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Chapter Ten

Wren

My body buzzed with anticipation as we arrived home. I hopped down from the bike, my fingers tingling from where I'd touched Knox throughout the ride. Tonight was very interesting. Getting to see Knox surrounded by his family and being his usual grumpy self, meeting new people and making new friends.

People who didn't make me feel weird even though I wasn't a part of them. Vince and Mason made me laugh until tears ran down my face from joy. Sloane kept plying me with drinks and checking up on me fervently to make sure I was okay.

She'd been so nice. And I must have been so starved for female friendship that I'd blurted out my thoughts without thinking.

“I don't think Knox likes me,” I'd told her when we were alone after the whole thing with the skank called Rosa.

“What?” She looked ready to laugh right then. “Girl, are you blind or something? Why do you think that?”

“Um,” I'd said. But I couldn't go on as I played with my fingertips, suddenly nervous. I wasn't sure what to say. “He wouldn't touch me?”

“Do you want him to touch you?”

“Yes?” I swallowed, nervous. “I know, I know. I just escaped an abusive relationship, but... I just really want to know what having sex with the right person feels like. To be able to really feel safe and let go. You know what I mean? My body hasn't worked like this in years. It's been broken, and I just...”

Sloane’s gaze had softened. I didn't even fully comprehend what I'd said until it was out. My fingers were shaking.

“I think if you asked him, he would kiss you.” Then she'd leaned in and added surreptitiously, “He's just being a gentleman. Knox is like that. He would never take advantage of your situation, and until you make it abundantly clear that you're fine with it, he wouldn't touch you.”

“But—” I shifted on my toes. “What if that's not it? What if he doesn't like me?”

Sloane laughed loudly. “That’s impossible. Have you looked his way all evening, Wren? Because I think you need to do that first before coming to that conclusion.”

So, I looked at him. And Knox was the one laughing, shoving Viper off him. It appeared the latter was teasing him. Somehow, Knox had known I was watching him because he raised his head and our eyes locked. My breathing stuttered, the truth written all over him.

It was the same way he was looking at me now as he unhooked my helmet, his fingers brushing against the sides of my face. My breath hitched, my chest rising. He paused, eyes tracking the contact before he withdrew his hand.

“Go inside,” he said, nudging his head in the direction of the door.

I nodded and obliged him. Instead of going into my room as I would usually do, I waited outside the door, pacing. I wanted him. I should have known I would want him from the first day I walked into this house. Was that a terrible thing? Maybe. But I wanted him, and for once, I would like to have just this one thing.

His growing footsteps halted my pacing. Knox walked in and stopped, seeing me standing there. He looked devilishly handsome tonight. His hair was tousled from the times he'd run his hands through it and also from the wind. The t-shirt he wore fit him like a puzzle piece, and everything else about him heightened the growing tension in the room.

“Wren?” he asked, voice lower than expected.

“Two things,” I started, holding up two of my fingers. He nodded, waiting for me to go on. “Thank you for tonight. I know you've said not to thank you, but you have no idea what you've done for me. Your family ... the Sons, they're really nice and welcoming and accepting. They didn't even care that I wasn't a part—”

“They're not supposed to.”

My gaze softened. “That's not true. You know that is not true, which is why I'm thankful to you for it. I needed that, and somehow you knew. You always manage to know what I need.”

He swallowed, his eyes falling to my fingers, which I was wringing nervously together. “Which is why I'm wondering how you don't know what I need right now.”

He took two steps forward. There was still space between us, and I wished he would come closer. “What do you need?” He scanned my face. “Tell me, and I'll get it for you.”

“You.”

His brows furrowed. “What?”

“You.” I swallowed hard, scared shitless but also bold. “You. I want you.”

Knox didn't blink. He watched me for far too long and far too intensely. I wasn't sure he was breathing. He looked like he was holding his breath. Meanwhile, my heart was a stuttering mess, and my brain was working to convince it that I wasn't crazy and putting us on the line again was worth it.

“The second thing,” I said, when it was apparent he'd lost the ability to speak. “Would you kiss me, please?”