12. Knox
CHAPTER TWELVE
Knox
I feel fucking ridiculous.
Everest’s favorite takeout in hand, and his favorite romantic comedy under my arm, I stand in front of his penthouse door, ready to grovel.
He hasn’t texted me since the incident at the bar the other week, and it’s driving me insane. I pissed him off, and I shouldn’t have come onto him like that, but can he cut me some slack? He has to have known I was having a rough night and didn’t mean anything by it. He knows me better than that.
I’m already pissy that I’m here, about to enter the apartment he shares with Rhys. My only saving grace is that I know his boyfriend is at the club tonight, so we should be left alone to work through my fuckup.
I let out a deep breath and knock, nervously tapping my foot as I wait for him to answer the door. When he does, I’m blown away. He’s entirely drool-worthy, with water glistening on his bare chest, and nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.
“Knox?” he asks, confused, as he tightens his grip on the towel. “What are you doing here?”
I smile, taking a step closer. “You weren’t responding to my messages. I figured you might still be mad.”
“I am,” he huffs and makes no move to invite me in. “You really should have called first.”
“I thought maybe I’d bring a peace offering,” I say, showing him the takeout and the movie. “Spend a night together like the old days.”
Frowning sympathetically, he sighs as he shakes his head. “That’s the thing. It can’t be like it used to. I have a boyfriend now.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“For starters, you have to stop calling me your babe,” he says, and the words slice my heart. “And you have to stop touching me as much. It makes me uncomfortable.”
My eyes widen at that. “What? No, I never meant it that way. I’m sorry.” I fuck with my piercing, tilting my head to the side as I try to smile. “Can I just come in? We can talk more.”
He opens his mouth to answer, but then shakes his head. “I… That’s not a good idea. While we’re still friends, I don’t think it’s appropriate to hang out alone together in private.”
“That’s fucking ridiculous.” Balling my free hand into a fist, I scoff. “Is this Rhys talking? What? You can’t have friends now?”
“No, I just can’t have friends who still want to fuck me.”
I try to defend myself—lie if I have to—but he doesn’t give me the chance.
“I’m sorry, Knox. I just think it’s best if we had some distance for a bit.”
I can’t believe it. I thought we were just having a little fight. I didn’t think he’d take it this far. Unfortunately, I don’t react like I know I should. I throw the takeout onto the ground, shoving the movie against his chest, and snarl. “Fucking fine. It’s not like you’re a gem to hang out with anyways. I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone.”
He purses his lips, nodding slowly as he shrugs. “And that’s the problem, isn’t it? Goodnight, Knox.”
As he closes the door on me, I stand here like a fucking idiot. You know what, this is good news. I didn’t need him anyway. I thought Everest was a great guy, but he’s just like everyone else. I’m nothing but disposable trash to him. A shiny toy to play with until he got bored, and I’m better off without him.
But that doesn’t stop the tear that slides down my cheek at what just happened.
I sniffle, picking up the mess I made, and head to the elevator. I guess I’ll just do nothing tonight. Stay home. Alone. Just like always.
My phone rings, and I answer it, not bothering to look at the Caller ID. “What?”
“Is that how you answer the phone? Rude.”
“What do you want, Elton?” I ask. We haven’t spoken since last week either. Truthfully, he hadn’t even crossed my mind. “I’m busy.”
He snorts. “While I’m sure that’s true, I…ugh…thought that maybe you’d want to hang tonight. You know…fuck.”
I consider it, but end up shaking my head. “Not tonight.”
“Right. Sure. Cool.” He clears his throat, obviously wanting to say more. “Not that it’s any of my business. But…um…you haven’t texted me back all week.”
“Like I said, I was busy.”
“I get it, but aren’t friends supposed to talk to each other? At least give some sort of indication that they’re not dead somewhere.”
This makes my skin prickle. “We’re not friends.”
I know it’s rough, but it’s the truth. Elton is a hot fuck to help me get over my unrequited love for his little brother. Nothing more, nothing less. Quite frankly, I still find him annoying as hell.
Like, who forces someone to basically cuddle them when they’re wasted? I only stayed because I felt bad for him, that’s it, and I ended up falling asleep. I bolted the second I woke up because I didn’t want him to think I was actually concerned.
His breath hitches on the other end of the line. “Jesus, why are you such a dick? I’m trying to be nice here.”
“And I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that I don’t need that from you.”
“Fine,” he snaps. “If you don’t want to mess around tonight, consider me busy too. Thought maybe you’d rather have my dick in your ass than that stick that’s currently lodged in there.”
Despite my better judgment, I laugh at that, and Elton notices.
“So now you find me funny?” He drops his voice to a sultry whisper. “If you come over, I’m sure there are other sounds I can get you to make.”
I go to say no again, but then realize that this might actually be a good thing. I need a distraction and, for some reason, his desperation is doing it for me. I know I’ll regret it, and I might find myself more annoyed as fuck by the end of the night, but I’ll deal with that later. “My place. Thirty minutes.”
Before his personality has a chance to talk me out of this, I hang up. Fuck Everest. I don’t need him. I have another Hill ass to tap.
Because tonight, I’ll fuck his brother to prove just how much I don’t care.