I keep checking the time, my leg twitching as I wait for Dimitri and Hope to be back.
“There have to be more options that are close. Hope wants to stay close to work and being in town will be good for her,” I say to Knox.
“Yeah, well aware. Not to mention more reasonably priced with good security,” Knox says.
Before I can recommend another place, one that Ben mentioned, the door opens. Dimitri walks in and gives me a look that can only be called “warning.” I glance at Knox to see if he notices, but he’s focused on his phone.
“Dimitri, what’s—”
“What’s this?” Hope demands, using a rolled-up stack of papers to smack me on the head. “Why would you do this?”
“Because you said she didn’t believe you. You hinted that she didn’t,” I say, trying to ignore the fact she just tried to punish me like a dog.
“That doesn’t mean to break in. She knows it was you and she threatened to call the police if you do it again,” Hope huffs.
I love seeing her so riled up. It sends heat rippling through my body. I want to catch her, drag her against me, and feel her fight. She studies my eyes intensely, angrily, but with something else simmering under the surface.
She exhales sharply while I slowly smile. “So, I’m not in trouble this time?”
“That’s not the point! You know it too. There are things that we’re hiding from the public, so don’t stir up more things,” she orders.
I step closer to her and she pauses. I love her giving me orders, threatening me, lashing out. It’s the Hope I love, my favorite Hope.
She swallows, then beats me with the paper again before it unravels against my chest. I look down and realize it’s her file.
Not mine to protect, the unwelcome thought teases my mind when I see Hope’s raw wrist, like she’s been rubbing it. I wantto yell at her for that. I want to distract her. I want to make sure that she doesn’t get a chance to…
“Jax, do you hear me? Not again. Begood,” Hope insists.
“That’s your job, not mine,” I say, harsher than I mean to.
Seven
KNOX
While we scrimmage the next day, I notice that Hope’s reading something at the side lines. When her face twists and she stands, I forget the field and end up getting tackled.Coach Carpenter yells about my focus while Ben takes my hand and helps me up.
He gives me a weird look. “You good?”
“Yeah, fine,” I say, patting his chest. “Good tackle.”
We restart the play and I catch Dimitri staring at me. I toss the ball to Jaxon and can feel Dimitri’s stare on me again. He edges closer and slams his shoulder into my stomach, just below my padding. I get him off me and Jaxon scores a touchdown, but Dimitri swats my helmet nearly hard enough to turn it around. I shove him. “Hope’s reading.”
He looks up at her and I do the same. She keeps gripping the paper in her hand—it’s her file. Her fingers scrunch and release over and over again. When Coach Carpenter calls a break, I tell Dimitri I’ll handle it. He snorts at me but goes to get water with Jaxon.
I sit next to her and offer her some water. She gulps it, then makes a face. “Water.”
“Were you expecting tequila?” I joke.
Hope looks from the file to me and back. She flips over to a page and takes a breath. “Based on my own personal experience with Coach Harbaugh, I’m concerned that Hope is showing a pattern of false memories or a lack of touch with reality. She’s able to provide a great deal of descriptions and her emotions are real, however, there’s no evidence of hospital visits or other information that confirms her experiences. Perhaps the three men she’s with have fed her delusions. It’s hard to say what trouble this can cause in Hope’s psyche and beyond.”
“What the fuck,” I breathe.
“Didn’t you read it?”
“I read your stuff, not the notes at the end. I probably should have done it the other way around,” I admit.
She looks at me for a long moment, her eyes filling up, then shakes her head slowly. “Why is italwayslike this, Knox?”
