Page 71 of Gold Rush

I shake my head. “Only a couple of times a year. My grandfather retired recently, so he and my grandmother are able to come east more often.”

“Was he in the entertainment industry?”

“Sort of. Sports.”

“He founded Garner Sports Agency,” Flynn states.

I wasn’t aware he knew that. It has to do with my mom’s side of my family, not the half that overlaps with Kit’s.

“I didn’t realize that,” Julian muses. “Quite the accomplished girlfriend you have, Flynn.”

Flynn has accomplished as much as I have. I’m about to say that when he speaks first.

“Rory is very impressive, yeah. She’s the most extraordinary person I’ve ever met.”

I’m a people pleaser. My entire life, I’ve striven for success and enjoyed the recognition that accompanies achievement. I’ve received no shortage of compliments.

Not a single one has affected me the way those two sentences did.

23

“Can I get you guys another round?” the waitress asks.

I’m at one of the semi-regular Beers and Balls nights with two other guys, but her eyes are exclusively on me.

“All good here,” I say, nodding to my mostly full glass.

“Same,” Rhody says.

Leo nods in agreement. Once the waitress has moved on, he glances at me. “If you ask for her number, I bet we’ll get a free round.”

“Dude”—Rhody laughs—“have you seriously not heard?”

Leo frowns, glancing between me and Gideon. “Heard what?”

“Flynn is dating”—he pauses for emphasis—“Rory Kensington.”

Leo’s eyebrows rise as he focuses on me. “Really?”

“Really,” I state, then take a sip of beer.

“My reaction too,” Rhody says, also taking a swig. He grins. “I can’t believe you hadn’t heard. They snuck into the bathroom at Graham’s birthday party for a quickie. It’s all anyone was talking about.”

“Is that why Kit didn’t come tonight?” Leo wonders. “Is he pissed you’re banging his cousin?”

“I can’t take you seriously as a doctor when banging is part of your vocabulary,” I tell Leo. “And, no, it’s not. Kit gave me his blessing.”

I’m guessing Kit’s absence is due to Collins’s pregnancy, which hasn’t been widely announced yet, but the excuse he gave our group chat was a last-minute work trip. Which is also feasible. Since he started working at his family’s company, Kit has steadily taken on more and more responsibility at Kensington Consolidated.

“Was he drunk at the time?”

I scoff. “No.”

“You’re an upgrade from Albright, I guess,” Leo comments, reaching for his beer. “Fucked up, what he did.”

Rhody nods in agreement. “Figured she’d marry him before Kit got Collins down an aisle.”

One kid—soon-to-be two—later, Kit has yet to add husband to his other title of father. He’s not the one holding things up; his girlfriend is. She said she didn’t want to get married simply because they were having a baby together, and I suppose that’s about to be the case again.