Page 34 of Save Me

“I think it’s really pathetic, but when you’ve got nothing else to entice with, I guess desperate measures are needed.” She sighed dramatically. “I can’t believe you’ve got Knox fooled. He’s pretty good at sniffing out bullshit. I guess jailbait pussy can make even a man like Knox overlook shit.”

The bigger person would have walked away. I had been good and let her get away with treating me poorly multiple times.Kill with kindness, as my mother would have said. For a split second, I’d debated taking the moral high ground, but then she’d brought Knox into it. “I thought I had nothing else to entice with?” There was nothing I could do about the irritation in my voice. My patience with her had tapped out. “So which is it? Am I pretending to be a little broken girl or am I only holding their attention with my jailbait pussy?”

Her face tightened up with anger.

“I get that you have a thing for Knox, but you’re a grown-ass woman,” I snapped. “Get control of your jealousy and stop trying to tear me down because of it.”

“You’re right. I am a woman,” she seethed, stepping closer. “And Knox is a man. You’re just a girl still in high school.”

Well, that added to the list of crap I shouldn’t have been insecure about. I’d told myself I wouldn’t compare myself to her when it came to her flawless beauty. I didn’t, despite all my nasty scars. However, I’d never thought I would have to worry about age. Knox had said he didn’t see me as a child, but that didn’t change the fact that Stephanie was closer to Knox in age. I hated how much that bothered me.

“Shiloh,” Knox’s grumbly voice sounded from behind me.

Stephanie looked past my shoulder and took a step back with a megawatt smile. “Knox, I didn’t see you there. I was just checking on your friend.”

I glanced over my shoulder, finding Knox standing a few feet behind me. He had bandages clutched in his hand. His schooled expression made him appear calm. The fury burning in his eyes told me differently.

“Checking on her?” he said, giving her a puzzled look that was almost genuine.

Stephanie flicked her pretty blonde hair off her shoulder. “Yeah.”

“What did she say?” he asked her.

Her smile dimmed a little. “What?”

Knox moved closer, stopping to stand next to me, his gaze never leaving Stephanie. “You said you were checking on her. I assume she told you how she was doing. What did she say?”

“Oh—uh,” she stammered, her smile completely gone. “She said she was fine.”

Knox looked at me. The way his searing gaze bored into my eyes made me feel exposed—like he was reading everything I was feeling like a book. “She doesn’t look fine.”

Stephanie briefly glanced at me. “I suppose she doesn’t.”

Knox’s signature frown surfaced as he looked back at her. “Maybe she’s putting on a bullshit act?”

I watched the blood drain from Stephanie’s face.

“Not that it matters to me,” he said, his tone turning cold. “Apparently all I care about is what’s between her legs.”

Panic filled her wide eyes. “Knox—”

“Don’t bother,” he snapped at her. “I heard everything.”

“I—” she started to say.

“You should leave,” he cut her off again.

Hurt molded her features and a tiny part of me actually felt bad for her. She barreled past us, storming toward the door. She barely slowed to scoop up her purse that was on the table next to the couch. We both stood there, in silence, watching her exit until the front door slammed behind her.

“Where were you going?” Knox asked, the icy rage still lingering in his voice.

“I feel a headache coming on and was going to see if I had medicine in my purse.”

“I have medicine in my bathroom. You should have stayed put,” he snapped.

I turned to face him fully. “Are you mad at me for not being psychic?”

Keelan chose that moment to come inside from the backyard. He looked from me to Knox, reading the tension, and wisely stayed quiet.