Page 7 of Pick Me
He made a strangled sound. “Is it true that you graduated at the top of your class in college?”
“Yes, but I don’t think my intelligence is going to keep them from stampeding me, Knox.” I rolled my eyes.Nowhe wanted to do the whole getting-to-know-you thing? The man had shit timing.
Knox closed his eyes and shook his head slowly before opening them again. “Okay, brainiac, here’s a lesson in cows. First, cows are female. They don’t have horns. A bull might chase you. A single cow generally will not, unless she’s got a calf she’s protecting or you act particularly stupid.”
“Hey! Unfair.”
“For example, this cow here—” he went on, motioning behind me.
I twisted my neck and saw an enormous bovine face mere inches from mine. “Gah! No! Go ’way!” I yelled, jumping around Knox so I could use him as a human shield. My heart beat wildly in my chest.
Knox looked back over his shoulder at me, and the muscle at the corner of his mouth twitched. “Excellent example of stupid behavior. As I was saying,” he went on mildly, “this cow is Stella. She’s maybe a week away from going into labor, so she’s not chasing anything these days except a decent night’s sleep. Isn’t that right?” He stepped toward the fence before I could stop him and rubbed the top of her head.
Stella gave a little huff that might have been agreement… or a warning of an attack.
But Knox didn’t seem to recognize the danger because, after another over-the-shoulder look at me, he reached right through the slats of the fence, picked up my phone, and handed it to me. His fingers brushed my palm, and it felt like I’d stolen something—a little illicit and a little delightful.
“Still working?” He nodded down at the device.
“Huh? Oh. Screen looks fine.” I unlocked it… and gave both of us an eyeful of my Grindr “nearby” dashboard before I immediately turned the phone off again and shoved it in the pocket of my shorts.
Damn it.
I felt my face going hot for no good reason. Who cared if I had Grindr? Who cared if I was chatting with a million guys?
He wants you, precious Gagelet.
Except he didn’t.
“Er… yeah. Seems no worse for wear,” I said belatedly.
“Uh-huh.” There was a distinct thread of amusement in Knox’s voice, which gave me all kinds of conflict-y feels. “Nowcan we eat?”
I nodded silently. My cheeks burned as I followed Knox to the house and then into the big kitchen with its hardwood floors, white cabinets, butcher block counters, and giant oak farmhouse table. Sally Ann, the Sundays’ golden retriever, shook herself up off the floor and showed her love for Knox by nearly tripping him.
“Evening, Gage,” Uncle Drew said cheerfully from his spot at the head of the table. He had his broken ankle propped up on the bench next to him, but otherwise the man was so healthy and fun, he could have passed for Knox’s slightly older brother… if Knox had exponentially less hair, significantly more belly, and a penchant for Jerry Garcia T-shirts. “You remember Marco, right?”
“Sure. Hey, Marco,” I said with a smile.
Marco, who was Drew’s absolute inverse with his thick, dark hair, deep-set laugh lines, lean frame, and sometimes fussy nature, smiled back a little primly.
Knox and I took turns washing our hands at the sink, and then I sat down while Knox hung back for a moment, leaning against the counter.
“You coming?” Webb gave Knox a look of concern. In his blue Sunday Orchard T-shirt that strained across his biceps, he was every inch a farmer and caretaker of both humans and animals. “All good?”
Knox shook his head like he was coming out of a trance. “Yeah, I guess. Depends on your definition of good. Narrowly saved your new employee from being attacked by Stella,” Knox said blandly, taking the seat opposite him. He stroked a hand over his beard. “Almost got impaled by a phone in the process.”
I rolled my eyes and took the guest chair at one end of the table, and Uncle Drew winked at me from the other end.
Hawkins, the Sunday brother closest to my age, elbowed Knox lightly. “Don’t tease Gage about the cows. Imagine if you had to go to Florida and live with alligators,” he said earnestly. “It’s the same for Gage coming here.”
“Thanks, Hawk.” I appreciated his defense too much to point out that most Floridians didn’t actually attempt to corral and domesticate alligators. Let alone milk them.
Emma brought a platter of burgers to the table that was nearly as big as she was and set it down before taking her spot next to Drew. “There.” She smiled at me, and her dark ponytail swayed. “I knew better than to put the food out before you got in here, Gage, or there’d have been none left. Though I just realized I’m still cooking as much as I did when Reed and Porter were home over the summer, so maybe not.”
“Please. This guy eats as much as Porter and Reed together,” Knox commented before passing the platter to Marco, Drew’s friend from next door.
“This guyhas a name,” I retorted. Marco passed the platter to me with a wink, and I took two burgers because why not? “And a girlish figure to keep up.”
