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My chest tightened, and for the first time, I wondered if maybe I hadn’t shown it enough.
Before I could answer, Grady knocked on the window. “Come on, Daddy!”
Mallory smiled. “Go hang out with our kid. Knox will be there when the road trip’s over. And maybe by then, you’ll know exactly what to do.”
“Yeah.” I opened the door. “Thanks.”
She waved us off as I backed out of the driveway. Popcorn and cartoons were on deck, but my mind was thinking about Knox.
And all the ways I needed toshowhim I loved him.
23
Knox
When my teammatesand I finally made it to our hotel in Los Angeles, all I wanted was a shower, some room service, and a video call with my boyfriend. Unfortunately, I couldn’t head straight to my room. As usual, we had to collect our suitcases from under the bus, wait for the travel coordinator to hand out keys, and squeeze the entire team and staff into a limited number of elevators.
By the time I stepped into my room, I was exhausted, sweaty, and pretty much over the day. I rolled my suitcase to the foot of the bed and collapsed onto the mattress with a sigh. It had only been a few hours since I’d said goodbye to Crew, but things already felt off.
It wasn’t just that I missed him. I’d gotten used to having him with me all of the time. We’d wake up together, share meals, and brush shoulders as we got ready in small hotel bathrooms. Now it was just me, silence, and a bed that felt way too big.
I scooted up until I was reclining on the pillows and pulled out my phone. Hitting the video call icon next to Crew’s name, it rang once, then twice before it connected.
Grady’s face filled the screen. “Hi, Knox!”
“Hey, G. How’s it going?”
“We just had ice cream. Did you get me chocolate yet?”
My brows furrowed. “What?”
“Dad said you were going to buy me chocolate on your trip.”
I let out a little chuckle. “I did say that, but it’s got to wait until I get to San Francisco.”
He nodded. “Okay, but don’t forget, I like the kind with caramel inside.”
“Got it.”
He started to say something else, but Crew’s voice came from somewhere outside of what I could see on the video. “Hey, let me talk to Knox for a second, buddy.”
Grady handed over the phone without argument, and a second later, Crew came into view. “Hi there.” He smiled. “Sorry about that. We had a movie and ice cream night, and I was cleaning up the mess.”
“No worries. It gave him a chance to tell me exactly what kind of candy he wants.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know when our kid became so picky.”
The sentence was said so easily, but my brain was stuck on him saying ‘our kid’. The only problem was I wasn’t sure if he meant him and me or him and Mallory.
“He just knows what he likes,” I replied as though he hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary.
“We watched that cartoon cowboy movie he’s obsessed with again,” Crew said, dropping onto the couch. “I think I have every line memorized.”
“Yeah. At least he moved on from the one about dinosaurs that almost made me cry.”
“Almost?” He smirked.
“My allergies were bothering me, okay?” I rolled my eyes but was grinning.
