Page 16 of Wild for the Knight

My fingers drum against the steering wheel, the steady hum of the tires on the highway is the only soundtrack playing at the moment. So, naturally, like any good friend would, it’s time to annoy her while we’re locked in the car. “If you had to be haunted by a ghost who only caused minor annoyances, who would you choose?”

––––––––

Her head slowly turns toward me like I just asked her to sign her life away to one of those timeshare salesmen. “What?”

“Oh, come on, Tink. Don’t make me repeat myself.” I smirk. “Pick one.”

She exhales with such force it’s like she’s considering throwing herself out of the moving car instead of indulging me, but she finally says, “I don’t know... Maybe some romance author who follows me around dramatically reciting declarations of love at the worst possible time.”

My eyes crinkle at the corners as I chuckle. “Yeah, that’s fitting.”

Her eyebrow hikes in my direction, arms crossing over her chest. “What would your answer be?”

“Easy peasy.” I don’t even have to think about it, maybe because I’ve thought about it on one of the many aimless rides I’ve taken to clear my head. “Some dude from the 1800s who’s really confused by modern technology. The possibilities to mess with him are endless.”

She shakes her head, but I swear I catch her trying to smother her smile. “You’re insufferable.” That I am. Okay, time for the next one.

“If you had to fight one farm animal to the death, which one would you pick?” She blinks at me like I’ve finally lost it. “Farm animal. Mano y Mano. No weapons, just your bare hands, and pure willpower.”

“What is wrong with you?” She rubs her temples, which lets me know my little game is working.

I shrug. “My brain’s gotta entertain itself somehow.”

“Oh, you have one of those? I thought you missed that line when God made you.”

One second, I’m trying to annoy her because it’s my favorite pastime at the moment. The next she fires back so quickly it knocks the wind out of me. Before I can stop it, I laugh. Not just a scoff or the challenging smirk I throw her way when she’s being more abrasive than normal. A real laugh. One that shakes loose in my chest like it’s been dying to see the light of day, buried under fortified layers of trust issues and stubbornness.

I shake my head, trying to wipe the grin off my face. But I can’t deny that it felt good to laugh like that. Something in me unlocks, a tightness I didn’t even realize had a hold on me, eases for the first time in, well, longer than I’d like to admit. “Well played, but I’m gonna need an answer.”

“I’m not answering that,” she says to her window as she watches the trees pass by on the side of the highway.

“Pretty please!” I push, “I’m not above begging. This is a life or death scenario we're talking about here.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Fine,” I say, “But just know if a random goat attacks you, I’m not stepping in.”

She turns her head to face me, her eyes half-lidded as she gives me the most annoyed stare I’ve ever seen from her. I let the silence stretch for exactly ten Mississippi’s before I hit her with, “Follow-up question. If I was being attacked by a goat, would you save me, or let nature take its course?”

Her eyes fall shut as she mutters, “Give me strength” under her breath. When her eyes open again, she deadpans. “I’d let the goat win.”

I gasp, the back of my hand meeting my forehead in the most dramatic fashion I can muster while driving a car at eighty miles an hour. “You’re heartless, Knight.” She shakes her head, but that time, a smile blooms. It’s a soft, closed-mouth one, but it’s something, and I’ll take it.

That wasn’t as hard as I thought it’d be. In fact, talking with Abby is almost easier than talking to my brother, and that’s saying something considering he could talk to a brick wall. Something about her when she’s unguarded like this pulls at the carefree part of me, the part of me that wants to throw caution to the wind and do whatever the heck I want. Maybe she just knows I need a friend.

“Come on! You’re taller than me, why can’t you just hang it up?” She whines as the ‘Hannah and Greyson’s Last Rodeo’ banner hangs in her hands.

Simple, I get great satisfaction from watching you struggle. “Because this was on the ‘Maid of Honor’ duties list, not mine.” Her head tilts back, her eyes finding a spot on the wooden beams that line the ceiling as she takes a few deep breaths, her chest heaving and her long, slender neck on full display. My intrusive thoughts are telling me to go over and bite it, but I smother those thoughts quickly.

There’s a frown on her face when she finally looks back at me. “Fine, go do whatever ‘Best Man’ duties you have then. Stop micromanaging me.”

I don’t need to be told twice. I walk into the room Hannah and my brother are sharing, and I hang up the picture of them from when she first told him she loved him. She’s leaning over the railing while he’s standing on the other side in full hockey gear. He puts this picture everywhere he can get away with.

He says it’s a reminder of “the best day of my life.” The one where he knew there was no going back. He was going to marry this woman or die single. Luckily, it didn’t come to the dying single part. Hannah didn’t even let him get the full question out before she tackled him into the sand and peppered his face with kisses. He’s got those pictures everywhere, too. His apartment is just a Hannah shrine at this point.

When I’m finally done with my half of the list, I walk into the bathroom and realize there are two doors, and my curiosity gets the better of me. Pulling open the door opposite ohe one I just came through, I’m met with a shrill “Sheesh Tatum! What the hell?”

This is a joke, right? Not only do I have to be in the same house as her for a week, but I have to share a bathroom with her, too? One semi-decent car ride doesn’t all of a sudden make us besties, I still can’t stand the woman. Which is why my plan makes sense. Slamming her door, I lock it before hopping in the shower. It’s been a long day, and my annoyance just shot up tenfold.