Page 138 of The Perfect Spiral
“You must be hungry! There’s breakfast still out if you want any? I’m about to make lunch either if you want to wait?” She asks, pulling him towards her and linking arms with her, escorting him into the kitchen.
“I think your mom has a new boy toy!” Eric jokes, hugging me and Andy on each side of him.
“You think?” I say sarcastically. Sam makes her way over to me and Lena does the same.
“Alex! He is super cute! Oh my god, like he has this surfer look that I’m totally digging right now!” Sam stares at the back of Ben’s frame.
Lena nods her head, still not being able to say anything while Eric disappears into the kitchen.
“I know right? I keep telling her she should totally go there with—”
“Nobody is going anywhere with anyone!” Knox cuts Andy off before she says anymore. I can tell he’s annoyed.
“Is someone jealous?” Andy teases as she walks by him, following Ben and my mom into the kitchen.
Kyle walks in behind her, not before checking her out and grabbing her ass, causing her to squeal and turn to face him with a smile on her lips. “Mine,” is all he said, making her roll her eyes.
“No!” Knox replies simply. I drag Ben’s bag out of the way of the door and close it. Everyone makes their way into the kitchen.
Feeling Knox put his hand on the small of my back, sliding down lower and lower until it rests on my left cheek. He gives it a light tap with his hand and rests it there.
I snap my head over to him to see him staring ahead with a smirk on his face and I grab his hand to take it off, but he intertwines our fingers once again and I glare up at him.
He’s still not looking at me but over to Ben who is watching him, trying not to smile. “Knox, what are you doing! Let go of my hand,” I hiss in a low tone so only he could hear me. But he ignores me and continues to stare at Ben who is staring right back at him, both with smirks on their faces.
Focusing his attention back on my mom and Delilah who are trying to fatten him up already. I huff and pull Knox back out to the hallway, still holding onto my hand.
“Knox! What are you doing?”
“Keep your distance from him, sweetheart! I don’t trust him,” Knox warned.
“Knox, enough! He’s my friend, and I like him. I’m not going to avoid him just because you don’t approve! Quit being so immature,” I retorted.
“Stay away from him, Alex! I don’t like the way he looks at you,” he insisted, his grip tightening around my hand to the point where it was cutting off my circulation. I squirmed, trying to free myself from his grasp, but to no avail.
“Knox, you’re hurting me. Please, let—”
“Shit! I’m sorry, sweetheart. Are you okay? I didn’t mean to—” He released my hand immediately after I cried out in pain. I backed away from him, a little frightened, shaking my hand to restore the blood flow.
“I’m sorry, Alex. I didn’t realize my own strength. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry,” he apologized, guilt washing over his face. He took a tentative step towards me, but I retreated a step further.
I nodded, avoiding his gaze, and maneuvered around him to return to the kitchen. There, I found Ben sitting at the dining table, surrounded by women. Eden was already perched on his lap, and there was an empty seat next to him.
When he spotted me, he patted the vacant seat, inviting me to join him.
After enduring a barrage of questions from my family, I decided to rescue Ben from the kitchen. As I glanced around the room, I found Knox’s gaze fixed on me.
I offered him a tight smile before turning away, only to meet Ben’s ocean blue-green eyes. He was smirking at me.
“What?” I asked him. Leaning in closer so only I could hear, he replied, “Carter is about to rip my head off, that’s what. Jesus, I knew he liked you, but I didn’t realize it was this intense.” I punched him in the arm.
“Shut up, Hendrix! He doesn’t like me.”
“He clearly has jealousy written all over his face, sweetheart,” he countered, glancing over at Knox, whose jaw clenched in response to our conversation.
“He’s just protective. Like the others.”
“Alex, none of the others are glaring at me like he is,” Ben pointed out. I looked around at the boys, who, in fact, weren’t even paying attention to us.
