Page 26 of Hand Picked
“I…” I remembered him bursting into tears and felt my muscles tense in shame. “Yeah. I do. Although, I don’t trust his attorney in the slightest, so I asked Curt to check into things, too.” I picked up the ax once again. “And I decided I’d try to be friendlier. Set a good example for Aiden, you know?”
Knox hooted. “I found the two of you staring into each other’s eyes, holding hands, and blowing a bugle. If you were any friendlier, you’d’ve been arrested for indecent exposure.”
“That’s not funny,” I warned.
“Oh, I beg to differ.” Knox grinned, the fucker. “I was there, and it was hilarious.In fact, I think Neil Diamond sang it best.Hands… touching hands…”
“You suck. And it’snotfunny, because the mayor’s pretending that we’re fucking engaged,and he’s getting the whole town in on the act.” I set another log on the block.
“Uh-huh. The way they were telling it at the Bugle today, you and Luke are already married. Apparently, handfasting means different things in some parts of the world than it does in the Hollow. And Chandra North and Joyce Chan were arguing over your ship name. Joyce saysWilliday.”
“Christ.” Just what I needed. “Awful.”
“Right? I know. Gage and I much preferLubbe.”
I gritted my teeth.
Whack. Thud.
“I also got an earful from Emma—who wasoutraged, by the by—that you were an asshole to your intended at breakfast.” Knox poked his tongue into his cheek. “Tell me again how that newfound friendliness is going?”
A tendril of guilt coiled in my stomach as the memory of the hurt on Luke’s face before he’d managed to blank his expression at the diner this morning, collided with the memory from last night, of Luke in tears saying no one liked him.
Whack. Thud.
“He’s not myintended. Don’t start with that stuff.”
Knox cocked his head and studied me. “Wait, this handfasting is really bugging you, isn’t it?Why?” He acted like of all the fucked-up aspects of this situation, it was my attitude that concerned him most. “It’s just… the Hollow being the Hollow. They care about you and wanna see you happy. And youknowthey love matchmaking. This… it’s matchmaking on steroids. Matchmaking as a spectator sport. But they can’t actually make you marry the guy.”
“I know!”
“So why do you care if they think you’re handfasted?Youknow the truth, and so does Luke.Youknow you’re not attracted to him—”
Whack. Thud.
“Wait,areyou attracted to him?” Knox asked, sounding mildly shocked. “Because if you are, I—”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I… That’s… not the point.”
“Oh my God, you can’t lie for shit, and that wasnota denial. You know, it’s okay to be attracted to him. It’s even okay to act on it and enjoy yourself. Sexuality is fluid, and you’d be setting a good example for—”
I set my jaw. “Knox, I know all that, okay? And none of that is relevant. I just feel bad for Luke, having to deal with people gossiping about us, that’s all. Because they are, and that sucks when he already felt like people around here don’t accept him. He’s a good guy.”
“Well, at least you’ll cop tothat.”
“I knew it all along, I think,” I admitted, blowing out a breath. “He gets under my skin, and I don’t like that. I don’t understand it—”
“I think I might.”
“—but it’s not his fault. And after talking to him last night, I know that my… unfairness was hurtful. So I’m trying to do better.”
“Hmm. You might recall, I took an instant, irrational dislike to someone who got undermyskin, once upon a time. And now I’m madly in love with him, except he stole my damn sweatshirt months ago and he won’t give it—”
“Knox.” I held up a hand. “I get that you’re trying to be helpful or distracting or something, but I’ve got a lot on my mind. I met with my attorney about Aiden’s custody right after breakfast—”
“Oh, shit.” Knox straightened and got serious immediately. “I forgot that was today. Jesus, youdidhave a hell of a morning. No wonder you were cranky at the diner. What’d Curt say? How’d it go? Is the handfasting going to interfere with the custody situation?”
I set down the ax, grabbed the water bottle I’d left on top of the snow, and chugged it down. “It went okay, I guess? He said the best way to handle the handfasting is to just let it expire without completing the tasks. It’s a random town bylaw with no legal significance as long as the terms aren’t met, so it shouldn’t affect the custody dispute.” I took a deep breath. “But I decided to let Amanda start having additional visitation anyway.”
