Henry holds up the slender green monster. “This is”—he takes a quick breath—“what keeps me in step with my sisters. One day”—he gasps for air—“I’m going to run a marathon with this one.” He pointstome.
“I haven’t hit the track in weeks,” I’m quick to confess and both Harley and Henry loosen their jaws. “I’ve sort of been contending with a bad breakup.” I give a quick rundown on how both Knox and I were lucky enough to have a set of cheating exes all on the same night with essentially the sameperson.
Harley gets that wild look in her eyes—she’s a lot like my mother in many ways, her wild streak being the most prominent. “I will scratch that douche canoe’s eyes out the next time I see him and shove them down his throat so when he shits them out he can see exactly what he’sfullof.”
“And on that note.” I look to poor Knox whose face just went white. “I think maybe we should take off. I sort of kidnapped Knox and gave him the tour of the dark side of our mother’s gray matter. I’m pretty sure a family reunion is more than hebargainedfor.”
“No way.” Knox holds his hands up. “I’m in. In fact, if you two haven’t eaten, I’d love to take you tolunch.”
“There’s a Thai place next door with drunken noodles to die for,” Harleyoffers.
And just like that, we’re off. The four of us talk for three hours straight. Knox genuinely seems to get along well with Henry. He’s talking to him like one of the guys and not like someone with a severe life-threatening illness. Knox even offered to take him to the Black Bear so he could meet with his friends and threatened him with hot chicks as if he’s genuinely interested in getting him into the dating scene. Just the sight of their budding bromance has me melting in apuddle.
I’m melting in a puddle for Knox Toberman and I kind oflikeit.
And I kind of hate myself for it at the verysametime.
* * *
After spendinga zillion blissful hours with Knox, I jettison myself back to the black hole of Kappa G. Thankfully, when I get inside, my roommate is nowhere to be found, so I flop on the bottom bunk in hopes of sneaking in some quick shut-eye. I don’t know how much longer I can keep myself going before I drop dead of exhaustion. No matter what any airline tells you, the human body isn’t meant to sleep in an upright position. I’m beginning to suspect there’s no such thing as jet lag—it’s all a ploy to cover up the fact they severely exhaust you on those transatlanticflights.
“What the hell is this?” a deep voice barks so loud I jump up and crack my skull against the bunkaboveme.
“Oh my shit.” I fall back down over the comforter, which incidentally totally reeks of body odor, a malodorous offense I was willing to overlook for the coma I was hopeful tofallinto.
“Get off my bed!” Sabine-the-Mean-Roommate-Scattering-Machine shouts at the top of her lungs. “I can’t have other people touching my stuff! I’m OCD! I take medication forthisshit!”
I manage to roll off, hitting my forehead against the wood beam one more time just to ensure my head injury takes effect immediately. A white-hot pain bleeds through my skull and the room sways and multiplies itself before myveryeyes.
“Crap.” I cradle my temples as I stagger to my feet. “Why are you yelling? Clearly you’re not taking medication for the correct shit or you wouldn’t have verbally accosted me,Sabine!” I will not call another human being a fictional cat’s name as long as I live. I may have datedJustineCramer, but I’ve recently establishedstandards.
Her face grows a strange shade of red, and the fact her wiry hair is all but doing the electrocution dance is rather a frightening combination. “You are not allowed to say that name to me again!” Her voice rages so loud half the girls come pouring in. “You may call me Garfield and I will answer to nothing else. Do you have a problem with that? And if you do, you can go screw yourself because I really don’t give arat’sass!”
“Oh my God, you are insane!” And potentially rife with a very good idea—at least Sylvia thinks so. I yank my suitcase out of the closet and toss in all of my belongings as if I were a contestant on a game show given the chance to clear the room out of whatever I can in less than thirty seconds. I scoop all of my toiletries in with a sweep of my arm and ransack the bathroom for anything Imightown.
“You can have this room,Sabine!”
I’m off to screwmyself.
* * *
Ava and Luckyare persona non-grata. It turns out summer is a fantastic time to do all sorts of things with your new boyfriend, like go to the beach, go to the movies, go to dinner all on a loop. I’ve never felt so left out in all my life. Before I know it, I find myself parked in front of Knox Toberman’s driveway. I suppose if I barge in with a suitcase in hand, clothes sticking out of it haphazardly nonetheless, he might be forced to entertain a restraining order. I opt to casually slip a few essentials into my purse, my makeup bag, my Kindle, a bath bomb that promises to turn any ordinary day into a paisley wonderland complete with a refreshing citrus scent. God knows I’m in desperate need to freshen up a bit after all but smothering myself in Sabine the Ogre’s night sweat. I eye the suitcase onceagain.
“What the hell,” I snap it with psychotic pride as I march up to the door and give a light knock. It takes more than a few minutes before Knox opens up, and to my surprise his hair is dewy from the shower, his scruff is shaved clean off—and dear God, does this boy do a naked face right—not to mention he looks dressed up for a night on the town, dress shirt, tie, jeans, and an earthy pair of chukka boots that make my engine fire on allpistons.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” My heart sinks, because if he says he’s off on a date, I’ll drive straight back to my mother’s house, crawl into my childhood bed, and never come out. Could this summer get anyworse?
Those commas on either side of his face invert. “Actually, I had ahotdate.”
My heart smashes through the porch and descends to middle earth with no hopes of evercomingback.
“With my sister.” He gives a wild grin as he widens the door for me to come inside. “She just canceled on me, so your timing couldn’t bebetter.”
“Oh, what a relief!” I say as I scoot on in and bend over to give Fish a quick scratch between the ears and freeze. “I mean—what a relief you weren’t really stood up—by a hot date. That would be lame, you know, after what you’ve already been throughandall.”
I right myself and come face-to-face with those steely eyes as that undeniable spark detonates between us and my insides turn to mush. Knox is cuttingly handsome, painfully so for me at least. That sweet spot between my thighs starts in on a desperate throb and it’s all I can do to keep from dry-humping him right here in thelivingroom.
Knox brings his hand up to the back of my head and threads his fingers through my hair in a slow, circularfashion.
