When Our Worlds Stand Still (Our Worlds #3)(17)

“I’d do it all over again, even knowing what I know now.” Her gaze drops to my lips, and the air thickens. No words will do justice to the silence between us, so we allow the message to spill from our eyes.

Ben’s throat clears. “Do you want me to leave?”

Kennedy laughs. Uncomfortable at a seven-year-old catching me ogling a girl, I jump to my feet. This is not quite what Betty intended when she told me on my first day to be a mentor to these boys.

Kennedy brushes off imaginary dirt from her jeans and adjusts her clothing. “I’m going to wait for you downstairs, Graham. Take your time.” She bends down to Ben’s height and pokes me in the stomach. “You’ll never be alone if you have him. I would know.”

Her eyes sparkle with humor. With a wink, she stands and leaves the room. Ben sighs, his eyes trained on the door. They twinkle, and a smile lifts the corner of his lips.

I toss my arm around his bony shoulders, pull him close, and scrape my knuckles over his head, roughing up his hair. “Don’t even think about it. She’s too old for you.”

“And she’s too good for you,” Ben bites back with a playful grin. He tries to fight me off, but I tug him a little closer.

“I’ll be back this week, okay?” I nod my head to the door, where Kennedy escaped seconds ago.

He nods. “Don’t mess it up, okay?” Sometimes his personality doesn’t mesh with his age.

I stand to leave, but when I glance back, Ben’s rubbing his fingers over the baseball stitching. He offers a sad, deflated wave, and I smile in encouragement. I don’t like leaving him when he’s in this state of mind.

When I find Kennedy, she’s getting her hair braided by Bridgette and another little girl, Candice.

“Hi, ladies.” I wave at them. “She looks beautiful,” I say, admiring their handy work.

“Betty told me to tell you that she had to leave, but Julie is here, so it’s okay for you to head out whenever,” Kennedy explains before looking down at the two girls.

I roll my eyes. “She didn’t embarrass me, did she?”

Kennedy shrugs one shoulder in answer. “I’ll see you two soon, okay?” She winks down at the two girls, exchanging a silent, inside joke. The girls burst out into giggles and stare at her as if she’s hung the moon.

I know the feeling.

With my hand out, they each give me a high-five. Kennedy’s eyes gleam as she wraps her arm through mine, and tugs me to the front door. She takes care to wave over our shoulders at the young girls. Their giggles fade away when the door closes behind us.

Kennedy turns to me with obvious excitement as she dances in front of me. “So, what now?”

“You’re here until Sunday?” I question.

She nods in answer, tilting her head to the side and looking up at me through her thick eyelashes. Mark’s never mentioned their sleeping arrangements, but I assume he’s set them up at my place, even if the asshole did it behind my back.

“Let’s see what happens.” I kiss her forehead and lead her down the stairs to start our journey back to the house.

We walk hand-in-hand in comfortable silence. The cold wind whips around us, and I tug her close, wrapping my arm around her shoulders until she is perfectly tucked into my side. Her right hand slips around my back while her left rests on my abdomen. It’s as if we’ve forgotten everything about our past, and are choosing to let it be for now.

When our feet hit the pathway, thumping, loud music pours from the house.

Kennedy’s eyebrow perks up. “Isn’t it kind of early?”

“It’s never too early for these guys.” I laugh.

“Why am I not surprised? Typical Graham Black fashion, huh?” She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. The motion is barely visible, but her disappointment is evident when she pushes away from me.

“Hey!” Violet shouts, frantically waving her hands in the air. “Get your asses in here.” Her carefree attitude changes when she notices the look on Kennedy’s face.

Kennedy huffs a loud grunt and stomps toward the house. “Your castle awaits you, Mr. Black,” she mutters before she hits the steps. Violet wraps an arm around her and looks over her shoulder with an understanding but sad smile.

What the hell happened between there and here?





I storm through the front door with my eyes to the ceiling, purposely avoiding everyone in my path. Music bellows from the inset speakers. I cover one ear to hear a fraction of what Violet is screeching at me. It’s no use.

“I can’t hear a damn thing you’re saying.”

She drags me down the hallway, through the kitchen, and out the back door. The cool March wind blasts my skin. I rub my arms to gain some warmth, or maybe to distract myself from the knowing look my best friend’s sending my way.

“Tell me everything.” Violet’s clenched fists bite into her hips.

“We showed up. Apparently, Graham lives here,” I nod at the house, “and he volunteers at a goddamn orphanage like a real life Father Teresa.”

“Excuse me?” Her eyebrows scrunch together and she laughs.

I figure Graham’s hiding on the other side of the door. “Oh, and apparently he’s moved in with the cast of Jersey Shore. While I’ve been going to group therapy and battling my inner demons, he’s been kicking it here in Connecticut, close enough for me to touch, but far enough away to be absent from my life entirely.” My insecurity bleeds through every snap of my tongue.