Chapter 40 – Kylie
forty
Kylie
I walk over to the stainless-steel door where the security guard is scanning tickets for the line of people trying to get into the arena.
I open my purse, taking out the badge Knox gave me on Wednesday, because according to him, the badge Kirby had for me wasn’t good enough since it didn’t have his name on it.
“Hi,” I say, walking up to the security guard, who holds up his hand and aims the scanner at the bottom of the badge.
As soon as the machine does a funny beep, he gets up and walks over to the side where there is an elevator. He presses the button and then smiles at me. “You are on the third floor.”
“Thank you.” I step into the elevator and press the third button.
The elevator doors close and when they open again, I step out onto the floor where there are suites all around.
I head to Kirby’s suite, walking in and seeing that Lexi is there with her cousin, Gabriella, and Zoey.
“Two weekends in a row,” I say, stepping into the suite and the three of them turn their eyes to me.
“We had so much fun last weekend,” Zoey declares, holding up the glass of wine she has in her hand, “for your birthday, we should do that again.” I roll my eyes at her.
“Let’s not and pretend we did,” I counter, kissing her cheek and Gabriella’s. “But after last night, I think I need a drink.”
I look around and walk over to the couch in the corner and toss my bag on it, and then I hear the gasps. “What are you wearing?” Lexi asks me and I look over my shoulder at her. “You did not!”
“I did not what?” I ask her as I pour myself a glass of white wine from one of the ice buckets on top of the bar.
“That sweater you are wearing,” she starts and I look down at my black sweater, “it’s not Kirby’s number.”
“It is not.” I smile. “Isn’t it cute?” I say of the crop sweater I had custom made. It looks like a regular black sweater, but on the back is Knox’s number and last name. “I found the girl online, I’m sure she can make you one too.”
“I can’t wear Knox’s number,” Lexi gasps and I shake my head.
“She custom makes them,” I take a sip of my wine, “so you can add anything to it.”
“It’s super cute,” Gabriella compliments.
“So what happened last night?” Zoey asks as the door to the suite opens and Lexi claps her hands.
“My handsome boy is here!” she cheers, leaving us and walking over to Ariella, who is walking in with Jagger on her hip.
“I swear, he’s tripled in size since the last time we saw him,” Zoey says, laughing.
“My arm muscles on my right side are impressive,” Ariella deadpans, putting him down so he can run to Lexi. “The left side looks like an overcooked noodle.”
I look over her head at another woman who is coming in the door. Her black hair is piled high on her head in a high, but loose and messy, ponytail. She looks around and then smiles at us. “Is that Victoria?” I hear Lexi ask and I just smile, not sure who this is.
“It is I.” She points to herself and comes over to give Lexi a hug but is pushed away by Jagger. “Dude, you literally slept with me last night, have you no loyalty?”
“It’s Lexi or no one,” Ariella huffs out, “which means I can relax and enjoy myself tonight.” She smiles. “Guys, this is Jaxon’s sister, Victoria. She is visiting us for a week.”
“Oh, hi,” I say, extending my hand, “it’s so nice to meet you.”
“Thank you.” She shakes my hand. “It was a graduation present to myself.”
“Fun, I backpacked in Europe for mine and Kirby paid for it.” I smile big.
“I wish,” she says, “I freaking wish.” She looks at Ariella. “Think Jaxon will pay for me to go backpacking in Europe?”
“Yeah, sure.” She nods her head. “And he’ll hire five guys to go with you.”
“Yeah, I’m afraid of that.” She looks up to the ceiling. “He’s such a buzzkill ever since he became a father.” She folds her arms under her chest. “Thanks for that.” She side-eyes Ariella.
“You’re welcome, I think.” She sounds confused.
“Look at her shirt,” Lexi urges Ariella, and I proudly turn around to show her the back of my shirt.
Her gasp out loud is very similar to Lexi’s. “That’s bold.”
“It is not bold,” I defend. “There are literally other girls out there,” I point to the seats, “who are wearing his name too.”
“Yes, but you wearing it means”—Ariella holds up her hands—“like you’re taken by him.”
“Well, I am,” I admit, and everyone but Victoria’s eyes go big.
“We’re dating.”
“Oh fuck,” Lexi swears. “Admitting it out loud is—”
“Well, considering I went toe to toe with the ex-wife last night,” I grumble, “and met his parents, who by the way, are assholes…” I take a sip of my wine. The group just laughs at me as I fill them in on what went down the day before.
“Wait, so she put her hands on him, and you were going to throat punch her?” Victoria stands there with her hip cocked and her hands folded over her chest.
“Well, not throat punch her, per se,” I admit. “I would never do it with the kids there, but I did use a firm voice.”
“Got it.” Victoria nods. “I don’t know if I would be as mature. I’d be like ‘bitch, you want a piece of this?’” She puffs her chest out. “‘You are going to get a piece of this.’”
“And this is why no one is paying for you to go to Europe,” Ariella explains to her, and we all laugh.
The roar of the crowd goes nuts and we know the guys have taken the ice. “I forgot how loud it can get,” Victoria says.
“It gets louder.” My voice goes up a notch.
“So what are you doing now that you have graduated?” I ask her as the other girls walk out and watch the pre-skate.
Ariella and Lexi go down to the boards and I would go, but I don’t want to leave Victoria alone.
If the kids were here, I would be down there with them.
“I don’t know yet,” she answers me. “I have a couple of options, but nothing has jumped out at me just yet.”
“What is your degree in?”
“Marketing. I worked with an ad agency back in Dallas, but it’s not really my thing.”
“Well, what are you looking for?”
“Obviously, I’m good at social media.” I laugh when she says that. “But then I love doing market research, finding out the trends before they happen. I like creating brand awareness for the companies.” Her eyes light up.
“Well, if you want,” I tell her, “we could use help with the foundation we are running. You can take over the social media, which has been put on the back burner since I don’t want to do it, and then Lexi is too busy doing other stuff.
We also were looking at doing an after-school program and creating a community garden, which would really be huge if we had the right marketing behind us. ”
Lexi comes back without Jagger and over to us. “This meeting looks like it’s secretive.” She sticks her head in. “What are we talking about?”
“I was offering Victoria the social media job we talked about having someone take over,” I fill her in and Lexi nods her head.
“Why don’t you come by the office on Monday, and we can talk it over?”
“I like the sound of that,” Victoria says and then walks away, leaving me with Lexi.
“Big step wearing his name on your back,” she advises with a soft smile. “You sure about this?”
“No,” I admit to her, “but I know I love him. I trust him, and I’m going to be all in with him. It’s terrifying and every single time I feel this sense of uncertainty climb up the back of my neck, the first thing I think of is bolting.”
“It can be the scariest thing you have ever done, but the reward of it,” she smiles big, “is worth everything.”
“It better be,” I retort, taking a sip of my wine and then we join the girls at the seats as we watch the game.
It’s a different experience when the person you love is playing.
When it was just Kirby, it was like whatever, but I’m suddenly more invested now because of Knox.
I want him to win, whereas before I didn’t really care.
They end up losing in a shutout, which makes the game even more nerve-wracking.
I’m sitting with Lexi when the door opens and Kirby walks in, followed by Knox.
A smile fills my face when I see him wearing his suit, but without the tie he left home with.
His eyes find mine and they light up. “Hey.” I get up and walk over to him, my hands going into the sides of his jacket.
“Hey,” he says softly and bends to kiss me, “you ready to go?”
“Yeah.” I walk over to the side to grab my purse.
“What the fuck are you wearing?” Kirby snaps out and I look over my shoulder at him. “That’s fucked up.” He points to me. “I probably paid for that.”
“Actually,” I draw out, looking at Knox, who is smiling even bigger, “I paid for this myself. I have a credit card, you know.”
“Really?” he says, his voice acting shocked. “I had no idea. This is shocking new information.” I roll my eyes, because he’s the one who made me apply for the thing in the first place.
“You use his credit card?” Knox asks me.
“Occasionally,” I reply and Kirby snorts.
“Occasionally,” he repeats. “She used it last week.”
“Where?” Knox asks me, his eyebrows pinching together.
“I may have bought a purse and a pair of shoes to match the purse,” I mumble as I hook said purse over my shoulder. “You said I could use it at any time!” I glare at him.
“You know she’s loaded, right?” Kirby shares to Knox, who is standing here, his head going back and forth from me to Knox and back again.
“What?” He shakes his head, and I throw up my hands.
“Can we not do this?” I ask him. “I’m hungry.”
“That’s her changing the subject.” Kirby snickers, and I have this sudden need to kick him in the shins.
“Okay, enough,” Lexi interjects. “Are we having lunch tomorrow?” she asks me, and I look up at Knox, who shrugs.
“Yeah, let’s do lunch,” I agree and then look up at Knox. “Let’s go.”
“See you guys tomorrow,” he says, slipping his hand into mine and walking out of the room.
“Are you okay?” I ask him and he nods his head. “Losing sucks,” I say and he laughs at me.
“Not the greatest,” he agrees as he presses the elevator button and then pulls me to him. “But seeing you wearing my name makes up for it.” I smile big as I plaster myself to his front.
“Yeah?” I get on my tippy toes. “You going to show me how happy it made you?”
“Oh yeah.” He smirks. “I plan on showing you big time.” He holds my chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Right after we have a little chat.”
I throw my head back. “Ugh, I hate the sound of that. That’s like when your parents say, ‘it’s amazing how you did well on the test, but let’s discuss you cheating on said test.’ Does it matter?”
The elevator door opens, and he walks in chuckling to himself, with me following him. “We’ll chat on the way home so we can get right down to business once we get there.”
“Whatever,” I mumble. “I’m going to kill Kirby.”
He chuckles as we walk out of the elevator and head to his SUV, my hand in his as he opens the door for me. “Don’t try to be nice to me, Knox.” I reach out and close my door, watching him walk around the SUV. “Talk.” I turn in my seat, grabbing my seat belt and buckling myself in.
“Okay,” he starts. “One, do you really use Kirby’s card?”
“Yes,” I admit to him, “but he loves it and when I don’t use it, he gets worried.”
He shakes his head. “What did he mean by you’re loaded?”
“I might have a nest egg,” I tell him as he pulls out of the parking garage.
“Define a nest egg.”
“Don’t freak out,” I tell him and he looks over at me. “When my stepfather died, he was worth one point five billion. Which went to my mother, but then when she passed away it went to me and Kirby...”
“Dollars?” he questions, laughing.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” I quickly add. “I have it invested and all that.” He shakes his head. “Are you happy now?”
He pulls into his driveway. “You by my side, wearing my name on your shirt.” He puts the SUV in park. “Going to come home and apparently I have a sugar mama who’s going to suck my cock.” He grins. “Yeah, I’m happy.”
“I never said I was going to suck your cock.” I point at him as I open the door and step out, happy he wasn’t too fixated on the fact I come from a lot of money.
“Baby,” he says, gripping my hips when I get to his side of the SUV, “after I lost the game, I need a little pick-me-up.” I roll my eyes as he walks into the house. “You going to deny me that?”
“You suck,” I tell him.
“Actually”—he walks toward the stairs and to his bedroom—“you are the one who is going to suck.”
“You’re lucky I like you,” I retort and then I can’t say another word because his mouth is on mine.