Love Me (WITSEC #3)(31)

Colt got up from the couch, too, and kissed me on the head. “Goodnight, babe.”

“Goodnight,” I said to both of them.

As they went to bed, Keelan laced his fingers through mine. “Did something happen?”

Great question. Ever since what had happened at the store yesterday and the way Knox had abruptly ended our kiss, it had felt like he was avoiding me.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.

Keelan gently bumped his shoulder with mine. “The only way you’ll know for sure is if you talk to him.”

He was right. I knew I had to. I supposed now was the time.

I gave Keelan a quick kiss and made my way toward Knox’s room. I tapped on his closed door.

“Yeah?” he said from the other side.

I walked in. He was already in bed, but sitting up against the pillows with his phone in hand. I closed the door and leaned against it.

Just seeing him, doubt started to sink in.

What if what I was feeling was all in my head? Was I just being insecure again? Or needy? I didn’t want him to see me that way. I had enough things working against me already.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I…uh…will you kiss me goodnight?” Heat quickly spread across my cheeks after I blurted that.

He set down his phone on the nightstand. “Come here.”

When I was standing next to the bed, I expected I’d have to lean over to kiss him, that it would be quick and awkward.

Knox grabbed me by my hips and pulled me down across his lap. I was sure I was a sight, overcome with surprise, especially when he cupped the back of my neck as he leaned in and kissed me. I let him have this moment. Even though I wanted to kiss him back and deepen the kiss, I let him set the pace.

Knox pulled away, his eyes dancing all over my face. There was heat in his gaze that made me want to touch him, but I kept my hands in my lap. He combed his fingers through my hair and pushed it back behind my shoulder. I squeezed my hands into fists as he leaned forward and pressed his mouth to my collarbone. Then he pulled the strap of my pajama tank off and began kissing the entire length of my shoulder.

With each kiss, my resolve to hold back became more and more undone. His mouth traveled south until he reached the top of my breast, over my heart. My top was barely covering that breast. It was one deep breath from exposing my nipple.

“Knox,” I whispered. To beg him? To let out my frustration? I wasn’t sure.

His hand slid up my back and his mouth hovered over mine. “You’re shaking.”

“You’re doing that to me,” I said against his lips.

“I know,” he said and kissed me.

His lips moved over mine in such a devouring and needy way that my resolve finally snapped. My hands slid over his shoulders and I pressed closer to him. I reciprocated his kiss with equal neediness and the eagerness to be devoured.

He pushed me down on the bed without removing his mouth from mine. His hands began roaming all over me. Up my bare thigh until he reached the bottom of my shorts, down my sides, over my shirt, over my hips. As a hand slid up my body, it got caught under my shirt. At the feel of my bare stomach, he stiffened. I felt him shutting down and he broke our kiss. “We should stop,” he said in a detached voice as he sat up.

His hand pulled out from under my shirt. It was then that I realized he had been touching my scars.

I sat up and scooted away. “Was it my scars?”

He appeared taken aback. “No.”

This wasn’t all in my head. “Are you wanting to take things slow?”

“No. That’s not it.”

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, letting my insecurities show, but what choice did I have? This was the second time he’d shut down and pulled away with me. Something had to be going on.

“No,” he replied quickly. “It’s just been a long day.”

Why did that feel like a lie?

“All right.” I clambered off the bed. Disappointment burrowed deep in my chest as I went to the door. “Goodnight,” I said, glancing back at him.

Ask me to stay.

He was running his fingers roughly through his hair as he frowned down at the bed. “Goodnight.”

I ran into Keelan in the hall. Smiling, he said, “Hey—” His smile dropped slowly as he looked from me to Knox’s door behind me. “What happened?”

I shook my head. “He’s tired.”

Keelan glared at Knox’s door. “Creed’s right,” he mumbled as he put an arm around my shoulders and ushered me into his room. “Let’s go to bed.”





9





I exhaled slowly to expel any remaining nerves I had as I set my alarm before leaving the house. I was wearing the new white leggings and sports bra I’d gotten at the mud run. There was only a three-inch gap of skin showing between where the sports bra ended and where the top of my leggings began. My stomach scars were covered.

At Desert Stone, it was Derek’s day off and Creed was covering the front desk. The moment I walked through the door, he spotted me. Creed smiled until his eyes dropped to my sports bra. He stood abruptly, frowning deeper and deeper the longer he stared at my chest and the sliver of skin I had exposed. “I love you,” he practically growled.