Chapter 9 #2
For a second, I can’t breathe. He’s that close, the world crowded by broad shoulders and the furious intensity in his eyes.
His grip tightens on my wrist, but his palm is warm, grounding.
I don’t know who moves first, but his hand is on my cheek, thumb pressing just hard enough to leave a mark, and he wipes a streak of dirt from my face.
For a heartbeat, I think he might actually kiss me.
I can’t breathe.
Instead, he hauls me up with one jerk and mutters, “Try not to embarrass us any more than you already have.”
My face burns so hot I wonder if I’m going to combust. I can hear the guys hollering from the table, and judging by Knox’s face, he is about to lose his shit. I ignore them, dusting off my thighs and untying the rope. Knox stands a little too close, not looking at me.
“There,” I huff. “We played along. Now can I get blackout drunk in peace?”
“Don’t be dramatic,” Knox growls.
“Oh fuck you,” I snap.
I stalk off to get more drinks. Mera catches up to me, her face split with a wicked grin. “So, that was intense. I thought he was going to take you right there in front of everyone.”
I huff. “Take me to the devil.”
“Oh, honey, you should have seen the way he looked at you. Man is desperate to get into those panties.”
I shoot her a glare.
“I need more alcohol to get through this day.”
“And it has only just begun!” Mera claps.
Fucking fantastic.
I’M BUZZING.
The sun has just set and the entire mood at the fair has changed. Now, there is country music playing, and people are laughing and the rides are all lit up. Couples dance in a makeshift dance floor surrounded by hay bales and little fairy lights.
I’m warm and fuzzy, and having the time of my life.
The hot dog I ate was so good, I am already thinking about another, and spending time with the club is more fun than I could have ever anticipated. Everyone is drunk except poor Sable, but she is having an amazing time.
It’s...well...incredible.
Mera, Nia, and Sable are hell-bent on riding every ride before the place shuts down, but I’m more interested in trying not to think about Knox. I can’t help it. I keep looking over, but he’s too busy lighting a cigarette and pretending that the air he’s exhaling isn’t as toxic as his attitude.
Dick.
Eventually, Knox disappears. He’s just..
.gone, and something inside me deflates.
I lean back against the fence, far too drunk for my own good.
The music behind me is catchy and way too cute, and the twinkle lights make everybody’s faces look kind of blurry and golden.
A few people are even slow-dancing, and I can’t help but envy them.
Sable waves to me from the ferris wheel that she has dragged Kael on for the fifth time.
Nia and Lily both call my name, begging me to join them one more time.
With an exhale, I do. I can’t say no to a cute little girl with a smile like that.
Lily is adorable and there are far worse things than riding that rickety old thing again.
The ferris wheel is run by an old man with a beard like a rope.
He winks at us, locks the safety bar, and on the third loop, stops us at the very top.
The wind is surprisingly cold up here, but the view is kind of magic.
The fair, from above, looks like a blanket someone spilled Christmas lights onto.
Nia pulls a mini bottle of tequila from her cleavage, passes it to me, and I drink. “You having fun or what?” she asks.
I think about it for a second. “Yeah, I actually am,” I say, and it’s not even a lie.
She nods. “Thought so. You don’t suck at having fun as much as you think you do.”
“That a compliment?”
Nia flashes a smile. “Take it or leave it,” and then they both lean out and start screaming at the world below.
I sneak another sip of tequila. From here, I can see the dance floor, sawdust, hay bales, loops of light strung overhead, and a bunch of people who definitely do not dance for a living.
I can also see Knox, leaning against a fence post, talking to Wolfe.
His head tilts, and I swear to god, he looks right at me.
My heart does the thing where it basically jumps out of my chest and runs away to join the circus.
We’re let down. Nia gives me a hug and Lily hands me a giant pink marshmallow. Then, they go running to the next ride and I stand there, alone once more. But then he comes into my vision, Knox. He walks towards me, two drinks in his hand, looking less pissed than he was earlier.
He holds out a beer. “Thought you’d want this.”
“You’re not wrong,” I say, and grab it. My fingers brush his for a second, and the shock of it zings up my arm, into my chest.
He jerks his chin toward the dance area. “Let’s give them a show.”
I nearly snort beer through my nose. “Oh. No way. Hell no.”
“I had to do your race, now you’ll play my game.”
He doesn’t give me the chance to answer, he curls his fingers around my wrist and pulls me through the crowd.
The second we are on the dance floor, and have put our beer safely down, he spins me into him.
It’s clumsy at first. His hands are on my waist, but then he slips one hand up, fingers splaying against my bare back, and I swear to god I forget how to breathe.
The music slows and he pulls me closer, his breath is at my temple, soft and ragged.
His chest is hard, and under the flannel, I feel him tense with every beat of the song.
I let myself fall into it, into him. His body is so close, my ribs have no choice but to line up with his, and when he breathes, my heart stutters to match.
I can’t focus, can’t even remember how to move my feet, and it doesn’t matter because his hands have me so secure, like I’m not going anywhere.
For a lost minute, I wonder if Ralston is watching. If Wolfe and the guys are taking odds on how long until Knox destroys me. But here, with the light and the music and the absolutely inappropriate way our thighs are pressed together, it feels like nobody else exists.
He leans down, and his lips are almost in my hair. “You’re not making this easy,” he murmurs.
His words shock me.
I look up. “Making what easy?”
“To...pretend...” His voice is low and my breath hitches.
“You don’t even like me,” I whisper.
“Half the time, I can’t fuckin’ stand you,” he murmurs, reaching up and running a finger down my cheek, “but the other half...”
My knees want to collapse. “Don’t say shit like that.”
He brushes my hair behind my ear with a tenderness that splits me open. “Why?”
“Just don’t...”
I look away, but his fingers are on my chin, forcing me to look back at him. “For once in your life, stop with the fuckin’ sarcasm and have a real conversation.”
Oh he wants real.
Well fine.
I’m half drunk, half high on him, and if I was sober, I probably wouldn’t say this. “You make me want things I shouldn’t want.”
He draws back, just enough. “And what do you want, Callie?”
The song is almost over, the lights fading, and for a second, I forget entirely about Ralston, about my brother, about anything except the heat between us and the way his gaze pins me. “Right now, I want you to kiss me.”
He pulls me in so hard my breath is crushed out of me, and his mouth is on mine before I even know what’s happening. It’s brutal, desperate, and somehow impossibly tender. His hand is curled around the back of my head, holding me in place as his lips claim every last secret I have.
The whole world seems to stop. The music, the lights, the fair, even my own bullshit stories, gone. There’s just Knox, and the taste of his mouth, and the certainty that no matter what else happens tonight, nothing will ever be the same.
When he finally lets me go, I’m dizzy and a little bit lost. He steadies me with a hand on my waist, eyes soft but mouth still set in that hard, stubborn line.
“Not bad,” I say, my voice weakly sarcastic. “I’ve had better.”
“That so?"
I nod, biting my lip, begging my heart to stop pounding.
So, he kisses me again, slower this time, and I let myself fall, drinking him in like it’s the only thing I’ve ever needed.
Somewhere, above us, fireworks explode.