Playing Hard to Get(102)

“You heard her.” Knox’s voice sounds behind me, dark and dead serious. “Get the fuck out of here.”

Slowly, I turn to face my boyfriend, my mouth hanging open. The relief that floods my body makes my knees weak. “Where did you come from?”

“I just left my parents’ hotel. I missed you.” One of my favorite Knox traits is how honest he always is with me. “Tried to call but you didn’t answer.”

His words rock me, warming my cold heart. He looks so good—so warm and handsome, standing there in his thick winter coat and a beanie on his head. Big and tall and strong and the absolute love of my life. Does he see it?

Has he figured it out yet?

“Joanna, are you really going to let this happen? You’re just going to let me walk?” Bryan sounds incredulous. And annoying. Like a fly you keep swatting at but won’t go away. “After three years together, this is how you treat me?”

I glance at him from over my shoulder, disgusted by the pleading look on his face, and the fake sincerity in his eyes. How I’m treating him?

He treated me like a doll he could throw away at any moment for almost the entirety of our relationship. I was the little girlfriend he could forget about while he was away at college, unless it was convenient for him. I’d beg him not to go to parties but he still would, while I was always on my best behavior. And for what?

“It seems only fair, considering you did the same thing to me,” I retort.

Bryan stares at me like he can’t believe I just said that and all I can do is stare blankly at him in return. I feel Knox come closer to me, his presence a comfort, even though he’s not touching me.

Just knowing he’s standing behind me in support of me is enough.

“You look at me as if you feel nothing. Like you don’t even care about me anymore,” Bryan says.

“You’re right. I don’t.” I hesitate for only a second. “You need to leave, Bryan.”

His shoulders fall as he studies me for a moment longer, seemingly about to speak, but he must see something in my eyes. My blank expression.

Without another word, Bryan turns and walks away, the darkness eventually swallowing him up completely.

A shuddery breath escapes, and I turn to face Knox, tilting my head back so I can meet his gaze. It burns straight through me and fear flits through my blood when I see the way his jaw tightens, the thin line of his mouth.

He seems…angry.

“That was your ex?”

I nod.

“Why was he here?” he bites out.

“He just showed up, saying all of these crazy things.” I throw up my hands, at a loss of how to explain Bryan’s presence. “I didn’t call him or anything like that.”

I hear our front door softly shut and know it was Natalie butting out of our conversation.

I’ll have to thank her later.

This is also the first time I’ve ever seen Knox angry with me and I don’t like it. In fact, I hate it so much I can feel tears clinging to the corner of my eyes and I shake my head, refusing to let them fall.

“That guy worries me, Jo Jo. You two were together a long time, and sometimes I feel like I can’t compete with that.”

I frown, shocked. He’s really that insecure when it comes to my ex?

More like Bryan can’t compete. He was the worst boyfriend ever, especially compared to Knox.

“He’s all you have to compare to what we have, and sometimes, late at night, when I can’t sleep and I glance over and watch you lying there next to me, peaceful and so fucking beautiful my chest hurts, I think I might lose you to him because he’s got time on his side. All those memories you two share, I can’t erase them, no matter how badly I want to. Sometimes I wonder if you might still love him and I—I can’t stand the thought.”

The tears start to fall now, one sliding down my ice-cold cheek.

“That asshole just knows you so much better than I do and I hate it.” I shake my head when he says that and he shifts back on his heels, his gaze dropping to the ground. “He loved you first.”

I rush forward, grabbing hold of Knox’s cold hands, curling my fingers around his. “But you love me best.”





THIRTY-NINE





KNOX





I stare at her, dumbfounded by her beauty, crushed by those tears on her face. I never want to make my girl cry. The meaning of her words, what she just said, slowly sinks in.

Fuck, she’s right. He may have had her first…

But I do love her best.

“Jo…”

“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same yet, really.” She smiles and it’s shaky, her tears falling freely now. I reach up and gently brush them away with my thumb, savoring her soft skin. The way she’s watching me, her body shivering, her eyes shining with love. “But I’m in love with you, Knox. We haven’t known each other for long, but I know without a doubt how I feel about you. And nothing will change that. Not Bryan showing up and trying to win me back. Not your old hookups popping into the bookstore and letting me know how lucky I am that I nabbed you.”

What? Is she serious? She never told me about that.

“Not the fact that you’re graduating this year and you’ll probably leave to go play in the NFL. As long as you’ll have me, I want to be yours.” She sniffs, closing her eyes for a moment as if to stop her tears and I can’t take it.