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I snort.
Hadleigh: Doubtful, but thanks for the confidence boost.
I order a shot of tequila and am well on my way to tipsyville. Since it’s Saturday evening, Ubers are taking longer than usual. Traffic’s a bitch on a regular night, but on the weekend, it’s impossible to get around downtown without being in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Ten minutes later, the bartender brings me a margarita. Just as I’m about to tell him I didn’t order that, he nods his head to my right.
“From the gentleman at the end,” he says, then walks away.
Looking over, I see a shadow of a man dressed in a nice shirt. I lick my lips as I contemplate what to do. The lighting is dimmed, so I can’t make out his features. I raise my glass to say thank you, then suck on the straw. I’m in no mood to be hit on right now.
Minutes later, I feel a presence behind me, and my body stiffens as I set my drink down.
“Need a ride?” His whisper covers my ear.
I spin around and gasp when I see him.
“What are you doin’ here, Knox?”
My heart pounds, both excited and annoyed.
“Heard you needed a knight in shining armor to rescue you,” he states confidently, sitting next to me.
I huff. “And they sent you?”
Goddammit, Harper.
He shrugs, then leans in to brush loose strands of hair off my face. “I actually came to crash your date. The thought of you with another man made me feral.”
My brows shoot up, but I remind myself not to get too excited. This is Knox after all. He’s the one who walked away.
“Well, you’re too late. I already fucked him in the bathroom and said good night,” I tell him dryly.
He turns my stool toward him, caging my legs between his thighs.
“Bullshit. You look too put together to have been royally fucked. Either he was a boring lay or you’re lying to me. So which is it?”
I roll my eyes, sipping my drink. “Why do you even care? Why are you here?”
As he sucks in his bottom lip, I lower my eyes down his body. Knox is dressed to the nines in a button-up shirt and nice dark-wash jeans that fit him like a glove. His facial hair is neatly trimmed, and he smells so damn good that I’m tempted to lean in and inhale his scent.
“I needed to see you. We have some unfinished business.”
“Oh we do, do we? Because the last update I got, you weren’t talking to me and told me to go be with Kane.”
“I may have said some things I didn’t mean,” he admits. He’s calm while my body is nearly shaking with nerves.
“I got scared when you didn’t pick me. You initiating a threesome made me think you couldn’t choose or didn’t want to. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it, because I fucking did, but when I sobered up, my head was messed up. Seeing you with Kane made me realize how much I wanted to be with you and how afraid I was to lose you. So I pushed you away to avoid getting hurt even more. I thought making the decision for you was doing us both a favor.”
I’m stunned into silence. Maybe it’s the buzz hitting me, but my throat goes completely dry.
He leans in closer, grabbing my hands from my lap. “I’ve never wanted anything serious before you, Hads. I know you have reservations about me being able to commit, and I don’t blame you for thinkin’ I can’t do it. But if you gave me the chance, I’d spend every day proving that you’re the only one for me.”
“For years, I’ve wanted you,” I confess, letting his fingers drag along my leg. “But I was too scared to lose my best friend, scared to fall for you, and scared that I’d screw everything up between the three of us. After that night, I knew I didn’t have the same feelings for Kane as I do for you. After the party, I selfishly wanted that experience with him anyway, knowing we both needed it. You sharing it with us made it even more special to me. I was hoping we’d talk the morning after and clear the air, but you made your choice before we could.”
“Is that why you were on a date with another man?” He arches an aggravated brow, and I hold back a smile.
“We’re just friends,” I tell him. “He’s new in town and didn’t want to go to the show alone.”
“So he didn’t touch you?”
“Would you be angry if I said he did?” I taunt, holding my head up high.
Without a beat, he responds, “I’d break his fuckin’ fingers off.”
Chuckling, I rest my hand over his. “There’s nothin’ between us because you’re more of his type than me. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
