Page 42 of Sunrise

“You’re fucking the same hole he did,” I offer as enticement. “He’s still inside me.” Scraping his arms, I add, “Do you feel him?”

Vault rattles apart on that note. He loses rhythm and all those carefully calculated moves of his turn chaotic. Roaring with his release, he trembles and collapses on top of me. Not enough to crush, but I can feel his heart hammering against mine while we catch our breath.

Threading my fingers through his damp hair, I cradle him in silence.

I love being the conduit between them, but I want more. Is it wrong of me? Do I even have the right?

Guilt hits my gut again.

The door opens with Knox dragging in a rolling cart full of food. One glance at the two of us, naked and entwined, and he’s grinning. “Smells like sex in here.” He looks down at the food. “Sex and now steak. I’m… not opposed to that combo, weirdly enough.”

Vault kisses the tip of my nose before climbing off me. Wrapping himself in a towel, he saunters over to the cart while I get a robe from the closet. Fanning my hair out, I join them on the sofa and pour myself a glass of Champagne.

“For you.” Knox presents me with a bowl of chocolate covered strawberries.

Vault cuts into his steak and takes the first bite. “It’s overcooked.”

“The hell it is, asshole.” Knox sits back with a glass of water. “It’s perfect because I made it that way.”

“You perfectly overcooked it.” Vault quickly winks at me.

“Damnit, man! No, I—”

Vault and I crack up. He’s laughing so hard, he almost falls over with his food in his lap.

“Not funny.” Knox tosses an ice cube at him.

“He doesn’t like his food criticized,” Vault explains, but I already knew that.

The chocolate strawberries he made me are huge. He definitely went for the best stuff in the Monarch’s kitchen. “These are amazing. Thank you.”

“Anytime you want something, tell me. If I can’t make it, I’ll learn.”

The fruit pairs perfectly with my bubbly. Curling up like a cat on my cushion, I watch Vault meticulously cut his steak. Itiscooked perfectly.

“Who taught you how to cook, Knox?”

“Myself.” He snags a green bean from Vault’s plate. “My mom forgot to take her family recipe book when she left us. I found it one day and started with that. Cooking became my love language after a while, I guess.”

Makes sense. It definitely fits into his acts of service.

“Do you ever see her?”

Knox shakes his head. “Not much. I’ve never really forgiven her for leaving, even though I’m happy she did.”

“Then why don’t you forgive her for it?”

He stares into his water glass like there’s something more interesting in there than this conversation. “I would never want a woman in a bad relationship. Domestic violence is never okay. But… I also don’t think you should abandon the ones you love.”

My stomach drops instantly with guilt again. Ifhe knew the real me, he’d hate me for what I’ve done then. I need to change the subject before we get further into that touchy subject. Because I left everyone behind, whether I loved them unconditionally or not. “Why didn’t you just become the chef at the Monarch?”

I notice Vault isn’t looking up from the plate and is chewing slowly.

“I could never work here,” Knox says, as if it’s a well-known fact.

Vault’s grip tightens around his fork.

Okay then. Guess that’s a touchy subject, too.

---