He comes back a couple of minutes later and only when his door closes do I open my eyes. “Good to go?” I ask him and he nods, pulling open his phone.
Then his finger starts to tap things on his phone. “Provisions are on their way, I don’t feel like stopping by the store.” He winks at me, and we make our way back to his house. “I’m going in the house. I want you to give me a couple of minutes and then come in.” I nod at him as I close my eyes again.
When it feels like two minutes have gone by, I get out and shut the door, walking up the steps, and ringing the doorbell. I see him walking toward the door and this time when he opens it there is a huge smile on his face. “The door was open,” he says, just like he said when I got there not too long ago.
“It’s rude to just walk into someone’s house, Knox,” I repeat what I told him when I arrived here.
This time when I step inside his house, one hand wraps around my waist while the other hand grips the side of my neck. “Hey, baby,” he greets me right before he kisses me. “I missed you.” He lets me go, closing the door. “I’m making dinner.” I look up at him and smile. “So much better than before.” He smiles even bigger. “Thank you for that.”
“I’d do it all over again,” I put my hand on his face, “just to see you smile.”
thirty-nine
Knox
“Baby!” I shout, walking out of my closet and to the bathroom where she is getting ready. “It’s time to go.”
“I’m ready,” she calls back as she comes out of the bathroom, and my eyes do a sweep of her up and down. My mouth waters at her outfit, even though it’s just light-blue jeans that fit her tight. I know they show off her ass to perfection because when I was getting out of the shower before, she walked in wearing them and her bra. She now has them paired with a long-sleeved black shirt and a short black vest over it. Her hair is in a ponytail and she’s wearing sneakers on her feet.
“Baby,” I say, grabbing her and immediately cupping her ass with my hands, “you look so sexy.”
“Good.” She looks up at me. “I put a lot of thought and effort into this outfit.” She gives me the once-over. “It’s not every day you come face-to-face with someone who also saw your guy naked.”
I look up at the ceiling. “Kylie.”
“What?” she replies, and I shake my head. “Are you saying that you would be okay going to an event where you know you’re going to be meeting a guy who had his junk in me.” My head snaps back down and I glare at her. “Exactly.” She walks past me. “Also, it’s not fair that you look this hot going to meet your ex,” she tosses over her shoulder. “Do you have anything that doesn’t show all my favorite parts?”
All I can do is smirk at her. “What are your favorite parts, baby?” I smirk, knowing at least one of them.
“Oh, stop fishing for compliments.” She walks out of the room.
“That ass though,” I say, following her out, giving her a playful spank, “I’m going to have fun with it tonight.”
“You wish, buddy, you have me for three more days, enjoy it.”
“We really need to revisit that conversation,” I state as we walk out of the house. “Why don’t you sleep over every other night?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “It’s too soon.”
She gets into my SUV and I get in as she’s putting on her seat belt. “Whatever,” I grumble, “but you are over for dinner every night.”
“We’ll see,” she replies as we start the car and head toward the arena for Vincent’s game. “I don’t think this is a good idea,” she finally says. “Like, maybe we should do it another time.”
“Vincent invited you himself,” I remind her of the conversation I had with him last night when he called to ask me if Kylie was coming. I knew he was asking me because he wanted her to come. “You aren’t going to tell him yes and then not show up.”
“You know what, Knox?” She turns to glare at me. “No one likes a know-it-all.”
I reach over and grab her hand, bringing it to my lips. “Baby, relax, it’ll be fine.”
“Baby, relax,” she mimics me, “it’ll be fine.”
I refrain from laughing at her as I make it to the arena. I’m also nervous, but I try not to let her see it. I find a parking spot and get out, meeting her around the back of the car. I slip my hand in hers and she stops me from walking. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
I stop and head to her, holding her face in my hands and kissing her lips softly. “I promise you, it will be fine.”
“I don’t believe you,” she replies, and I slip my hand back in hers and pull her into the rink before she changes her mind. We walk up the four steps and then step in and she looks up at me. “I hate you,” she mumbles as she looks around and we see a skating stimulator at the front.
“Good to know,” I tell her as we walk down the hallway. I look right and left where the locker rooms are before walking up the stairs to the ice. When we get to the top, I scan the people around the rink and I’m taking a step forward when I see my father there, holding Nora’s hand. “Fuck,” I swear, and I don’t know why I tense up, but I do, and she notices it, “my parents are here.”
