19. KNOX

NINETEEN

KNOX

I'm cleaning the apartment before my shift later, waiting for Easton and Connor to get back from training. We left things pretty good—everyone still had their limbs, and no one was bleeding—but I would not be at all surprised if Connor said something dumb again and set Easton off. As much as I hate to even consider it, I think East is right that he needs to get away. I'm trying not to focus on that too much because I have no idea where it leaves us, but the gut feeling I get is that it won't be anywhere I like.

The front door dramatically bursts open, and my Kiki brothers storm in. They're obviously agitated, but there are no bruises, and we're still all good on the limbs, so I'm taking that as a win.

"Good training?" I ask.

"Probably," East grumbles. "But we wouldn't know."

A groan echoes in my head. "Tell me you didn't fight again."

"Nope. We got sent to the naughty boy corner and had to write up a media release about brothers being brothers."

"That sounds like a load of crap. "

"Yup." East kicks his feet up onto the coffee table. "Told them all how much I admire my big bro."

Connor's face falls. "You're such a dick for that."

"Got them off our backs though, didn't it?"

"Well, now we have that out of the way. Hi." I slap Con's back hard enough to make him flinch. "And hi." I lean down to give East a soft kiss, nerves knotted deep in my gut when he doesn't pull away. "Now, get your feet off the fucking table, dude. I eat there."

"Sorry, Daddy."

Connor makes a sound of protest through the mouthful of water he's just drunk. "Do not start that shit with me in the room."

"Do you really think that reacting that way will do anything but encourage me?" East asks.

I step back from Easton. "I'm not getting in the middle of all this."

It takes a minute, but then Easton clocks what I'm wearing. "You working tonight?"

"Pretty much every night this week."

"Huh. Fuck."

I'm not expecting that reaction, and his cheeks darken.

"I was going to suggest we go out somewhere. Do something together, but …"

My smile takes over my face when I work out what he's saying. "You asking me on a date, Easton Kikishkin?"

Connor leaves the room. Fair enough. I probably wouldn't want to hear him flirt with my brother either. Ah, if I had one.

"Doesn't matter, does it? You're working."

"I have Monday off."

"That's five days away."

I know what he means. We've waited for this for so long it seems cruel now that he trains all day and I work all night. This arrangement used to ensure I didn't have to see him too much but isn't so great now that I actually want to see him .

"Maybe you could call off sick tonight," he suggests, eyes running over my chest and settling somewhere around my groin.

The look in his eyes has me tempted. "No. Don't start that. I need the tips, and if I do it once, I'll probably do it every night this week."

"I can more than cover your tips."

"Which would be good … if I was a hooker."

He sinks back into the couch, looking up at me from under his messy hair. "Still a tease, Knox Addison."

"Like you can talk."

He's watching me with hunger in his eyes. "I'm glad we're doing the casual thing. So casual."

"Uh-huh." My eyes drop as he widens his legs, and in those athletic shorts, the sight of his muscular thighs should be illegal. "Very, very casual."

I'm teetering right on the edge of saying fuck it and dragging him through to my room. It's only the reminder that Connor is here that stops me because while he might have to shut up and deal with us being flirty, it's not fair to force sex noises on him in his own house.

I take a huge step back. "Work. I'm going to work. I'll have a hard-on all night, but I'm going, damn it."

East doesn't move or say another thing, but I feel his eyes on me as I collect my shit, readying to go. My dick is at half-mast, trying to convince me to stay and do all the delicious things his gaze is promising, but I committed to this shift, so I need to get my ass out the door.

I don't even risk kissing him goodbye to make it happen.

East is going to kill me. Which is fine. It's only midnight, and he has to be up for training early, but what's a little lack of sleep between friends? Casual, casual friends .

I skipped out on closing up, grabbed a bunch of the leftover food, and hightailed it over here as fast as I could. We're heading into the busy end of the week tomorrow, so my chances of getting off early again are slim, and I want to actually get to see Easton before the weekend.

I'm on his doorstep, wondering if using his key would be cute or creepy, when a light flicks on inside.

Good. He's still awake.

I knock gently, and a moment later, Easton's sweet, sleep-crumpled face appears in the window. He blinks me into focus, and surprise crosses his features before he disappears, and I hear him unlocking the door.

"Knox?"

"Hey." I grin at the lines his pillow has made in his cheek and hold up the bag of food. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah." He hurries to back up, still clearly fighting off sleep. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought we could have that date you asked me on."

"It's midnight."

"Want me to go home instead?"

He quickly closes and locks the door. "You're stuck here now."

I move to his kitchen, pulling out bowls and cutlery before carrying it all to the coffee table. "Okay, how do we make this romantic?"

"Romantic?"

"Sure. It's a date. Got any, like … candles? Incense? Smelling salts ?"

"Smelling salts? It's not the 1800s." He rubs his caramel-colored hair and stumbles into the kitchen. "Umm … I have a flashlight …" he calls back.

A … flashlight? Not what I had in mind.

"Hold on." I duck into his bedroom and go through his closet until I find a green shirt. Guess it'll do. "Bring it here."

Easton hands the flashlight over and watches as I switch it on and point it at the roof, then cover it with the thin cotton. It's … well, it's something.

He snorts into his hand. "I feel romanced."

"I'm not exactly prepared here."

"Oh, wait." Easton disappears into his bathroom and comes out with a packet of tea lights. "Mom and Dad bought me these at some point in case of a power outage. Do candles expire?"

Do … "Please tell me you're not serious?"

He glances up from where he's reading the bottom of the box. "Ah … no?"

I take the box from him, trying not to judge him too hard, and tip them out on the table. They all look fine to me. "Right. Lighter? Matches?"

A laugh bursts from him. "I don't have those things either."

"I don't feel like we're off to a great start here." But I can't help letting out a small laugh of my own. I sweep the candles off the table and pull the food containers out of the bag. "Fuck it, I'm here. You're here. We've got food and, uh, mood lighting? Perfect date."

"Perfect." At least he doesn't sound like he's humoring me.

The food is still piping hot, thanks to the thermal bag, and I grabbed a whole variety of a hockey player's favorite carb: pasta.

"I'm going to be in a food coma after this," East says, piling up a bowl. "If I vomit during training tomorrow, I'm telling Coach it's all your fault."

"I bet he'll be totally fine with that and won't make you spend more time writing out stupid press releases."

He groans through a mouthful. "That was so bullshit. At first, they thought we were fighting over the same guy, which was weird."

"Yeah, I know we only covered it briefly, but I want to make sure there's no confusion: I don't and I never have had feelings for Connor. He really is the closest thing I have to a brother."

"Gross."

"But I've also never seen you that way."

"Never?"

I think about that for a moment. "Even when you were a kid—Lachie too—you guys were always Con's brothers. I loved you both and would have been right there by Connor protecting you if I'd needed to, but it was different than the bond I had with him. Then we were shithead teenagers, and you guys were the annoying younger kids. We were too cool for you both."

"Too cool?" His face lights up with amusement. "You really thought that?"

"By the time we were seniors in high school, yeah. We were sneaking alcohol and finally knew what sex was. You and Lachie were still going to birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese."

"Fuck off. I don't think I ever went to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese."

"Dave & Busters, then."

"Hey, I would still have a birthday party there."

Okay, he's got me there. I've grown out of that stage where I thought I had it all figured out and would one hundred percent party there too.

"You know, as much as my preteen heart is crushed that you didn't think I was the coolest kid ever, I'm relieved."

"Really?"

"Yeah. There's only two years' difference between us, which isn't a big deal now, but as kids … kinda creepy."

"True. Plus, I didn't have myself all figured out by that point either. It was girls, girls, girls. College is where I really went boy crazy."

East narrows his thick lashes at me. "Please. Tell me again about all the people you've slept with who weren't me. "

"Do you want them in alphabetical order?"

He thumps my shoulder, and it's a good one. I have to try very hard not to grit my teeth in pain as I choke out a laugh.

"What's wrong, East, jealous?"

"Don't ruin our first date."

"Sorry." I shift closer. "Does this make it up to you?"

I gently rest my fingers under his jaw and tilt his face up toward me. My breathing is unsteady, and even though we've kissed multiple times by this point, those excited nerves hit me anyway. My lips are prickling with the need to touch his, and when I finally bring our faces closer and let it happen, I feel high. It's soft. Slow. A gentle brushing of lips and soft caress of tongue. I'm trembling out of my skin.

We finish eating, and I leave before he can suggest sex because it's late, and I don't want him to be wrecked for training tomorrow. But as soon as I step out into the mild summer night, I suck down a deep breath, heart feeling so full it might burst.