Chapter 11 – Knox
eleven
Knox
She finds my eyes in the middle of the crowd as I clap my hands. “That speech, how do I follow that up?” Lexi says, but my eyes are on Kylie as she looks at her and shakes her head. “We are going to have our first course served and then come back with you later for some auction prizes.”
I sit back down and take the black linen napkin and put it over my leg as I listen to the conversations around me.
My mind spins as the words she just said replay in my head over and over again.
Is it possible she’s been through an abusive relationship?
Has she escaped something like she was alluding to?
“What are you going to bid on?” Ariella leans over Jaxon, who leans back in the chair, and asks me and I shrug.
“No idea,” I tell her. “Want to come with me and go check things out?”
“Dude.” He pushes me away. “Get your own girl.”
I laugh at him, putting my napkin back on the table. “Relax, she’s not really my type,” I assure him, looking at Ariella standing up and snorting. “No offense.”
She laughs. “Oh, trust me. Me and you”—she uses her finger to point to each of us—“would never happen.”
I put my hand to my chest. “I’m hurt.”
“You’ll get over it,” she teases and then bends to kiss Jaxon.
“I love you,” she tells him, and he grabs the back of her head, kissing her harder, making me roll my eyes.
I spot Kylie walking from one table to the other, smiling.
Her whole face lights up when someone says something to her.
“Okay, let’s go.” Ariella puts her arm in mine.
“You don’t have to touch him!” Jaxon shouts at us as we walk away from him, and I just laugh at him as we head toward the silent auction.
“Okay, what do we have?” I ask her as we start at the first one.
“Night out on the town.” I roll my eyes.
“Sounds horrible,” she throws back, and I laugh.
“Not bidding on that one,” I agree, walking to the next one. “Tickets to an LA Warriors game.” I look at her. “Hard pass.” She snorts at the joke.
“Weekend away to a rustic retreat,” she reads. “Enjoy the taste of outdoors as you leave the hustle and bustle in the city behind you.” She looks at me. “You should do this.”
“I don’t know,” I hesitate, unsure of leaving the hustle and bustle behind me. “Not sure I’m the rustic retreat guy.”
“I’m bidding for you.” She picks up the pen. “Five thousand dollars.” I gawk at her. “It’s for charity.”
“Whatever, I’ll bid on something for you guys,” I tell her, and she shrugs.
“Okay.” We walk down the line and I put low bids on every single paper for myself. “Why are you bidding on all of them?”
“It’ll make people want to bid,” I tell her, not thinking that I’m doing it so every single item will be sold, and Kylie can see the night as a success. “Let’s go eat.” I motion with my head back to the table.
I sit down in my seat and look down at the first course of Caprese salad. “So what did you guys bid on?”
“I did the BDSM package for you,” I deadpan, “comes with a ball gag.” Jaxon looks at Ariella, who just laughs.
“It might be fun,” she tries to continue with the joke but can’t, and she bursts out laughing. Lane is next to me talking about our upcoming opening night game. The plates are picked up and then replaced with the surf and turf.
I spot Lexi and Kylie walking our way. “Hey,” Lexi says to the table, and we all look at her, “thank you guys so, so much for coming.”
“It means the world to us,” Kylie adds, looking at everyone at the table, except me.
“We hope you guys have a good night, and don’t forget there are lots of prizes up for grabs.
” She finally looks at me and I can see her cheeks are a touch pink now, and I wonder if she has thought about that night last week.
I wonder if when she’s lying in bed, it’s the only thing she can think of?
I hope it is, because it’s all I think about.
When the kids are asleep in their beds and the house is quiet, my thoughts wander back to her.
“We are going to start the auction now for the bigger prizes,” Lexi says, “so stay tuned. There are some good ones.” She looks at Kylie, who is walking around the table toward my side.
I about stop breathing when she gets down between Jaxon and me, the smell of her exactly as I remembered, and my cock stirs.
She turns her head and says something to Jaxon that makes him throw his head back and laugh.
Right before she stands up, she turns to look at me.
“Hi,” she says, “having fun?” It’s a simple question, but all the words I’ve learned in my entire life are now gone.
There is not one word left in my vocabulary to answer her.
“Go bid on some prizes.” She then stands up and walks away from me.
“Okay, everyone,” Lexi’s voice comes out of the speaker, “we have a big-ticket item.”
Kylie grabs the mic and brings it to her mouth. “A big one,” she says, making everyone laugh.
She lets go of the mic, handing it back to Lexi. “It’s a dinner for four.” She looks around the room.
Kylie grabs the mic back. “So grab a friend and then another friend and then maybe another one. Or it’s great for a couple and another couple.” I can’t help but snort at her talking.
“With a Michelin ten-star chef cooking especially for you,” she says.
“Whoever wins,” Kylie says, grabbing the mic again, “I’m open for the experience.” The whole room bursts out laughing.
“A five-course meal that will be held at a private estate,” Lexi continues.
“Say less,” Kylie adds. “Let’s get the bidding going at—” She looks around the room. “Come on, someone has to start it.”
“Two thousand,” I bid, “for Jaxon.”
“Aww, cute,” Kylie teases, “a bromance.” Making the whole table laugh.
“Five thousand,” Kirby states, “and you aren’t coming with us.”
“Boo,” Kylie says with her thumb down, and it seems like bids are coming out of everywhere when Kirby finally says, “Fifty thousand dollars.”
“Such a show-off,” Kylie says, rolling her eyes, “but sold.” She points to her brother. “I expect the check before you leave.”
After taking us through a few more of the big-ticket items and reminding everyone to bid on the silent auction before they leave, Kylie gets off the stage and I see Lexi’s dad there holding out his hand to hug her.
“Okay, I’m out,” I say, tossing the napkin on the table.
“My sitter needs to be home by ten,” I tell my teammates, and I look around to see if I can spot Kylie, wanting to congratulate her on the night, but I can’t find her anywhere.
Grabbing my suit jacket, I scan the room one more time and head home.
* * *
“I’m going to get changed and then we’ll leave to go to Mom’s,” I tell the kids after I finish cleaning up the breakfast plates.
Heading up the steps two at a time and walking into the closet, I open the drawer of my boxers and seeing the white satin pair of panties I tucked in there after finding them in the car.
I pick them up with a smirk, recalling the way she moved over me, the way she sounded, the chemistry between us, and then put them back in the drawer before getting dressed in my track pants.
I drop the kids off at Josephine’s and give them each a hug before they even walk in the door.
Once they are all inside, I turn back and head to my house, thankful to avoid another conversation with Josephine by leaving quickly.
I spend the day on the couch, my mind going back to last night, then last week, and all I can do is think about her.
I toss the remote back on the couch before I go back to my bedroom and grab her panties.
I walk out of the house and search my recent places in the GPS and then head to her home.
I park in the visitor lot before walking in and seeing the mailboxes.
I look for Materson and see that not one of the twenty-five apartments has that name.
I see that four of them have the K in front of them.
I think about maybe playing Russian roulette before I pull out my phone.
“You can’t call him and ask for his sister’s apartment number.
” I look down at the phone. “You can call Jaxon, but he’ll be the first to be suspicious.
” I pull up the foundation website and then click on founders.
I see Kirby first and then under him Kylie, and her last name isn’t the same as his.
I look for her last name and finally find it.
I’m about to press the button when a delivery man comes inside and presses the button instead and the door is buzzed open.
I walk into the lobby and head to the elevators, pretending I am allowed entrance into this place.
I press her floor and look at the numbers once the elevator starts to move.
When it gets to her floor, I get out, look left and then right, and walk up to her door.
The second I knock, I instantly realize what a bad idea this is.
I’m about to turn around and leave when the door swings open and she stands there, her eyes about to come out of her sockets at seeing me standing here. “Hey,” I say, holding up my hand.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she asks me, and I make the mistake of looking at her outfit. She’s wearing blue yoga pants with a white workout bra, and my cock instantly gets hard. “Eyes up here, buddy.” She snaps her fingers, and I look up.
“Sorry.” I shake my head. “I came to return something,” I tell her, and she folds her arms under her tits, and all I can do is remember them in my mouth.
“What could you possibly have that you need to return to me? And how did you even know which apartment was mine?”
“Your name is on the mailbox,” I tell her and then look behind me. “Can I come in?”
“No,” she declares, but I walk in anyway.
“I don’t think you want me to give you back what I was returning with a Ring cam going,” I tell her, and she slams the door shut.