18
Knox was sprawled on his back, sideways across my bed, staring at his phone. He had been like that for almost an hour, practically unmoving. Occasionally he would let out a snort-like breath of air and then go back to complete silence.
I kept glancing up at him every few seconds from my spot on the floor. I couldn't stop myself - his presence was all too consuming.
Textbooks and notebooks laid open all around me. I was trying to get some of our homework done and it was proving to be more difficult than I thought. Knox obviously wasn't helping - in fact, it was quite distracting.
He had texted me this morning that he wanted to see me and I couldn't come up with any valid reason to say no - not that I wanted to anyways. When I asked Serena, she smiled so hard I was concerned for the wellbeing of her cheeks.
That being said, I was grateful she hadn't grilled him the second he walked in the door.
She had promised she wouldn't bombard him but even then, she was all too happy to introduce herself.
Like expected, Knox was polite and happy to meet her, but I couldn't help myself from feeling embarrassed about the whole interaction.
I had dragged a grinning Knox away and up to my room as fast as possible - still leaving the door open.
He didn't seem to mind that I was doing school work, though.
He looked content enough to just lounge around.
He wasn't even really doing anything that could be deemed as distracting, not even shifting around much at all.
Yet I still couldn't stop my eyes from continuously sliding over to look at him.
"You've been on the same page for 10 minutes." He said, his matter-of-fact voice making me jump in my skin. He didn't turn his head as he spoke, continuing to scroll on his phone.
"I-I..." I sputtered, startled and confused at how he knew that if I hadn't seen him look.
A smirk grew at the corner of his lips making me flush.
"At least I'm doing my work." I grumbled under my breath, refocusing on the textbook I indeed hadn't touched for over 10 minutes now.
"Don't worry about me, Annie, baby. I already finished it all." Knox grinned, his eyes sparkling as he finally turned to look at me.
I narrowed my eyes at him, frowning, "And you've been letting me struggle by myself this whole time?"
I let out an annoyed puff of air.
"All you had to do was ask." He laughed as he sat up, sliding his phone back into his pocket.
"Please..." I pouted.
Standing up, he made his way over to me. "A kiss per question." He said.
"Huh?" I furrowed my brows, looking up at him from beneath my lashes.
"That's my price. Every answer I give you, you give me a kiss." He restated as he sat down next to me and leaned his back against the wall.
I flushed, nervously tucking my hair behind my ear. "Okay." I whispered, swallowing down my nervous excitement. No matter how many times I've kissed him now, I wasn't sure I'd ever get used to it.
Even just having him this close to me was enough to have my heart racing and my mind turning to mush.
Knox looked at me expectantly, gesturing his hand out in the direction of all the papers strewn about.
"Oh." I flushed again in embarrassment as I reached for the closest one.
History - my worst subject by far. I was horrible at remembering events accurately as I always conflated important historical events together. And don't even get me started on the dates. My eyes darted around the page, taking in the first question.
"In what ways did political and religious liberties expand after the Revolution?" I asked, my heart still beating rapidly as I spared a glance at Knox.
He raised a brow, not saying a single word.
I blinked and tilted my head - confused.
A ghost of a smile played on his lips as he rolled his eyes before reaching for me.
I gasped as he loosely took hold of the side of my neck, pulling me into him as he claimed my lips.
I melted into him immediately, nearly moaning as my lips moulded against his.
His tongue swiped at my bottom lip, his hand moving to hold a fist of my hair as he tugged slightly - eliciting a soft gasp from me so he could slip his tongue in my mouth.
I tried my best to keep up as his tongue greedily filled my mouth but found myself gasping for air as he pulled away a few moments later.
I stared up at him, my mouth slightly agape as I panted softly.
His thumb swiped at my bottom lip, tugging on it as he spoke, "It democratized freedom and moved people toward religious toleration."
"Huh?" I gaped, completely distracted by the hand that had stopped fisting my hair and had begun gently massaging my scalp.
"Write it down, baby." He whispered a breath from my lips, teasing me.
I blinked and then blinked again before abruptly pulling away, his hands releasing me. I scribbled his words under the first question, gripping my pencil so tight I could have snapped it if I was any stronger.
Knox loosed an amused breath from beside me, no doubt the smirk having returned to his face.
Half an hour and only four questions later, my face was burning and my heart still wasn't under control. Knox, however, was just as calm and collected as always - save for the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
I glanced down at my half-finished paper and let out a frustrated puff. The sun was beginning to set outside my window and I still had other subjects to finish before going to school tomorrow. At this rate, I was going to be up all night trying to get everything done.
"You're - You're doing this on purpose." I whined, frowning.
Knox breathed out a laugh, a teasing smile overtaking his face. "What? What could I possibly be doing on purpose, baby?" He asked.
"You're making sure I don't finish my homework in time." I glared.
Maybe it was wrong to let out my frustration and anxiety out on Knox but I wasn't totally wrong. He was making me take longer to complete my assignments than it would have taken me if I was on my own.
Knox scoffed incredulously, arguing, "Wha - Annie, I've been giving you the answers."
"After continuously distracting me!"
Knox laughed again. "You're right, baby. I'm sorry. I keep letting myself get carried away." He smiled, reaching to slip the paper out of my hands. Taking my pencil, he focused his attention on filling in the rest of the answers before passing it back to me.
"Forgive me?" He asked in a mumble as he kissed my cheek.
I nodded my head, biting my lip to keep myself from further derailing us from getting my work done.
The knock on the door a second later had me glad I did, too. I snapped my head over to see Serena standing in the doorway, smiling at us where we sat.
"Knox, are you staying for dinner?" She asked.
Knox smiled back, "Oh, thank you. I would love to but I really can't."
I fiddled with my pencil, avoiding looking at him as he answered. I couldn't help the disappointment from seeping in. Obviously I knew that Knox wouldn't be able to stay with me at all times but that didn't stop me from wishing he could.
"Okay, maybe next time." Serena smiled gently before retreating back down the stairs and out of sight.
Silence consumed the air around us for several moments until Knox cleared his throat. He left a soft kiss beneath my ear before whispering, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay, baby?"
I nodded, shooting him a feeble smile before watching him get up and leave.