Page 21 of Knight's Last Chance

“What happened with the customer?”

“I married him,” she chuckles. “Turns out, he was a picky bastard who didn’t even drink coffee and just wanted my number. Anyway, take that to your man. If he doesn’t like it, you can get something different. On the house.”

I nod and pay for our food before walking over to Knight. I slide his coffee to him and watch as he takes a sip of it.

“How did you guess?” he asks, his gray eyes boring into mine.

“The owner guessed. Apparently, she can tell someone’s coffee preference by looking at them. I should have trusted her, she guessed mine when I first showed up,” I tell him, digging into the box and taking out a cupcake. I bite into it and force my gaze away from Knight.

I’m stalling.

I know I am, but I am scared of the conversation awaiting us.

Christ knows how long I have waited for Knight to profess his love to me, but now that he’s said it, why am I still afraid?

“I spoke to Priest,” Knight says, and my eyes snap back to his. Suddenly, he has my undivided attention.

“W-what did you say?” I whisper, dropping my half-eaten cupcake back into the box. “I told him we slept in separate rooms at the hotel, so he shouldn’t be too mad at you.”

“He wasn’t mad at me, he was livid,” Knight says, his voice calm, a clear contrast to the storm raging in my head. “I told him that we spent the night together, Rhea. I told him that you’re mine, and I’m never letting you go regardless of what he thinks.”

“What!” I yell, lowering my voice when several heads turn to us. “W-why would you tell him that?”

“Because I have no intentions of lying to my best friend or anyone else for that matter, not when it comes to us, Rhea.”

“But you knew he would get mad at you,” I say, exasperated, then a thought occurs to me. “D-did he hurt you?”

“We fought, I let him get a few hits in to work out his anger, but it’s nothing we haven’t done before.”

Suddenly I realize this is what terrified me about his confession. A part of me realized that by accepting his love, there is a possibility I could create a wedge between Priest and Knight. Even though Priest is my brother, he and Knight have grown up together in the club. They were a family before I came into the picture, and they are both leaders of a club with many people dependent on them. The thought that I might have ruined that . . .

The thought that I could lose either or both of them makes my heart ache.

“Hey, Rhea, breathe,” Knight says urgently, pushing back his chair and walking around to mine. “Breathe for me, baby.”

I turn to look at him and follow his guidance until my lungs are working, but there is no stopping the pain in my chest.

“I’m sorry,” I gasp.

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

“But, Priest . . . the two of you fought . . .”

“We’re good,” he assures me. “Who do you think gave me your address?”

“Priest?” I manage, and he nods, rubbing my back until my breath has settled to normal before walking back to his seat.

“After he’d gotten the worst of his anger out, we talked. I promised to make a honest woman out of you and put a ring on your finger. Sky reminded him that he knows better than anyone that I’ll take care of you. After a final threat to bury me in the yard if I hurt you, he gave me your address to make that happen.”

I run my eyes over him as if checking him for injuries before quickly looking up and locking my gaze with his.

“It’s okay. I understand that you told him those lies to get him off your back. It’s fine, I get it—”

Knight shakes his head, his eyes boring into mine, and I swallow deeply at the desire I read in them. “Are you intentionally misunderstanding me, or do you just not believe that I could fall in love with you, Rhea?”

“I . . .”

He reaches over and grabs my hands without warning. He pulls me forward, and I meet him in the middle of the table. “I love you, Rhea. I don’t care if I have to leave everything behind to follow you here, or if you come back to Austin with me. Where you go, I follow. You’re my entire world now. My future.”

---