I could barely believe his reaction.He’d known for a while now that I was trying to find a relationship, and it hadn’t bothered him.But now, he wanted to...what?Be exclusive?Was that what this was about?
Knox confused the crap out of me.
“Well, don’t do anything like that because it would affect me more than you’d think.”
“Amy.”
I waited, but he didn’t add anything else.“Yes?”I prodded.
He huffed.“This is insane.I never get jealous.Up until tonight, I didn’t even understand the definition of the word.But he opened the door, and you spoke to him from the bedroom, telling him to sign off on a delivery.As if you’d had that conversation a million times.As if he’d been in your house a million times.In your bed.”
“You thought...Okay.”
I tried to rewind the evening and see it from his point of view, but I couldn’t really.I’d gone into my bedroom to search for a scrunchie and had frantically looked for it everywhere—under the bed, between my pillows, in my dresser.I hadn’t been able to find it.And then I heard Knox’s voice.
“I don’t want you seeing him or anyone else,” he went on.
“Right.Then the same goes for you.”
“Obviously,” Knox replied, and I’d never been so relieved in my life.
This felt like we were on the precipice of something that neither of us had expected.My heart was racing, almost too fast.I put a hand on my chest, drawing in a deep breath and exhaling slowly to calm myself down.
“Knox, this cannot happen again on the trip.You can’t kiss me in front of my colleagues—”
He interrupted so quickly that I couldn’t finish my thought.
“Are there going to be any more guys there who have a crush on you?”
“Well, Gregory’s coming.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No, I’m not.And please be kind to him.He really isn’t my type.You have nothing to worry about, seriously.Plus, he organized the whole trip and put a lot of effort into it.”
“Right.”
“Knox, I need your word that you aren’t going to go rogue again.”
“I can’t give you my word.”It was clear that he wasn’t making fun of me.He sounded pained when he added, “I can’t promise that won’t happen again.”
I bit the inside of my cheek.I could ask Knox not to join us after all, to avoid any potential drama.I didn’t want to, but...
“You’re thinking about disinviting me, aren’t you?”he said.
“Yes,” I replied honestly.“But I think the kids would be disappointed.”
Knox started laughing.“That’s your only reason?You don’t thinkIwould be disappointed?”
“Would you?”I was curious now.I mean, this was the guy who’d never wanted to marry, have kids, a dog, a white picket fence...
“I told you, I want to spend time with you.That’s why I even offered, though I don’t mind spending time with the kids either.”He paused, then asked, “Are we sharing a tent?”
“No tents.There are small cabins there, and we’re bunking up.”I grinned.“Actually, the other teacher is a woman, so I’m bunking with her, and I guess you’re bunking with...”
“Fucking Gregory,” Knox said, and I laughed.
“Surprise, surprise, huh?”
