Page 41 of Quarantine Crush
“Ugh, gross. No way,” I mutter, wiping my nose on the back of my own sleeve. “I’m a mess.”
Knox chuckles, his body shaking under my own and sending my thoughts in directions they shouldn’t be headed. This time, when I move to slip from the bed, Knox doesn’t stop me.
I pad across the room to my ensuite, not bothering to turn on any lights. I doubt very much that I want to see myself right now anyway. I take my time blowing my nose, washing my face, and brushing my teeth before I finally head back into my room.
Knox is still sitting on my bed, his back propped up against my headboard. Yet, I’m too exhausted to do much but crawl onto the bed next to him. Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, I owe him some answers. So I settle onto my side beside him, giving him my full attention for the first time since he entered the room.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better,” I assure him. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”
“You don’t need to apologize to me, Emy. Fuck. I’m the one who should be apologizing to you. I should have asked you before helping myself to the guitar.”
I shake my head then remember he probably can’t see me in the dim street light spilling in through my sheer curtains. “No. It’s fine. Really. It’s– I haven’t seen it in a long time. You just caught me off guard.”
Knox starts to rise from the bed, and I dart up.
“Where are you going?”
“To put it back,” he says. “I never should have taken it out. It obviously has painful memories for you, and I don’t want to be the reason you cry like that ever again.” His voice is gruffer when he adds, “I can’t.”
I reach a hand out to stop him, and he pauses, his eyes dropping to where my hand rests on his arm.
“Please don’t,” I whisper. “It’s fine. Seriously. I keep saying I’m going to donate it, but I can never seem to bring myself to do it. At least this way, I can say it was played once.”
I can barely make out the hard mask that Knox wears as he sits back down on the bed.
“I’m the only person to ever play it?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“Why?” he asks, frustration and curiosity lacing his voice. “Who did you buy it for?”
A lump forms in my throat, but I refuse to think about the day I bought that guitar. Or the night I tried to give it away along with my heart.
I clear my throat. “Some guy I used to know.”
“Someone you cared about?” Knox asks, the words sounding strained.
I open my mouth to deny it, but I can’t bring myself to lie. Not right now. Especially not to him. “Yes.”
He turns onto his side, facing me in the darkness. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Knox asks, his voice tinged with hurt. “I’m supposed to be your best friend, but–” His voice breaks off, and he rolls onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.
“Hey, you are my best friend,” I assure him, rolling onto my stomach next to him so I can see his face a little better.
“It doesn’t feel like it,” he whispers, and his confession cracks another piece of my heart. “There’s so much about your life that I’m only finding out about now that we’re trapped together. What happened to us, Em? You never used to keep secrets from me.”
Anger slithers through my veins at his words. It’s not like I’m the only one keeping secrets. He hasn’t mentioned anything about his life in London, least of all the fact that he has a girlfriend waiting for him back there.
I scramble up, my fists balling in my lap.
“Oh, that’s rich coming from you,” I snap before grabbing a pillow from the bed and hitting him square in the face.
Knox darts up, confusion wrinkling his brow. “What the hell, Embry?”
“Don’t act like I’m the only one with secrets. You’ve got an entire life a continent away that I know nothing about,” I huff, whacking him with the pillow again.
“You’re about to start something you can’t finish, Hess,” Knox growls.
