Best Two Out of Three

Part 7

Friday, May 29, 2020
Jacksonville, Florida

Alex awoke early the next morning. She tried to turn over and fall back asleep, but her brain wouldn't let her. She couldn't stop thinking about Kenny.

He'd held her hand the entire drive back to the hotel last night. She remembered him kissing her knuckles and butterflies exploding in her stomach. He'd walked her back to her room, and she'd reached up and wrapped her arms tight around his neck. She'd wanted so badly to kiss him, but she hadn't. He'd held her close and was reluctant to let her go. He'd been the last thing on her mind as she'd fallen asleep, and now he was the first thing on her mind this morning. That had to mean something.

She looked at the clock. It was 8:17 a.m. Kenny was undoubtedly awake; he never slept in. She crawled out of bed and moved quietly into the bathroom, doing her best not to wake Chuck as he slept in the other bed. She brushed her teeth, cleaned up her smudged makeup that she'd neglected to remove the night before, and tamed her bed-head. And then she slipped out the door, still her pajama shorts and t-shirt.

Kenny was on the same floor; he'd told her his room number last night. She arrived at his door, and she took a deep breath and knocked.

It wasn't too long before he answered. He smiled when he saw her. "Hey. I was just thinking about texting you, but I didn't want to wa—"

She cut him off with a kiss. It surprised him at first—but then he wrapped his arm around her and drew her closer. "Well good morning to you, too," he smiled against her lips.

She flushed as she pulled away. "You said if I still felt this way tomorrow that we could talk. Well, it's tomorrow, and I'm sober, and I still feel this way. So here I am."

She fidgeted as she spoke, suddenly self-conscious. What if he didn't feel the same? What if she'd just made a huge idiot of herself? Maybe she should just go.

But then a grin broke out over Kenny's face. "Come here," he said, and he kissed her as he pulled her into the room, letting the door fall closed behind her.

********************

Saturday, May 30, 2020
Alex's house – Roanoke, Virginia

The next day, Alex laid on the couch in her den, watching TV but not really paying attention. Her thoughts were everywhere—good, bad, anxious, excited. And every single one of them was about Kenny.

They hadn't talked yesterday morning. At least, not with any words, they hadn't. They'd let their bodies do the talking. They hadn't been able to undress each other fast enough as they'd blindly stumbled to the bed, getting lost in each other's touch. Alex had dug her fingernails into Kenny's skin, not caring how loud she was; he'd felt even better than she remembered. And when they were done, they'd gotten in the shower and done it again. It had been awkward as fuck returning to her and Chuck's room with wet hair and that telltale flushed-with-sex glow. Thankfully, he'd spared her the embarrassment of asking any questions or making any comments. It was obvious what had happened.

But, after that, she and Kenny had basically gone their separate ways. They'd considered riding to the airport together but decided against it; Kenny was already going with the Bucks and Alex with Trent, Chuck, and James, and they both agreed it would be better not to draw any attention to themselves until they figured things out. But now that Alex was back home, all alone with her ruminations, she was starting to freak out about what exactly that meant.

She snatched her phone from the coffee table. She needed to talk to someone—and Adam was the only person she could go to with this. She typed up a text—Hey, can I call you?—and hit send before she could think better of it. It was less than a minute before he responded.