Chapter 26
Knox
“How come I can’t go dancing with you?” Finn pouts on my bed.
“Because you have to be a grown-up to get into the bar.”
Finn flops backward. “I can’t wait to be a grown-up.”
“What if I promised you a dance party tomorrow night?”
Finn bolts back up. “Really? With Farrah too?”
“We can ask her if she’s available.” I won’t object to seeing her two days in a row.
I’ve found myself missing her since last weekend.
We’ve texted a couple of times since I embarrassed myself on her couch, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her with my attention.
The first couple of texts I sent were met with enthusiastic responses, but as my communications slowed, her responses got shorter.
I have a feeling I took the wrong approach to this whole situation.
“I’ll ask Mimi if we can have a dance party at her house.”
“That’s a great idea, buddy. Come on, we need to get going if we’re going to pick up Farrah before we drop you off.”
Finn races down the stairs to get his shoes on and slides his backpack onto his shoulders. I send Farrah a text letting her know we’re on our way. She sends me a thumbs-up emoji in response. What are the chances she isn’t pissed about me keeping my distance this week?
Minimal.
I internally wince at my stupidity. I made her come and then practically ghosted her. Who would want that?
A riot of color on the side of the road has me slamming on the brakes as I pull off the road.
“What’s going on?” Finn’s shaky voice makes me feel bad.
“Sorry, buddy. I wanted to do something for Farrah. Give me just a second.”
Jumping out of my truck, I head toward the ditch where a swath of wildflowers is growing. I pull out my pocketknife and cut a handful of stems. They look a bit bedraggled, but hopefully the sentiment is enough.
Back in the truck, I gently place the flowers in the passenger seat.
“Good idea, Dad. She’ll like those.”
“Glad you think so, bud. I think she might be mad at me.”
“Why’s that?”
“I made a mistake and should’ve done something differently.”
“You always tell me that if I own up to the mistake and try to fix it, then it’s okay. But lying or pretending like it didn’t happen will make it worse.”
I breathe out a laugh. Who knew I’d be getting solid relationship advice from my six-year-old? “You’re right. I’ll apologize and try to do better next time.”
By the time we pull into Farrah’s driveway, I’m feeling prepared to address my screwup. I leave the truck running as I grab the flowers and head up to knock on the front door.
While I wait, I rehearse what I’m going to say to her.
Every line goes straight out of my head when she opens the door.
“Fuck me,” I breathe. She’s got on a sleeveless floral sundress that’s tight around her breasts and waist. It flares out around her hips, and I can imagine the skirt twirling up when she spins.
Her dark hair has been braided into a crown around her head, and I try to make a mental note not to mess it up with my hands.
That is, if she lets me touch her after making an ass out of myself.
“You look beautiful, Princess.”
Her cheeks flush, and she looks down at her feet.
“I think I messed up this week. I thought you might want distance from me after what happened the other night, but I should have asked you what you wanted.”
Farrah’s gaze flies up to mine, her jaw dropping as she stares at me.
“I brought you these as an apology. I cut them from the side of the road, so they’re a little messy.” Holding out the flowers, I cringe at how sad they look.
I expect Farrah to make me work a little harder for her forgiveness, but she takes the flowers from me and then crooks her finger for me to come closer.
“I don’t want distance from you, Knox. It’s just the opposite, actually, which freaks me out a bit, but I’m trying to lean in to the feeling instead of running away from it.
Thank you for your apology.” She lifts onto her toes and kisses me.
I wrap my arm around her waist to pull her closer when she tries to move away.
I use this kiss to apologize a second time, trying to convey how I feel about her.
When I lift my head, I revel in how dazed she looks.
She shakes it off, a smile growing across her face. “Let me go put these in water. I’ll be right back.”
I close the door to keep the cooler air inside and lean against one of her front porch columns to wait.
It only takes her a few minutes to finish up, and then I’m leading her to the truck.
My big paw of a hand rests at the small of her back, reminding me of how my fingers almost touch when I grip her hips.
Think of something else, Knox Waters. I’m not about to sport a boner in front of my son.
I help Farrah into the truck and then dart around the front to get in on my side. I catch the end of Finn’s question.
“—he apologized?”
Farrah grins at me as I roll my eyes. “He apologized.”
“Good. I told him if he owned up to his mistake, then you would forgive him.”
With her gaze still on me, she responds, “I forgive him.”
The rest of my worry dissipates with her words. I don’t really deserve her forgiveness this easily, but I’ll take it.
By the time we’re rolling down Muriel and Stan’s driveway, Finn has us both dying of laughter. He’s been telling corny jokes almost the whole drive. Each one has gotten sillier than the last, which has only made us laugh harder. At this point, he’s just making shit up and then laughing at himself.
Holt and Gia are standing on the porch, talking with Mrs. Basil. I’m glad we’re not going to be the last people to get to the bar.
Farrah helps Finn out of his seat, and he takes off running. “Mimi! Can we have a dance party tonight?”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea, Finny. Head on inside and ask the others if they want to do that too.”
He starts to head inside, but I clear my throat. He freezes, turning with a sheepish smile on his face. He runs back to me, and I lift him into my arms.
Finn squeezes me hard. “Love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too, buddy. Have fun tonight. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow.” I set him down so he can run inside, but he hugs Farrah first. She’s shocked for half a second before she hugs him back. When he’s done saying goodbye, he heads to the front door.
“You guys have fun tonight,” Mrs. Basil says with a wink. She turns to head inside, leaving the four of us by our cars.
“Does anyone else feel like their mom just gave them permission to have sex?” Holt asks.
I cough out a laugh. “What?”
Holt’s face is lined with disgust. Gia’s cracking up at him. “It was the wink.”
Farrah starts to giggle. “She definitely knows what you two will be up to tonight.”
Holt groans. “Oh, come on. Now I know that she knows what I’ll be up to.”
Gia rubs his arm. I think it’s supposed to comfort him, but her laughter ruins the effect. “Come on, Cowboy. I have a feeling my plans for you will make you forget all about it.”
Holt perks up as he leads Gia to the passenger door of his truck. “What kind of plans?”
“Guess you’ll have to wait and see.” She smirks at him.
I glance at Farrah. Her cheeks are pink as she looks anywhere else but at Holt, Gia, or me.
“Come on, Princess. Let’s see if we can beat them.” With my hand on her back, I help Farrah into my truck.
We hold hands the whole way to the bar. I’m not used to this sort of emotion. The bubbles of happiness when I’m with her don’t disappear within minutes. They settle in my gut as if they plan to stick around. It’s unfamiliar, but not unwanted.
When I park outside the Howling Wolf, I figure I should give her a warning. “Right, so here’s the deal. I’m not good at dancing. I have zero rhythm and end up looking more spastic than suave.”
Farrah giggles, her eyes sparkling with humor. “I doubt you look spastic. I’m not good at dancing either. Well, I don’t think I am. I’ve never done it before.”
“Just wait. You’ll see what I mean when we get in there.”
Her eyebrows raise. “You’re going to dance with me?”
“If you want me to. You may not once you get a look at my skills.”
Farrah’s expression softens into something I can’t quite pinpoint. “I will. Even if you’re spazzy.”
I glare at her, but a smile creeps onto my face, ruining the effect. I doubt it was working anyway with how Farrah’s laughing at me.
I get out of my truck, rushing over to her side when she starts opening the door before I can get there. We hold hands as we walk into the bar. The loud music washes over us, followed quickly by the din of people talking over each other.
I find Grayson, Emmett, Gwen, Kylie, Holt, and Gia at a table in the back. I’m shocked to see Kylie—I didn’t know she was going to be in town this weekend.
Walking through the bar with Farrah’s hand in mine makes me feel ten feet tall. Until I spot several men checking her out, and a feral part of me wants to punch them in the fucking face for looking at her.
It suddenly hits me that Farrah could have anyone she wanted. All she’d have to do is smile their way, and they’d fall hook, line, and sinker. I’m going to have to step up my game if I have any hope of holding on to the only woman who’s ever made me feel like a piece of me isn’t broken anymore.
Farrah sees me for who I am at my core, and instead of shying away from the jagged pieces of my soul, she’s started gluing them back together.
I’d be an idiot to screw this up, which only leads me to one conclusion.
I have to do whatever it takes to make sure Farrah stays mine.