Love Me (WITSEC #3)(15)



Just as I opened my mouth to say something, Derek asked, “You're doing the mud run?”

“I am, with Colt and Creed and some of our friends,” I said, grateful he’d dispelled the awkwardness. And his topic of discussion had been way better than mine, which was going to be about the weather and how crazy hot it still was in October.

“I’m doing the run with a couple of my buddies,” he said. “I might see you there.”

“Yeah.” Crap. What did we talk about now? “Um…”

His eyes flicked to mine.

“Keelan said you have MMA training.” It was the first thing that popped into my head.

His brows inched up a little. “I do.”

“How long have you trained for?”

“My dad threw me into karate when I was eight. Since then, I’ve trained in judo, jiu-jitsu, and muay Thai.” He glanced toward the ceiling for a moment as though he was counting. “So thirteen years.”

“Impressive.”

He grinned. “Does that mean I’m qualified?”

My brow scrunched up. “For?”

His grin wavered a little. “To help train you in the next couple of weeks. Keelan asked me this morning.”

Keelan had worked quickly. “Right. I wasn’t asking to see if you were qualified. I figured I’d get to know you if we were going to be getting up close and personal soon.”

He chuckled. “Understandable.”

Knox returned with his gym bag hanging on his shoulder. He looked from Derek to me. “Ready?”

I nodded.

“Enjoy the rest of your day,” Derek said to us as we walked out.

Knox followed me to the store in his classic red Camaro and let me park my car in the closest spot available near the entrance. He parked four spots down from where I had. I waited for him by my car so we could walk in together. As he walked toward me, I couldn’t help but watch him. The giant, strong man took his time, walked with confidence. He had a grumpy, guarded exterior that was intimidating. Not to me, though. I understood that surly wall.

As he approached me, I held out my hand. It was such a simple request, yet I’d never felt more vulnerable. I’d held his hand before, but I hadn’t really given him a choice then. Now, I was.

Without pausing, his hand took mine and then I was walking by his side toward the store. I faced forward, happiness taking over my face.

“I’m just holding your hand,” he grumbled next to me.

I tucked whips of hair behind my ear, my wristlet smacking against my forearm as I did. “Sometimes simple things like holding hands can have more meaning than, say, kisses.”

“Are you saying you’d rather hold hands than kiss?”

“Why can’t I have both?”

One side of his mouth stretched upward, showing me that he was teasing. “You can have both.”

Inside the store, as I began putting things into the cart, Knox quickly figured out what I was making for dinner. “Tacos?”

“And you were so worried,” I teased as I tossed corn tortillas into the cart. “I guess you came to the store for no reason.”

“I’ve never been worried about your cooking.”

My brows rose and I pushed the shopping cart down another aisle. “Oh, really?”

He shook his head. “I just like how cute you get when your feathers are ruffled.” A glint of mirth showed in his eyes at the you’ve got to be kidding look I was giving him. “And as for why I came to the store with you…I wanted to spend time with you.”

It was a task to hide the giddiness bubbling in my chest.

“I also wanted to talk to you about this morning,” he said.

I had a feeling I knew what he was referring to, but still asked, “What about this morning?”

Knox stopped walking, which made me stop, and we stood staring at each other in the middle of the aisle. He gave me a look that said he knew I was playing dumb. “Have I ever given you any indication that your age is an issue for me?”

Oh, boy. It was time to confront this. “No, but you didn’t deny it this morning, either.”

“Because I was a little blindsided and with how you kept looking at me, I knew the insecurity was directed at me.”

I didn’t deny it because it was.

His eyes narrowed. Not in an angry way, but in an assessing way. “You gonna tell me why that is?”

“It was something that Stephanie said—”

“Stephanie?”

Gathering my confidence, I squared my shoulders. “Look, I know I’m being stupid. The last thing I should be worrying about is if my gorgeous older boyfriend is bothered by my age, which is something I don’t have the power to change. Nor would I. I am who I am.” Having said all that with one breath, I paused to take another and to figure out the best way to explain my point. “But at the same time, you make me happy, Knox. All four of you do, and you all have the power to take that happiness away.”

His face relaxed as he stared down at me. “My beautiful younger girlfriend has that power, too.”

My heart seemed to puppeteer the corners of my mouth, stretching them up. It was the first time he’d ever said I was beautiful. Knox was a man of bluntness and harsh words. But when he had a moment like this, where he was kind and wonderful, it was profound.

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