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After we finalized the details, I hung up. And then I realized what I’d just done. Knox probably wasn’t going to like me making plans for him without his permission. Worried what kind of reaction he was going to have, I stumbled out of bed, fully awake.

But he was already gone. In the kitchen, my coffee was waiting, but today he’d even set out my favorite mug next to it. I made myself some breakfast, ate it, and then cleaned up after myself before he returned.Advertisement

When he finally opened the front door, I was sitting on the couch, the one and only piece of furniture we had in the living room, and sipping on my third cup.

He paused when he saw me.

“Morning,” I offered with a vague smile. “How was your workout today?”

Surprise colored his features, but he finally said, “Fine.” He slowly shut the door behind him, then leaned against it as he eyed me warily. “I’ve been working with a boxing trainer.”

I totally wasn’t expecting him to just volunteer a piece of information, so I almost cried when he did. After a deep breath of barely keeping it together, I nodded. “So you box now?”

He shrugged. “I guess.” He glanced away, and I swear I saw his cheeks flush. “I kind of like it.”

Wow. Two rare gems of information from him...all within thirty seconds of each other, too. This must be my lucky day. “Do you think you’ll take it up professionally?”

“I don’t know,” he mumbled. “Maybe. My trainer seems to think I have promise.”

I smiled, glad he’d found something he liked and was good at. It was a far cry from opening a tree nursery, but he was no longer that boy, and I was slowly adjusting to the person he’d become.

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“Then you should do it,” I encouraged.

He looked at me directly, his brown eyes filled with suspicion. “What’s going on?” he demanded.

Geesh. I had no idea I was so obvious. But...since he was on to me, I just came out and said, “You forgot to tell me we were invited to lunch at Mason and Reese’s house today.”

His features instantly closed down. Lowering his brows, he said, “Because I hadn’t planned on going.”

Oh. Relieved his reason for not telling me wasn’t because he hadn’t wanted me to go with him, I blew out a breath, and almost missed him as he started for his room.

Popping to my feet, I hurried after him. “But what if I want to go?”

“Then go,” he answered without pausing or turning back.

I slowed to a stop, really confused. “You really don’t want to go?”

Finally at the doorway, he glanced back and sighed. “No. Mason acted too weird when he invited me. Felt like some kind of sneak attack.”

“Huh.” I frowned. “You caught that too? I felt the same vibe when Reese called me this morning, which was weird because I’ve rarely spoken to her, and she said she’d never met you before, even though she seemed very eager to. But she’s really not the kind of person who, you know, sneakily attacks people.”

He eyed me a second longer. “So you don’t know what it’s about either?”

“No. I’m super curious now, though. Aren’t you curious?”

Shaking his head, he glanced away. “No, not particularly.”

Well, shit. I huffed out a breath before trying one last vein of coercion. “Will you go with me anyway, so I can find out what’s going on?”

He opened his mouth and I could see a “no” coming, so I pulled out the one last word I had left in my arsenal.

“Please?”

So, we ended up going. I was pretty cheerful the whole ride over, thrilled to know I still had so much pull over Knox, even though he seemed determined to push me away in other areas.

But then he grew tense and his gaze shifty as we approached Reese and Mason’s front door, as if he were looking for a literal sneak attack. It made me feel crappy for forcing him to come.

His level of comfort really went out the window when Reese opened the door.

First thing she did after she pulled us inside was hug him.

Knox stiffened and sent me a shocked glance as if he wasn’t sure what to do. He ended up not hugging her back but allowing her to hug him for as long as she wanted, which was long enough to make me squirm too.

When she pulled away, she was brushing tears out of her eyes as she smiled at him.

“I’m so sorry I’m being such a weirdo. I just...I just really needed to hug you.”

“Okay...” he said slowly.

Mason took her hand and drew her close, and she leaned against him as if seeking his support. pqdm.com