Once inside, we passed Stephanie. She watched us walk by with a scowl. Knox carried me down the hall that led to his and Keelan’s rooms. We passed a few closed doors until we came to the end of the hall, where one last door was. Knox opened it and we went inside. It was obviously his bedroom. It was large and full of light. I only got a quick glance, but from what I saw, there was an espresso bedroom set and white linens on the bed.
Knox took me into a connected bathroom and set me on the counter. He flicked the light on and ripped a towel off the rack next to the shower. He grabbed my hand gently and turned it palm-side up. My entire hand was pretty much covered with drying blood. I sniffled as I wiped at my wet cheeks with my other hand.
His gaze shot up to meet mine. “Does it hurt?”
“I’ve been cut worse than this.”
“That’s not what I asked,” he grumbled.
“No. It doesn’t hurt.” I could barely feel it compared to everything else I was feeling.
He wet the towel in the sink and began wiping away the blood around my cut.
“I could have hurt you,” I said.
“I was more worried you’d hurt yourself.”
“Better me than you.”
“Don’t say shit like that,” he snapped and threw the towel in the sink.
More tears slipped from my eyes. “I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt you.”
He stared at me with a pained expression. His hand lifted from his side and cupped my cheek. With my good hand, I touched the back of his as his thumb brushed away a tear rolling down my cheek. I leaned into his palm, desperate for comfort. He must have sensed it because his hand moved behind my neck and he pulled me to him. I laid my forehead against his chest and closed my eyes as his fingers began to knead up the back of my neck to the base of my skull.
It felt so good, I couldn’t hold back from groaning. I hadn’t realized how tense my entire body had been until I slowly started to relax against him. My eyes felt heavy. It would have been so easy to drift off, but panic began to build inside.
I pulled away from him, sitting up straight. He gave me a pensive look as I gently pushed his hand away from my neck. “I’ll fall asleep if you keep doing that.”
“You could use some sleep.”
“It’s Keelan’s birthday—”
“He would understand.”
I stared down at the cut on my hand. It went straight across my lifeline. “Do you think it will scar?”
He sighed through his nose. He knew I was changing the subject, but for once he didn’t call me out. He shook his head. “I don’t think it will.” He moved toward the door. “Keelan has a first aid kit in his bathroom. I’ll be right back,” he told me before leaving.
I looked around. He had a nice, modern bathroom. The vanity had a white marble counter and the cabinet beneath was espresso. The glass shower had black subway tiling and shiny silver fixtures. The only con to his beautiful bathroom was the lack of a tub.
I rubbed my forehead, feeling embarrassed. I hoped I hadn’t ruined Keelan’s birthday. I was trying not to let my insecurities win. I tried not to listen to them or think about how much of a crazy mess Knox probably thought I was.
Feeling a headache coming on, I slid off the counter and left the bathroom to search for my purse. I was pretty sure I had a small bottle of painkillers in it.
As I walked into the living room, heading toward Colt’s room on the opposite end of the house, Stephanie stepped in my way.
Just by the sneer on her face, I knew I wasn’t going to like what was coming.
“You’ve been playing the ‘little broken girl’ act well,” she said.
I frowned. “What?”
“I think it’s really pathetic, but when you’ve got nothing else to entice with, I guess desperate measures are needed.” She sighed dramatically. “I can’t believe you’ve got Knox fooled. He’s pretty good at sniffing out bullshit. I guess jailbait pussy can make even a man like Knox overlook shit.”
The bigger person would have walked away. I had been good and let her get away with treating me poorly multiple times. Kill with kindness, as my mother would have said. For a split second, I’d debated taking the moral high ground, but then she’d brought Knox into it. “I thought I had nothing else to entice with?” There was nothing I could do about the irritation in my voice. My patience with her had tapped out. “So which is it? Am I pretending to be a little broken girl or am I only holding their attention with my jailbait pussy?”