Chapter 35. Florian
I paced the length of the marble entryway, checking my watch every thirty seconds, smoothing the front of my shirt.
Knox appeared from the living room, looking infuriatingly calm in a green sweater and dark jeans, an outfit chosen, I suspected, to look less like a corporate overlord and more like a human being.
"You're going to wear a hole in the rug," he noted, amused.
"She's going to be aggressive," I warned him for the tenth time. "She enters rooms like she's looking for a fight."
"I have negotiated mergers with men who wanted to destroy my company for sport," Knox said dryly. His lips curved into a half-smile. "I've faced down corporate sharks who would devour their own children for profit. Your friend's loyalty doesn't frighten me."
“But it should,” I protested. He simply chuckled again.
The doorbell rang. The sound echoed through the high ceilings.
I jumped, then rushed to the door. I took a deep breath, plastered a smile on my face, and pulled it open.
Luna stood on the porch. She had compromised, I saw. She was wearing black slacks and a structured blazer, but underneath was a t-shirt featuring a skeletal hand holding a rose, and her feet were in her favorite combat boots.
"Be nice," I whispered, pulling her into a quick hug.
Knox stepped forward, extending a hand. "Luna. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Florian speaks of you constantly."
Luna studied him for a second, her gaze raking him from his silver-flecked hair to his expensive loafers. She shook his hand, her grip firm. "Knox. Thanks for having me."
"Please, come in. Let me take your jacket."
The tour was brief. I showed her the living room, the study, where she actually paused to touch the spine of a book, impressed despite herself, and finally led her to the dining room. The table was set for three, the lighting dim.
We started with appetizers, bruschetta with heirloom tomatoes and a balsamic glaze. Luna sat across from Knox, with me in the middle, feeling like the net on a tennis court.
She didn't wait for pleasantries. She picked up a piece of bruschetta, took a bite, swallowed, and then leveled her gaze at Knox.
"So," she said, wiping a crumb from her lip. "Why him?"
I choked on my water. Knox merely set his glass down gently.
"Excuse me?" Knox asked, polite.
"He's twenty-one," Luna said, gesturing at me with a crust of bread.
"You're forty-eight. He's a student with no money and a history of trauma.
You're a millionaire CEO boss, or whatever.
On paper, this looks like a textbook mid-life crisis meets a predation opportunity.
So, I'm asking you directly: Why Florian?
What do you get out of this that you couldn't get from someone your own age who has their own 401k? "
I froze, horrified. "Luna!"
Knox held up a hand to silence me. He didn't look offended. He looked… thoughtful. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table, meeting Luna's challenge head-on.
"That is a fair question," he said. The sincerity in his voice caught Luna off guard; she blinked. "I didn't set out to find someone of Florian's age. I wasn't looking for a 'boy' to fix. We met casually."
He glanced at me, a flicker of that shared memory passing between us, before returning his gaze to Luna.
"My life, Luna, was exceptionally orderly. It was successful. Sterile. Empty. Boring. I had acquaintances, partners, colleagues, but very little genuine connection."
He reached out for the water pitcher. Without breaking eye contact with Luna, he refilled my glass, which was only half empty. It was a reflexive motion. Luna's eyes tracked the movement.
"Florian," Knox continued, "is vibrant in a way I had forgotten existed.
He is resilient. He challenges me. He makes me laugh.
He needs me, yes, he needs support, but I need him just as much.
He gives me purpose. He allows me to care for him, and in doing so, he heals parts of me I didn't know were broken.
He doesn't want my money or my success. He doesn't care if I'm not perfect all the time.
And in my tax bracket… You have to be perfect. All the time."
Luna chewed on her lip, her skepticism warring with the raw honesty of his answer. "You know he's vulnerable," she pressed, though her voice had lost some of its edge. "You know that if you get bored, he's the one who ends up on the street."
"I am aware of that," Knox said. "Which is why I take my responsibility to him with absolute seriousness. He is not a pastime. He is my partner. And I intend to ensure his future is secure, regardless of what happens to me."
I watched Luna. I saw the tension in her shoulders drop an inch. She looked from Knox to me, seeing the way I was looking at him, like he had hung the moon and the stars just for us.
"He really does refill your water without you asking," she murmured, almost to herself.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing," she said, picking up her fork again. She looked at Knox. "Okay. The bruschetta is good. Did you make it?"
"I did," Knox said, a small smile on his lips. "With Florian's help. He's becoming quite the sous-chef."
By the time the tiramisu arrived, the dining room felt less tense. The dessert was a masterpiece: mascarpone cream, dusted with cocoa powder that smelled dark and rich.
Luna was still on it, though, even if she was less aggressive now. She turned back to Knox. "Let me ask you something personal. If you had a regular, average salary, would you still be together?"
Knox considered this, not flinching. "I believe so. I wouldn't be able to show him the world in quite the same way, but I would still want to show him every bit of it that I could."
“What about if you two were the same age?” she kept the interrogation going. I just wished she'd grow tired of it by now. “What about the boy and age gap kink?”
“Yes, of course,” Knox said. “Roleplaying is still a thing. Even if he weren't younger, he could still play as a boy, if he wanted to.”
Luna took a bite and groaned, her eyes rolling back. "Okay," she mumbled around the spoon. "I might be willing to sell my soul for this. Just a little bit." I sighed, relieved. She was warming up to this.
Knox chuckled, leaning back in his chair, a glass of dessert wine in his hand. "I'm glad it meets your standards."
"Oh, hell yes," she admitted. She pointed her spoon at me. "You know, this one almost burned down the grocery store's break room trying to make ramen."
I groaned, burying my face in my hands. "Luna, please. No."
"Oh, yes," she insisted, turning to Knox with a wicked glint in her eyes. "He forgot to put water in the cup. Just stuck the dry noodles in the microwave and set it for five minutes. The smoke was incredible. It smelled like burning tires. They had to evacuate the whole building."
Knox threw his head back and laughed. It wasn't polite laughter either. I felt my face heating up, but seeing Knox laugh like that made the embarrassment worth it.
"I was tired!" I defended myself. "It was finals week!"
"He has improved," Knox assured her. "Though I do handle most of the appliance usage, for safety reasons."
"Probably for the best," Luna agreed, grinning. She took a sip of her wine, looking at Knox with a new curiosity. "So, do you just run companies and cook like a Michelin chef, or do you have actual hobbies? Besides… taking care of disaster boy here."
“Hey!” I protested.
"I read," Knox said. "I swim. I garden, though my roses are currently in a battle with some very persistent aphids."
"He has a pool," I blurted out, eager to show off. "It's heated."
Luna's eyebrows shot up.
"I haven't been swimming in ages," Luna said. "The campus pool is always full of swim team guys who yell at you if you're in their lane."
Knox set his glass down. "Well, ours is currently unoccupied. And the temperature is set to eighty-two degrees."
Luna hesitated, glancing down at her outfit. "I didn't bring a suit."
"We keep a variety of guest swimwear," Knox said, rising smoothly from his chair. "My sister visits with her family occasionally, and friends. I'm certain we have something that would fit. If you're interested?"
Luna looked at me. Her eyes were bright.
"Flo?" she asked.
"Let's do it," I said, grinning. “I had lessons recently!”
***
I loved the heavy and sweet scent of the pool of chlorine.
Luna emerged from the changing room in a sleek black one-piece that fit her surprisingly well, but she was wearing shorts on top of it as well. She had piled her blue hair onto the top of her head in a messy bun, secured with a clip she'd found. She stopped at the water's edge, eyes wide.
"Okay," she said. "This is obscene."
I was already in the water, feeling much more confident now after the swimming lessons in Italy. Not that I could really swim yet, but at least I was sure I wouldn't drown. "Come on!" I called out. "It's warm!"
She cannonballed.
There was no hesitation, just a run and a leap and a massive SPLASH that sent water surging over the deck. She surfaced sputtering and laughing, wiping water from her eyes.
"You brat!" I yelled, shielding my face as she immediately sent a wave of water at me with the heel of her hand.
"Take that!" she shrieked.
For the next twenty minutes, we were twelve years old again, just Floflo and Lulu, having a splashing war.
Knox sat on a lounger near the edge, a towel draped over his lap, watching us. He wasn't reading or checking his phone. He was just watching, a relaxed smile on his face, his eyes following me as I moved through the blue water.
"I am the champion of the sea!" Luna declared, surfacing from a dive and shaking her head like a wet dog. She looked at Knox. "Tell him I won our war."
"I fear my judgment might be biased," Knox called back, his voice amused.
"You have to get in. We need an impartial judge for the tie-breaker," I told him with my best puppy eyes.
Knox raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I'm impartial."
"Get in!" Luna chanted, slapping the water. "Get in! Get in!"
Knox stood up. “Okay. Give me a second.”
I raised my eyebrows, surprised, not expecting him to actually go change. Luna looked like she had just won the lottery.
“He's actually alright,” she whispered to me. I couldn't hide my delighted face.
He came back a minute later, dropped the towel to reveal simple black swim trunks. My breath caught in my throat; it always did when I saw him nearly bare. The scars, the muscle, the presence of him. He was fucking hot. Like God-tier.
He walked to the steps and descended with dignity, avoiding the cannonball route. The water lapped against his chest as he waded toward us.
"The shark has entered the tank," Luna whispered loudly to me.
"Attack!" I exclaimed.
We both splashed him simultaneously.
Knox sputtered, wiping water from his face, looking shocked for a split second before a mischievous grin broke across his features. "Oh, is that how it is?"
He lunged.
He caught me, easily scooping me up and tossing me around like a little doll. He turned on Luna, who shrieked and tried to swim away. She was successful; he wouldn't touch her without permission, but he still pretended to do his best, while still holding me close.
We spent the next hour in chaos. At one point, Knox had me on his shoulders while Luna tried to knock me off with a pool noodle she'd found.
He never left me for long, and I realized he still worried about me in the pool, even though I was much more confident now. He reached out, pulling me against his wet chest, his arms slippery and strong. He kissed my wet forehead.
"Happy?" he murmured against my skin.
I looked at Luna, who was floating nearby.
"Yeah," I whispered, holding onto him tight. "Yeah, I'm so happy."