CHAPTER EIGHT #2
“Yeah, I couldn’t really hear what was being said, but I kinda pieced things together from your expression and how quickly you got dressed.” He ushers me from my own room and toward the stairs, as if he’s the one now hurrying me along.
“I’m really sorry. You’re welcome to hang out here until you can get a ride, of course,” I offer, already reaching the last step and turning toward front door.
“I know you don’t think you’re going over there without me,” he says dryly.
“You can’t come.” I tell him flatly. “And even though this is new for you, it’s old news to me. I’ve been dealing with him and his temper for many years. I can handle him.”
Knox follows me outside. “I never said you couldn’t. I’m saying you no longer have to.”
We reach the truck, and he doesn’t hesitate to reach for the passenger side door.
“You don’t have to argue with me. And I’m not changing my mind.
I promise to respect your boundaries with Sloan.
I’ll just be there as a friend. Or as Knox Marley who you won a one-on-one lunch date with at the concert last night.
I don’t fucking care what you tell her. I’ll play along with it. Promise.”
I nod. But only because I might start crying if I try to talk right now.
I get to my ex’s house faster than normal and when I’m pulling into his driveway, my heart is still pounding just as much as it was when I ran out of my own house to get here. This isn’t going to be pretty.
Then I notice there’s another car here.
“Shit,” I hiss, shutting off the engine.
“What?”
“He has company.” Must have rearranged his brunch plans. “He doesn’t do well with having his picture perfect ‘dad and daughter’ life tainted in front of others.”
“What can I do?” Knox offers.
“Just wait for me out here,” I tell him as I unbuckle, though I notice he does the same. “I’ll just walk in and get her. He always keeps the door unlocked when he’s home,” I explain as I’m getting out. Again, Knox follows my lead. “What are you doing?”
“Relax, I’m not going inside with you. But I’m not staying locked in the truck, out of reach and ear shot, either.”
I nod. I don’t even know what to do with this. I’ve never been the sort to draw on people’s protective instincts, but that does seem to be what’s happening right now.
We don’t say anything as we walk up to the front door, and only exchange a quick glance when I rap my knuckles over the wood once before I let myself in.
“Hey!” I call out, walking right into the main living area. The floor plan is wide open, and given this used to be my house, I know my way around just fine.
“What are you doing here?”
Ah. Everyone is in the living room. Everyone except my kid.
“Sorry, I forgot we had a thing today. I just came by to grab Sloan.” I wave at the woman gawking at me from the sofa. “I’m Sloan’s mom,” I introduce myself with a smile. “Kenley.”
My ex is already on his feet and coming straight at me. Then, before I know what’s happening, his hand is gripping my wrist tightly. He keeps walking, throwing his body into my path and practically shoving me right back out the door as he says, “Let’s talk about this outside.”
Knox catches one glimpse of my wrist being squeezed by my ex and pounces.
“Wrong. Fucking. Move,” he snarls, startling my ex and quickly gaining the advantage as he grabs him by his free arm, pushing it into a position I think might break it if either of them moves wrong, forcing my ex to release me.
Knox doesn’t stop there. My ex still under his control, he walks him back inside backwards, much like I was pushed out the door a few seconds ago.
“Hi there,” Knox calls out, just as friendly as ever. “Sorry to interrupt, we’re just here to pick up Sloan.” He looks at me, still casually gripping my ex’s arm as if he’s not on the verge of snapping it in two, and nods toward the hall. “Wanna go get her while I visit?”
“Yep.” I smile at my ex who looks equally stumped as he does furious. He’s not used to being overpowered by anyone. “Just be a sec.”
Thankfully, Sloan is ready to go as soon as I show up at her room.
Now, I just have to get her past the men without her noticing that her father is being forcefully held in submission.
Panic sets in the closer we get to the end of the hall, because how the hell am I spinning this!? My eyes meet Knox’s and, just as I’m stepping out with Sloan in tow, he releases his grip and takes two steps back as if the entire altercation never happened.
I notice he places himself strategically between us and my ex, giving us a clear shot for the door.
“Sorry again for the interruption,” I call out as I’m walking through, moving my kid into the lead to get her out first.
“Bye, Daddy,” Sloan adds, though hardly loud enough for him to hear. I think it was more for principle than to serve a purpose.
“Y’all enjoy the rest of your day!” Knox waves goodbye even as he’s pulling the door shut behind us.
No one utters so much as a single word. We just hustle to get inside the truck. I don’t even say anything when Knox gestures for me to toss him the keys, already moving for the driver’s side door. I just do it and climb in the back with Sloan, who’s clearly still shaken from the morning’s events.
“He’s never been that pissed at me,” she whispers when we’re driving away from the house. “I remember how he used to get when you guys would fight, but I didn’t think he’d ever get like that with me.” She looks up at me, eyes red. “I don’t even know why I thought that. Seems stupid now.”
“It’s not stupid,” I tell her, stroking her hair back from her face.
“You never thought that because you weren’t supposed to.
” I tug her in close to my side. “He’s your dad.
He’s supposed to make you feel safe, not frightened.
” I have to choke back my own tears to keep going.
“And when you were little, and we all lived together, it was easy for me to be the buffer between you two.” I turn around to look at her again.
“I need you to know though, I came and got you today because you didn’t feel safe.
Not because I believed you were in real danger.
” I bite my lip, trying to choose my words carefully here.
“Not physically anyway. I know his anger can be plenty hurtful in other ways.”
“I know that.” She wipes at her eyes. “I wasn’t scared like that. It was just...”
“His energy.”
She nods, eyes wide. “Yeah. It was like he was exploding everywhere.”
I remember.
“The good news is,” I add, trying to sound like there’s a positive side to this mess, “that all explosions die out. And his anger will too. And the next time you talk, he’ll be totally normal again.”
“Like nothing ever happened,” Sloan says dryly, rolling her eyes. “Yeah. I know. Unless he decides to give me the silent treatment for the next two weeks first.”
“Well, exploding can be tiring,” I say, smirking. “If he needs some alone time after to think about everything, that’s on him. You just go about your life and don’t take it personally.”
“Yeah.” She sighs.
I kiss the top of her head and catch Knox watching us in the rear-view mirror, eyes concerned and filled with about a million questions I’m hoping he knows better than to ask right now.
Then he opens his mouth, and for a second, I think maybe his curiosity has won out.
“Ice cream.”
Never mind. His curiosity clearly isn’t an issue. But now mine absolutely is. “What?”
“I think we all need some ice cream,” he says, eyes catching mine in the reflection again.
This time, a smile is starting to surface in them.
“And I’m not talking a little sundae somewhere.
I’m talking a pint for everyone.” He slows to a stop at the end of the road before he looks over his shoulder, properly facing the both of us. “Where’s the nearest grocery store?”
“Make a left,” I tell him, gratitude rising in my chest. “Then a right at the light. Can’t miss it from there.”
“I haven’t had breakfast,” Sloan mumbles, apparently worried her admission will negate the ice cream plans, but too honest to omit that little fact.
I shrug, grinning. “Ice cream is practically all milk. Which is protein and calcium, and you know, totally good for you.”
She laughs but it’s cut short when a deep sigh escapes on the end, like a last blast of relief flowing from her. Then she settles, and her expression grows more natural again and less tense.
“So,” she starts, eyes darting nosily back and forth between me and Knox, “Wanna tell me how you went to a concert and then left with it?”
I gasp, feigning shock.
Knox just laughs.
“First of all,” I explain loudly, “I didn’t leave with him. He followed me. To all you can eat pancakes.”
“It’s true,” he admits.
“And second of all,” I pause. “I don’t really have a second of all. The first one covered it.”
Sloan’s eyes are still jumping back and forth between the front seat and the back, like she’s worried she’s missing something obvious somewhere. “But this is for real. He’s really Knox Marley.” I see now where her hang up is.
“Yes, he’s really Knox Marley,” I confirm, catching his gaze in the mirror again. He looks nervous all of a sudden. “But we just call him Knox.”
“We do?” She cocks one brow, trying to imply things her fourteen-year-old self just can’t quite pull off yet.
“Everyone does,” Knox adds in a hurry.
“So, you two aren’t, like...” Sloan’s eyes shift from side to side, like she’s torn between wanting to have her question answered and not actually wanting to have to ask it.
“We are.”
Instantly, Knox’s eyes search the mirror for mine. I smile at him. “You cleared the checkpoints,” I say softly. “You’re in.”