Page 65 of Ruthless Edge

It's not the laugh I expected. It's not teasing or deflecting. His jaw tightens. His eyes go flat in a way I've never actually seen on Knox, who is usually expressive to the point of transparency. He sets down his fork.

"Why?" he asks.

I blink. "What?"

"Why would you do that?" Not a question. More like he's working something out and not enjoying where it's going. "With all your options. Why would you pick Owen for something meaningless?"

"I—"

"You deserve better than that." His voice is even, which is worse than if it weren't. "Owen doesn't know you. He's been around for what, five weeks? He shows up, decides he wants you, and you're just—" He stops. Looks at the table. "You should have higher standards than that. You should be with someone who knows you and cares about you."

There's a silence.

I look at Knox Carter sitting across from me at a table with a lake view, completely serious, telling me my standards are too low.

"I was joking," I say.

He looks up.

"I'm not sleeping with Owen."

Something moves through his face. The tightness goes. Not all of it, but enough that it's visible. He exhales like he's been holding that breath for the last thirty seconds, and I watch it happen, and there is absolutely nothing ambiguous about what I'm seeing.

"Oh," he says.

"Yeah."

He picks up his fork again. "Okay."

"You were jealous," I say.

"I was concerned."

"You were jealous and you were also being a hypocrite."

He looks at me.

"You don't get to have opinions about who I'm sleeping with," I say. "Not when you're sleeping with Laura."

Knox goes very still.

"I'm not sleeping with Laura."

"Yeah, okay⁠—"

"Emma, I'm not. I've never slept with Laura. Nothing has ever happened between me and Laura. Not once."

I look at him. I'm looking for the tell, the slight shift that happens when someone is lying. I don't find one.

"She's constantly with you," I say.

"She hangs around the hockey team. She knows everyone on the roster."

"She hangs around you specifically."

"She talks to everyone."

I put down my fork. "Let me list some things," I say.