Her bedroom doorknob makes a noise like someone is trying to turn it, but it’s locked. Three knocks sound. “Hood rat. It’s noon. Wake up.”
Only Knox calls her hood rat. Getting up, I pull on my jeans and zip up the fly but leave the top unbuttoned. I don’t plan on keeping them on for long once Aurora comes back with breakfast. Or is it lunch now?
I unlock the door and open it a crack. Knox wasn’t expecting to see me, and he jumps back a good foot when he realizes I’m not Aurora.
“Hey, man,” I tell him.
My senses go on alert when I see his body language change from surprise to banked anger. He tries to look over my shoulder into the bedroom, but I’m much taller than he is, and I slide over to block his view. It’s becoming clear that Dustin was right when he said Knox was interested in Aurora.
“Hey, JD. Um, where’s Aurora?”
“In the bathroom.”
“Oh. Okay. Did you, um, did you spend the night or something?”
“I did.”
“I thought you had a game.”
“I did,” I say again.
The bathroom door opens, and I take a quick glance over my shoulder to make sure Aurora is dressed. I step back and open the door wide. “You have a visitor.”
Aurora walks over and wraps her arm around my waist. Good. I hope he gets the fucking message that she’s mine.
“Hey Knox. I was just coming down to get me and JD some food.”
He blinks a couple of times and clears his throat. I lean over and kiss the top of her head and she presses even closer to my side.
“Yeah. So, I was wondering if you wanted to take the bikes out today, but I guess not, seeing as…you know,” he says, flicking his gaze at me then back to her.
“I would love to, but can we do it tomorrow or Monday afternoon?”
“Yeah, sure. Alright. Well, I’ll catch you later then.” He turns to walk away but Aurora stops him.
“Wait up. I’ll come with you downstairs.” She pops up on her tiptoes and kisses me with a ‘be right back.’
Knox smiles at her when she joins him, and I grit my teeth from the annoyance that creeps in at the way he’s looking at her.
While she’s gone, I check my phone. There are several texts from Dustin and Prez that I respond to immediately, and a voice mail from Dad. I hesitate, not wanting to ruin my good morning by listening to his voice berate me for one thing or another. Giving in, I hold the phone up to my ear, and sure enough, he’s ranting and raving about me not coming home after the game.
I hang up when he starts trash-talking Aurora. Good thing I keep my location tracking off on my phone or else I’m pretty sure he’d be banging Aurora’s front door down by now. Why does my dad have to be such a dick about everything? I can’t wait to get the hell away from him and out of his house. With any luck, I’ll get a full ride to a Division 1 college and then hopefully get noticed and drafted to the NFL if everything goes to plan. No matter where I end up, I want Aurora to come with me. Or perhaps, I’ll go with her. I don’t care which university I end up at as long as it has a solid football team and my girl.
After fifteen minutes pass and Aurora hasn’t come back up, I pull on my shirt and head downstairs. I hear voices coming from the kitchen.
“You want me to come with you? Why?” Aurora asks someone. I see that someone is Trevor.
I stop at the entryway to the kitchen, hands tucked in my front pockets. Trevor sees me. “Hey, JD. Heard Aurora had a slumber party last night.”
“Oh my God,” Aurora says, doing a facepalm. Knox is leaning against the kitchen island with his arms crossed across his chest.
I walk over to Aurora and wrap my arms around her from behind. She leans back into me, and Trevor gives me an imperceptible nod of approval.
“I promise I didn’t abandon you,” she tells me. “My brother likes to throw bombs my way and then stand back and watch to see what happens.”
“I don’t even know what that means.” Trevor is buttering several pieces of bread. I hope he’s making toast to go with the bacon and eggs sitting on the counter because I’m starving.
Once again, Aurora shows how in tune she is with me. She reaches over and takes a piece of bacon, then holds it up to me to bite. “Want some coffee?” she asks me.
