Chapter 4
Chapter Four
KNOX
My twin brothers Brax and Jax gaze down at me. The glare doesn’t work on them. Never has, never will.
“What?”
“Hi, Knox. How are you? Oh me? I’m great, thanks for asking.” Brax carries a conversation on his own. Jax fights a grin that reminds me of our father.
Rolling my eyes, I sit on the creeper and rub a cramp out of my hand. “Is this why you interrupted me?” The sounds of Roger’s impact wrench fills the space between us. The shop is busy today. The last thing I need is the twins coming around stirring up chaos.
“I’m trying to remember a time when you weren’t grumpy.” Jax tips his head to the side and looks at me in the way only three people ever could. Brax, Jax, and the other. . .
“Callie Mae is back,” Brax says, voice straining over her name like it pains him to say it.
Me? I’m not sure I feel much of anything anymore. It’s better this way. “Cool.”
Jax scoffs. “Cool? That’s all you have to say? She’s working at Maura’s place.”
The last thing Callie probably wants is to work with Jax, which means she has no idea he’s the lead bartender.
“She’s back, Knox,” Brax says.
I hold his stare. He’s waiting for me to react. Expecting something. The thing is, I can’t open myself up to her. Not even a bit. Otherwise all that pain will cut right through me. “What do you want me to say?”
Squatting down, Brax searches my face. “You’ve been like this ever since she left.”
I bristle. “No I haven’t.”
He shakes his head. “You have. Do you even know the last time you smiled?”
“Is it a crime to have resting dick face?” Since when did he start watching me so closely?
“Look, I’m not trying to make you mad, but she’s back.”
“And this is our chance to make everything right,” Jax adds.
Once upon a time, it was me, my brothers, and Callie against the world.
An ache builds in my chest. The memories.
Her smile. The stupid little pranks she’d pull.
The Sunday dinners with her family and barbecues with mine.
The moment she looked at me like I was the enemy.
But then, she left and took our hearts with her. Same as Mom.
My throat tightens. Fuck. There’s a gaping hole in my chest, in my brothers’ as well.
Callie didn’t just take her things with her when she fled. She took a piece of us all. I grind my jaw and shove everything down. The more I think about it, the more it hurts, and I don’t like that feeling. I don’t like any. Feeling things only makes you hurt, and I’m done with that.
“You can’t bottle everything up, Knox,” Jax says. “You’ll either send yourself to an early grave or it’ll all come out and you’ll end up in jail. Again.”
“Maybe that’s what he wants. What would Dad say if he saw you?” Brax demands.
Standing, I step over the creeper and get in his face. All those feelings I’ve been suppressing boil inside me at the mention of our father. “Don’t fucking bring him into this.” I’m the only one fighting to carry on his legacy.
“Why, because you can’t handle the truth?” he fires back. “Look at you. What are you going to do? Hit me? Is that what you need? Go ahead, Knox.”
Jax shoves between us, pushing on my chest. I allow him to back me up. I could have them both on the ground in a matter of seconds, but the big brother in me revolts at the idea of hurting them. We’re all we have left, and we’re broken enough.
“Fuck you, Brax.” I walk away before I do something stupid and clench my fist to hide the rage that’s making my hands shake. “Get out of my shop.”
“Technically it’s ours,” Jax reminds me.
After Dad died, he left us Williams Automotive.
But it’s not theirs. Not anymore. “Ours? I’m the only fucking one of us who is trying to keep what Dad built going,” I shout, slapping my hand to my chest. “I’m the only one here every day while you two do whatever the fuck you want.
” That’s not really fair, Brax is too busy teaching and Jax is either working at the bar or trying to complete his training to become a fire fighter.
They have obligations, but sometimes it feels like they don’t give a shit about this place.
“I’m here every day,” Roger quips.
“Shut the fuck up,” I snap.
“Knox, come on, man, I didn’t mean it like that,” Jax says, but I’m done.
Telling me that I’ve been a mess since Callie left is one thing, but arguing about the shop is another altogether.
If they wanted to be part of what Dad built, they’d both be here with me, but they’re not.
“Get out,” I growl, snatching my empty water bottle so hard the flimsy plastic crumples in my hand.
“Knox—”
“Now.” I turn and storm away.
“She’s working tonight,” Brax hollers after me as I bang into the office and head to the sink to wash my hands before I grease up the front counter. Shoulders bunched, I scoop up some orange scrub and work a spot of grease and the knowledge that Callie is home out of my skin.
Things can’t go back to the way they were.
But fuck if I don’t want them to.