Chapter 11

Kendall

Walking into my new ‘room’ looking like a drowned rat wasn’t exactly the revenge scenario I’d dreamed about in the years since I’d seen the guys last. Because I’d fantasised about it, running into them on the street when I was thinner, fitter, and perfectly made up. Oh, and on the arm of some hot, super successful guy as well, don’t forget that. Who? I had no idea. My dream boyfriend was faceless, only useful as a prop to show them what I really needed them to see. Me, successful. Me, hot. Me having well and truly moved on from the bullshit they’d put me through. Instead, Van and Connor looked up sharply, Connor’s cheeks flushed and his eyes flashing as he took me in.

I had a towel wrapped tightly around me so at least they didn’t see all my lumps and bumps on display, but that didn’t explain their intent gazes. One tentative step, then another, and I forced myself to smile.

“Barbie threw me into the pool. I just need…”

Why the hell was I explaining? They told me to go out by the pool, and what would I be doing out there, transcendental meditation? I walked over to my suitcase, flipping it over on its side and opening it up to pull out some fresh clothes. Barbie could just drip dry, the bitch, and anyway, anything I had would just fall off her. But as I straightened up, I realised I wasn’t hearing the sound of tools, construction, anything. I turned around and saw the two of them still staring before I smiled.

“Can’t work out how to put the bed together?” I said.

“What?” Connor shook his head. “No, I can—”

“I’ll just pull on some clothes and give you a hand,” I said, heading to the en suite. “I know you’re big tough tradies, but IKEA is a whole other ball of wax.”

They protested, said something which no doubt translated as me man, me make bed or some shit, but I closed the door on them and peeled the towel away from me.

Someone had spent a whole lot of time and money making the perfect en suite. The bathroom was beautifully done and well appointed, the tiling all in subtle greys that were soft enough to be feminine, but impersonal enough to be masculine with the right styling. I ruined all of that restrained calm, hanging up the brightly-coloured beach towel on a hook behind the door before stopping when I saw my reflection.

I had bright red spots on my cheeks, making me look like a damn clown, and the slicked back look did not suit my hair at all. The red was darkened to an almost brown, no soft waves to hide my face at all, so I couldn’t do anything other than stare into my own eyes.

I looked scared.

That’s what explained my wide-eyed stare, right? Why my heart was pounding way too fast, though tequila sometimes did that to me. Why I was gripping the bench edge way too tightly, as if trying to leave dents in the laminate. Part of me wished so hard that I’d known what I was walking into earlier today, because then I’d have prepared. Shaved my legs, curled my hair, did all of the things Barbie was always on me about to make the most out of my looks. Then I could’ve sauntered into their house and looked down my nose coolly at the place, like I was doing them a favour by letting me stay.

Rather than them being forced to help me.

I frowned at the woman in the mirror, seeing that scruffy kid I was and knowing they must be seeing the same damn thing. Otherwise, why would they be rushing to help me out? They were building my damn bed out there… A muffled curse made it through the doorway, making clear how well that was going, so I rubbed a towel through my hair, drying off the worst of the water before stripping off and putting on fresh clothes.

Only to find Van standing just outside the door when I opened it. A muscle jumped in Connor’s jaw as he crouched beside my half-made bed frame.

“Need help?” I asked brightly, because this was me, this was my shitty bed and there was no point longing for anything else. I needed somewhere to sleep tonight and putting this together was the thing that needed to happen so I could do that.

“You need a new bed frame is what you need,” Connor growled, dropping his drill onto the carpet. “This piece of shit—”

“Is a bit tricky,” I admitted, grabbing my phone out of my bag and starting to search for the manual. “Did you look up the instructions?”

“I don’t need instructions,” he said. “I need to go and buy some new timber and make you a new bed frame. Something solid and sturdy that will last.”

“But can you do that in an hour or so?” I yawned hard, stifling it with my hand. “We were out pretty late last night, and this girl needs a nanna nap.”

“Well, no…”

Making that admission killed Connor, I could see that in the clench of his jaw.

“OK, so not to tread on your toes, Mr. Awesome Tradie Guy, but while the way this bed is constructed is truly diabolical, I’ve got some experience breaking it down and setting it up again.”

“You’ve had to move a lot?” Van asked, crouching down on my other side, and I just shrugged.

“Not all of us make the big bucks required to buy a place like this. You met Marcia and Todd and saw more of them than you’d ever want to, but they were actually some of my saner house mates. There was the guy that used to take a dump in the compost bin.”

“What?” The wood under Connor’s grip creaked as he peered into my eyes.

“The guy that used to steal the girls’ panties. The clean ones, thankfully.”

“The fuck…”

Van’s hushed tones made clear he’d never had to deal with the vagaries of share house living. He and his mates were like brothers, and I guess each other’s underwear had no appeal.

“Then there was—”

“Just show us how to put the bed together, Kendall.” Connor’s voice was as taut as a guitar string, ready to be struck. “Please.”

That was the thing that did it for me. Connor Woods did not say please, ever, except when with Mum and Dad, so I just nodded and talked through the weird and wonderful ways IKEA bed frames got put together.

“So now wejust put the slats…”

The two of them had it now, catching on quickly, moving the slats into place, and that’s when it hit me. Men are completely unaware of the erotic appeal of masculine competence. Van’s muscles barely flexed as he set down each lot of slats before Connor moved to screw them into place. I stood around, completely useless, just staring, until the two of them noticed.

“Nearly done.”

Van’s lips twitched as he straightened up, that look of mischief usually a warning of what was about to go down, but when Connor pulled back, Van grabbed my mattress and placed it on the frame. Connor left the drill on the floor as he grabbed my pillows and tossed them against the bedhead, then both he and Van flicked my quilt out over the mattress.

“Did you need some sheets?”

Connor’s voice was far too low and intimate for whatever the fuck this was, and as he edged closer, my heart rate started to pick up.

“Ah no…” An aspirin and a lie down was what I needed, but I wasn’t telling him that. “I’ve got some in my boxes. I’ll dig them out in a minute, but…” A tinkle of laughter coming down the hall let me know that Barbie was up to her usual mischief. “I better see what my so-called best friend is up to. She’s like a puppy. Leave her unattended and she’ll have chewed holes in your couch or peed in the corner.”

“Right.” Connor took a step backwards and the two of them followed me out into the living area. “We’ll put some dinner on soon. Just a BBQ.” He stopped in front of the kitchen counter and looked at a damp Barbie and Gage. “Some sausages and burgers, but the two of you are welcome to join us.”

“BBQ?” she said, perking up but then visibly deflating. “I’d love to but… Yup, my boyfriend is blowing up my messages. Looks like we’ve got dinner sorted for tonight, but I’m sure Kendall would love that.”

“Oh well—”

“You’ll just do beans on toast or yet another cup of ramen.” She waved her hand through the air. “This way you’ll get a decent, cooked meal for once.”

“Decent, cooked meal…?” Van stepped closer with a frown. “But Kendall is an amazing cook.”

“What?” Barbie dismissed him with a rude noise. “This girl? She can’t even boil water, not without burning it dry. Remember when we made pasta that night…”

I didn’t hear what else she said and that was OK, because none of the guys were paying attention to her either. They were just staring wide eyed at me, until finally Van spoke.

“That can’t be right.” He shook his head sharply, and I remembered the moment I did the same, all those years ago. “Kendall burn water? She used to make cakes and donuts and cupcakes and pies.” He glanced at Gage, almost begging him for back up. “Remember when she made Finn that birthday cake? She hand decorated it herself, making all of those little curly things with chocolate.”

“A cake?” Barbie spluttered. “Maybe if she bought it from Woolies.” A high-pitched ringing started up in my head, threatening to drown them out, but of course it didn’t. “The bakery she works for tried to get her to do some work in the kitchen, but they worked out real quickly what a mistake that was.” She grinned at me, probably because I’d made a show of laughing at it at the time. “Burned the lot, didn’t you, Kendall.”

“Bakery?” Gage frowned, rising to his feet. “But you were going to get a bakery apprenticeship when you finished school.”

Was, that operative word. I was going to—they were right. I’d learned at my mother’s elbow how to cook and bake a wide variety of things, and when I outstripped her, both my grandmothers taught me all of their recipes. Then I was watching videos and cooking shows, learning new techniques and trying them, getting better and better all the time. The idea of an apprenticeship was the only thing that got me through Year 12, only…

“We better get going.” My smile was so tight it felt like my face was cracking. “Alan will be about ready to send out a search party for you.”

“Kendall…”

Barbie wanted answers, I knew she did, but I couldn’t give them to her right now, not in this house or in front of them.

“Thanks for the dinner offer, but I’ll just pick up something on the way home,” I told the guys, right before I grabbed Barbie’s bag and her shoes then jerked my head to indicate it was time to leave.

“Kendall…”

One of them called my name, but I couldn’t hear it right now. I just couldn’t. My chest was too tight, my heart beating way too fast, and it wasn’t because they were all big, tough, and manly right now.

It was because they were a threat.

“What the fuck, girl!” Barbie hissed once we stumbled out of the house and over to Daisy. “What’s going on? A bakery apprenticeship?”

“If you get in the car right now, I’ll tell you everything, I promise.”

“But—”

“I’m invoking the girl code.”

The same thing that had us walking away from a guy with no questions asked, or forced us to give an honest opinion about the clothes we were trying on, or the makeup we were considering wearing. It was the thing that had kept our friendship together since the moment we first connected, and Barbie’s lips thinned as she nodded. I didn’t take a full breath until we were both inside Daisy, the key slotted into the ignition.

“Nearly ten years ago…” They came outside and stood at the front door, gazing at us through the windscreen of my car, frowns on their faces. “I applied to get a bakery apprenticeship with a really high-end place close to the city.”

“So you can cook?” she asked.

“I could.” I nodded sharply. “People seemed to think I was pretty damn good, and when I did the cakes for one of Connor’s mum’s fancy parties, the woman who owned the bakery I wanted to apprentice for asked who made them. Connor’s parents set up a tasting of my best work at our house.”

There was a reason why I never wanted to see the three of them again, something I chose not to think about too much. No point crying over spilled milk Mum always used to say, and by now, the carton was well and truly emptied.

“This bakery was so high end that people lined up outside the door to get their cakes, and they, they thought I might be a good fit for an apprentice. Jobs like this didn’t get advertised. They had people falling all over themselves, sending their resumes in, trying to get an interview and I…”

A hand shot out and took mine, squeezing hard.

“What did they do?” Barbie asked in a small voice. “What did those dickheads do?”

“Just another dumb prank.” I shot her a reassuring smile. “One of so many. The sugar had been swapped out for salt, something I normally would’ve picked up in the cooking process, but I was in such a flap. I wanted everything to be… perfect, and instead these people came to our house and bit into cake that tasted like shit.” I shook my head. “I can cook fine if I have to, but I just don’t enjoy it anymore, so I don’t. Anyway, let”s get you home.”

I knew Barbie was my best friend when she didn’t ask me any more questions on the drive to her place.