Chapter 2
KNOX
The first time I saw Emery Bennett, I wanted her all to myself.
I knew immediately she wasn’t from here. I spotted her mousy brown hair and small button nose from across the room at a house party I stumbled into after a long day of working at Sal’s. I loved the feeling of grease underneath my fingernails even at sixteen.
She wasn’t like the other girls in Honey Grove. An extra-large T-shirt of a band I had never heard of was draped over her body, and I could tell she was the type who liked to stay hidden. It was almost like she was daring me to notice, and I couldn’t help but fall right into her trap.
She was standing alone. Obviously dragged here by some shitty friend who left her there to fend for herself.
Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, and something told me she’d rather be anywhere but here.
I wasn’t the only one staring, either. There was a group of boys around my age eyeing her up.
They were just as intrigued as me, but she had no clue as she watched the crowd avoiding everyone’s gaze.
When I finally got tired of watching, I stepped forward only to be cut off by one of the younger guys on my football team. His name was Tommy. I dipped back into the shadows and decided to watch the show.
Tommy strutted up to her with all the confidence of Prince Charming—except he was more like a frog in an oversized football jersey. He wasted no time slithering next to Emery and even attempted to throw his arm around her before she ducked at the last second.
Emery had a polite smile on her face the entire time that made my jaw click. I was expecting some fight from the new mystery girl, and all I saw was a damsel in distress. But at the time, that was my bread and butter, so I jumped at the chance to be the hero.
“Tommy, why are you bothering this poor girl?” I asked. My eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the room and noticed a light patch of freckles decorating the bridge of her nose. And those eyes reminded me of two storm clouds ready to burst at any moment.
“Come on, Knox,” Tommy whined in a nasally voice. “Can you let me have this one? Just once?”
Emery’s nose wrinkled in disgust, and she politely shuffled away from the boy, still not making eye contact with me.
“Get lost, Tommy, before I have the coach bench you for the rest of the season.”
One eyebrow lift and a few pointed scowls had Tommy disappearing into a cartoon-like ball of smoke. I didn’t see him for the rest of the night.
“Am I supposed to thank you or something?” Emery asked with the tiniest bit of bite behind the question. There she was.
I shrugged, trying my hardest to play it cool. “No need for thanks, Bambi. Just saving you from a very mediocre night.”
She looked up at me then and really looked this time. Her eyes scanned me carefully, trying to decide if I was trouble or not. Her judgment wasn’t very good back then. I knew I had her locked in when her lips twitched into a half-smile.
“Bambi? That’s not my name.”
“I never said it was. It just suits you.”
She rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face never dropped. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“Is that an invitation?” I asked, leaning in. She was as good as gone.
“Why do I get the feeling I traded one clueless idiot for another?” she asked with a playful drawl.
I laughed, tilting my head to the side and leaning over her small body. “I may be clueless, but I can promise to show you a much better time.”
She shook her head, still smiling. It had the makings of a girl I’d flirt with and never speak to again, but everything about her captivated me from the moment we met.
Her smile, her quiet, careful presence, and the kind of sadness behind her eyes that motivated me to do anything to make her laugh. God, I used to love her laugh.
Looking back, maybe I should’ve walked away. Let Tommy take his shot. But no—I wanted her, and for a while, I had her.
She was mine all summer long.
Until I fucked it up.
Flash forward almost eight years later, and we’re sitting in a cab of a tow truck that is too damn small for the amount of tension boiling between us.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Emery’s arms crossed in front of her, legs angled toward the window, and her entire body so close to the passenger side door that a stranger might think I have some sort of disease. But nope. The only ailment I have is being a dumbass.
The only good thing about this intentional ice out is that I get to study her for the first time all night. The cab of the truck is dark with the light glow of the radio, but it’s enough to fully drink her in.
The last time I saw her, she had long brunette hair and big bright green eyes that reminded me of a field of clover.
But now, her hair is shorter and dyed a mixture of black and blonde.
It’s a stark difference from the shy girl I got to know all those summers ago.
This girl has an edge, and I like the way it makes my pulse skip across my skin.
Even her clothes have more of an edge. Gone is the girl who wore large T-shirts to hide underneath. Emery has fuller curves that fill out every inch of the black tank top and shorts painted on her body.
I’m itching to peel back the layers and see the woman underneath, but that woman is a lot harder to charm now. And she hates my guts. Or at least pretends to.
“Do you stare at all the customers you rescue off the side of the road?”
My eyes snap back to the road, and I sit up straighter in the driver’s seat. Fuck, I think I might even be blushing a little. I need to reel it in. I am better than this.
“Nope,” I say, popping the “p”. “Only the ones that play hard to get.”
A muffled scoff slips out of her lips. “Please don’t use your bullshit lines on me.”
“God, I love it when you say please,” I groan, feeling a laugh bubble up in my chest.
Emery stomps one of her feet and turns her body even farther away from me if that’s possible. “Let’s go back to not talking.”
“You used to have a better sense of humor,” I say, knowingly baiting her.
A satisfying glow warms my entire body as she grunts to herself again. This is too easy and yet I can’t get enough.
“I guess my tolerance for clueless idiots isn’t what it used to be,” she mumbles, keeping her body neatly confined to her side of the invisible boundary. God, she really hates me. But that’s what I wanted. Wasn’t it? That’s what made it so easy to let go the first time.
I chuckle to myself at the vague memory of the first time she threw that insult at me and decide to strategically change the subject. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going, or am I just going to guess? You know, clueless idiots aren’t very good with directions.”
I hear the tiniest laugh followed by an awkward cough, trying to cover up the fact that she’s not as stubborn as she thinks.
“Do you remember where my grandma’s antique shop was? The one on Main Street?”
I nod my head and flip on my turn signal before turning down the road that will lead us to the heart of Honey Grove. We did the same drive so many times that summer that it feels like a reflex.
“I’m sorry about your grandma. I heard she passed a couple of months ago. She was always really nice to me, even when I didn’t deserve it.”
Emery finally turns her head toward me and rubs her lips together, trying to hide the smile forming.
“Thank you,” she says, pausing to gather her thoughts.
“At the time, I wished she hated you as much as I did after everything, but she always had a soft spot for you. Especially after you dropped that ratty black kitten off at her shop.”
“Ah,” I say, feeling the memories swirl back to the front of my brain. “Is Klepto still around?”
She smiles for real this time, unfurling herself from the passenger side door. “Yes. He still terrorizes the shop to this day. He’s probably going crazy right now, wondering where I’m at. I missed dinner.”
The question that’s been hovering in my mind starts to feel heavy. And with each detail I squeeze out of her, I’m slowly starting to answer it myself.
“How long are you in town?” I ask, finally gathering up the courage.
Relief floods through me once I get the words out, but then I’m filled with regret when I see the smile on her face drop.
“I mean—I, uhh—I need to know because of the truck. I can get it fixed up for you as soon as possible if you’re in a hurry to get home. ”
I’m assaulted with the agony of being too curious and not being able to keep my big fat mouth shut. I should’ve kept asking questions about the cat. That seems to be the only thing curling her lips into my favorite shape. Her smile still did something to the knots twisted up inside my heart.
Emery lets out a deep sigh, and I feel unrest buzzing through my bones when I pull up to the last red light before her destination. I need to know if she is here for good. It won’t change things between us, but maybe—no, maybe nothing. I was irredeemable in her eyes, and it needs to stay that way.
“I’m not sure,” she answers, her eyes glued to the black combat boots on her feet, “but at least until the end of summer.”
I hate the way my pulse vibrates through me. The feeling is unfamiliar, but I think it might be hope? Or excitement? Either way, I need a cold shower and a spicy dose of reality to remind me that I had my chance with Emery Bennett, and I fucked it up like I always did.
I swallow hard. “That’s good. Should we come up with a plan to avoid each other? We can claim different parts of town, but I’m warning you now, the south side is mine. There’s this little brewery I like, and I dominate trivia night there.”
Okay, maybe not dominate, but I’m a great cheerleader. My brother leads our team, and I chant him on while he uses that big brain of his. It’s become our special tradition, and I would be sad to see it go.