23. Knox
I didn’t plan on showing up at AJ’s tonight, but after watching Indie paddle around the lake last night in that tiny, red bikini, the draw to be near her was too strong to ignore.
From the way she looked at Cora in the grocery store, I could tell she was jealous.
Maybe I shouldn’t have, but watching her react that way, over me, gave me the impression that she might see me as a little more than a friend.
So now I’m here, in a familiar setting but for a very unfamiliar reason.
Stepping outside my comfort zone for someone isn’t something I expected this soon after meeting them, but I wasn’t expecting Indie.
I certainly wasn’t expecting to walk in here tonight and see her dancing with another man.
The man in question may be Colt and Winnie’s sixty-two-year-old Uncle Buck, but still another man.
Indie’s laugh is loud and obnoxious, and I want to swallow the sound with my mouth.
We’ve been toeing the friendly line for weeks now, and the tension that’s built between us is enough to make me snap—or go to a bar on a Thursday night where I’ll probably have to answer some prying questions from my siblings.
“As I live and breathe. Knox, is that really you?” Alder calls from their table in the corner. “How long has it been? It feels like years since I’ve seen you out of your house.” Colt chuckles beside him.
“Oh, shut up. It’s maybe been a month, and that’s not long enough,” I tell him, walking over.
My eyes go back to the tiny brunette in the tight jeans that look like they were made for her.
The white shirt she has on fits her like a glove, showing a small sliver of smooth, golden skin above the waistband of her jeans.
Her short hair is whipping around her face with every turn on the small dance floor. Uncle Buck’s eyes are lit up as he tosses his head back at something she says, the two of them laughing loudly. I look back at the table to find everyone’s eyes trained on me.
“What?” I snap, and they all avert their eyes.
“So what brings you out tonight, Knox?” Winnie asks sweetly.
“Yes, what made you decide to grace us with your presence?” Mare follows up.
“I wonder if it could have anything to do with the interesting conversation I had yesterday about dinner guests,” Florence adds.
These women. I’m always either getting interrogated or manipulated by them. “Dad came by and picked up Hazel, so I thought I would come out and get a drink. I was invited. Is that okay with everyone?” I ask.
“Absolutely. Let’s get you that drink. I could use another one,” Colt says, standing and making his way to the busy bar.
I follow just to get away from all the prying eyes.
He may not be related by blood, but Colt Parker’s been like another little brother to me since I’ve known him.
“What a fucking joke.” I hear him mutter under his breath, but I’m still able to make it out.
“What is?”
“Just the guy Mare’s decided to slum it with.” I follow his line of sight and find Mare cuddled up with her boyfriend.
“Yeah, she’s really slumming it with that doctor of hers,” I joke.
“Oh, shut up.”
“So when are you gonna stop talking about it and do something?”
“I don’t know what you mean. There’s nothing to be done. She can see whoever she wants,” he says casually, turning back to the bar and cutting off his view of them. He’s fooling no one. But not being one to press for information or to talk about feelings, I let that sleeping dog lie.
“What can I get you boys?” Cecily, our bartender, asks us.
“Two beers. Whatever IPA you have on draft is fine,” Colt tells her with a wink.
“Coming up,” she says, drumming her hands on the counter.
“Not to pile it on, but—what are you doing out tonight?”
I sigh. “Is it that insane that I would be at AJ’s?” Cecily sets our glasses in front of us, and I take a sip.
He chuckles. “No, but I have to admit the timing is a little suspicious.” He shrugs.
“Suspicious?”
“Listen, I don’t know the whole story, but from what I could gather from the women—your new tenant mentioned she would be here—tonight—and you haven’t been out with us or responded to the group chat invites until tonight.”
“How would you know? You left the group chat months ago.”
“Yeah, because as happy as I am for Rhett and Winnie, I didn’t need to see one more innuendo about my best friend and my sister,” he explains.
“I only know this information because it was a topic of conversation before you got here.” Of course it was.
No one can stay out of anyone’s business around here.
“My siblings are annoying.”
“Are they wrong though?” he asks before walking away and back to the table.
I stay on my stool a couple of moments longer.
I’m not usually someone people talk about, and I can’t say I care for it much.
People may have had a few things to say when I moved back to town and a few months later had a child, but my family really rallied around me then, keeping me away from too much of the idle gossip.
“Hey, Knox,” Cora greets me, coming to sit beside me. Then to Cecily she asks, “Can I get a glass of white and a rum and Coke?”
“Cora. How are you?” I ask, trying to be polite. I forgot she said she would be here tonight.
“Good. You know, it’s good to see you out and about. I hear we have Indiana to thank for that,” she says pointedly.
“Just decided to get out of the house.” She doesn’t need to know that Indie played a role in that decision.
“Right. Well, whatever the reason. I’m glad you’re here. It feels like we haven’t hung out in forever.” She places her hand on my shoulder as she speaks. I’m assuming she means forever literally because we have never hung out .
“Excuse me.” Indie’s voice is soft as she reaches in to grab a drink sitting on a napkin beside Cora.
“I’ll just take the rum and Coke. Thanks for ordering it for me, Cora,” she says, backing away.
“No problem,” she tells Indie, lightly rubbing my arm. What the hell is that about?
“Hey,” I blurt, trying to catch Indie’s eye. For what I’m not sure, I just know I want her attention.
“Hi,” she says back, eyes directed at the hand on my shoulder. She pinches her lips together, gives me a nod and turns to walk back to the table. I shrug out from under Cora’s hand, moving to stand.
“Good talking to you, Cora.”
“Yeah, sure.” Her smile is forced, but she takes the hint, slipping off her bar stool to leave. I’m thinking of something to say to Indie when Alder plops into a stool beside me, tossing an arm over my shoulder.
“We’re taking shots, and one has your name on it.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Oh, come on. When was the last time you took a shot, old man?”
“I don’t take shots anymore, and you’ll stop taking them soon enough,” I tell him.
“I’m going to become a dad—not lame, big brother.” He laughs at his own joke.
“Ha-ha. You’ll see. One day, maybe not so far in the future, you’re going to take a shot, and it’s going to wreck you.”
“Don’t curse me, old one.” He hisses, crossing his fingers in front of his face.
“Enough, idiot. ”
“Do you not want Indiana to know your age?” he stage whispers. At that, I let the eye roll I’ve been fighting go.
“She already knows.” I don’t know why I said that. He doesn’t need to know.
“Oh really? So you’ve had the talk ? How much time are you spending with her exactly?” Alder questions.
“Not a lot.” Three nights a week is a lot for some and not a lot to others, so it’s not really a lie.
“Hmm, I’m not sure I believe you. You’re not really a very good liar.”
“I’m not lying. She lives next door. I see her. Hazel wanted her to stay for dinner a couple of times.”
“Ah, and Hazey gets what she wants,” he says. “Kinda works out that her dad reaps those benefits too.”
“There are no benefits,” I tell him sternly. Not yet. Not that I don’t want there to be. I don't need people talking. More laughter makes its way to me, and I look to find her bent over with Colt, hand on his shoulder. He looks past her, giving me a wink before whispering something to her. Ass.
“Not yet,” Alder says, mirroring my thoughts. “You better head over to the table before Colt decides Indiana should hang out with someone her own age.” I just grunt in response but find myself walking to the table and sitting directly across from her, unable to look anywhere else.
She glances in my direction, her eyes widening marginally when she notices me. “I didn’t think you’d be here,” she says, smiling at me, like me being here makes her happy.
“Wasn’t planning on it, but Hazel went to her grandparents,” I explain.
“Well, I’m glad you could make it,” she says, and I don’t miss the blush on her cheeks .
A smile tugs at my lips at her admission. I like that she wants me here. I only nod at her. Mare stops back by our table, and she and Winnie invite her to their next wine night. Indie grins, accepting all open invitations, glancing back and forth between the two. I can only look at her.
She’s so beautiful. Her short hair just brushes her shoulders with every move she makes, reminding me of another night in another bar in what feels like another life.
I wonder if it tickles, what it would feel like brushing my skin.
Her brown eyes are shiny and full of excitement, but there’s something else there.
I would almost miss it if I weren’t fully staring at her.
Studying her. Her pink, plump lips curved into a smile, and the gold hoop in her perfect upturned nose has no business being as sexy as it is.
Her eyes shift to me, catching me staring. I become aware of more than just her and realize someone has asked me something.
“Knox?” Winnie prods.
“Sorry, what?” I clear my throat.
“Can we come have a lake day? The weather is getting warmer, and I think it would be fun for us all to get together out at your place,” she explains.
“We could camp!” Mare cheers.
“Where are we camping?” Colt asks.
“At Knox’s,” Winnie answers.
“I’m in,” he says.