Page 77 of Hometown Halftime

“This feels hostile.”

“You deserve hostility for not telling us,” Brynn says.

We head toward the bedding aisles while I reluctantly begin confessing everything with a frantic pace. The flirting over coffee, Riley asking me to dinner, our first kiss at the club in Roanoke. The second kiss at Fall Fest. Then, finally, in a moment of complete weakness, I mention the hallway kiss from last night.

Brynn stops so abruptly that Kate’s sneakers squeak as she stops the cart behind her.

“You’ve kissed him three times?” she whisper-yells.

I wince. “Technically.”

I can feel the heat in my cheeks while Brynn shakes her head in disbelief.

“I cannot believe you kept this from us,” she says. “Do you know how offended I am right now?”

“I wanted to wait and see if this is really a thing. I mean, it can’t really be anything real. He’s leaving in like three months.”

“True,” she admits. “But still rude. And who says you can’t just have a fun fling?”

I scoff. “Everyone in this town is who. I mean, could you imagine if Haddie got hold of this story?”

Brynn stops and looks into my eyes with stone-cold solidarity.

“I will put Haddie under a DNP.”

I squint my eyes. “A what?”

“A ‘Do Not Post’ agreement. She doesn’t post about everything in this town, you know. Once you threaten her with a DNP, she’s hands off.”

I shake my head. “Wow, I didn’t know about that.”

She shrugs. “Most people don’t, just her inner circle.”

“Are you in her inner circle?” Kate asks.

“Of course. We’ve been close ever since your custody case,” Brynn tells Kate nonchalantly, beginning to walk again.

I find myself chuckling as the tension gradually dissipates from my shoulders while we meander further. Around us, FallMart buzzes with the usual Sunday craziness. Kids weave through the aisles unattended while exhausted parents push overloaded carts.

Meanwhile, my best friends are questioning me like I’m the lead character in their favorite reality show.

“I’m trying not to get worked up about it,” I admit finally as we stop beside a wall of sheet sets. “But now I’m living with him and I’m feeling a little weak.”

Brynn points at me. “This is definitely dangerous territory, Kinsey.”

I exhale dramatically. “He remembered how I took my coffee this morning.”

Both women freeze.

Kate slowly places a hand over her heart. “Oh, no.”

“Exactly.” I point aggressively at her. “And it gets worse.”

Brynn’s eyes narrow. “Worse, how?”

“He uses skincare.”

“What kind of skincare?” Kate asks carefully.