Page 71 of When The Noise Stops

I ate it in the parking lot of my shop.

Hawk caught me smiling at the damn thing and said, "You look like a man with a girlfriend."

"I do not," because Lila wouldn't let me call her that.

"Sure," he said.

"And Tiny don't like Ronny."

I threw the wrapper at him.

He laughed. Walked inside.

I stood in the parking lot for a minute longer. Thinking about the muffin. Thinking about her.

I wasn't her boyfriend. She'd made that clear.

But she was sure as hell something.

Chapter 30

Knox

Lila was under me on my bed, her sleep shirt pushed up. I had her right leg braced against my chest and her toes in my mouth when someone started beating on the door.

Her skin was covered in a sheen of sweat, her eyes glossy. She looked beautiful, cum-drunk, and she felt good. I did not stop. There was no way I could.

She was taking me the way she liked it, hard and fast. I let her leg go, put my weight on her, and drew her breast into my mouth.

"Fuck," she swore, and her hand fisted in my hair. The knocking came again.

She groaned, then: "Grizz. Get it."

"I'm close. I need to come."

"I don't care. Get the door."

I kept going anyway, chasing the finish, the headboard tapping the wall that divided my apartment from hers. The banging came a third time, harder than before.

Then I heard my name.

It was not Lila moaning. It was not Tiny yelling.

It was Maggie. My heart dropped.

I went still inside Lila.

Lila felt the change. Her hands loosened in my hair.

"Grizz."

I pulled out.

"I'll be right back." I dragged on a pair of jeans, made my way to the door, and snatched it open. Smelling like sex, with Lila's taste in my mouth.

Maggie stood in the hallway with a duffel bag. Behind her was Gabby. Twelve now, taller than the last time I had been allowed to see her, with the same eyes.

"Hey," Maggie said.