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Chapter Thirteen

K nox

I’ve finished my workout and changed the sheets on my bed. It’s not that I expect us to end up there, but I needed to do something. The cleaning lady just changed them on Thursday, but again, I needed something to do.

Now, I’m sitting in the living room, staring at Sports Network, which I have muted on the television, waiting for her to get here. I told her she didn’t have to text me, and I meant that, but this waiting is going to kill me.

It’s a few minutes after eight when I hear a soft knock at the door.

I scramble to my feet, and my phone and the remote that were on my lap fall to the floor.

I don’t bother to pick them up as I race to the front door.

I take a calming breath and pull it open, only to have that same breath pulled from my lungs at the sight of her.

“Hey.” She waves and holds up a bag. “I brought breakfast. I know you eat healthy and probably had a shake or something, but I’m starving, so I guessed what you might want.”

She’s standing before me in a pair of athletic shorts and a tank top, and her hair is pulled up in a messy knot.

She’s standing in my doorway, looking more beautiful than I’ve ever seen her.

She’s not putting on a show, getting all dressed up and slathering her face with makeup. I don’t even think she’s wearing any.

She’s just Corie.

She’s here to see me, just Knox.

No games. No pretenses.

Stepping forward, I slide my arm around her waist, rest my palm against her cheek, and kiss her. I have to. I have to show her that I’m glad she’s here. I have to taste her again, because I didn’t get to last night. So, instead of a goodbye kiss, she’s getting one hell of a hello.

Pulling out of the kiss, I grab her hand that’s not holding the bag of food and lead her inside.

I take us straight to the couch, where I sit, and pull her onto my lap.

This time, I don’t have to behave. I can let my hands linger in places they’ve craved to touch every other time we’ve been in this position.

“Knox, we have to eat,” she says, squirming as I bury my face in her neck.

“You can eat right here.”

“I want you to eat with me.”

“Okay. What ya got for us, Corie girl?” I pull my face from her neck. She tries to stand, and I hold on just a few seconds longer before I release her, letting her move to sit next to me.

“Egg white whole grain English muffin with cheese and bacon, and a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel for me.” She smiles as she reaches into the bag and hands me my sandwich.

“Thank you.” Leaning over, I press a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

“Maybe I should bring you breakfast every day. That’s quite the greeting.”

“It was too long,” I say, unwrapping my sandwich to take a bite.

“What was too long?”

“Between kissing you. Far too long,” I grumble.

She smiles, and her beautiful green eyes sparkle with happiness. “It wasn’t even twenty-four hours.”

“I know, but it’s been months denying that I wanted to kiss you. Months of wishing I could, so yeah, even if it was less than twenty-four hours, it was too long.”

“I guess we should figure out how to make up for lost time.” She smiles shyly.

“I get you all day, right?”

“You do. Landry was still in bed when I left. I left a note for him, letting him know Sloane and I were having a girls’ day.”

“So, when do you have to go home?”

She shrugs. “I don’t have a curfew or anything. I’m an adult. I can stay out as long as I want.”

“So, what I’m hearing is that you’re spending all day and night here,” I say, taking another bite of my sandwich.

“Is that what you want?”

“I want to kiss you. I want to hold you and not feel like I’m breaking ten laws in the process. I want to spend time with you without being under a microscope of eyes watching us.”

“Let’s just take it one step at a time.”

“One breath, one second, one minute, one hour, one day at a time,” I mumble.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing, just something my parents used to say growing up.”

“Are you close to your parents?”

“I am. We have this huge extended family that’s not family by blood, but they might as well be. It was a lot of fun growing up, always having a lot of people around for pretty much everything.”

“I always wondered what it would be like to have a big, loud family. It was just Landry, me, and our parents. Our dad died when I was five and Landry was twelve.”

“Landry’s told me a little about that. What a tragic accident.”

“It was. Mom was both parents to us, and then we lost her.”

“Another freak accident.” I reach over and place my hand on her knee, squeezing gently.

“Yeah, I mean, not as freak as getting a steel beam dropped on you from three stories up, but the knee surgery was supposed to be in and out. We never could have anticipated the blood clot complication.” She sucks in a breath and wipes at her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She gives me a watery smile. “You didn’t. I get like this when I talk about them. I still miss them every day.”

“I imagine you will every day of forever. I kind of know a little bit about that, but it’s a different story altogether.”

“Yeah?” she asks, wadding up her empty wrapper and tossing it into the bag.

“I don’t really talk about this because, in my eyes, all I’ve ever known is my mom, you know?”

“You don’t have to tell me, Knox.”

“I want to tell you.” She scoots closer to me and links her arm through mine, resting her head on my shoulder.

“I’m a good listener, and I promise your story is safe with me.”

“I know that.” I place a kiss on her temple and give her the condensed version.

“My mom, she’s actually my aunt.” I wait for the judgment that usually comes with that statement, but it never comes, so I keep going.

“My mom and my aunt were adopted at birth by different families. They didn’t know they were twins.

” I go on to tell her the rest of the story and how my parents ended up together.

“Wow, talk about fate.”

“I know. I truly feel as though there was some kind of higher force or power pulling the strings. There had to be. I was just a baby, so I only know what they’ve told me, but it seems too out of reach for that not to be the case.”

“That’s actually really fucking cool, Knox. You have that connection to her.”

“I know. I wish I could have met my birth mother at an age I could remember her. I have one picture of the three of us—the day I was born. That’s it.

She passed right after it was taken. There was never a day I didn’t feel loved or wanted.

My parents supported me and my dream of this career.

Countless practices, games, and gear, they did it all, and I have them to thank for me being where I am today. ”

“I love that,” she says, covering her yawn.

“Tired?” I tease.

“I am. It took me forever to fall asleep last night.”

“Me, too, and then I was wide awake at four this morning.”

“What? Why in the world were you up so early?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Oh, okay,” she says as she stiffens beside me.

“It’s not at all anywhere close to what you’re thinking. I can promise you that.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you.

” I pause, and when she doesn’t respond, I can’t take the silence or the fact that she assumes it was someone else who had me awake at the ass-crack of dawn.

“You,” I say softly. “I was up at 4:00 a.m. because I was too damn excited to see you today. I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve felt like this, Corie.

” There, it’s out on the table. I’m not a man who likes to play games…

unless it’s football. You can count me out.

I also don’t want to come on too strong, but these feelings swirling inside me are too big to contain, and I’d rather spill my truth than have her thinking something different.

Miscommunication is not how I want this, whatever we are, to start.

“I guess now is a good time to tell you I was wide awake for the same reason.”

“Come here.” I pull her onto my lap and wrap my arms around her. We sit together for I don’t know how long, just hugging one another. When she finally pulls away, she has a bashful look on her face.

“Do you want to take a nap?” she asks shyly.

“With you? Yes. I’m not a napper, but I could definitely sleep today.”

She stands and stares at the couch as if she’s working out the logistics of how this nap is going to happen in her head.

“I have blackout blinds in my room. It helps when we get in late after an away game. Sleep is important, just as much as working out regularly. We could go in there. Just to nap.”

She nods. “Just to nap.”

Not giving her time to change her mind, even though she still can, I stand and link her fingers through mine.

Bending over, I grab my cell phone, which is still on the floor, but leave the remote for later.

With her hand in mine, I move to make sure the front door is locked and then guide her back to my bedroom.

“Do you need something to sleep in?” I offer.

“No, this is fine. Thanks, though.” She kicks off her flip-flops and stares at the bed.

“Get in, Corie girl. I’m going to handle the blinds.”

“What, you don’t have them on some kind of fancy remote?” she teases.

“No, but when I buy a house, not just this condo, that’s definitely going to happen.”

“You don’t like condo life?” she asks.

“Honestly, I was young when I was drafted. I waited to finish my degree, and this condo seemed like a sweet deal at the time. A young, single guy fresh out of college and new to the league. I knew it wasn’t going to be my forever home, but it has four bedrooms, which means there’s lots of room for my family to stay with me when they’re in town. ”

“Aw, Knox Beckett, you’re a big ole teddy bear, aren’t you?” she teases.

I shrug. “I guess I am, for the people I love.”