Chapter 8 Knox
KNOX
“He’s harmless, really, so you have nothing to worry about,” I told Lucy as we walked through the park. “Duke just likes to tease, so that’s the worst he’s going to do.”
It was chilly, and we were both bundled up in our jackets, but the January snow was gone, and we were officially thawing into spring.
“Tease me about what?” Lucy frowned, rubbing his hands together and blowing some warm air into them.
I shrugged. “He’ll find something, I promise.”
Lucy pouted, jutting out his lower lip and looking far too adorable for me to concentrate on leading Lucy to the right building.
I’d convinced him to abandon his painting for the day, since he needed to recover from yesterday’s nonsense. But then he was pulling his phone from his pocket the second it dinged. I felt my scowl when I saw “Dad” on the text notification, checking in on Lucy’s progress. Again.
“Where are we going?” Lucy nudged, bumping into me as he looked around the street for clues.
“You’ll see.” I grinned at his scowl and grabbed his hand, forcing him to quickly pocket his cell phone, leaving his dick of a dad on read. “Come on, I know you’ll love it.”
“You don’t know that!” Lucy insisted with a groan, but sped up anyway to meet my stride.
“You don’t have to wait long,” I offered in consolation, finally coming to a stop in front of a neon sign. “Because we’re here!”
Lucy blinked up at the sign. “Laser tag?”
“Only the best laser tag place around!”
Lucy and I whipped around just as Duke tugged me nearly off my feet and hugged me tightly.
“Woah, careful!” I laughed, returning the embrace tenfold. “You about took me down there.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault you’re out of practice, Yankee.” Duke messed up my hair and shoved me again.
“I’m not a Yankee, just because I went to school there.” I rolled my eyes. “How many times do I have to tell you this?”
“Until it’s true, which is never,” Duke smirked before turning on Lucy, whose eyes were darting between Duke and me, wide with shock.
“Hey,” Duke turned on the flirty voice, and no fucking way was he about to flirt with Lucy. “You must be Lucy.”
Lucy nodded, but he dodged the hug Duke was throwing his way and offered his hand to shake instead.
“Ugh,” Duke rolled his eyes, “you’re not seriously all prissy like that, are you? You can’t hug a guy?”
“Not a guy I just met, no.” Lucy raised one of those dainty little eyebrows, expression full-on sass.
Personally, I was thrilled that Lucy was pushing back on Duke.
Duke was overwhelming even for the most extroverted person, and Lucy didn’t exactly strike me as the guy who tended to push back against people who were bugging him—or, say, volunteering him to do a painting he hates for an exhibit on a time crunch.
Besides, Duke could take a little pushing. It was good for him.
“Hey, leave him be,” I chuckled, shoving Duke away from Lucy and standing just slightly between them. “Maybe he’s just not a hugger.”
Duke scoffed. “Everybody’s a hugger. Tell me you haven’t scooped him up yet. He looks so huggable.”
“I am not!”
I couldn’t hide my smile if I tried. “I haven’t, not that it’s any of your business.”
Duke stuck his tongue out at me, and quick as a cobra, I snatched his tongue between my fingers.
“Hey!” Duke complained, though even as simple a word as that sounded garbled when he had his tongue trapped. “Give it back!”
Lucy gasped. “Knox!”
I turned back to Lucy, who looked scandalized. It made sense, given the environment he’d grown up in, but all the more reason to bring him. He could use some time away from it all.
“Lucy, this is Duke. Duke, this is Lucy. Play nice.”
I released Duke’s tongue, and he flashed me a scowl before turning back to Lucy.
“It’s nice to meet you, Lucy. Can’t believe you volunteered to spend more time with this douche.” He jerked his thumb at me, only to retract it when I made to snatch that, too.
“You’re Knox’s friend?” Lucy checked, glancing at me before turning his attention back to Duke, who, frankly, didn’t deserve it.
“His bestest friend, right Knox?” Duke threw his arm around me and squeezed, pulling me off balance again.
We might not have a huge height difference, but it was enough for him to use it to his advantage and pull me off my feet if I wasn’t thinking about it.
Duke ignored my flailing. “But his other, less important friends are already inside. We were just waiting on you two.”
Lucy glanced at me, his movement swift and searching. It was the same thing I’d seen whenever Lucy’s sister and father had called him or visited his apartment this week. He wouldn’t push against them verbally, but if this adorable scowl was what he could do, I would take it. “They are?”
I nudged Duke to release me, which he did. “Yeah. I thought this would be a fun thing for you. Get out, have some fun, ignore that painting for one day.”
Lucy frowned. “The exhibit is Saturday.”
“Exactly. And it looks finished to me. How close is it to actually being done?”
Lucy winced. “I mean, it’s finished technically.”
It was my turn to frown. “Then why have you been stressing so much?”
“Because it’s not right.” Lucy crossed his arms, curling in on himself.
Duke cleared his throat and nudged Lucy, much gentler this time.
“Well, it’s a good time to take your mind off it then, yeah?
Do something fun and physical for a while.
We don’t mind bringing you into the fold.
We’ve been coming here for years. Knox has missed out for the last two, but now he’s back, and we can force him to come back to these again. ”
Lucy glanced at me again, questioning.
I shrugged. “I’ve been away at school. I’m finished now and back here, so back to laser tag I go. I thought you might like to come, too.”
Lucy took a deep breath before nodding. “Okay. Laser tag it is.”