Page 65 of Knot Going Down

“She’s not a game,”he said.“You’re an alpha now. That means you walk away, Knox. If you care about her, you leave her alone.”

And I just fucking stood there with that wilting corsage. Just stood there with my throat tight and heart thudding.

I didn’t go inside. Didn’t see her dress. Didn’t slip the corsage on her delicate wrist. Just got in my car, still covered in her spilled Twilight Daze body splash, and drove until the night blurred into a mess of headlights and guilt, and imagined her standing there, waiting for someone who wasn't coming.

I swallow thickly, looking down at my shoes. “He reminded me of my designation, and yours. He told me if I cared about you, I’d walk away.” My eyes sting, throat tight. “And the worst part is I listened. I was so afraid he was right. That wanting you would hurt you. So I left, thinking I was doing the right thing and fucking hating myself.” When I finally look up, Emily is looking back at me. Our eyes catch and lock. “I’m not a good man, Ly. I’ve done a lot of fucked up shit, but that night… That’s the biggest regret of my life.”

Emily doesn’t say a word. We just share a look, quiet and weighted, something unspoken passing between us like a current, something deep and silent, and I feel it like static in the air.

“Thank you for telling me,” she whispers after several heavy moments.

“I’m so sorry.”

She nods, takes a deep breath, then looks around the room with a small wistful smile that makes hope spring to life in my chest. Until she says, “Where’s Declan?”

I don’t think she meant it to be anything more than a simple question to lighten the mood, but it reminds me where I stand with this group. It felt important to clear the air with Emily, maybe even to let Lucas and Ava in on a story I really hope has more chapters. But now, I just feel spent.

“He said he would meet us there,” Lucas answers.

The kiss Declan gave Lucas before he left didn’t go unnoticed. He did it right in front of me. And it was heated. Intentional. Like a promise and a challenge at once.

“Shall we?” Lucas holds out his elbows, waiting for Emily and Ava to take his arms. Emily wraps her hand gently around his bicep, but not before she gives me a sweet smile.

Fuck, I feel confused right now. I can’t tell if I just gave her the closure she needed or opened a window to let in future possibilities.

Ava flips her hair and doesn’t take Lucas’s offered arm. His expression falls. But I smile at her independence as I open the door, letting Ava leave first, with Emily and Lucas next.

I linger in the doorway a moment longer, watching them go. Emily glances back once, her smile soft. Polite. Warm. Not possessive. Not promising. Just enough to keep me guessing.

Lucas says something low that makes her laugh, and Ava’s dress sways with every confident step, her chin tilted high like she doesn’t need a damn thing from any of us.

And maybe she doesn’t.

Gunner pads over to me with a quiet whine, brushing his head against my thigh like he can feel the weight in my chest. I crouch and scratch behind his ear, letting my fingers linger in his thick fur.

“You’ve got it easy, buddy,” I murmur. “No games. No regrets. Just tummy rubs and jerky treats.”

He licks my knuckle once, warm and steady, then trots back to his spot by the couch like he knows he’s staying.

I stand and take one last look at him, then step through the door, letting it close softly behind me.

It sounds a lot like a line being drawn.

And maybe tonight I’ll finally find out which side of it I’m on.

32

EMILY

Ava looks incredible tonight. Sheisincredible. I can’t stop noticing the way her dress hugs her, the way she carries herself with this magnetic mix of confidence and caution. Like she’s daring us to get close, but terrified we might actually try.

She and Knox move ahead of Lucas and me as we all make our way down the hall toward the elevator.

“She is rather beautiful, no?” Lucas whispers in my ear, slowing his steps so we can talk unheard.

“Oh, um, yes?”

“Is that a question? Are you uncertain?”