Page 10 of Break

“Whatever you want to call it to save your job,” he says with a wicked smile.

I take the deepest breath I can, and I wonder how long it will be before I crack or whenthey’lldo something… again. But now, I’ll be fine. If I raise my voice once, someone will come, right? It’s not like we’re really alone.

Once I close the door, I turn around and bump into Knox. He grips my chin and lifts my face so I’m staring up at him.

“Tell me how much you missed me, Hope. How much you’ve been craving everything we can do for you and to you,” he says as he slowly looks me over. His free hand reaches for the buttons on my Polo. “I bet you touch those marks and think of us when you—”

“Are you… are you trying to avoid stripping?” I ask, trying to distract him before he can strip me, specifically.

Knox pauses, and his eyes lift from the one button he’s managed to undo to focus on my face. His gaze burns through me and he jerks me closer to him. “You didn’t see me naked last time. What makes you think I’m going to give you that now?”

“It’s… it’s for the physical. I have to take your vitals, we do a stress test on your heart, you answer some questions, then you strip down to your boxers so I can note any bruises, old injuries, anything that might be a problem in the—”

“No,” he snarls.

“Knox, it’s not your first time on an NFL team. You know how it—”

“There’s no reason anyone needs to see me in less than what I have on. Do your fucking tests, Hope, but you don’t get to see me stripped down to my boxers,” he hisses.

My brows tug together. I’m not sure why he’s so pissed about it. He’s always talked about how many girls want him, how many guys want to be him, so why is he so hesitant to show off? Clearly, stripping me would be fine, so why…? It doesn’t make sense, but I just go through what he’ll allow.

I take his pulse, test his respirations, his blood pressure, take his weight, then hook him up to a heart monitor, even though he steals the electrodes from me to put them on his chest. I don’t get what he’s hiding.

He’s attractive and he knows it. It doesn’t seem like he’s insecure or anything, but he clearly isn’t budging when it comes to stripping. I thought this would be difficult because he’d try to make me strip or make a move or a hundred different horrible options. A hundred different ways to hurt me and remind me that my father is not the only monster in the world.

Once we finish the tests, I have a nurse come in to take a blood sample, then he has to give a urine sample, huffing the wholetime about how I’m probably going to take a peek to remember him better.

After checking all those boxes, only one remains. I stare at Knox as he watches me with those dark emerald eyes.

“Keep staring and I’m going to think you want me to gag you, toss you over that exam table, and see if I can make you scream like that last night,” he growls.

I shake my head. “Take off your shirt, Knox. I can work with that. Then I can—”

“If you’re not going to have me between your legs, then you don’t need me to strip, Hope,” he snarls.

“It’s not whatIwant or need. You need this to be on the team,” I remind him.

He grabs my shoulder and shoves me against the exam table. He holds me down, his hand moving to my throat. He snarls. “You are going to sign the fucking box saying everything is just fine. I don’t do drugs. My blood is fine, and I don’t have any fucking injuries.”

“Knox!” I rasp.

His grip tightens on my throat. I don’t want to admit that it’s almost comfortable. It’s what I expect. It’s his control and anger washing over me in a way so familiar that I hate it and fall into it at the same time.

“You’ll do it, Hope, because I still have a very specific video of you. The team doesn’t need the audio to know that you’re an eager little slut, do they?”

I scratch his hand and kick his thigh, making sure not to damage his knee. It scares him enough that he lets me go. I pant. “Show that video and it will be the last thing you ever do as a football star!”

He glowers at me.

“It’s called revenge porn and it’s against the law. Are you worth a teamwide scandal and potential sanction?” I demand.

Knox doesn’t back down. He gets in my face no matter how I try to keep my knees from shaking or how I try to keep my back straight. Knox glowers into my eyes. “He-said, she-said, and considering your past—”

“Don’t,” I order, even though my voice shakes.

“Don’t force me,” he counters. He shoves me back and tosses the electrodes to the floor without taking off his shirt. “Check the fucking box and be done with it or we’ll have a problem. I’m not stripping for you.”

Knox pushes me out of the way, opens the door, and just as I expect him to slam the door to show the full extent of his frustration, he just pulls it shut with a soft click, leaving me with a whiplash of emotion.

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