Page 54 of Rox

Max nods in agreement before standing and offering me his hand to help me from the Adirondack chair I’m in.

As we walk away, I hear Uncle JJ call out behind us, “And don’t try and lose your chaperones, young lady!” I laugh, and more tension that had been simmering leaves. Max lets go of my hand as we walk away, draping his arm over my shoulders.

“I guess it’s a night for advice,” I say when we are far enough away from the rowdy crowd. “So, who was it? Dad or mom?”

“Your dad talked to me,” Knuckles starts.

“He kind of explained what’s been going on more so in the personal aspects. The guilt he carries for having to take you to the ring. You look like you got off better than I did.” Whitley chuckles, stopping Max to get a look at the healing bruises.

“I deserved this,” he tells them softly. “I questioned her character, and theirs, along with who she is as a person. It was uncalled for.”

“Still, secrets are hard in a relationship, even if they are for the greater good. We would know.” Knuckles says, pulling Whitley into him and placing a soft kiss on his cheek.

They explain a little about Whit and the lies he had to tell to keep Knuckles and the brothers safe without discussing too much.

“It wasn’t easy.” Knuckles sighed. “I felt as if he’d used me and took everything he could when I gave over my heart and soul.” Whitley reaches over, grabbing Knuckles’ head and pulling it to him so he can kiss Knuckles’ temple. Looking at them, it’s clear as day that Whitley still feels pain about what happened between them. “I couldn’t stay away, though.”

“After being filled in, forgive me when I say, why not? I don’t think I’d be able to forgive something like that.” Max asks.

“Are you telling me that you’d be able to walk away from Roxie? That if she had a secret, one she had to keep in order to keep you safe, you’d walk away from her because of that?”

“Nothing would keep me from her,” Max growls.

“Exactly. That response and that fire you feel, that’s how I feel about Whit. Was it hard to get past what happened? Of course, it was. But I had to take a seat and really look at what he did and why. He risked everything for me because he loves me. When you find the person who is meant for you, you keep them.”

“Exactly,” Whitley cuts in. “We’ve had our troubles, obviously, but they made us stronger. Look,” he lets out a sigh, “if you two want to make this work, you have to put it all out there. You have to have the hard conversations, the fights, and the resolves. Things will feel awful at times, but those are rare. You two have the support of this family behind you, butsometimes that can feel like too much. But as long as you both come back to each other, you can make it.”

“Whit and I pushed through the pain and the betrayal we all felt because our love means more. The pain was temporary. Once we sat down and broke it down, we realized what we had together was more important than anything else.” Knuckles steps away from Whitley and takes my hands in his, “Roxie, I know this is a lot to take on. You may disagree with how things have been handled, but he’s doing it because he loves you. It’s the same as Whit. He did everything because he loves me. You only have to remember that.”

“Thanks, Knuckles,” I tell him as I hug him.

It’s clear from what they shared it took a long time for Knuckles to really forgive Whitley for keeping him in the dark. The downfall of that is that it took away from the time they had together. Is that something I want to risk?

No. Not at all.

We start to make our way back to the fire pit, and I stop Max. When he turns to face me, I go up on my tiptoes and kiss him. “I’m sorry for everything. I love you, and I’m ready to do this life thing with you.”

“I’m sorry too, Rox. I promise I’m not going to run anymore.”

“I know you won’t.”

I give him another kiss before we catch up with the group. Knuckles or Whitley must have told them we stayed behind to make up or something because when we got back, Ashlynn was smiling like a crazy…er person than normal.

“They are back and in love again!” Ashlynn calls out.

“Yay! They are in love, we are in love! Let’s drink to love!” Auntie Bri yells.

“I think you have drunk enough for love,” Duck tells Ashlynn and Bri.

Ashlynn walks over to Duck and smacks him upside the head. “I will tell you when I have had enough to drink, Sugar Tits. And I haven’t had enough yet!”

“Yeah. Okay. You two good now?” Duck looks at Max and I.

“Yeah,” I smile up at Max, “we’re great.”

“I love you,” he whispers as he pulls my face to his, and shouts of joy confirm Max and I are going to be just fine.

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