Things We Never Got Over (Knockemout, #1)

by Lucy Score

He sighed. When he reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, I swooned internally. “I don’t really feel like talkin’ about it, Daze.” “You have something better to do?” “Yeah. Yelling at you to go the hell home and get some sleep. Waylay’s first day of school is tomorrow. She doesn’t need a zombie aunt pouring dish soap on her cereal.” “First of all, we’re having eggs, fruit, and yogurt for breakfast,” I began, then realized he was trying to distract me. “Was it about a woman?” He looked at the ceiling. “If you start counting to ten, I will kick you in the shin,” I warned. He sighed. “No. It wasn’t about a woman.” “Besides love, what’s worth losing a brother over?” “Fucking romantics,” he said. “Maybe if you get it out, instead of bottling it up, you’ll feel better.” He studied me for another one of those long, pensive beats, and I was sure he was about to tell me to get my ass home. “Fine.” I blinked in surprise. “Um. Okay. Wow. So this is happening. Maybe we should sit?” I suggested, eying up the empty vinyl chairs. “Why does talking have to be a whole damn thing with women?” he grumbled as I led us to a pair of chairs. “Because anything worth doing is worth doing right.” I sat and patted the chair next to me. He sat, stretching his long legs in front of him and staring blankly at the window. “I won the lottery,” he said. “I know that. Liza told me.” “Took home eleven million, and I thought it was the answer to everything. I bought the bar. A building or two....

gave his hand a squeeze. “On that note, I think I’ll head home to get Waylay’s cereal and dish detergent ready.” He tightened his grip on my hand. “Can we have a minute?” he asked the nurse. “Sure. I’ll be right outside. I’ll take you to him as soon as you’re ready.” He waited until she stepped outside before drawing me in close. “Thank you, Naomi,” he whispered just before his lips met mine. Hot, hard, unyielding. His hand slid up to cup my jaw and neck, holding me in place as he kissed every thought out of my head, leaving me nothing but a riot of sensation. He pulled back, eyes fierce. Then he pressed a kiss to my forehead and left the room.

“Jesus,” I grumbled. “I didn’t want you to be beholden or whatever the fuck to me. We’re family. We’re brothers. One of us wins, we both win.” It also meant if one of us lost, we both did. And that was what the last few years had been. A loss. Fuck. I hated losing. “Didn’t want the money,” he said, his words slurring. “Wanted to build things on my own.” “You could’ve put it away for retirement or some shit,” I complained. The same old cocktail of feelings was trying to rise in me. Rejection. Failure. Righteous fury. “You deserved some good. After the shit we went through, then Liza J losing Pop. You deserved more than a cop salary from some shitty town.” “Our shitty town,” he corrected. “Made it ours. You in your way. Me in mine.” Maybe he was right. But that didn’t matter. What did matter was the fact that if he would have taken the cash, he wouldn’t be here in this hospital room. My little brother would be making a difference some other way. Without toeing the line. Without paying the price. “Should have kept the money. If you had, you wouldn’t be lying here like roadkill.” Nash shook his head slowly against the pillow. “I was always gonna be the good guy.” “Shut up and go to sleep,” I told him. “We went through some shit. But I always had my big brother. Always knew I could count on you. Didn’t need your money on top of that.” Nash’s shoulders sagged. Sleep took him under its spell, leaving me to sit in silent vigil.

“Good. I was tired of my childhood best friends acting like they were still children.” “Is that why you came back?” His expression darkened. “One of the reasons.” “One of those other reasons have anything to do with a pretty little librarian who hates your guts?” He sighed, absently patting his pockets. “Already had your one,” I reminded him. “Fuck,” he muttered. It was as flustered as he allowed himself to get. I had the temper. Nash had the good nature. And Lucian had the self-control of a fucking monk.

“Naomi.” His voice was rough as it caressed the syllables of my name, and then his hands were on me, yanking me into him. His mouth found mine, and I was lost to sensation. Drowning in desire. Neither of us wanted to want this. Maybe that’s what made it feel so damn good. One hand slid into my hair while the other pressed my lower back until I was flush against him. “Knox,” I breathed. “This isn’t what you want,” I reminded him. “It’s what I need,” he said before diving back into the kiss. This wasn’t the kiss from the waiting room. This was different, desperate. I lost myself in it. Every thought tumbled out of my head until I was nothing but feeling. His mouth was hard and demanding, just like the man. I softened under him. Welcoming him. He responded by tugging at my hair to angle my head just the way he wanted as he slanted his mouth over mine. His tongue didn’t twine or dance with mine—it battled mine into submission. He stole my breath, my logic, every reason why this was a terrible idea. He took them all and made them disappear. “That’s what I need, baby. I need to feel you go soft under me. Need you to let me have you.”

“Damn, baby. Slow the fuck down,” he ordered through gritted teeth. But I wasn’t listening. I was too busy matching the pump of his fingers inside me. I gasped when he pulled out of my throbbing core. “Mean!” I hissed against his neck. But just when my body felt desolate over the loss, he tossed me over his shoulder. “Knox!” His only acknowledgment was a resounding slap on my behind.

“Don’t be gentle,” I groaned. “Taking my time. Deal with it.” “Knox, if you get any more blood in that appendage, it’s going to explode.” “You’ve got an opinion on everything. Even on how I fuck you.” “Especially on how you fuck me.” He kissed me probably just to shut me up, but I didn’t care because when I hitched my hips higher, his thrusts came faster, went deeper.

He looked so peaceful that even the perpetual line of annoyance between his eyebrows had smoothed. I couldn’t believe Knox Morgan was naked in my bed. Oh, God. Knox Morgan was naked. In my bed.

“State your business,” Dad shouted at Knox’s bare torso. “Wow, wow, wow,” Mom whispered. She wasn’t wrong. The man was freaking spectacular.

“Oh, Lou. So old-fashioned,” Mom said, giving him an affectionate pat on the backside before walking up to Knox and hugging him. “Mom!” Knox stood there woodenly clearly in shock. “Welcome to the family,” she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Oh my God. I’m going to die of embarrassment,” I decided. Knox patted my mother awkwardly on the back. “Uh. Thanks?” She released him and then grabbed me by the shoulders. “We were so worried about you, sweetheart. It wasn’t like you to just up and leave your own wedding like that. Not that we ever liked Warner that much anyway.” “Always thought he was a pretentious ass,” Dad cut in. “I thought maybe you were depressed,” Mom continued. “But now it all makes sense! You fell in love with someone else and couldn’t go through with a sham of a marriage. Isn’t that wonderful, Lou?” “I need coffee,” Knox muttered and headed for the kitchen.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Dad demanded, still not looking very pleased. “Naomi,” Knox called from the coffeepot. “Pants?” I winced. “Under the sink.” He gave me a long, unreadable look before bending to retrieve his jeans. My mother gave me an incredibly inappropriate double thumbs-up as Knox turned his back on us and zipped the fly of his jeans. MOM! I mouthed. But she just continued flashing me the thumbs and a creepy smile of approval.

Knox looked at me and sighed. He put his free hand on the back of my neck and pulled me into his side. “Here’s the situation. Your daughter blew into town trying to help her no-good sister, no offense.” “None taken,” Mom assured him. “I took one look at Naomi and fell hard and fast.” “Knox,” I hissed. But he squeezed the back of my neck and continued. “We’re just seeing where this thing goes. Could be nothing, but we’re enjoying it. You raised a smart, beautiful, stubborn woman.” Mom fluffed her hair. “She gets that from me.” “What is it you do for a living, Knock?” Dad demanded. “Knox,” I corrected. “He owns businesses and some property, Dad.” My father harrumphed. “Self-made man? Guess it’s better than Mr. Nepotism.” I assumed he was speaking of Warner, who got a job at the family company after college graduation. “Got lucky a few years back and won the lottery. Invested most of it here in my hometown,” Knox explained. “Thought I’d used up all my luck till Naomi here showed up.”

He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Maybe I like being the hero for once.” My knees threatened to buckle as the knee-jerk desire to swoon swept over me. His grin was downright sinful when he pulled me into him. The contact with his body so soon after The Best Sex Ever was frying my circuits. I didn’t want to yell at him anymore. I wanted to kiss him. “Or maybe,” he whispered against my lips, “I just want to know what it feels like to have your smart mouth wrapped around my cock.” That was at least honest. And dirty. And I liked it. He had one hand boldly cupping my rear end. The other held my hair at the base of my neck. “Pardon the interruption.” Instinctively, I jumped back from Knox. Well, I tried to. He still had a pretty good grip on me. Which turned out to be a good thing since I probably would have fallen right over the railing when I spotted caseworker Yolanda Suarez eyeing us from the foot of the steps. “Mrs. Suarez, how lovely to see you again.” I choked the words out.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I promised. “Gotta head out. Some shit to take care of before the big family dinner tonight celebrating Way’s first day and Naomi’s parents coming to town.” “I hate you,” Nash said. But there was no real heat to his words. “Let this be a lesson to you, little brother. You gotta make your moves faster or else someone else’ll make ’em for you.” I started for the door.

“That’s because you’re a man, sweetie,” she said, patting my arm. “I just want you to know that I see how you’re taking care of my girl. In all their time together, I never once saw Warner bring her a cup of coffee. Never once saw him do anything that benefited her unless it benefited him too. So thank you for that. Thank you for seeing my girl and wanting to be there for her.” “You’re welcome.” It seemed like the appropriate response. “Out of curiosity, why do you call her Daisy?” she asked. “She had flowers in her hair when I met her.”

“I’d fuck you right here if I thought for a second I could get away with it.” She took one hand off my shoulder and shoved it between our bodies, cupping my erection through my jeans. I covered her hand with mine and squeezed. Hard. I thrust against our hands, greedy for the friction. “Kids! Dinner,” Amanda called from above us. “Aunt Naomi, how many green beans do I hafta eat?” The glassiness in Naomi’s eyes cleared. “Oh. My. God,” she mouthed at me. I gave both nipples a not-so-gentle tweak before readjusting her top. I wanted to fuck her in that bikini. To untie one or two of those strings and guarantee all the right access. Then I wanted to take her every way possible until neither one of us could walk. Instead, I was going to have dinner with a hard-on and an audience. Sometimes life just wasn’t fucking fair. She slugged me in the shoulder. “What is wrong with you?” she hissed. “Our families are right up there!” “A whole lot of things,” I said with a grin. “You’re the worst. We’re coming!” she yelled. “We will be later,” I promised under my breath.

“Your parents walked in on your one-night stand. Classic,” Silver said ten minutes later when I’d finished verbally vomiting all over them. “And your vagina is officially ruined,” Fi added. “And we aren’t in a relationship. Unless you’re my parents or a caseworker weighing my stability as a guardian, in which case we’ve been swept away by an unexpected romance.” “But you are having sex,” Silver confirmed. “Temporarily,” I said with emphasis.

“How I’ve been treating her? I’ve been treating her the way she deserves to be treated,” Mrs. Felch snarled. The lines on her face carved deeper. “I treat her the way the daughter of a whore deserves to be treated.” “Excuse me?” “You heard me.” A movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I realized that I had a much bigger problem than a horrible sixth-grade teacher.

“We’ll talk about this in the morning,” Naomi said. “Your grandparents are going to take you home. It’s up to them whether you have to scrub floors or if you still get to watch movies tonight.” “It’ll definitely be movies,” Lou whispered. “But you have to do all the dinner dishes,” Amanda added. “I’m sorry for worrying you,” Waylay said quietly. She lifted her eyes to look at Naomi. “And I’m sorry for not telling you.” “Apology accepted,” Naomi said. She swooped down and gave the girl a quick hug. “Now, I have to get back to work.” “I’ll drive you,” I volunteered. “Thank you. I’ll see everyone in the morning,” she said wearily. There was a chorus of good-byes, and Naomi headed for the truck. I waited until she opened the passenger door, then interrupted Amanda, who was making plans to stop for ice cream on their way home. “Can you two do me a favor and swing by Honky Tonk to pick up your Explorer? I’ll drive Naomi home tonight.” I had plans for her.

TWENTY-EIGHT THIRD BASE Knox “She ran away from home,” Naomi said, staring out the window and clutching the bag of warm pretzels in her lap. “She didn’t run away. She snuck out,” I argued. “Either way, how does that make me look as a guardian? I let an eleven-year-old walk into town with a jar of mice and a computer virus.” “Daze, you need to stop gettin’ yourself so worked up over this custody thing. Do you really think any judge in their right mind is going to decide Way is better off with her mom?” She turned flashing eyes on me. “How about when your life choices are under a microscope by the legal system, you can decide not to get worked up?” I shook my head and turned onto a trail barely wide enough for my truck. “This isn’t work,” she observed. “Not goin’ back to work yet,” I told her as we bumped along the rutted track. “I need to get back. I have a shift that I should have already been working,” she insisted. “Baby, you need to stop obsessing about the things you should be doing and make some time for the shit you wanna do.” “I want to get back to work. I don’t have time for you to murder me in the woods today.” The trees parted, and a field of tall grass opened up before us. “Knox, what are you doing?” “I just watched you stand up to that bully who was trying to take her shit out on a kid,” I began. “Some people don’t know what to do with their pain,” Naomi said, looking out the window again. “So they take it out on whoever is nearby.” “Yeah, well, I liked watchin...

“Knox Morgan, did you bring me out here to neck when I’m supposed to be at work?” She sounded adorably appalled. “Oh, I plan on doing more than necking,” I said, leaning over to release her seatbelt. Task accomplished, I plucked the pretzels off her lap and threw the bag into the backseat. “You can’t be serious. I have work.” “Baby, I don’t joke about sex. Besides, you work for me.” “Yeah. In your bar, which is full of PMS-ing women waiting for their pretzels.” I shook my head. “Everyone in town knows it’s a Code Red. It’ll be a slow night.” “I am really uncomfortable with the idea of an entire town tracking its women’s menstrual cycles.” “Hey, we’re normalizing period shit,” I argued. “Now, get your sexy ass over here.”

She screamed my name, and I had to run through my emergency mental gymnastics to keep from coming right then and there. Her quivering pussy had every inch of my cock in a stranglehold. I held her there, impaled on me, as my mouth rediscovered her perfect breast. I swore I could feel the echo of each hard suck in the walls that held me captive. It felt like heaven. It felt— “Fuck, baby,” I said, releasing her breast. “Fuck. Condom.” She let out a low moan. “Knox, if you move a muscle, I’m going to come. And if I come—” “You’re gonna milk mine right out of me,” I surmised. Her eyes were squeezed shut, lips parted. The picture of ecstasy in the late afternoon sun. I wasn’t some teenage kid. I didn’t forget protection. Hell, not only did I have a condom in my wallet like any responsible man, I also had a handful in my glove box. “You ever—” She shook her head before I could get the rest of the question out. “Never.” “Me either.” I ghosted my fingers over and around her breasts. She opened her eyes then and bit her lip. “This feels too good.” “I don’t want you doing anything you don’t want to do,” I warned. But I wanted this. I wanted to finish bare. I wanted to let loose inside her and feel our releases mix. I wanted to be the first man to go there. To plant my flag in her memory as the first of something memorable. “I-I’m on birth control,” she said tentatively. I let my tongue dart out to tease her other nipple. “I’m clean,” I murmured. “I can show you.” Naomi was a data kin...

“You better hang on, baby,” I warned. My heart was already pounding like I’d raced up a half dozen flights of stairs. I waited until she gripped the back of my seat. “This is what’s gonna happen, Naomi. I’m gonna start moving, and you’re gonna come as fast and as hard as you can. Then I’m gonna take my time driving you up again, and when you go off that second time, I’ll be right there with you.” “Good plan. Very organized. Measurable goals,” she said, and then she was kissing the air right out of my lungs. I withdrew another inch or two and captured her moan with my mouth. “Hold on,” I reminded her, and then I was yanking her back down as I rammed my hips up.

“So it feels this good to you too? I mean, you’re not just like ‘this is fine’?” To illustrate her point, she added a half-hearted thrust with her hips, and I couldn’t hold back the groan. “Hell, Naomi, there’s nothing ‘fine’ about what it feels like to have you come on my cock. Why the hell do you think I said I’d do this fake boyfriend crap?” She smirked. “Because you saw how disappointed my parents were in me and you wanted to help me out like the grumpy, small-town hero you are.” “Smartass. I did it because I woke up, and you weren’t next to me, and I wanted you there.” “You did?” “I wanted you there so I could flip you over on your hands and knees and fuck you so hard you wouldn’t be able to sit down for the next forty-eight hours without thinking about me.” She opened her mouth, and something between a moan and a whimper came out. “I’m not done with you yet, Daisy,” I said. Inwardly, I cringed at the harshness of this statement. Mid-sex me was not usually so fucking chatty. But Naomi was doubting what I’d made her feel. And that wouldn’t stand. Not even in the short-term.

“Oh. Yeah. Sure,” she said, carefully putting the photo back on the table. Though I noticed she’d angled it toward the couch, not away from it like I’d done. “I’ll head home. Thanks for the backup today with Way’s teacher…and my parents. And then all the orgasms and stuff.” “Baby, you’re not going home. I’m just telling you why I’m not makin’ any moves when we go upstairs.” “I should just go home, Knox. I have to be up early to get Way at Liza’s.” She looked as exhausted as I felt.

“I take it you don’t have many overnight guests?” she asked, wiping the dust off the plastic. I shrugged. I’d never spent the night with a woman in this house. I was already crossing the invisible boundaries of our agreement by having her spend the night. There was no fucking way I was going to hash out what it meant with her. She was the one who was used to sharing a life, a sink, a bed with someone. She was the one coming out of a relationship. Great. Now I was tired and annoyed.

“You good?” I asked. “My pillow smells weird,” she said, sounding disgruntled. “You’re sleeping on Waylon’s side.” I pulled the pillow out from under her head, then threw mine at her. “Hey!” “Better?” I heard her sniff the pillow. “Better,” she agreed. “Night, Naomi.” “Good night, Knox.”

“It’s just breakfast,” I pointed out. “But I don’t want to look like I just rolled out of bed with you.” The stare she gave me was pointed. I glanced in the mirror and noted that my hair was standing up in all directions. My beard was flat on one side. And I had a pillow crease under my left eye. “Why not?” I asked. “Because it’s not polite.” I crossed my arms and grinned. “Baby, you lost me.” She turned her attention back to a palette of colors and started swiping some of them on her eyelids. “We’re going to breakfast,” she said as if that explained anything. “With family,” I added. “And I don’t want to show up looking like I spent the last twenty-four hours having sex with you. Waylay needs a role model.

“Let’s get one thing straight, Daisy. I don’t strut.” She crossed her eyes at me in the mirror. “Fine. You sashay.”

“Parents have expectations for their kids. That’s just the way it is. Some people want their kids to grow up to be doctors. Some people want their kids to grow up to be professional athletes. Some people just want to raise happy, healthy adults who contribute to their communities.”

FACTS

“Just because one of the choices is shitty doesn’t mean it’s not an option. Did you even want kids?” I asked. She met my gaze in the mirror. “Yeah. I did. A lot actually. I thought it would be through more traditional means. And that I’d at least get to enjoy the baby-making end of things. But I’ve always wanted a family. Now I’m making a mess of everything and can’t even fill out an application correctly. And what if I don’t want this guardianship to be temporary? What if I want Waylay to stay with me permanently? What if she doesn’t want to stay with me? Or what if a judge decides I’m not good enough for her?” She wielded a lip gloss at me. “This is what it’s like living in my brain.” “It’s fucking exhausting.” “It is. And the one time I do something that’s purely selfish and just for me, it blows up in my face.” “What did you do for you?” I asked. “I had a one-night stand with a grumpy, tattooed barber.”

“Okay, so what’s the plan?” I asked him. Knox gave Waylon’s ears a last ruffle. “What plan?” “Breakfast? With my family?” I prodded. “Well, Daze, I don’t know about you, but my plan is to guzzle half a pot of coffee, chow down on some bacon, and then go back to bed for another four or five hours.” “I mean, are we still…you know…pretending?” Something passed over his face that I couldn’t read. “Yeah. We’re still pretending,” he said finally. I didn’t know if I was relieved or not. Inside, we found Liza and my dad standing sentry behind Stef as he peered into the oven at two baking sheets of bacon that smelled like heaven. Mom was setting the table in the sun-room. Waylay was making her way around the table, still in her new, pink tie-dye pajamas, carefully pouring glasses of orange juice.

“We’ve already got plans to look at cars today,” Knox announced. Crabby Viking says what? Car shopping plans were news to me. And unlike having a boyfriend, the purchase of a car wasn’t nearly as easy to fake for my parents. He drew me into his side. It was a possessive move that both confused me and turned me on. “Figured I’d take Naomi and Waylay to look for a ride,” he said. Dad harrumphed. “I get to come too?” Waylay asked, climbing up on her knees on the barstool. “Well, since it’s our car, you have to help me decide,” I told her. “Let’s get a motorcycle!” “No,” my mother and I answered together. “Well, I’m getting one as soon as I’m old enough.” I closed my eyes, trying to ward off all the catastrophes that rolled through my mind like a high school driver’s ed filmstrip. “I’ve changed my mind. You’re grounded until you’re thirty-five.” “I don’t think you can legally do that,” Waylay said. “Sorry, Witty. I’m with the kid on this one,” Stef said, leaning on his elbows next to her at the island. He broke a piece of bacon in half and handed one piece to my niece.

“Does Knox know you have his dog?” I asked. “Dunno.” Waylay shrugged. “So are you and Knox a thing?” I stumbled over my own feet. Stef snickered unsympathetically next to me.

I blew out a breath. “Honestly, Way. I have no idea. I don’t know what we are or what I want from him or what he wants from me. So we probably won’t be a thing forever. But we might be spending more time with him for a while. If it’s okay with you.” She frowned thoughtfully at the ground as she kicked at a stone. “You mean you wouldn’t hang out with him and stuff if I didn’t want you to?” “Well, yeah. You’re kind of pretty important to me, so your opinion matters.” “Huh. Then I guess he can come over for dinner tonight if he wants to,” she said.

Waylon wolfed down his biscuit with an appreciative full-butt wiggle. “Ouch! Damn it!” “Waylay! Language!” I yelled. “Sorry!” she called back. “Busted,” Knox sang not quite quietly enough. “Knox!” “Sorry!” I shook my head. “What are we going to do with them?” I asked Waylon. The dog belched and wagged his tail.

“Then I guess we’d better get them started.” With a flourish, I pulled the dish towel off the s’mores platter I’d assembled. “Whoa.” “Let’s go, ladies,” Knox called from outside. “You heard the man,” I said, nudging her toward the door. “He makes you smile.” “What?” “Knox. He makes you smile. A lot. And he looks at you like he likes you a lot.” I felt my cheeks flush. “Oh, yeah?” She nodded. “Yeah. It’s cool.” We ate too many s’mores and sat around the campfire until dark. I expected Knox to make an excuse to head home, but he followed us inside and helped me clean up while Waylay—and Waylon—went upstairs to brush her teeth. “I think my dog is in love with your niece,” Knox observed. He pulled an open bottle of wine and a beer out of the fridge. “There’s definitely a crush happening,” I agreed. He pulled out a wine glass, filled it, and handed it to me. Okay, maybe there were two crushes happening. “Thanks for dinner,” he said, opening his beer and leaning back against the counter. “Thanks for haranguing the sales guy into submission,” I said.

So I sat down with my niece, my sort-of boyfriend, and his dog, and we watched a fifteen-year-old with 2 million subscribers tell us how to choose the right eyeliner for our eye color. Knox’s arm was warm and comforting behind me on the back of the couch. Five minutes into the episode, I heard a soft snore. Knox had his feet propped up on the coffee table and his head pitched back against the cushion. His eyes were closed, and his mouth was open. I looked at Waylay, and she grinned at me. Knox snored again, and we both giggled quietly.

A shadow in the doorway caught my eye. I jumped and slapped a hand to my chest. “Crap on a cracker, Knox. You scared the hell out of me!” He leaned against the doorjamb and quirked an eyebrow. “Baby, I don’t wanna tell you how to do your job or anything, but aren’t you supposed to not yell in a library?”

“You think that kid would give Tina the time of day after she’s had a few weeks with you? With your parents? Hell, even fucking Stef and Liza. You made one big happy family for her. Why would she risk fucking that up?” “Tina is her mother,” Naomi insisted. “Family doesn’t stop being family just because one of you does shitty things.” “That’s exactly what happens to families, and you need to quit this loyalty to your fucking sister. She doesn’t deserve it.” “It’s not loyalty to Tina, you idiot,” Naomi shouted back. She shoved against my chest again, but I was immovable. “Educate me,” I insisted. “If Waylay had anything to do with letting Tina in, how is that going to look in the guardianship hearing? How am I fit to take custody when I can’t even keep criminals out of my house? They’ll take her away from me. I’ll have let her down. I’ll have let my parents down. Waylay will end up with strangers—” Her voice hitched.

“You can use me as a pillow if you wanna scream it out,” I offered. “Don’t be sweet and funny right now.” “Baby, those are two things no one has ever accused me of being.” She pulled back and took another steadying breath. “This is not what I was expecting when you said you were taking me to lunch.” “I expected the yelling, just thought we’d be doing it naked. We good?” Her fingers were tracing little circles against my chest. “We’re good. For now. I’m going to go collect myself in the bathroom.” “I’m gonna eat some more of your mom’s cobbler.” She gave me another one of those wobbly smiles that made me feel things I didn’t want to feel. I reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. “It’s gonna be fine. No one’s takin’ Way. Nash and I’ll take care of it.” She nuzzled her cheek against my hand. “You can’t solve my problems for me.” “Oh, but you can solve everyone else’s?” I pointed out. “You gotta stop worrying about making everything okay for everyone else and start thinkin’ about making it okay for you.”

“Come on, ladies!” “And all was right with the world,” Sloane said with a satisfied smile. “Any yellow cards for Way yet?” I shook my head. “Not yet.” Though if the past two games were accurate predictors, it was only a matter of time. “Is that like an award?” Stef asked. “Not exactly,” she said, winking at me before turning back to my best friend. “You’re looking annoyingly gorgeous today.” He preened, fluffing the collar of his sweater. “Why, thank you, Sexy Librarian. Love those boots.” She kicked up her feet to admire the knee-high waterproof footwear. “Thanks. I discovered early on in Chloe’s soccer career that I wasn’t a fan of wet shoes and squishy socks.”

Waylay stood stock-still, staring at the ball in the back of the net as if she couldn’t believe what she’d just done. And then she turned. Her teammates raced to her, shrieking and giggling. But she was looking beyond them. She was looking at me. And then she was running. And so was I. I caught her when she jumped into my arms and swung her around. “You did it!” “Did you see? Did you see what I did, Aunt Naomi?” “I saw, honey. I’m so proud of you!” “Can we get ice cream, and can I swear when I watch football with Knox?” “Yes and I guess so.” She hugged me tight around the neck and whispered, “This is the best day of my life.” I was trying to blink back tears when someone pulled her from my arms. It was Knox, and he was settling Waylay on his shoulders as the rest of the players and parents gathered around to congratulate her. Knox shot me one of his rare, full-on grins that made me dizzy.

“Let’s go somewhere where we can talk,” he said, squeezing my wrists tighter. “No. You need to listen to me. I’m not going anywhere with you and I’m certainly not getting back together with you. It’s over. We’re over. There’s nothing more to talk about. Now go home, Warner.” He stepped forward into my space. “I’m not going anywhere unless you’re with me,” he insisted. I could smell alcohol on his breath and winced. “How much have you had to drink?” “For fuck’s sake, Naomi. Stop trying to blame everything on a drink or two. Now, I let you have your space and look what you did with it.” He swept an arm out. “This isn’t you. You don’t belong in a place like this with people like them.” “Let go of me, Warner,” I said calmly.

“You need to go, Warner,” I said. “You want me to go, you’re going with me.” I shook my head. “I can’t leave. I’m working.” “Fuck this place, Naomi. Fuck your little temper tantrum. I’m willing to forgive you.” “Take your fucking hands off her. Now.” My knees went weak at Knox’s voice. “Move along, asshole. This is between me and my fiancée,” Warner said. “Not the brightest answer,” Lucian said mildly. Knox and Lucian were standing at the mouth of the hallway. Lucian had his hand on Knox’s shoulder. I couldn’t tell if he was restraining him or telling him he had his back. Then suddenly Knox wasn’t standing at the mouth of the hall, and Warner didn’t have his hands on me anymore. “Give him the first shot,” Lucian called. Warner swung, and I watched in horror as he landed a punch that snapped Knox’s head back.

“I’m gonna touch you now because I need to. And I’m warning you in advance, because if I touch you and you flinch, I’m gonna go out in the parking lot and start kicking ass until he’s too broken to ever touch another woman again.” Her eyes widened, but she nodded. I tried to be gentle as I took her by the hand. “We good?” I asked. She nodded again. It was good enough for me. I pulled her past the restrooms and Fi’s office into the next hallway that led to my office. “I can’t believe this happened,” she groaned. “I’m so embarrassed.”

“Knox, where are you going?” I flipped the lock and wrenched the door open. “To dig a shallow grave so I have a place to put him after I get tired of throwing punches.” Her fingernails dug into my skin under my shirt, giving me something else to feel besides fury. “Don’t leave me alone,” she said, then pressed herself against my back. Fuck. “He started pacing and yelling. It was my fault, he told me. He wasn’t ready to get married. He had goals he wanted to accomplish before focusing on his personal life. It was my fault for pushing him. All he was trying to do was give me everything I wanted, and there I was complaining to him the night before the wedding he didn’t want to have.”

“If you stop, I’ll murder you,” she groaned. “That’s my girl,” I said, nipping at the sensitive skin of her neck.

name

“You okay?” Liza asked, dragging me out of my vision. “I’m fine.” Another lie. “You know what they say about fine. Fucked up. Insecure. Neurotic. And emotional,” Liza