Tripping Kennedy

LA

NASH

"What's up man?" Mitchell asked after we walked off the ice.

I'd just finished an unusually shitty practice and he'd very clearly noticed. "Did anything happen with Kennedy?" he continued, turning so he faced me.

"She'll be gone for more than a month."

"What?" He stopped and placed his hand on my arm, stopping me as well. "When did that happen? Wasn't it supposed to be like two weeks?"

"Yeah. It was, but she just found out what her assignment is and her timeline got extended with that."

I took my gloves off and threw them carelessly onto the ground.

Mitchell looked from the gloves to me. "I take it that you aren't thrilled about it?"

"No."

He had assumed correctly. I wasn't thrilled at all. In fact, I was freaking livid. And it had nothing to do with the extended time she'd be away from me. Well, that's not completely true. I hated the fact that she'd be away longer, but the fact that the LA football team was involved made it so much worse.

"Nash, man, whatever it is there is no need for you to worry. Kennedy loves you, man."

I knew she loved me and I didn't doubt she'd never choose to cheat on me, but I was aquatinted with some of the guys on the LA team, and some of them gave me a reason to worry. There were some serious players on that team, and I don't mean on the football field.

"Yeah..."

One of the guys on the team was Andrew Colt. He was a friend of mine and someone I trusted. I had told Kennedy I'd reach out to him so she'd have a contact, someone to support her on the team, which I'd already done.

I grabbed a towel off the bench and wiped the sweat off my face. I had worked hard during practice in an attempt to work some of the frustration out but it hadn't worked. I'd sucked big time. Thank god it was only practice or the coach would have chewed my ear off. I knew from the looks he had been given me that he was surprised by my poor performance.

The phone calls had really rattled me. Or, my imagination after those calls was what had gotten to me. Andy had been a good friend of mine for years and I knew he was still loyal even though we barely saw each other anymore. I needed him to keep an eye out for Kennedy for me. I assumed that he'd be on whatever project they had in mind for Kennedy since it involved the LA football team. Andy was a nice-looking guy and a phenomenal athlete. I'd be surprised if he wasn't included. He was a down-to-earth, charismatic guy. The typical Midwest boy next door.

I needed Andy to be a buffer because I knew that when Trevor - their quarterback - got his eyes on Kennedy, it'd only be a matter of time before he put his moves on her. I was confident in myself and aware that women found me attractive. I'd even admit that I had played around before Kennedy came back in my life, but I'd never insinuated to any of the women I was with that I was looking for anything serious. With me, the women had pretty much known where I stood. I had never been interested in a relationship until Kennedy reappeared in my life. Whether the women before her actually thought they could convince me to be more than a casual fling was a different story.

The point is that Trevor was at a whole other level than I'd ever been. He was a good-looking guy, about my height and size, with skin that looked like he had a permanently tan. He was a very light-skinned African American, with eyes that women couldn't stop talking about. They were a light brown. Almost so light that they appeared to be golden. Of course, his incredible physique helped. He was often photographed working out on the beach in nothing but a pair of shorts. As much as I hated it, I had to give it to him, he was in incredible physical shape. Every muscle was defined on his body. I knew this from all the underwear ads he was in.