Page 95 of Touch Me, Doc

"Hm, think about it. There's always the shower later," he offered, smiling and kissing me slowly.

My heart just about exploded. Kissing him back, I held onto him tightly, knowing that just as surely as he was there to hold me up with his body, Knox would always be there to comfort me and lift me up, no matter what life threw our way.

It had been a hard month. There were nights when I wasn't sure I could allow myself to sleep because every time I succumbed to that darkness behind my eyelids, I remembered sinking into a pit of fear and uncertainty in that bathroom in Portland. There had been days where being "normal" didn't feel possible.

But Knox had been there for every moment. Every nightmare. Every angry outburst and outpouring of emotion, he'd been there, and he'd been as patient and as steady as only Knox could be. And suddenly, I couldn't go another second without letting him know how he made me feel.

"I love you," I whispered suddenly.

Knox drew back slowly, his gaze gentle and his mouth curved up softly. "You love me?"

I nodded, wetting my lips and hoping I hadn't just made a huge mistake. "I really love you," I doubled down. "You're the most selfless, smart, disgustingly handsome man I know, and I'm utterly obsessed with you."

His smile widened. "What about when I leave my socks next to the hamper?"

"Incredibly, I still love you," I returned, biting my lip.

"Well," Knox said thoughtfully, shifting my weight but not letting me down. "It's a good thing I'm patient, too."

I could feel a Knox-ism coming. Fighting a smile, I asked, "Why is that?"

He leaned in close, and with his voice low, he murmured, "Because I loved you first. I was waiting for you to say it."

"Bull," I challenged, rubbing the side of my nose against his.

"I can prove it." Knox finally let me slide down his body, and once my flats were on the floor, he adjusted my skirt, fixed the tendrils of hair that had escaped my space buns, and then hit the unlock button on the elevator.

"This sounds sneaky," I mused. Knox only gave me a crafty side-eye, and then our elevator reached our floor. The doors opened to a cacophony of sound, and our guests greeted us with a mixture of happy exclamations and suggestive jokes.

Knox held my hand and led me to the living room. "Sorry to delay dinner, but I have to prove Gemma wrong."

Tristan raised his glass of wine. "Say no more." Azura smacked his arm.

Knox led me to the couch where the go-kart game was still pulled up, and when he grabbed the controller, I gave him a dubious eyebrow tilt. "What… does this have to do with… that?"

Our friends had gone silent as they watched Knox click buttons and maneuver to a screen that showed the leaderboard for race times. The list popped up, big and bright with happy characters and fanfare music. The first four names on the leaderboard read:

1.) I

2.) Love

3.) You

4.) More

I rotated an open-mouthed stare to Knox. He grinned back and tossed the controller on the couch. "Still calling bull?"

I tackled him, forcing him to fall back on the couch, and he wrapped his arms around me with a laugh as our friends clapped and jeered and whistled in the background. I didn't even care if we made a spectacle of ourselves. I kissed him hard, wrapping my arms around his neck and letting him pull me against his body on the couch. With our friends laughing and clapping behind us, I pulled away and said, "I really love you. A lot."

Knox pulled me closer, and then with his lips to my ear, he whispered, "Yes, but I love you more."

It's the end but not the finish!