Things We Hide from the Light (Knockemout, #2)

by Lucy Score

Everyone was alive and breathing. Everyone but me. I was just pretending.

I was out of condition, and her shapely ass in those leggings wasn’t helping my cardiovascular endurance.

According to Naomi’s mom, Amanda, Nash’s ass in his uniform pants was considered a local treasure.

So many things about me were now broken, I hadn’t wanted to have to add my cock to the list.

This was more than a crush, a run-of-the-mill attraction. What I felt teetered on the line of uncontrolled craving.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was how you made a relationship last. No burdens. No emotional baggage. Keep your needs few and your quality time fun.

“See, Stef? You too could be sickeningly happy.” “I think I’d rather just be sick.”

“Yeah. Really. Fair warning though, my job’s way cooler than Knox’s.” Knox snorted. “Oh, it’s on.” “What are you gonna do? Reenact a lottery win?” I joked.

Waylay gave me one of those small smiles that I prized. It was one thing to make a happy kid smile, but to pry one out of the girl who had a lot of reasons not to was like winning a gold medal.

I took half a step into her, bringing my body flush with hers. Every nerve in my body fired to life at the contact as if she were jumper cables and I was a dead battery.

My heart gave a flutter and not the PVC kind.

“Well, for one thing, them cop pants looked mighty fine on that man’s ass.”

“Being vulnerable doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you trust yourself to be strong enough to handle the hurt. It’s actually the purest form of strength.”

The emotions she raised in me were dangerous. Gone was the even-keeled lawman with a badge. Gone was the empty shell of a man. In his place was a fire-breathing dragon that wanted to lay waste to everything. I wondered if this was how Knox felt most of the time.

“I can’t speak for you, but I’m an adult. Just because the sight of you makes me want to hit you in the face with a folding chair doesn’t mean I can’t pretend to tolerate you for one day.”

And there he was, my pissed-off, overprotective-for-no-reason, next-door pain in the ass.

His smile was like the first peek of the rising sun.

“I’ve never done the relationship thing. At least, not as an adult.” “And I never had sex in a public library before. First time for everything.”

“Don’t be a dumbass. You don’t let everyone in. Only the ones who matter. The ones you want to trust. The ones you want to let you in. That vulnerability shit is just like respect. It’s earned.”

Knox’s eyes narrowed. “Somebody pissed in your wheat bran this morning, sunshine?”

My heart belonged to this woman and I was going to go buy her the biggest fucking ring I could find.

In less than twenty-four hours, Naomi would be Mrs. Knox Morgan, and Nash and I would hopefully be having tipsy sex in a closet during the reception.