He smiles, his eyes dragging down me in a way that feels like he’s stripping me bare. “Go get ready; we need to leave in forty minutes.”
He turns around and leads Mars away, but I stand for a while longer, wondering just how the hell I am meant to survive Silas Knight.
Chapter Sixteen
A warm breeze flows in through the cab from the open window on the passenger side, bringing with it the sweet scent of honey and sugar that I’ve quickly realized is just her. Her head is leaning back on the chair; chin tilted to the breeze and the view of the mountains that pass by in a blur of grays and greens.
“I’ll do better,” Juni eventually speaks, turning her focus to me as I drive us toward Beth’s house to collect Rosie and Caleb. They’re on summer break, and while I try to keep them with me most of the time, some days it isn’t possible with the lessons I need to teach.
“It’s only day one,” I rest one arm on the door and force myself to relax even though my hands itch toreach for the one strand of blonde hair that won’t stay tucked behind her ear, the wind teasing it out every time she tries to tuck it away.
“I know,” she sighs, “But I was just… distracted. I’ll do better, I promise.”
Distracted?By what?Who?
My hand tightens on the steering wheel. I didn’t miss the way some of my guys were looking at her, and the students I was teaching. She’s hard to miss, especially since she’s literally walking sunshine. I’d snuck my own glances, but at least I was fucking subtle about it. Not like the dumbasses that were practically drooling, tongues hanging out the sides of their mouths.
But was she distracted by one of them?
I shouldn’t fucking care, but it doesn’t stop the heat unfurling in my gut.
Not. Mine. She is not mine.
I’m saved from asking her exactlywhatshe was distracted by when I pull up outside Beth’s house, the front door immediately swinging open since my kids had had their noses pressed to the glass waiting for me.
It replaces the jealousy in my gut with warmth, the complete one eighty of my emotions leaving me dizzy for just a moment. I manage to get out in time to catch Rosie throwing herself at me, arms goingaround my neck in a tight hug that almost cuts off my air supply.
“Hey bug,” I laugh, loosening her arms, “Did you miss me?”
“The most!” She replies, “You were gone forever.”
“Just the normal amount,” I correct her, adjusting her to sit on my hip so I can put my arm around Caleb in a much more subtle greeting.
“Hey Dad,” he waves back to Beth as he tugs open the back door to climb into the truck, pausing for a minute when he realizes Juni is in the front.
“Hi, Miss Juni,” he greets her in a quiet voice, strapping himself in. Juni leans around the seat to beam at him, giving him a wide smile and I can see her mouth moving, but I don’t hear what she’s saying since Caleb shut the door already. Waving to Beth, I round the car to put Rosie in her car seat, tuning in midway through their conversation.
“There’s going to be a meteorite shower this weekend,” Caleb is leaning forward, his hands on the back of Juni’s chair, “The guy on the TV said to watch for them between ten and two a.m. as long as there are no clouds.”
“That’s so exciting,” Juni’s expression is completely open, soft, “Are you going to watch it?”
Caleb nods animatedly, “If Dad will let me.”
“Of course you can, bud,” I join in. “Maybe we can set the bed of the truck up like we did last summer.”
His eyes light up, “Can we, Dad? Please. Juni can come too. Dad knows the best spots for looking at the stars, don’t you, Dad?”
Chuckling, I answer, “The best ones.”
“I’d love to see the stars,” Juni speaks directly to my son. “Thank you for inviting me.”
My son leans back in his chair with a bright smile on his face, a real one, not shy or forced like it has been before. I meet Juni’s eyes, hoping to convey how much I appreciate her for the way she speaks to him. She has no idea our story,hisstory, but it’s as if she has sensed he needs more. A touch of color blooms on her cheeks after a few long seconds of our eye contact, and she’s the first one to drop it, turning back around.
Giving Beth another quick wave, I climb back into the truck to take us back to the ranch. We try to have family dinners weekly, fitting them in around our busy schedules, even though one of us is always missing. The youngest of the three of us ran off to join the rodeo the moment he was able to after our mom passed. I watch him every chance I can get when he’s competing, but the kids miss him, and while I’d never admit it to his face—he’d take far too much pleasure in that—I do too.
I’m close to Roman, but growing up, he was always busy. As the oldest, he’d always been the one destined to take on Knight Falls Ranch, and he took on that responsibility as if he were made for it, but it did leave Remy and me alone most of the time. Werib each other to no end, and he pisses me the hell off, but he’s a good man, and it terrifies me that one day he won’t walk out of that arena. It’s no secret the youngest Knight brother has a reckless streak, throwing himself into danger the moment it shows itself.
Our therapist would suggest it’s because that’s how he handles the trauma of our mother passing, and I’m not sure I would disagree.
