Page 103 of Captured Love

“What the hell, Tessa?” he barks. “Are you out of your mind?”

Tessa looks up at him, and for a moment all the fight drains out of her. She almost seems small and vulnerable, but that only lasts for a minute.

“I just need to talk to you,” she says, her voice trembling slightly as she breathes heavily.

Knox doesn't let go of her wrist immediately. Instead, he looks at me, and I can see him scanning my face and body. “Are you okay?”

I give him a quick nod, but I can still see that he’s double-checking. When he sees that I'm unharmed, he turns to face Tessa and loosens his grip.

“Talk,” he says, crossing his arms.

Tessa rubs her wrist and glares at me as if all of this is my fault. “Not here. Alone.”

“No,” Knox says, his tone leaving no room for negotiation. He crosses his arms over his chest. “Anything you have to say to me, you can say right here in front of Selene.”

Tessa hesitates, her eyes flicking between Knox and me. I can almost see the gears turning in her head, trying to come up with a way to manipulate the situation to her advantage.

“Fine,” she says, her voice flat. “Happy birthday, Knox.” She pauses, as if expecting him to thank her or at least say something. When he remains silent, she continues. “I’m sorry for everything. For how it ended, for not being there when you needed me. For…for hurting you.”

Is this her play? An emotional appeal? She can’t be serious, and with me standing right here?

“Is that it?” Knox says.

“That’s it. I wanted us to get back together, but now I’m not so sure about that,” she spares a glance at me. “You know how good I am for you. How good we are together.”

Before I can react, Knox responds. “We were good together, but that was a long time ago.

And like I’ve told you, I’m leaving the past in the past. Now leave.”

Tessa's eyes widen, as if she's been slapped. “So that's it? You're just going to throw everything we had away because you've found some new toy?”

I feel a surge of anger at her calling me a toy, but I bite my tongue and wait to see what Knox will say. This is his battle now.

“You threw it away when you cheated. Don’t try to rewrite history. Now apologize to Selene for the name calling and get off my porch and out of my life. If you don’t, I’m going to the dean about your stalking habits.”

Tessa stands there, stunned into silence. I can see the wheels in her head spinning, trying to grasp at any last thread thatmight save her. But there's nothing left for her to hold onto. Knox has made it brutally clear where he stands.

“Selene,” Tessa starts, her voice much weaker than before. “I'm sor?—”

“Save it,” I cut her off. “Just go.”

She hesitates for a moment longer, as if she can't quite believe this is how it's ending. Then she turns on her heel and walks down the steps, not looking back. I watch her until she's out of sight, half expecting her to turn around and try to run into Knox’s arms.

When she's gone, the tension in my body releases all at once and I feel like I might collapse. Knox reaches for me and pulls me into his arms. I enjoy the hug and quick kiss that we share.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I am. Thank you for handling that and happy birthday, baby. I’m sorry you had to deal with that on your special day,” I say as I put my hand on the doorknob.

“It’s nothing. I’m just happy that now I get to spend the rest of the evening with you.”

I let out a deep breath. It takes everything in me to control my face. I push open the door and step aside to let Knox in. “Yeah, I’m looking forward to?—”

“SURPRISE!”

Knox steps back in shock as the room explodes into cheers. The look on his face is priceless. Even after the altercation with Tessa, seeing him so genuinely surprised and happy almost brings a tear to my eye. I glance around the room and see Isla waving frantically from the makeshift DJ booth in the corner. She catches my eye and mouths, “Is everything okay?”

I nod subtly, not wanting to ruin the moment.

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