Page 283 of The Perfect Spiral
Her outrage makes me laugh, and she sighs out loud, “I hate you! But I’m glad you guys are together!” I can hear her sincerity over the phone.
“Oh, and Tyson says he knew it!” I roll my eyes, eating the pineapple in the bowl.
“Yes, we’re together. We’re official, actually. Tell Ty I knew he knew! What’s Hawaii like?” I ask her, steering the conversation to her and her new husband.
“Oh my god, Al! You would love it here! The water is amazing. And so are the views, if you know what I mean... what? Baby, I’m talking about you and your hot body! Don’t worry... you and other bodies...” she mumbles the last part, making me burst out laughing uncontrollably. People in the kitchen are sending me funny looks, and I sit up on the counter.
I feel the cold marble latch onto my skin, cooling down the hot and steamy fun we had upstairs.
“You’re married! You should only have eyes for your man, Sissy!” Seeing Knox make his way back around to me, he settles himself between my legs, staring at me.
With both hands on either side of me like he’s protecting me, I will always feel safe with him. I mean, he’s huge, in all aspects. But he’s like the big friendly giant with me.
“What, I can look? Just not touch... I’m kidding, babe! Kidding,” she says, and I hear her kiss Tyson, making me pull the phone away from my ear. I do not need to hear her kissing him. So gross.
“Is your man there?” She asks me, and I smile up at him. “Yes, my man is here,” I say, making him smile back. He starts to peck himself around my face, ending at my lips. I pass him the phone, saying, “She wants to talk to you.” His eyes widen and he clenches his jaw, making it look sharp.
The uneasy look on his face prompts me to stroke his chest, helping him to relax a bit.
“Another talk? I already had one with your brothers,” he groans. “Hey, Sam—” He pulls the phone away from his ear and I can faintly hear her screaming down the line at him.
Once the screaming stops, he puts the phone back to his ear and starts to laugh.
“Yup, I do love her... of course... yeah, yeah, I know. I will. Don’t worry... yep, I always will... yeah... alright, cool. I’ll see you both when you come back! Tell Ty I say he better be preseason ready when he comes back!”
Smiling at me, he leans in to kiss my head. I swing my legs, studying him and listening to his one-sided conversation. He hands me back the phone.
“Yup,” I pop my ‘P’ while kissing him. We just can’t stop ourselves.
“I’m happy for you both and I can’t wait to come home and see you both. But I’ve got to go and sun myself now. Bye, bitch! Love you! Oh, and tell Cole, Sasha, Jane, Max, Austin, Mom, and Ace they owe me money! They lost the bet!”
Her laugh is infectious. I laugh with her and squeal, “What bet?” But she hangs up before I can press her any further. I look at my screen to see it’s black. Damn her.
“Bet? What bet?” Knox asks me, and when I meet his eyes, I lookover at his mother who is smiling at us.
Clapping her hands, she exclaims, “I forgot! We all made a bet if you would tell her before or after the wedding! Looks like some people need to pay up!”
She shouts the last part out for the people here. We both laugh and he throws his head back, looking heavenwards.
“Sometimes I wonder how we’re related to these people,” he says to the ceiling. I kiss his neck, making his head drop to kiss my cheek.
“I wonder that every single day,” I say, climbing down off the counter onto the tiles. I hear Boomer making a break for the back door and I realize I’ve been a bad owner this entire break down here.
He’s my dog, my buddy, and I walk out to follow him, sitting on the sofa. Knox sits beside me and I stand up to sit on his lap.
Bending my knees up to my chest and leaning sideways onto his chest, I tap my legs to allow Boomer up onto me.
“Hey, Boom. I miss you, buddy. I’m sorry Mama hasn’t been around for you much... she’s been... busy,” I say, looking at Knox who smiles awkwardly like he knows he’s to blame.
He pets Boomer on his head, making him close his eyes. He loves Knox, always has, from day one. It used to annoy me how much he loved him.
“Sorry, Boom, I promise we can share her from now on,” he says, kissing my cheek and making me look at him.
As we stare at each other, I run my hand through his hair, looking at his blue eyes dilating as they flicker from eye to eye. The smile he gives me melts my insides. I feel so content with him.
“Alright, alright, stop making googly eyes at each other, it’sfucking weird,” Kyle steps outside to greet us, followed by Andy a few moments later.
“Poor Boomer, he’s probably silently vomiting at the sight of you two!”
