“Never apologize,” Knox says, licking his lips, watching her.
I’ve been watching him over the last several months and feel like he’s in a good spot now. I was worried about him before and was trying to give him his space to process and deal, but he was getting close to me inserting myself. I’m glad I didn’t have to, because when it’s happened in the past, it creates a weird dynamic between us. One I’m not super fond of. I know he and Jax dealt with a lot of shit and they both process it in different ways. Jax lets his out in pulses, while Knox tries to push it down and pretend like nothing is wrong.
Knox leans forward. “Please say we’re getting a show.”
Emmett’s hands at some point had slid around to Everlee’s hips and I could tell he wanted her, even though he said he was exhausted.
“No. Knox. I’m exhausted.”
She must have whispered something because he’s laughing a moment later and lifting her dress up higher so he can rub her back.
“Fine,” he says, unzipping the back of her dress and pulling it over her head. He admires her breast before she lays back down, nuzzling her face into the side of his neck.
Minutes pass and neither of them move and Knox looks from me to Jax, back to them. “Well, this is fucking awkward.” He hops up from the seat and walks over to them slowly, leaning over to see Everlee’s face. “They’re asleep. They fucking fell asleep.”
I can’t help but laugh for two reasons. One, because Knox was so ready and two, because that girl can fall asleep nearly anywhere with a speed unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
“I’ll carry her to bed,” I say, standing from my couch. When I bend down to pick her up, her phone falls from her hand just as a message comes through.
Lizzy.
“Jax. Lizzy just texted. Can you make sure she’s ok?”
Jax is walking over to the couch at the same time I’m walking out of the room with Everlee in my arms. She lets out a soft moan and turns into me, and whispers my name. A tingle shoots down my spine, and my heart tugs as I watch her sleep.
“Callum,” Jax says with a layer of concern in his voice. My foot rests on the bottom step as I wait for him to walk over to me, Knox following.
“What is it?”
He holds the phone up for me to read.
Lizzy:Let me know what they say about Allure…
“How does she know?” Knox asks.
“I don’t know. We’ll talk to her about it tomorrow morning.” I shift Everlee’s weight in my arms. She’s not heavy, but right now she’s dead weight and I’m exhausted.
“Do you know what we’re going to do? Say?”
“I don’t think we have a choice, do we? I mean, technically we do, but…”
“How do you think she’s going to react?” Knox asks, concerned. His question isn’t really how she’s going to react, but if I think she’s going to leave.
“I have no idea. I don’t think she’ll leave, but she may not like it.”
He nods, but doesn’t speak, the worry clear in his eyes. “I call dibs lying beside her tonight.”
I smile at him. “I figured you would.”
Some nights are worse than others for Knox and those nights he needs her. Needs to feel her. Wrap his arms around her. I don’t like the fact she is the equivalent of his soothing blanket, but I also don’t want to take it away from him right now when he’s trying to work through things. My hope is that he can stand on his own feet over time.
“I’m going to shower up, then come back in here,” Knox says. “I’ll be quick.”
I nod. “I’ll lay in here with her until you come back.”
She lies on her side; her fists balled up under her chin, so I find my place behind her and let her melt into me, fitting to her like a puzzle piece.
The bed is shaking a few moments later, only it’s probably been longer because I feel like my head is in a daze and Knox smells fresh.
