Westley comes in with the utensils and Vincent comes in with the glasses and then some drinks that he puts on the table. I walk back to the kitchen. “I cut up everything for the tacos,” Knox says as he pours the meat in a bowl. “It’s in the fridge.”
I pull open the fridge and my chest gets tight at how normal all of this feels. I’ve had family dinner with Kirby and Lexi, but this feels even more natural. Which scares me just a touch, but I push it down. I look over at him. “You have a tray?” He nods and walks over to the side where he opens the door and steps in, disappearing and coming back out with three trays.
“Thank you.” I smile up at him and he steps closer to me. “Knox,” I say his name, licking my lips.
I look up at him and I can see his eyes lust over. He bends his head just a touch and I can feel his breath on my lips when we hear footsteps coming closer to the kitchen, and we jump away from each other. “After,” he mumbles as I try not to pant as I take the things to the table.
We sit down and demolish dinner; it’s hands down the best meal someone has cooked for me. I look over at Nora’s plate and see pieces of lettuce all around her plate and then globs of meat and a big oil stain setting in on the tablecloth. The back of my neck burns when I think about how Knox isn’t even batting an eye that it’s probably not going to come out. My eyes go back to Nora and my heart tightens when I think of how lucky she is to have him as a dad.
“Okay, shower,” Knox announces, picking up his dessert plate where he ate a whole cinnamon roll, “all three of you.” Vincent picks up his plate and I stop him.
“I’ll clean up,” I tell him and he drops his plate pretty fast, rushing out of the room.
Westley follows him and then Nora. “I’ve got to get up there or else it’ll be a splash pad in Nora’s shower.”
“You go,” I urge him. “I’ve got this and if I don’t know where things go…” I smirk, “I’ll put them where I think things should go and then you’ll have fun finding them.”
“I’ll be back.” He walks out of the room, giving my arm a squeeze, and I go about cleaning up. I try to put things where I think they go, and I’m wiping down the island when he comes back down. The dishwasher is already going. “Nora would like you to go and say goodnight to her,” he tells me, looking around. “Shit, you really did clean up everything.”
I laugh at him. “I tried.” I walk back to the sink, wetting the rag again and wringing it out. “The only thing I didn’t know where to put was the tablecloth,” I point to it, “but I shook it off in the sink.”
“Go say goodnight to Nora.” He motions with his head. “It’s the second door on the right. The one on the left is mine.”
“Oohhh, I might take a peek,” I joke with him as I walk to the steps, my shoes were taken off right after dinner. I walk down the hallway and see his door half closed and then see Westley’s room first, with him in his bed on his device. Nora’s room is right after his. “Hi.” I stick my head in and knock on the door. “Permission to come in?”
“Yes.” She giggles from the middle of her queen-size bed. The room is very much a girl’s room with the pinks and purples, a big bean bag in the corner and with books all around it. There are custom-made shelves with little knickknacks and a picture of her when she was a baby and another one of her and Knox. “Can you read me a book?” she asks and picks up the book in her hand.
“Sure.” I get on the bed next to her. “Do you have a book you want me to read?” She nods her head and picks up the one next to her, and all I see is a unicorn on the cover.
I read her the book and when it gets to the end, she smiles up at me. “Thank you,” she says and it takes me a second to think if anyone ever read me a bedtime story. The answer is no. It was always a goodnight and that was it.
“No, thank you,” I tell her. “That was a fun story.”
“Yeah.” She nods at me and I put it down beside her bed as she turns to the side. “Goodnight, Kylie,” she says and I move down to kiss the top of her head.
“Night, Nora,” I reply and walk out of the room and head down to the kitchen.
I’m expecting to find Knox in the kitchen doing something, but instead the television is on and it’s playing a recap of a game. He’s lying down on the couch and when he sees me, he smiles. “That was long,” he mentions, tossing the remote on the table and sitting up.
“I read her a story.” I walk over and sit next to him. “I’m going to head out,” I remark nervously.
“Yeah,” he says, “after.”
I look at him confused. “After what?”
He pulls me to him, his hand going into my hair. “After we make out.” I can’t answer him because his mouth is on mine and I forget what I’m even going to say.
twenty-five
Knox
I kiss Nora goodbye and then turn to hug Westley and Vincent. “Mom will pick you up,” I tell them. “It’s her week.” They nod. “I’ll see you Friday since I’m gone next week for two days.”
“Okay,” Vincent replies, turning and rushing into the schoolyard to join his friends. Westley is right behind him.
Nora then follows them, waving her hand side to side, yelling, “Bye, Daddy!”
I wait for the bell to ring before walking back to the SUV, getting in and calling Kylie. I smile when she picks up the phone after the third ring. “What is it with you and calling?”
