Page 45 of Fighting Mr. Knight

“Nothing. I was an angel. I asked her out on a date like a gentleman. She got me all warmed up like a professional fluffer then this morning turned me down, said she was trying to make her ex jealous. She played me.”

Tristan smirks. “I’ll notify Guinness World Records immediately. This is a big one for them.”

“Perhaps we should drop you off at the hospital?” Danny adds. “Before you go into acute shock at being rejected for the first time in your life.”

The pair of them are two smug ass-wipes now they’re all loved-up. Both are older than me by a few years, as they like to remind me. Jealousy.

“Fine, let me off at the hospital,” I mutter. “Maybe they can do something about my big blue balls.”

“Mate, when you have twins under two and a newborn at home, you can complain. You and that dog of yours sit around answering to no one,” Danny grumbles. “And I’m sorry, Tristan, I know she’s your mother, but fuck me, I’m dying here. I don’t get a minute’s peace. I think she’s moved in and not told me. The easiest solution is for me to move out.”

Tristan laughs. “Rather you than me. Mum’s posting pics from your house every day.”

“Fuck’s sake. I don’t want my life splashed over social media. It’s a bloody security risk. I’ll need to rein that shit in and try to teach your mother about her digital footprint.”

“This is why I’m not having kids until at least forty,” I grumble. Danny is engaged to Tristan’s younger sister, Charlie, who he has three baby daughters with. The couple started seeing each other when Danny’s tech firm, now the largest in Europe, acquired the company Charlie worked for.

Tristan laughs again. “You do realise that’s only two years away, right?”

“Better make it forty-five then.”

“You’ll change your mind when you meet the right lass,” Tristan tells me. “Maybe you already have.”

“Nah,” Danny says. “She’s not interested. Poor wee Jack will have to put his tail back between his legs.”

The helicopter drops slightly. Tristan doesn’t flinch but I do. “When have you ever seen me give up on a challenge? The woman wants me. There’s just something holding her back. Maybe her ex, Max. Maybe she’s terrified of my massive dick.”

“Maybe she’s more terrified of your massive ego,” Danny scoffs.

“I have an ego for a reason, mate.”

And Bonnie is going to realise that very soon.

Truth is, I haven’t been rejected before and I kind of like it.

She can play the game of cat and mouse. I like the chase. It makes the catch all the sweeter.

It’s only a matter of time, darlin’.

13

Bonnie

I throw my overnight bag onto the floor. “Alexa, turn on the telly.”

I’m convinced couples stay together in London because it’s too expensive to live alone.

Max and I had a lovely two-bedroom garden flat just off Clapham, south London.It had enough outdoor space for a potato patch and a small barbecue.I only have a handful of friends anyway.

I thought we would upsize to an actual house. Instead, I’ve downsized to a one-bedroom flat the size of a prison cell above a fried chicken shop.

When you first walk in, it’s confusing whether you’re in the living room or kitchen, then you realise it’s both. Though with the kettle within spitting distance of the sofa, it’s convenient for making tea.

Moving day was stressful. It wasn’t just because I stuffed a moving van full of things I never use—tennis rackets, dumbbells, obscure kitchenware, unopened cookbooks—but also because after years of sleeping beside the same man, I was solo.

Kate called a state of emergency and stayed over for the first few nights. I can’t remember too much about them. I sat round in a daze weeping and staring at my phone like I was hypnotised, whilst she made me food. Waiting for Max to realise the error of his ways, apologise for his rash words and revoke his ridiculous decision.

But the phone never rang, and Kate couldn’t stay forever.

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