Page 50 of Worth the Want
“Yeah, I’m attempting to cook a few meals for myself this week,” I say, tossing the packs into my cart. “It could end very badly, but I want to try.”
Blonde goddess chimes in, “I don’t cook. It’s safer for me and the fire department. This one though? He is an amazing cook.” She elbows Knox in the chest, and I fight my eye twitch. “I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m sorry, I’m Cora. I work with Knox. You must be Indiana,” she introduces herself. The snaking feeling I mentioned earlier coils tighter. I’m not sure I like how wound up I am.
“Oh, hi. It’s nice to meet you. Will you be at AJ’s tomorrow night?”
Knox looks back at me. “Willyoube at AJ’s?” he asks.
“Um, yeah. Winnie invited me and called in the cavalry to show me a night out.” I laugh.
“I’ll be there.I wouldn’t miss a night out with everyone. You’ll come, right Knox?” Cora asks the man towering over us.
“Great, I’m glad to be joining. I’ve heard a lot about the place,” I tell her, but I can’t help the way my eyes flit toward Knox. I find him looking at me. Eyes a little narrowed. Does it bother him that I’m hanging out with his family—his coworkers? “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Cora. Knox, see you around.” I give them both an incredibly awkward wave, halfway between a homecoming queen and a soldier, before making my escape. Oh god.Am I cursed to become an idiot around him?
I carry my bags out to my car and try to stop the nervous laughter that’s threatening to be set loose on the good people of Silverthorne, but I’m stopped in my tracks by the mountains. I’m still not used to these views. I need to get out there again. Maybe this weekend. I’m helping Winnie at the festival, but Ihave Sunday off, and I’m thinking I need to start exploring my new home state.
I’ll consult my list when I’m home and try to pick one close by. I may have already run this morning, but I’m thinking I’ll try paddleboarding around the lake for some exercise this afternoon. It will do me some good. I have to get some of this energy out of me before I go full green-eyed monster on anyone who looks in my landlord's direction.
Ididn’t plan on showing up at AJ’s tonight, but after watching Indie paddle around the lake last night in that tiny, red bikini, the draw to be near her was too strong to ignore. From the way she looked at Cora in the grocery store, I could tell she was jealous. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but watching her react that way,over me,gave me the impression that she might see me as a little more than a friend.
So now I’m here, in a familiar setting but for a very unfamiliar reason. Stepping outside my comfort zone for someone isn’t something I expected this soon after meeting them, but I wasn’t expecting Indie. I certainly wasn’t expecting to walk in here tonight and see her dancing with another man. The man in question may be Colt and Winnie’s sixty-two-year-old Uncle Buck, but still another man.
Indie’s laugh is loud and obnoxious, and I want to swallow the sound with my mouth. We’ve been toeing thefriendlyline for weeks now, and the tension that’s built between us is enough to make me snap—or go to a bar on a Thursday nightwhere I’ll probably have to answer some prying questions from my siblings.
“As I live and breathe. Knox, is that really you?” Alder calls from their table in the corner. “How long has it been? It feels like years since I’ve seen you out of your house.” Colt chuckles beside him.
“Oh, shut up. It’s maybe been a month, and that’s not long enough,” I tell him, walking over. My eyes go back to the tiny brunette in the tight jeans that look like they were made for her. The white shirt she has on fits her like a glove, showing a small sliver of smooth, golden skin above the waistband of her jeans.
Her short hair is whipping around her face with every turn on the small dance floor. Uncle Buck’s eyes are lit up as he tosses his head back at something she says, the two of them laughing loudly. I look back at the table to find everyone’s eyes trained on me.
“What?” I snap, and they all avert their eyes.
“So what brings you out tonight, Knox?” Winnie asks sweetly.
“Yes, what made you decide to grace us with your presence?” Mare follows up.
“I wonder if it could have anything to do with the interesting conversation I had yesterday about dinner guests,” Florence adds.
These women.I’m always either getting interrogated or manipulated by them. “Dad came by and picked up Hazel, so I thought I would come out and get a drink. Iwasinvited. Is that okay with everyone?” I ask.
“Absolutely. Let’s get you that drink. I could use another one,” Colt says, standing and making his way to the busy bar. Ifollow just to get away from all the prying eyes. He may not be related by blood, but Colt Parker’s been like another little brother to me since I’ve known him. “What a fucking joke.” I hear him mutter under his breath, but I’m still able to make it out.
“What is?”
“Just the guy Mare’s decided to slum it with.” I follow his line of sight and find Mare cuddled up with her boyfriend.
“Yeah, she’s really slumming it with that doctor of hers,” I joke.
“Oh, shut up.”
“So when are you gonna stop talking about it and do something?”
“I don’t know what you mean. There’s nothing to be done. She can see whoever she wants,” he says casually, turning back to the bar and cutting off his view of them. He’s fooling no one. But not being one to press for information or to talk about feelings, I let that sleeping dog lie.
“What can I get you boys?” Cecily, our bartender, asks us.
“Two beers. Whatever IPA you have on draft is fine,” Colt tells her with a wink.
“Coming up,” she says, drumming her hands on the counter.
