Page 18 of French 75
He smirks as he parks. “I think you’ll like it.”
“What are we doing?”
He’s wordless as he kills the engine and gestures for me to get out. Cigarette perched between his lips, his swagger holds all the cockiness I know him for. I follow him to the entrance of what looks like an adult arcade. There’s a cover when we enter, but Knox easily slips the guy a twenty, and we stroll right through. I look around in amusement at all the arcade games, the lit-up bar, and the bowling alley, wondering what we’re going to do first. Instead of pulling me to either of these, he leads me to the very back, and I stop in my tracks when I realize what he has in store.
“Axe throwing?”
“Yup,” he says, almost with pride. “Whatcha think?”
“Fucking cool, man,” I say, clapping him on the shoulder as we get in line. “I’ve always wanted to try this, but Skylar is so uncoordinated, I was afraid he’d end up cutting himself.”
“I’ve done it once or twice. It’s pretty awesome. Thought maybe for our first friend-date we could try it out.”
I snort at that. “Friend-date?”
“Blame Elton.” He scoffs. “Come on, let’s get in line.”
We have to wait what feels like a million years, but it’s worth it as I watch the people ahead of us start throwing their axes. My blood pulses with excitement when it’s our turn next. The sweet girl manning the station explains the rules, the safety precautions, gives us some protective gear, and wishes us a happy twenty minutes.
“Damn, I’m ready.” I chuckle, testing the weight of the axe. I quirk an eyebrow at Knox. “Want to do the honors?”
He shakes his head as he leans against the wall. “By all means, man. Go on ahead.”
I click my tongue in satisfaction as I line myself up in place. Once again testing the axe, I bring my arm back, extend it, andlet it fly. Knox doesn’t even bother holding back his chortle when the axe completely misses the target.
“Fuck you,” I say jokingly, shoving his chest when he gets close. “Like you can do any better.”
He bites down on his bottom lip, a smug expression firmly in place. “Wanna bet?”
Hm, I could get behind that. “Make it interesting? Say twenty bucks to whoever gets it closest to the bullseye?”
“Sure.” He shrugs as he positions himself. “Get your wallet ready.”
I snort, but my eyes widen when, with one swift and graceful movement, Knox throws the axe and lands it directly on the bullseye. “What the fuck?”
“Told you I’m good.” With a smirk, he hands me the next axe. “Some of us are just blessed.”
I roll my eyes as I mutter, “Blessed, my ass.”
We go back and forth like this for a while. We take turns throwing our axes, and while I get marginally better, Knox kills it every time. By the end, I’m only frustrated that I haven’t managed to even hit the board. I want to go another round when I get the closest I have, but the nice girl from the front comes in to politely tell us our time is up.
“Better luck next time.” Knox chuckles, but it doesn’t piss me off the way it might have before. No, instead it sounds like old friends just shooting the shit. “How about you buy the first round, and we’ll call it even?”
I nod. “Bet.”
We head over to the bar and find two empty seats. Knox orders some fancy cocktail that I’ll definitely laugh at when it arrives, while I order a beer. Once we have our drinks, we sit for a bit in companionable silence, but I can tell he wants to say something. It’s in his body language. He’s a bit tense, nervouslyglancing at me from the corner of his eye, and I sigh. “What’s up?”
“Not my place,” he mumbles, but then groans. “Fuck me. Elton owes me a blowjob when I get home.”
I swivel my chair and face him, eyebrows pinched. “What are you talking about?”
“Look, I didn’t want to bring it up, but Elton insisted.” He sets down his colorful drink. “I used to do some…questionable things for Davis. Nothing too bad, just selling some drugs here and there.”
While I should be shocked, it doesn’t actually seem out of character for Knox. I casually shrug. I’m not judging. We all do what we have to do, right? “And?”
“Well, because of that, I tend to hear things. Things that don’t just have to do with drugs.” He chews on the inside of his cheek and runs his hand through his hair.
I kind of feel for him a bit. I understand that we all do things we’d rather not for love. While I was never partial to Knox before, he’s been chill tonight and actually a good time. Now he just looks uncomfortable. “Whatever you need to say, you can say it. I won’t get mad.”
