3. Knox
Chapter three
Knox
My favorite self-preservation technique was keeping myself away from people whose peculiarities did not match with mine. Not that I hated them, or wished they were dead or anything too crazy. It was more of a conscious decision to ensure that our incompatibility, whether it be in work or relationships, did not affect my ability to function.
That said, as I dragged my luggage behind me down the hall to my sister’s new apartment, I wondered what I was getting myself into.
When Lindsay called me earlier to say that she was already at the airport, and wouldn’t be able to see me before she left for Boston because her flight had changed, I’d huffed and resigned myself to my fate.
Said fate being that I’d canceled my hotel room, and told my assistant to forward any important mail to the new address I would be staying at, assuming Lindsay would be there too. But as it stood, I was about to be rooming with her best friend, who was quite literally the most disorganized and disorderly person I’ve ever met.
Hopefully, now that Nina Burton had grown up, she was more responsible. I’d always thought that she was too reliant on Lindsay. Anyone who needed another person that much had to be toxic.
I rubbed my temples as I stood in front of the door. Deep down in my heart, I knew I was going to regret this. I spent all of last night after Lindsay broke the news thinking about what to do. I was the older one here, wasn’t I? And Nina was nothing but a child. All I had to do was set the tone for our arrangement, and she’d follow it. Didn’t children like being told what to do?
Besides, I had other things to worry about. Like the Spencer Project, and how I let it slip away from me.
Inhaling, I raised a fist to the door, knocking twice. Once I got over this irritating introduction, I’d ask Nina for a key.
It took about five seconds for the door to open, though there was no one there. Frowning, I pushed into the apartment and sure enough, Nina was standing in the middle of the living room, cheeks flushed, with lips pressed together in a tight smile. Her red hair was disheveled and she stood with hands intertwined in front of her. The action pushed her chest forward, drawing my attention to it. I glanced away.
Okay. She grew some tits, and they actually look really nice. No child had those kinds of jugs. And her red hair was longer than the last time I saw her, which was about three, maybe four years ago.
Swallowing down that idiotic thought, I shut the door behind me, pulling my luggage along. So, she wasn’t a child anymore.
How old was she? Twenty-three? It felt like she’d grown up overnight. She was the same age as Lindsay, and I still considered my little sister a child. Maybe that was why I thought Nina was one too.
Either way, it didn’t matter. The only changes I could see were physical. Mentally, we’d have to see if she’d developed.
“Good morning,” Nina chirped in that animated voice of hers that grated my nerves. “Uh… Lindsay’s gone, but I’m sure you already knew that. I took the liberty of decorating your room, and we moved Lindsay’s bed in there this morning.” She smiled thinly, as if she was nervous. “So, I’m not much of a cook myself, but I can make the basic stuff like pancakes and eggs. Lindsay always says that it’s the thought that counts, so if you’d like, I can make you breakfast.”
She stopped, biting her lower lip. I could smell her nerves all the way from here. Fuck me. I didn’t remember her being this chatty. Had she gotten worse over the years?
I resisted the urge to groan. I was already dealing with a lot. The last thing I needed was some girl who didn’t know how to shut the fuck up.
Ignore her, that was what I would do. Ignore the fuck out of her until she realized we would not be friends, and I sure as hell didn’t want her breakfast.
“No, thanks,” I replied curtly. “Point me to my room.”
She gaped at me. Mouth open and eyes wide, staring at me like she couldn’t believe I understood English.
Clenching my jaw, I forced myself to be civil.
“What is it?” I asked, though I didn’t really care.
“You just spoke to me,” she murmured, still shocked.
Hot air blew out of my nostrils. I didn’t have time for this. I needed to get to my room and get some work done.
“Did you not expect me to?” I scoffed.
Nina shook her head slowly and I just… I had enough.
“Listen, I agreed to come here because my sister was supposed to be here, but she’s not, and I’m stuck here for a foreseeable future. However, I want to make things clear: I do not want to be friends with you.”
“There will be no braiding of hair or exchanging secrets, or whatever the fuck young girls like you do in your spare time. For Lindsay’s sake, I will be as amicable as possible. So, I suggest you think twice about speaking to me, and whether you really need to. Understood?”
Nina was still shocked alright, though her deep green eyes went from startled to outraged. She was still staring at me as I sighed in exasperation and walked toward the hallway, stopping to look back at her in question.
“Room.”
Blinking, she snapped out of it and her throat worked as she pointed left. “First room on your left.”
Nodding, I headed to the room, pulled the door open, walked in, and shut it behind me before letting out a breath. Truthfully, when Lindsay mentioned an empty room in her apartment, I was relieved.
I couldn’t keep sleeping at hotels. It was draining me financially. Mentally too. I didn’t exactly buy into the idea of unknown people traipsing in and out every day, cleaning and asking stupid questions I didn’t have the strength to answer.
I was between a rock and a hard place. The company was going through some tough times, and if we didn’t get a big break soon, we were going under. It was bad enough that we’d already lost the Spencer deal. If I could fix it, I would. Sean, my communications manager and closest friend, assured me I couldn’t.
So, yeah. My life has been a mess lately. I had my mom and sister to think about, and people who depended on me for their livelihood. The thought of letting any of them down was inconceivable. I already failed one person, and it cost me a lot.
No more, I thought as I approached the bed and sat on the edge, pulling out the documents for the new project we were working on, along with my laptop. I couldn’t disappoint anyone again.
Which brought me back to my current predicament. Living in a hotel was eating through my savings, but it hadn’t even been thirty minutes and living with Nina was already proving to be a pain in my ass.
Thankfully, I wasn’t staying for free. I offered to cover the next two months' rent so I wouldn’t feel like a freeloader. It was cheaper than a full month of living in a hotel, anyway.
As I worked, my mind drifted away from me, and I wondered when Nina had grown up. The baby fat from her teenage years had given way and now she looked like a young woman. With the curves and those full breasts, my God. She hadn’t been wearing a bra either, and her nipples protruded from her shirt.
Now that I was thinking about it, her hair had been shorter back then, and she always wore it in a ponytail. This morning, though, her mane fell down her back in long copper waves. She’d even gotten bangs. Full, peach colored lips, perfectly framed by an oval face and the deepest green eyes I’d ever seen.
Jesus. If she wasn’t so childish and so damn young, then maybe…
I snapped out of it, frowning. Maybe what? I huffed out a breath, massaging the back of my neck with one hand. You’re losing it, Knox. Step away from those nasty thoughts before you hurt yourself.
Cracking my neck, I glanced at my wristwatch. I’d been working for two hours. Shit. My stomach chose that moment to grumble, reminding me I’d eaten nothing since last night.
Maybe you should have just taken those eggs when you had the chance.
I snorted, getting up and heading for the door. I’d sooner undergo surgery without anesthesia than eat anything Nina cooked.
However, the second I opened the door, I was hit with a pungent smell, very akin to something burning.
“What the fuck?” I coughed, heading for the source of the smell. As I approached the kitchen, I noticed that the smell was, in fact, slowly dying down and now mixed with the scent of the house, creating a distasteful odor that caused my nose to itch.
How long has it been happening?
I stepped into the spacious kitchen to see Nina sitting on a stool and her iPad perched on the counter as a movie played. A plate of what I assumed were pancakes sat in front of her, though I couldn’t be sure. I’d never seen black pancakes before. Matter of fact, I’d never seen any food that shade of black my entire life.
Nina poured maple syrup over the abominable-looking dish and chewed like it was the most normal thing in the world while her eyes remained glued to the iPad.
When she let out a giggle, I clenched my jaw and forced myself to stay calm. My eyes traveled to the stove, then back to her. I couldn’t believe Lindsay had done this to me. I thought we were fine.
Nina’s head snapped up, spying, and I expected her to start rambling about whatever happened here, but she only gave me a weird look and went back to her charred pancakes and chick flick.
It took me a painful second to realize that she’d just ignored me. Now that was fucking weird. Well, not weird that she was ignoring someone, but weird that it was me.
Why did that piss me off so much?
I should’ve just turned around and walked away because she was only doing what I asked her to. Think twice about speaking to me, those were my exact words. But I do not want to be ignored. There were things that needed to be addressed.
“In the future—” I began, but she cut me off.
“Don’t speak to you if I can help it. Wasn’t that what you said? So why the hell are you speaking to me? Or are you the only one allowed to make demands?”
I stopped mid-sentence, genuinely gobsmacked.
I couldn’t help it. I scoffed bitterly, pinching the bridge of my nose. “You’re such a fucking child.”
“And you’re a giant dick. What else you got?” she shot back at me.
This little girl had a mouth on her. My sister was so different from her. How the hell did they get along?
I shouldn’t even be here wasting my breath talking to her. I had better things to do with my time. But I would not leave until I’d said my piece. She needed to learn her place.
“Next time you feel inclined to display your culinary talents, keep in mind that you do not live alone. And while you might not be scared of death, the rest of us are quite happy having breath in our lungs.” I gave her a sour look for emphasis. “Though, what can one expect from a rich kid with zero survival skills?”
Nina’s jaw visibly tightened. She tore her gaze away from me and, for a second, I thought she was about to burst into tears. Wouldn’t that be fucking great?
Then she mumbled something I couldn’t hear.
Cocking my head, I crossed my arms. “Louder, if you please.”
When she looked at me again, there was anger in her green eyes. Her body wracked with each breath she took, and for a few seconds, I didn’t see a child—I saw a scorned woman itching to bite.
“You don’t have to like me, Knox, but I swear to God, you will respect me. You might be Lin’s brother, but you’re still a guest in my home. Did you get that? This is my house. You don’t want me to talk to you, that’s fine. I won’t. But if you’re going to talk to me, then I suggest you infuse some atom of respect because I don’t care what happens, I will throw you out on the fucking street.”
Grabbing her iPad and burnt offerings, Nina stormed out of the kitchen, and I swear I didn’t move a muscle until I heard a door slam.
What. The. Fuck. Just. Happened?