Chapter 42

The morning sun was a warm, golden kiss on my face, its orange glow seeping through my closed eyelids. The sound of a throat being cleared to my right was accompanied by the cool caress of the morning breeze on my skin.

Reluctantly, I opened my eyes, squinting against the brightness, my hand acting as a makeshift visor. My mom and Delilah stood before me, their arms crossed, weight shifted onto one hip, and a single eyebrow arched in amusement.

Beside me, Knox was still lost in slumber, his head heavy against mine. Damn it, we’d fallen asleep on the sofa.

“Well, don’t you two look comfy,” my mom said, barely suppressing a laugh.

I groaned and pulled the blanket over my head, causing Knox to stir. He tugged the blanket back, planting a kiss on my cheek and pulling me closer. I froze, our mothers’ eyes widening in surprise.

“Morning, baby doll,” he murmured, his eyes still closed, oblivious to our audience.

“Well, good morning to you too, son,” Delilah said, her eyes sparkling with delight at the sight of us.

Knox’s eyes snapped open at the sound of his mother’s voice. He turned to face her, his eyes mirroring the playful glint in hers.

“Uh, morning, Mom, Annie... Um, morning,” he stammered, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

“You’ve said that already, sweetie. But I hope we aren’t interrupting anything here?” Delilah’s voice was laced with cheeky insinuation, suggesting something more had happened between us. But it hadn’t.

Well, it had, but they didn’t know and they would never know.

Deny, deny, deny! That was my strategy. We scrambled to our feet, picking up the blanket that had slipped onto the floor.

“Uh, no, you didn’t interrupt anything. We... just... fell asleep out here last night. That’s all,” Knox assured them, rubbing the back of his head nervously. They didn’t look convinced, but it was true.

They exchanged a look that clearly said, ~Yeah, right. You just slept out here.~ With playful grins, they winked at us. My mom tilted her head up.

“Do I get a morning kiss, Knox?” she teased. Delilah let out a laugh, quickly covering her mouth. They were acting like a pair of schoolgirls.

Knox went over and hugged them both, planting a kiss on each of their cheeks. They gave me a mischievous look, wrapping an arm around him.

I rolled my eyes and shifted my weight, trying to suppress a smile at their antics. I looked up to see Knox standing there in his tight red boxer briefs. Damn, he looked good. An awkward silence fell over us, a silence our mothers seemed to be enjoying.

I couldn’t help but glance at his perfectly sculpted abs. Clearing my throat, I forced my gaze back to his face, which was now focused on me.

“Um - I’m making you breakfast this morning, remember?” I squeaked, pointing at nothing in particular.

He smiled back at me. “You don’t have to, baby doll, I—”

“No, no, it’s fine. I promised,” I interrupted, reaching up to stretch my neck.

I walked past them into the kitchen, taking the mug of hot chocolate from last night with me to clean. It was stained pretty heavily, so I had to soak it. I was just trying to distract myself from the conversation I didn’t want to have with my mom and Delilah.

“Uh, I’m going for a quick shower. I’ll be down in ten!” Knox practically sprinted out of the kitchen and up the stairs, leaving me alone with our mothers.

Thanks, Knox. Thanks a lot.

I whisked up some eggs while the bacon sizzled in the pan, chopping up peppers in the meantime. I heard the screech of chairs and the thud of bodies settling into seats.

I didn’t look up, fearing the questions they might ask. They cleared their throats again, and I instinctively looked up, immediately regretting it.

“Spill it, now!” my mom demanded.

“There’s nothing to spill. We literally fell asleep last night out there. That’s it,” I replied, focusing on the peppers.

“Why don’t I believe you?” she pushed.

“I don’t know. That’s your problem, I guess,” I shrugged.

“Alex, you can tell us,” Delilah coaxed.

“Mom, seriously, there’s nothing to tell. We just sat out there and fell asleep. So move on,” I said, sprinkling the peppers and bacon bits into the eggs and shredding spinach over the pan.

“I will get it out of you if it’s the last thing I do,” my mom threatened.

“Good luck getting nothing out of me,” I retorted.

“I will get you drunk,” she said, shocking me with her willingness to use alcohol to get me to spill the beans. Shit, she knew me too well. I was too honest when I was drunk.

She knew that I knew that she knew this. There’s a mind fuck for you. I rolled my eyes and laughed, covering the omelet so it could cook properly.

“Whatever, Mom. You’ll still get nothing from me because nothing happened.”

“Sure it didn’t, sweetie,” Delilah interjects, joining the conversation unfolding over the kitchen counter.

“I know my boy. I’ll get it out of him one way or another. He looked far too nervous for nothing to have happened. Plus, that kiss wasn’t just nothing. You two were cuddling each other when we woke you up. So... we have a right to assume something happened.”

“I’m sure he thought I was someone else when he did that, and I was cold last night so yeah... but you can assume all you want. I can assure you nothing happened.”

I pivot to face them, leaning back against the counter, meeting their challenging stares head-on.

“He said ‘morning, baby doll’,” she retorts, reclining in her seat with a confident air, her arm draped over the back of it. Both of them are comfortably ensconced in their pajamas, a housecoat wrapped around their petite bodies.

“He probably calls other girls ‘baby doll’—”

“You’re the only girl he calls ‘baby doll’. You are the only person he has a nickname for.”

“Pfft, I’m sure he has other nicknames for other girls you don’t know about, Delilah,” I dismiss, waving off the ridiculous statement that’s clearly not true.

“I beg to differ. Ask him.”

“I’m good, I—”

“Ask me what?” he interrupts, entering the room shirtless once again, clad in swimming shorts, his hair still damp from the shower.

I shoot him a look to keep quiet and quickly reply, “Nothing. Here’s your breakfast. I’m going up to change and then heading down to the beach.”

“Thanks, baby doll, looks good. You’d make a good housewife,” he teases, taking a bite of the omelet.

Smirking at me, I roll my eyes and retort, “So would you, Knox. You could even start a book club—”

“Oh, that reminds me! Alex, would you like to join our book club?” My mom interrupts me, a serious expression on her face. Is she serious?

“What? Mom, last time I went to your book club, I read the entire book sitting there listening to you discussing how sexy you thought Mr. Grey was... let me tell you, I’m not reading the sequel. I’m not reading another erotic novel with you horny bitches again. Most disturbing thing to ever witness!”

“Oh come on, sweetie, it wasn’t that bad! Plus, you could learn a few things from it,” she nudges her head in Knox’s direction, making me blush with embarrassment.

I slap my hands onto my face to cover it, but it’s not helping.

“Seriously, Mom? If you’re so obsessed with Knox, why don’t you tie him up and go all dominatrix on him? I’m sure it’s not his first time.”

Knox begins to choke on his food, slapping his chest so he can breathe again.

“Don’t mind if I do, but I don’t want to be stepping on your territory,” she winks, and both our eyes widen at the fact that she just said Knox was my territory.

She did not just say that. Then he begins to smirk at my mom. Don’t say a damn word!

“Oh, Annie, I’m flattered. Who knew you could be so kinky. But I don’t like whips, not my thing, and I’ll be the one doing the tying up.” He winks, stirring the pot, and I glare at him.

Not helping right now, you Neanderthal!

“Oh, sweetie, there’s no need to be jealous. You know I’m only kidding around,” she winks at me, and I roll my eyes, groaning in frustration.

“And you—” she points at Knox, “you couldn’t handle this, honey,” she smiles sweetly, trailing her finger down the side of her body. My mom, ladies and gentlemen, the biggest flirt you’ll ever meet.

I’m so done. He’s winding this box up, and I’m about to hit him on the back of the head if he doesn’t keep his mouth shut.

“Zip it, Mom, and you—” I point at Knox, who is staring at me all angelic—furthest thing from it—“you need a muzzle to shut that trap of yours.”

“You know, baby doll, there are other ways—”

“Stop it! Don’t you dare finish that sentence. I’m going upstairs away from this ‘talk’ and put a damn shirt on! Nobody wants to see that!” I use my fingers to quote the word ‘talk’, pointing at his body, and leaving the kitchen.

After changing into my bikini, I get a knock on the door. I turn to see Adam smiling in the doorway, both hands resting on the frame, swinging his leg back and forth.

“Hey there, cutie pie!” I scoop him up into my arms, hugging him tightly.

“Alex, are you mad at Knox?”

My eyebrows shoot up, and I stare at him, confused as to where that came from.

“Um, no—did he send you up here to find out if I was mad at him?” He stares at me, thinking hard about whether to rat his uncle out or not.

But he smiles wider, wraps his arms around my neck, and rests his little head on my chest. I’ll take that as a yes.

“Ugh, Adam! Not what we talked about, buddy. You were meant to get an answer and not give in to her,” I hear his voice around the corner, making his way into sight.

He stands at the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms folded, making his arms look bigger, still with no shirt on.

Looking up to his face, thank God he’s not looking at me, or else he would’ve seen me checking him out. He’s pretending to glare at Adam, who is giggling at his poor attempt to be mad at him. You cannot be mad at this kid.

“So you used your nephew to see if I was annoyed at you?” I ask him, capturing his attention.

“Pretty much, yeah. Don’t give me that look. He uses me to get to you all the time, you know this!” Adam’s enthusiastic nod sends me into a fit of laughter, coaxing a smile from Knox.

I return the smile, bending down to grab the lotion from my bed. With Adam in my arms, I walk past Knox and head downstairs.