Knox’s foot catches the bathroom door before I can close it. “Were you with a man?” Knox hisses, shutting the door behind him.
“No.”
“You smell like sex.” He pushes me against the wall. “I know what you smell like after sex, Winn Dixie.” His hands fumble under the long coat.
I gasp, trying to shove him off.
“Where are your panties?” He grabs them out of my pocket.
Knew I should have thrown them away.
Knox, not breaking eye contact with me, presses my panties to his face.
For a second, I wonder if Carolina was right and he was the one writing the notes and planting the dildo.
“Now, Winn Dixie, were you on your hands and knees in an alley getting fucked like a dog just now?”
I try to keep the panic off my face.
How? He can’t know, can he?
It couldn’t have been him.
“You always were a better fuck than your sister.” He shoves the dirty panties down the front of my coat. “Turn around.” He’s arrogant, entitled. “You know you want it. You know you want to let me give you a taste of my cock. Let me show you how a real man fucks.”
“You have to get out of here before Kathy comes back.” My mouth is dry.
He laughs as I shove him to the bathroom door, into the bedroom.
“Winnie?” Kathy looks hurt when she sees us standing in the doorway.
“Knox is just leaving, aren’t you?”
Fidget pokes her head around Kathy and growls.
“If you’re not here to get on your knees and apologize,” Gran threatens, coming up the stairs, “then you need to clear out. We don’t want liars and cheaters here.”
His watery blue eyes rest on Gran for a moment. “Still alive and kicking, I see.”
“Yeah.” Gran puts up her fists. “Try me and see.”
Knox just laughs. It sounds fake.
“Mom,” I tell Kathy, “has offered to let Knox’s mom stay here.”
“The Pittsburgh troll?”
Knox turns on me, looking like he’s going to hit me for a second. “You let that old bitch talk about my mama like that?”
“She’s in the early stages of dementia, baby.” Kathy has reverted to her complacent stay-at-home-girlfriendpersona—her shoulders stoop. “I told you that. Don’t take it personally.”
Knox preens at the flattery. He’s getting off on this.
“I’ll blow a cap in his cheating head. How’s that for dementia?” Gran spits. “You bring that cunt here, and I’m pissing in her bed.”
“Gran, that’s my bed. Please don’t. Knox, you need to go.”
“Go? This is my house, and I’m staying for dinner.”
