Chapter 7

God, I wanted him.

I wanted him to do exactly what he said—press me against the pantry wall and kiss me until I couldn’t think straight. My hands ached to run over every inch of his body, to memorize every curve, muscle, and scar. I wanted to live out the fantasy of every woman who watched him play on Sundays. I imagined the way his skin would feel under my fingertips—hot, taut, alive.

Being in this pantry, alone with him, brought back the memory of being shoved into that closet for seven minutes in heaven when we were teenagers. Maybe it was time to finally finish that game properly?

~You deserve this. You got cheated on. Have some fun.~

The Devil on my shoulder was winning. I tilted my head slightly, inviting the kiss, as my fingers grazed along the hard line of his bicep. He closed the space between us in an instant, his lips crashing into mine with an intensity that stole my breath.

I gasped into his mouth, my hands running over his chest. It was hard and strong, and I could feel the muscles moving under my touch. His shoulders were big, like a football player's, and I held onto them tightly. I slid my fingers through his hair, surprised by how strong and solid he felt.

He picked me up like it was nothing and I wrapped my legs around his waist. His stomach was hard against me as he moved. He pushed me back against a shelf, and a box of mac and cheese fell to the floor. We didn’t even look.

He held my thighs and kissed me again, both of us breathing hard.

His hands slid under my shirt and touched my skin, making me shiver.

Things got heated fast. Somehow, I was back on the floor and pushing him against the pantry wall. It was getting hard to keep my moans quiet. I wanted more.

I lifted my arms so he could pull the jersey-HIS jersey-over my head.

But then we heard it. Someone in the kitchen.

Breathing hard, we pulled apart and fixed our clothes

Without a word, Knox and I moved apart and went back to the kitchen, to find Andy.

“Jesus Christ! You’re... You’re... Jesus!” Andy squealed, snapping his attention to her. She stood there, stunned at the Greek god standing before her.

“Well, I personally prefer Knox, but I’m cool with Jesus too.” He smirked at her and then turned his focus back to me. He walked over to Andy and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Andy. I’m Knox Carter.”

I swear she was about to pass out from him just touching her. “Oh, I know who you are. I think every girl in the entire world knows who you are,” she blurted out, gawking at his abs.

I went back to cutting strawberries and he walked up behind me, reaching over to grab a fresh one over my shoulder, brushing against me while holding my other shoulder with his hand. His chest pushed up against my back and I was in shock. What was he doing? I could feel the heat radiating off his body onto mine.

“You making enough pancakes for me, baby doll?” he asked, the teasing drawl in his voice sending an involuntary shiver down my spine.

“He really does call you baby doll, like on the card,” Andy said to me with a playful grin, while I glared back at her, continuing to cut the fruit.

I rolled my eyes and told him, “There are literally a dozen restaurants within walking distance that serve pancakes.”

He leaned in like he had a secret. “Yeah, but none of them taste like yours.” His voice dipped, smooth and low. “Yours are the best, baby doll. I love the way they taste.”

The way he said it made my stomach flip, like he wasn’t just talking about pancakes—and he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Cat got your tongue?” he asked, resting his elbows down on the counter space next to me, staring at my side profile. He was too close for my liking.

“Ever heard of personal space?” I retorted, prompting a chuckle and a step closer from him.

“Am I making you nervous?” His face was inching closer to mine.

“No, you’re just irritating me. You do realize the closer you get to me, the closer you are to the knife in my hand, right?”

He smirked down at me. “Still feisty as ever,” he winked at me.

~Why is he acting this way?~

Just then, my brothers and my nieces and nephews came running into view. There were hugs all around, but Lena was the most excited to see me.

“Heeeey Al! Love love love the hair!” She’s such a teenager. I hugged her tight; it had been a while since I’d seen her.

“Hello, doll. Look at you, all grown up. I bet your dad is loving it,” I said sarcastically, catching Cole’s glare as she rolled her eyes.

My brother Cole and Sasha had Lena when they were nineteen in college. They were young, but we all knew they were destined to be together.

Next were the two little rascals, Noah and Eden, who are four and three. I picked them up into my arms—thankfully, they were lighter—and smothered them with kisses too.

“Hello, my two little rugrats! You’re both getting so big,” I said, setting them down. I pointed over to Andy, who was still gawking at Knox. “This is my friend Andy, say hi to her. Noah, is Andy your girlfriend?” They all said hi and waved at her. Noah ran over to her, gave her a hug and a kiss, and then ran back to hide behind me.

Such a charmer, I know. While Eden ran over to Knox and he picked her up with ease.

“Hello, my Princess, what have you got there? Is this for me?” he asked, taking a piece of paper from her that looked like a drawing of some sort.

“Is that me?” I watched her nod, “Am I playing football?” she nodded again. “Can I have a kiss to make your aunt jealous?” she shook her head no, and I laughed so hard.

“I’ve taught her well. Tell me, Knox, how does it feel to be rejected by a three-year-old?” He scowled at me when Eden reached out for me to grab her, which I did while brushing off Knox.

While in my arms, she turned back to him and blew him a kiss, saying, “I love you, Knox.” “Uh, traitor,” I told her, and she gave me her cute confused look.

“Now if you could just teach your Aunt Alex to say that to me, that would be splendid, Princess.”

“That’ll never happen,” I vowed.

My brother Kyle butted in, “Those words will never come out of her mouth in your direction, buddy.”

“We’ll see,” he winked, taking a gulp of water.

Andy pulled me aside. “Your brothers are fucking hot! Lord help me!” she exclaimed, tilting her head back dramatically.

“You ladies talking about me?” Knox called out.

“You wish,” I shot back.

Noah came running over to Andy to ask her to open his juice box, and she did. Kyle couldn’t stop staring at her the whole time.

My mom, having heard the commotion, was finally up. She gave me a hug and said, “It’s so good to have you home, Alex.”

“It’s good to have Andy here too. Finally, we can put a face to the name we’ve heard so much about,” my mom added. Andy beamed and thanked her for the invitation.

“Yeah, but, not that we don’t prefer having you here, Andy, but where’s Drew, sis?” Kyle asked, and I froze. All eyes were on me.

I cleared my throat, gulped down my food, and took a drink because my throat suddenly felt like the Sahara Desert. Looking back up at my mom, I met her sympathetic eyes, silently pleading that I just tell them. I took a deep breath and blurted it out.

“I... I broke up with him.” Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at me as if they’d misheard. They hadn’t.

“Thank God,” Kyle exclaimed.

“Kyle!” my mom scolded him. I was looking down at my food, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Knox tense. Andy placed her hand on top of mine.

Kyle noticed this. “What happened?” he asked. I looked over at Andy, and she nodded supportively at me. Now is the time to tell them, Alex. Oh God, don’t get angry, don’t get angry!

Knox rested his knee against mine, and I felt the heat coming from it. It was oddly comforting, like his way of telling me it was alright.

I closed my eyes and blurted out, “I caught him cheating on me... With another girl... in his bed.”

The screech of a chair at the table allowed me to open my eyes because I knew people weren’t looking at me anymore.

Cole? He looked so red. God help Drew if he ever sees him again. Leaning on the table with his fisted hands, he looked down at the plate that was positioned in front of him.

Exhaling a long, frustrated sigh, Cole gritted out, “I’m going to fucking kill him!” through clenched teeth.

I’d expected Kyle to be the one spewing expletives and looking like a volcano on the brink of eruption, not Cole.

Cole rose from his seat, pacing the floor before finally striding over to me. He placed his hands on my shoulders, bending down until his lips rested on the crown of my head. “He’s a dead man walking, sis,” he murmured, his tone quiet but deadly serious. He kissed my head and shot the boys a knowing look, one I recognized all too well.

“No, Cole! Don’t you dare do anything! Don’t ANY of you do anything to him! Do you hear me?!” I pointed at Cole, then at the rest of them.

“Nobody hurts our little sister, nobody! Stop defending him, Alex!” Kyle retorted.

I shot Kyle a glare as we both rose to our feet. “I’m not defending him, Kyle. Dammit, I just don’t want unnecessary drama. I don’t want everyone knowing that my brothers and their friends beat the crap out of my ex-boyfriend! I want someone to like me and not feel threatened because of what they heard about what happened to the last guy.! Do you hear me?” I choked on the last words, realizing I hadn’t taken a breath in a while.

“I will hurt him so badly in his pretty-boy face,” Kyle grumbled.

I rolled my eyes and said, “Too late for that!” louder than I’d intended.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kyle asked, his tone sharp. “I slapped him,” I confessed, my mother’s gasp from across the table making me jump.

“You what?!” Her tone was angry, and I knew this wasn’t going to end well for me.

“Relax, Mom, that’s nothing compared to what we’re going to do to him,” Kyle interjected.

Then, like word vomit, the rest of the truth spilled out. “I punched him in the nose too,” I admitted.

I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was faint and distant, but it was there. I was ready to head towards it, ready to say goodbye to the world. I could already see the headlines: Mother Throws Kitchen Sink at Daughter, Crushes Her to Death for Slapping Ex. What a way to go.

“You what!?!?” Kyle echoed my mother’s words, his voice ringing out in the silence. I should’ve kept my mouth shut.

Laughter erupted from every corner of the room, except from Andy and my mom. Especially my mom. I was a dead woman.

“Atta girl” Cole boasted proudly.

“Sis, I’m more proud of you right now than when you got your scholarship to UCLA!” Kyle lunged at me, pulling me into one of his infamous bear hugs. Cole joined in, then so did everyone else, turning it into a group hug.

When the laughter finally died down, we all resumed our seats at the table, my mother still glaring at me.

“Did it feel good to punch that son of a bitch?!” Delilah asked, her eyes gleaming.

“Mom!” Knox shouted playfully, making us all laugh again. Even my mom. Maybe she wasn’t pissed anymore.

“You do that again, I will personally make sure no guy comes within a five-mile radius of you! You hear?!” she warned.

Okay, she was definitely pissed. She was all bite and all bark, and she would definitely follow through. I nodded at her, hoping we could leave it at that. And, thank God, we did.