Chapter 25 - Knox
KNOX
Like Lucy promised, he hadn’t called in any favors for me. He’d called Isabel, and she had lamented about my ditching the interview with her brother, right after he’d apparently offered me the job and I hadn’t heard him.
Oh, to be a man in love, I supposed, that I didn’t even hear that my dream had come true right before I set it on fire.
Felix had agreed to meet with me again, and when I walked in the next day—Sunday, of all days—he was grinning ear to ear, while his sister had her legs and arms crossed, her expression pure sass.
It reminded me of Lucy somehow. In those small moments when he really let himself go, when he felt confident enough to push back against my teasing, he gave me that look. It had made me take him to bed on the occasion it had been flung my way.
“So?”
I smiled. Lucy’s eyes were wide with hope, and he was bouncing on his heels where he was tucked into my chest as we stood on the sidewalk outside of Valero Pub & Grill.
Isabel stepped out behind me. “We took pity on him and gave him another shot,” she drawled, wasting no time to shove me out of the way and pull Lucy into a hug that looked like it squeezed Lucy’s breath out of his lungs.
Lucy squeaked, but returned her tight hug. “That’s great! Thank you so much!”
Isabel scoffed. “We didn’t do it for you, dork. Felix wanted to hire him already, and I suppose I didn’t hate him today when he came in and opened his mouth. So we’re going to haze the hell out of him for as long as he can take it.”
“I can take it.”
Clearly, saying this was a mistake, because the smirk she sent my way nearly sent a chill down my spine.
I might be groveling for years.
Lucy laughed. “Isabel! Stop with the threat face.”
He covered her face with his hand, and she swatted him away.
“You’re lucky you’re cute.” She pinched his cheek, rounded from his wide smile.
“Please?” Lucy pushed, undeterred. “Don’t punish him. He only left the interview in the first place because of me.”
Isabel sighed and fixed the strands of hair that fell around Lucy’s face. “As long as he takes care of you, I won’t haze him. How’s that?”
Lucy hugged her again. “Deal. You’re the best.”
“Hey!” Felix gasped. “What about me?”
Lucy laughed and released Isabel so he could give Felix the same hug. He looked so comfortable with them. So at home.
After yesterday, when Lucy had told me he was leaving his family, we’d made some plans. Nothing was set in stone. Because of Nana’s house, our finances, and the possibility of this job, we couldn’t make many solid decisions.
But giving us a shot, letting Lucy take on the world without his family’s money… That meant that we could find a place together and give it a shot together.
“So that means,” Lucy turned to me again, his hands finding their way to my chest, right where I liked them, “you got a job.”
I snorted, even as I wrapped my arms around him. “Way to state the obvious.”
Lucy shook his head. “Your nana’s house. If you got a job today, that means you met the deadline after all.”
It was like he punched the air out of me.
The twins were frowning behind Lucy.
“Nana’s house?” Felix asked.
“Deadline?” Isabel added, arms crossing over her chest again—likely because she was wearing a crop top in February.
Lucy smiled up at me, giving me his full attention and rubbing circles into my sides. “You did it, Knox. Your dad can’t take it from you now.”
I bit back the emotions that were trying to spill over.
“You’re right,” I exhaled shakily and tightened my grip on my boyfriend—boyfriend! “I have to call my lawyer.”
Lucy laughed. “Call them. I’ll be right here to take you out to celebrate.”
I started to let him go, hand already in my pocket to pull out my phone, when I hesitated.
“Move in with me?”
Lucy’s eyes widened. “What?”
But there was hope behind his eyes and a blush spreading across his face, steeling my resolve.
“I said,” I pulled him close so we were flush together in the middle of the sidewalk, “move in with me, Lucy.”
“I can’t–what do you–it’s your nana’s house.”
“Exactly.” I cradled his face. “And like I said, she would have loved you. Now let me move you in, and I will make you grilled cheese every day.”
Lucy laughed, eyes suspiciously wet. “Every day? That’s a lot of days.”
“It had better be, because it’s going to take an army to take you away from me.”