted that?”
“Still does.” He says the words as if they’re so obvious, so apparent to everyone around him.
But Isaiah is a playboy. Sure, I’ve seen a more serious and vulnerable side to him, but that doesn’t negate the fact that this man has never slowed down for one single woman. Yes, he’s been patient and understanding with me, but what?
It feels as if my entire belief system is in question at the idea that Isaiah Rhodes really, truly wants to settle down.
Kai turns to me. “You might not be aware of this, but Isaiah used to be a relationship type of guy. He always had serious girlfriends. Committed. Faithful. I didn’t once ever catch him looking elsewhere when he was in a relationship. It’s the same attributes that make him such a good friend, but yeah, the guy loved the stability of being in a relationship. Well, until he didn’t.”
